Lies and Weddings(114)

Eden gave him a chiding look. “That nanny didn’t really exist, did she?”

Luis Felipe smirked. “No, she didn’t. How did you guess?”

“I had the unfortunate pleasure of hearing your lawyer tell that story about you being taken to Macau to lose your virginity…”

“Oh yeah, the brothel story. That didn’t really happen the way he told it. My dad did send me to a brothel, but he didn’t bother to come watch.”

“You know, I’ve observed you over the past few weeks, and it’s clear to me that you’re much smarter and more sensitive than you let on. Why do you find it necessary to make up these stories?” Eden asked.

“I’m just trying to have a little fun.”

“You have a strange concept of fun.”

“Yeah? Ever had any fun? Like, have you ever really let go of all your inhibitions and gone wild?”

“I don’t need to go wild to have fun.”

“Ever done shrooms?”

Eden rolled her eyes.

“How about MDMA? LSD? Dmitri? Georgia Home Boy? Aunt Nora? Or just some good ol’-fashioned smack?”

“No thank you. I’ve treated my fair share of heroin addicts, and I’ve seen how it’s utterly destroyed their lives.”

“That’s because it was shit heroin. I’m going to a party this weekend in Nevada that’s going to be epic. They always have the finest heroin, like Chateau Lafite–level stuff. You should come. You’ll experience what real fun is for once in your life.”

“I don’t actually think you’re having much fun, Luis Felipe. I think you’re trying to numb your pain…”

“Oh thank you, Dr. Freud, or is it Missus Jung? Can you tell I’m grieving over my dead daddy? Is it that obvious that I’m in pain? Let me tell you something, Eden Tong. The day my father died was the first day I felt truly free. It was the happiest. Fucking. Day. Of. My. Life.”

“You don’t really mean that.”

“Fuck you. You sit here judging me, but you don’t have a single clue about my life. You haven’t walked in my shoes for one second. Do you know what it’s like to be the son of Rene Tan? Do you know how many lives he ruined? The thousands of people who died working on his construction projects around the world? Any clue how many cover-ups there were? You only knew him during the last week of his life, when he was eighty percent butternut squash and twenty percent lusting after your snatch.”

Eden sighed, recalling her promise to Rene. Be nice to my son. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I didn’t really know your dad, and I haven’t the faintest clue what your relationship with him was really like.”

“So you want me to tell all? I don’t need a pity party from you,” Luis Felipe said bitterly as he faced away from her, looking out the window.

“That’s the last thing I wish to do. I’m just here to listen, that’s all.”

“My dad was one cruel skullfucker. He wouldn’t let my mom see me—he called her a bad influence and tried to show me a sex tape that he’d secretly recorded of her. Can you fucking believe that? He slept with my first girlfriend and then he told me she was only after my money and he was trying to teach me a lesson. Everything with him was a lesson, it was about toughening me up and preparing me to manage his great and glorious fortune after he was gone. And now look what he’s done. I put up with his torture for twenty-three years of my life, and now he’s trying to fuck me from the grave with this whole trust bullshit!”

Eden looked him in the face while he ranted. All she saw was a hurt, lonely boy behind all that rage. “If you feel that he was so cruel, why would you want to perpetuate that? You don’t really want to throw the Greshams out of their house, do you?”

“Are you kidding? I can’t wait to evict those self-satisfied fuckers.”

“You do realize that by evicting them, I’m going to be homeless too. The cottage is part of the estate.”

“I’m not going to evict you or your father, don’t worry. In fact, I think you should move into the Big House. That’ll teach that snotty Hong Kong tai tai a lesson!”

“I have no interest in living at Greshamsbury Hall.”

“That’s bullshit. You’ve secretly fantasized about being the lady of the manor your whole life.”

“I really haven’t.”

“So you’re not trying to ensnare the cuntess’s precious son?”

“I think you know the answer to that.”

“Fr?ulein Eden’s not going to marry Count Rufus von Trapp in a grand cathedral?”

“He’s a viscount, and nope, no plans for a cathedral wedding.”

“Great. Then why don’t you marry me?”

“You don’t really want to marry me.” Eden laughed.

“I do.”

“Look, I’m not marrying you. You’re clearly blitzed and you’re not being serious.”

Luis Felipe got up from the sofa and bent down before her. “Look, I’m getting on my hands and knees. What else do you want? A ring from motherfuckin’ Tiffany? Marry me and come live with me at Greshamsbury Hall. Can you just see the looks on their faces when we pull up in a friggin’ carriage?”