Page 60 of My Dark Prince
Oliver nodded. “The audacity is low-key inspirational.”
“Speaking of inspirational, I’ve decided to become an influencer.” Frankie linked her elbow around someone who vaguely resembled her. Dallas, I surmised. “I promise it’s a real job, sis. Stop icing me out as punishment.”
“Not a job that will keep you out of trouble, which is all Rom and I want.” Dallas unlooped her scarf around her neck, taking her time to drink in the mansion. “I can’t believe you’ve never even let me in through the front door, Oliver.”
He hadn’t? Better question – why didn’t I?
“I let you get married here.” Oliver rested a hand on my lower back, guiding the crowd into the dining room. “And gave you a room to get ready in.”
“And you shoved me into it through the back door like an overstuffed burrito.” She pivoted to me, lacing our fingers together. “I’m Dallas.” She jerked her thumb to the broody, towering man behind her. “And that’s my husband, Romeo.”
Romeo nodded but didn’t say anything. He helped his wife out of her coat, hooked it on the rack, and pulled out a seat for her before claiming the one beside her. Frankie sat on Dallas’ other side. Across from them, the remaining couple settled into their chairs.Zach and Farrow.
“Farrow.” The girl offered a mini wave and a friendly smile. Tall, and slender, andgolden, she could pass as a Victoria’s Secret model. “But you can call me Fae. Congrats on being alive.”
“Thanks.” I smiled back, turning to her husband. “And you’re Zach, right?”
The Zachary Sun I remembered from Ollie’s description as kids was a black-and-white painting. Intricate, mournful, stunning, and in desperate need of a splash of color. Seemed like he got it. He looped an arm around the back of his wife’s chair, the poster child for Xanax.
Oliver pulled out the seat for me at the head of the table. I sat, watching him stroll to the opposite head, expecting him to sit there. Instead, he dragged the chair over to me, squishing himself into the small gap between me and Zach.
I edged mine over to give him space, unable to help the frown that feathered across my face. Heliterallyhadn’t left my side since the hospital.
I patted his thigh. “I’m not going to drown if you leave a two-foot radius.”
He shrugged, snapping his fingers until the catering staff began dishing out food. Laksa risotto, kare kare pork shank, soft shell crab, and vegetarian tom yum pasta for me.
I spiraled the bucatini noodles onto my fork, addressing the whole group. “Can you guys describe what it was like to meet me for the first time?”
“Sure,” Romeo drawled, surprising me. I didn’t expect him to volunteer first. “I remember it like it was today.”
“You mean yesterday?” I raised a brow, shocked by the American education system. “The phrase is: I remember it like it was yesterday.”
A ghost of a smile haunted his face. “Yeah. Sure.”
Dallas elbowed him in the gut. “What Romeo meant to say is, before you guys met face-to-face, he didn’t believe you existed.”
Farrow nodded. “Neither did Zach.”
Zach moved the carbs onto one side of his plate and started on the protein. “We thought you were an imaginary friend Oliver made up on occasion out of sheer loneliness.”
Oliver scowled, working his jaw back and forth, his knife still speared into his porkchop. “Why would you think that? I mentioned her often enough.”
“Seb told us she’s made up.”
“When did he do that?”
Farrow turned to Zach. “Who’s Seb?”
I straightened, shocked that I’d forgotten to ask about him in the chaos. “WhereisSeb?”
Dallas spoke around an entire crab leg, “What’s a Seb?”
Frankie whistled. “Seb sounds hot.”
Zach answered first. “Sebastian von Bismarck is Oliver’s little brother.”
Dallas’ fork clattered to her plate, flinging laksa onto her blouse. “Oliver has a brother? How did I not know this?”
