Playboy Prince

Briar laughs. "He is."

"But he's really accommodating about buying ingredients. And I'm a great cook," she says.

"Charm really does run in the family." Briar looks to me. Is it okay?

"How did Adam and Simon end up with none then?" I ask.

"'Cause you, me, and Bash took it all! Obviously," Opal says. "I wish he was here for the wedding. He would have a lot to say about Harrison and Lee."

Briar whispers something in Opal's ear.

Opal nods of course. "Sorry, Liam. I didn't mean to bring that up. I just—"

"I know he's dead," I say. "You don't have to dance around it."

"I'm not dancing. I'm trying not to ruin the mood." Her brow furrows for a second, then she shakes it off. "He was my brother too."

All right, I'm being an asshole.

I'm too tired for this shit.

"Is there something I don't know?" she asks. "Simon says there's nothing, but he gets all hush-hush whenever Bash's name comes up. And now you're being weird too. Even by Liam standards."

"Nothing I know," I say.

She nods, deciding whether or not she believes me.

Sex, death, and secrets.

My entire fucking life.

I want the truth, yes, but Ian was right. This is a line I can't uncross. Simon might not forgive me.

Mercifully, Briar shifts the subject away from my brother's mysterious death. "Don't you and Simon live uptown?"

"Like Gossip Girl." Opal laughs.

"I've never seen it," Briar says.

"No!"

"I've never been a teen soap person."

"Briar West, don't say these things!"

"It's true." She smiles. "I'm more of a reader."

"The show started as a book series."

"Depressing Russian literature," I say. "That was her focus in college."

"Really?" Opal asks. "Those bleak six-hundred-page tomes?"

Briar nods.

"That explains your stamina working with Liam," Opal says.

Briar doubles over laughing.

"That was pretty fucking good," I admit. "Did you set her up for that?"

Opal shakes her head.

"The sense of humor is genetic too," Briar says.

"You make me proud, kid." I pull my sister into a hug.

She hugs back with enthusiasm. She does everything with enthusiasm. It's not just her age—she turned eighteen a few months ago—it's her.

"Don't you have homework?" A judgmental voice interrupts. Simon.

"Hello, I graduated two weeks ago. You were all there… did you forget?" She rolls her eyes.

"Is that a no?" Simon asks.

"Okay, yes, I have homework. But it's an art class. And it's for fun, not credit."

"You should do your homework," he says.

"I still need to eat," she says.

"I'm sorry, Opal, but I'm too tired to head uptown." Briar offers an apologetic smile. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"She has class tomorrow," Simon says.

"What if we come over? I can cook. Or we can order something. Do you like spicy? There's this great Thai place around here. The drunken noodles are amazing. And Simon's favorite too." She looks to Simon. "Please?"

Simon eats greasy Thai food. Since fucking when?

He looks at her and melts. The way Adam always did with Bash.

He sees her as a daughter as much as he sees her as a sibling. She showed up at his apartment three years ago with a paper that said she was his half-sister.

None of us knew, even though Dad had set up a trust in her name.

Our family has always been a fucked-up mess, but at least I knew my father, knew where I was expected to fit into the world. Opal didn't even know she had siblings until her sixteenth birthday. The same day she found out she was going to inherit a fortune at thirty.

That's another level of fucked up.

"One hour," Simon says. "Then you do your homework."

"Thank you!" She throws her arms around him. "You're my favorite brother. Sorry, Liam."

I chuckle. "Whatever lies you have to tell him."

"Can we go now?" she asks. "Or do you need time?"

"How about I pick up dinner?" Briar asks. "And meet you at home?"

"You're living together?" Simon asks.

I reach for the dirtiest response I can find. "How else are we going to—"

Simon interrupts me. "Not in front of her."

"I know about sex," Opal says. "And I know Liam. He has to brag. It's in his veins or something."

"Yeah, you never do it," I say.

"Not as much as you," she says.

"You have time," I say.

"You're a grown-up. You're supposed to be more mature."

"I thought you were a grown woman?"

Her cheeks turn red. "I am a grown woman. I just… ugh! You know what I mean, Liam!"

I do. But it's fun riling her. Almost too easy.

Simon pulls out his phone. "Opal, why don't you go with Briar? Pick up the food with her." He taps in his order then hands the phone to her.

"He's trying to get rid of me." She inputs her order. "Bad news for you."

"Tell me about it." I take my turn. Look to Briar. "The usual?"

"Please," she says.

Opal presses her hands together. "You know her usual? That's so romantic. Oh my gosh. I hope I have this kind of love one day. Well, maybe with someone a little less slutty. No offense, Liam. Or Briar. He's the one who's slutty, not you. Or are you?"