Chapter 39: My Dark Prince: Chapter 38

My heart somersaulted the minute Briar came into view.

I scrambled up to my feet, running a shaky hand through my hair.

She is fine. In one piece. Why the fuck is your heart hammering out of its chest?

“Oliver.” Dallas hopped up and down, giggling as if I didn’t have every intention of strangling her with my bare hands. The only thing stopping me was the fact that her psychotic husband fired missiles from tanks just for funsies. “What a pleasant surprise. Looking for your next girlfriend?”

Farrow circled her finger around the dorms, gesturing to the co-eds who stopped to gawk. “Age bracket seems in the right ballpark.”

It would serve me right to end up on the homepage of TMZ just as I’d gained the collective respect of The Grand Regent board members. Already, they did not agree with my unilateral decision to drain the giant pond they considered to be the focal point of our golf course. I had to, however, on account of the fact that MY FIANCÉE ALMOST LOST HER LIFE IN IT.

Fake fiancée, you delusional imbecile.

“Oh, I’m only a year younger than Ollie,” Briar said innocently, missing the Frankie joke I did not appreciate.

Dallas stuck a pacifier in Luca’s mouth, raising a brow at me. “Did you decide to join us?”

“What gave it away?” I flashed her a fiendish smile. “The fact that you kidnapped my fiancée?”

“Kidnapped is such a strong word.” Dallas rolled her eyes, coming to a stop before me. “I prefer ‘whisked away on a spontaneous vacation.’”

“Then, I prefer the term ‘passionate embrace.’”

“Instead of what?”

“Instead of ‘strangling,’ which is what I’m about to do to you.”

“We’re doing this for her sake, Oliver.” Farrow ushered Briar to the door I currently blocked, still trying to jog her memory. “She deserves to know more.”

Translation: She deserves to remember you are a piece of toxic, flaming shit.

I always knew Farrow was tougher than a pile of rusty nails and just as pleasant.

Briar raked her nails through her hair, tugging the strands out of its haphazard ponytail. “Ugh.”

I darted to her side, holding her up by the elbow as she swayed. “Are you okay?” The glare I sent Dallas, Fae, and Hettie could level a parking structure. “Doctor Cohen said one bad memory could set back her progress.”

“I’m fine.” Briar leaned into my side. “I just … I think I remember something.”

My heart sank. The closer she was to the truth, the further we drew apart. I didn’t expect her to actual be with me. Nor did I want her to be. After all, I didn’t deserve a lick of affection in my life. I just … wasn’t ready for her to hate me again.

Briar snapped her fingers. “I remember the fight.”

Oh, shit.

Dallas gunned toward Briar, almost toppling over with Luca, thanks to her eagerness. “What do you remember?”

“With Hazel.”

I sagged, hating myself for how relieved her words made me.

She doesn’t remember that day.

Hettie helped Briar straighten. “What happened?”

“I kicked her out. Wait.” Briar shook her head. “It wasn’t a fight. No, no. I had a boy over. He was …” She frowned, concentrating on the plain wooden door. “He was my boyfriend. His name was Grant.”

Grant deserved to be in an unmarked grave, six feet under, for the simple reason that he once breathed the same air as Briar.

“Grant.” Dallas’s eyes sparkled, practically radiating waves of pure delight. “How fun. How long were you together?”

Briar held the back of her scalp, her eyes narrowed, obviously trying to make sense of the revelation. “Long, I think.”

“Alright, that’s enough of your bullshit,” I growled at Dallas, stepping into the swarm of women and planting a hand on the small of my fake fiancée’s back. “Sweetheart, let’s go home.”

“She’s remembering things,” Dallas protested. “You’re interrupting our progress.”

“She has migraines, and I don’t remember Doctor Cohen mentioning anything about flying her around the globe and showing her places to help her recover. She needs rest.”

“I’m trying to help.”

I bared my teeth, downright feral. “Everything you touch turns radioactive.”

“I want to remember.” Briar stepped away from me, shooting me a glare. “Yes, my head hurts, but this is vital if I want to remember. It feels like ages since I woke up from my coma, yet I’ve had no progress. You don’t understand what it’s like to not have your memories. My memories are me.”

“You’re still you, Cuddlebug. Funny, and smart, and gorgeous.”

“And clueless, and disoriented, and frustrated. Why don’t you want my memories to return as much as I do? It’s our love story I’ve forgotten.”

“I do.”

I don’t.

The second she regained her memories, she’d be gone. And I wouldn’t be able to chase her. Not without breaking my promise to Seb.

And why, exactly, would you chase her, asshat? She’s not yours. In fact, she hates your fucking guts.

“I don’t believe you.” She spun toward the door before I could reply, tracing the painted wood like it would grant her the keys to the past. “Grant was a long-term boyfriend of mine. Two, maybe three years.”

The revelation slashed away at my chest like someone had run a sword through it and tossed bleach all over the open wound. I had no right to be upset, considering what I’d put this woman through. And still.

In fifteen years, I’d never moved on from her.

Never had a relationship spanning more than two hours, let alone two to three years.

“I’m just trying to help,” I explained, watching Briar’s frown deepen as she took me in. “Doctor Cohen said to avoid anything that might upset you.”

“Wait, how did you get here so fast?” Her eyes bounced between me and the corridor before darting between her kidnappers as if they held all the answers.

