Page 76 of My Dark Prince
“But you’re the most competitive person in the world.”
“No one knows that but family.” He shrugged. “It’s not like I need to work or prove myself to anyone. Every now and again, someone will say they spotted me in an ashram somewhere remote. It adds to the allure, really.”
“And your parents?”
“Know I’m here. Too scared to look at me, though.”
“That can’t be right,” I protested. “They adore you.”
“They visit sometimes, and we talk through the door,” he admitted, soft. “I don’t allow them to see me. It makes them distraught.”
“Your dad, too?”
“Especially Felix.” He grimaced. “The old man is in deep depression.”
Now it all made sense. Why Oliver took over. Why he secretly carried the entire von Bismarck family on his shoulders.
Seb worked his jaw back and forth. “Dad never fully recovered from my accident, even though he wasn’t there. I think it drove him past his breaking point that I was ruined. Tarnished. Beyond repair.” He gestured to his face. “It’s not hard to see myself through their eyes. Broken. Soiled. No good.”
“No way this is how they see you.” A zing of anger flashed through me. “They can’t—”
The rest of the sentence died in my throat the minute I heard a feminine voice call out from the balcony outside.
“Briar? Yoo-hoo. It’s your best friend in the whole entire world. Where are you?”
Sebastian and I exchanged alarmed looks.
Seb grabbed me by the upper arms, walking me back from his room. “You have to leave right now. She can’t come here.”
I stumbled backwards. “But we haven’t finished talking.”
The dogs followed me outside, Geezer with his skateboard.
“Speak for yourself. I’ve been done with this conversation for thirty minutes now.”
“I’ve only been here for fifteen minutes.”
“Correct.” Sebastian started to shut the door in my face. “Draw your own conclusions.”
I pushed my foot between the door and the frame a second before he slammed it. “Wait.”
“What?”
“I’m coming to hang out with you tomorrow. We’ll do this puzzle together.” I gestured to his family room area. “My doctor says puzzles are good for my brain.”
“I don’t need company.” He ground his teeth together. They were still nice teeth. Big and white and straight.
“Well, I do,” I chirped, refusing to give up on him. “I’m desperate for it.”
Dallas’s voice boomed louder now, her search beginning inside the home.
Seb narrowed his eyes. “No.”
“Yes.”
“Briar? Are you upstairs?” Dallas sing-songed in the background, her voice alarmingly close.
I squared my shoulders, refusing to budge.
