Page 110 of My Brother's Billionaire Best Friends

She grins back. “Louder for the people in the back.”

The night settles in slowly, soft and warm. The windows glow gold with the last of the sun. Dinner turns out to be delivery Chinese, courtesy of Gavin. Parker’s mom sets down plates like she’s been feeding a crew of grown men her whole life, and Lyra gets sweet and sour sauce on her nose while arguing with Levi about whether Blue’s Clues is better than some other show I’ve never heard of.

I sit at the table and can’t stop staring.

It doesn’t feel like I’m intruding. It doesn’t feel like I’m pretending to fit. I just do.

27

GAVIN

The front door flings open.Jack and I, and most dangerously, Harrison, are on our feet in a flash.

But it’s Phil. He’s standing inside the doorway, face red, jaw clenched, keys still in hand like he hasn’t decided whether he’s staying or storming back out.

Parker’s mom glances up from where she’s helping Lyra unwrap a fortune cookie. Harrison is braced, ready for anything. Jack’s in the living room, staring Phil down. The air sharpens. Parker freezes mid-laugh and sets her drink down, her back going stiff.

I step between her and Phil. “Let’s talk,” I say, nodding toward the sliding glass door. “Outside.”

Phil glares at me. “I’ve got some things to say?—”

“And you can say them to me,” I cut in smoothly, keeping my voice low and level. “Not in front of the kids.”

He hesitates, nostrils flaring. Then, reluctantly, he follows me out onto the balcony. It’s cooler out here. Quiet, except for the faint hum of street noise and the soft thud of a basketball a fewhouses down. I shut the door behind us, keeping my hand on the knob.

“Go ahead,” I say.

Phil turns on me like a man who’s rehearsed this confrontation for days. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“That’s a long list. Narrow it down.”

“Don’t. No jokes. Not now. Not with this.”

I nod once. “Be more specific about your grievance, please.”

“You know exactly what I mean. You waltz into my sister’s life like it’s a goddamn rom-com, drag your two best friends with you, and then let her get railroaded by Vivian like none of it’s your responsibility?—”

“I never said it wasn’t.”

“She’s threatening to buy their building, Gavin. Did you know that? Your mother is putting Parker, the kids, and my mom on the street.”

I go still. My mouth tastes like bile. I haven’t answered my mother’s calls in days. I thought that was the end of it. I thought my silence was a message. But apparently, Vivian’s resorted to her usual tactic—escalation by overreach. “I didn’t know. I didn’t think she’d stoop this low.”

Phil laughs, sharp and cold. “This is Vivian we’re talking about. She always goes lower.”

I don’t have a good answer. Only a boiling sense of disbelief. “She’ll back off. We’ll make sure of it.”

“She won’t,” Phil snaps. “She’s not playing checkers. She’s playing chess with a fucking flamethrower.”

“She’s playingdesperate,” I reply. “And desperation’s sloppy. It makes mistakes.”

Phil crosses his arms. “So what’s the plan?”

I meet his eyes. “We take care of our own. No one in your family is going to go without again. Ever.”

He holds my stare a beat too long, like he’s trying to figure out whether I mean it. “How the fuck can I trust you to handle this, Gavin? After all the lies?—”

“Necessary lies.”