I pocketed my phone, now that I no longer needed Dallas to answer my goddamn calls. “My private plane.”

“Oliver, this is absurd. Why didn’t you call?”

“I did. I called all of you as soon as I found out you were here. None of you picked up.”

“Oh.” Briar fished out her new phone from her pocket, blinking back at the one hundred missed calls. “Mine was still on airplane mode.”

Farrow shrugged, picking at dirt beneath her nail. “Mine is always on Silent mode.”

“You don’t have my number,” Hettie chimed in. “I’m just your friend’s lowly cook.”

“I got your calls. I just ignored them.” Dallas kissed Luca’s head, turning back to Briar. “So, what else do you remember?”

“There’s a common room here with a pool table.” She jerked a thumb behind her. “I want to check it out. I think I remember something important that happened there.”

“Aw.” Dallas wiggled her brows. “You and Grant doing the nasty on the table?”

“No, it has something to do with Hazel.”

“Why don’t you take Briar to see it, Hettie?” Farrow latched onto both their elbows, urging them away. “That way Dallas, Oliver, and I can kill each other peacefully while you take advantage of the time we have here before our flight back.”

I watched Hettie usher Briar down the corridor, refusing to tear my eyes away until her very last atom left my line of sight. Something queasy churned in the pit of my gut. I had to stop this bullshit. Briar and I had ended the second I fucked over my family. I needed to help her recover, then we’d never see each other again. I owed her as much. The violent knot tightening inside me could only be guilt and worry for her health. That’s it.

As soon as Briar and Hettie left earshot, Dallas swiveled to me, her mouth wide-open, and for the first time, not so she could fit an entire unsliced cake into it.

“Holy shit, Ollie.” She slapped a hand over her chest. “You’re in love with her.”

“That’s ridiculous.” I glowered at her. “I’m not in lo … it’s complicated. We’ve known each other since we were in diapers. I’m worried about her, okay?”

Dallas stroked her chin, deep in thought. “I never thought you were capable of caring for anything that wasn’t the next parking lot for your peen.”

“The technology does exist,” I muttered.

“Not for you.” Farrow scrolled through her phone, not bothering to glance up at me. “You were programmed as an old-fashioned asshole. I didn’t think you had the features.”

Dallas beamed. “Must be a new software update, right?”

Farrow motioned with her hand to cut the joke, like the Jonah Hill meme. “That last analogy was overkill.”

Dallas sighed. “Inside jokes are like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. You never know when to stop.”

Without Briar here to witness this, I turned to them, hands on my waist. “Time to cut the bullshit. You overstepped. Big time.”

Fae paused, finger hovering long enough for her to snort. “Did we, though?”

Dallas bounced Luca up and down. “You asked me to help Briar. I’m helping Briar. If we relied on you, she won’t recover her memory for another decade.”

Now there’s an idea.

I tore a hand through my hair. “You shouldn’t have taken her off my property, let alone to another state. Do you understand how delicate she is? This is not a fucking game. What if she needed me?”

“It seems like she needed you a lot throughout her life, and you weren’t there.” Fae squinted at me, shoving her phone into her pocket. “Don’t pretend to suddenly care.”

She was right, of course. This was my eternal shame. But with her in Europe and a self-implemented ban from looking her up, I’d managed to push the guilt into my brain’s periphery. Now that she was in front of me – dazzling, and beautiful, and lovable to a fucking fault – it would take amnesia on my part to rip me away.

I wet my lips, sucking in a breath. “This is the last time you two take Briar anywhere without my permission. I had to unseat an entire fucking board meeting to be here.”

“What are you talking about?” Dallas snorted. “You’re like me. You’ve never even met a job, let alone held one.”

Shit.

The truth slipped out like a dick pic accidentally sent into a group chat within a bunch of attachments. (Lesson learned. Send one photo at a time.)

Dallas and Farrow stared at me, waiting for an explanation.

A muscle jumped in my jaw. “I don’t think you know me when it comes to this woman.”

“I don’t think we know you at all,” Farrow agreed. “I am starting to see that you have a job, you’re not that dumb, and you’re capable of feelings.”

This wasn’t the time to talk about me.

“Pull this crap with Briar one more time, and I will make everyone’s lives on Dark Prince Road a living hell. You do not cross me when it comes to this woman. You do not put her at risk. You do not make stupid, reckless decisions. She is my ward. My responsibility. Mine to protect.” I glanced between them. “Am I clear?”

Dallas and Farrow exchanged looks. They’d never seen me like this. I’d never seen me like this. I didn’t even know I had it in me to care so much.

But when I’d realized they’d taken her, all I could think about were the what ifs.

What if she feared flying? What if she felt alone? What if the plane crashed? What if someone said something to offend her? What if she didn’t remember and she left disappointed? What if she did remember everything, and I wasn’t there to hold her?

Finally, after a beat of silence, a sickly-sweet smile graced Dallas’ face. She beamed like she knew something I didn’t. “Crystal clear.”

“Sure.” Farrow returned her attention to her phone. “Keep lying to her. You’re the only one who believes you’re doing this for her own good. Soon enough, she’ll remember why you both lost touch.”

“So.” Dallas dusted her hands. “What now?”

“Now …” I’d already started storming down the hallway toward the common area, wherever the hell it was. “I’m going to retrieve my fiancée and get the fuck out of here.”