Page 30 of The Stepbrother 2: Noah

I told him about the summer after Maine's and Jason's graduation, then about Creed forcing me to impregnate her, leaving out the part about me doing it willingly.

Troy chuckled and shook his head when I finished.

"What now? What are you and Creed going to do?" he asked, his eyes locked on mine.

"Creed and I are starting our life together."

His eyebrow rose. "And if Creed decides she doesn't want a life with you?"

I shook my head. "She won't."

"It's really none of my business. But she better not." He threatened without saying it directly, before sliding off the truck. I followed suit. He started to walk around to the driver's side, but before he made it around, I asked him, "When are you going back home? Scarlett is losing her mind." I felt bad for her. Scarlett and Troy had been joined at the hip for years. It had to be hard functioning without your shadow.

Troy paused. "Good, she drives me crazy all the time. But I'll be back in a few days. If the media gets any wind of problems between us, they broadcast it, and then out come the wolves. I'm too damn old to be fighting for her love anymore," he joked before raising his hand to rub his jaw.

"Could you not tell her about Creed, just yet?" I knew Troy would mind his business unless Creed included him in ours, but Scarlett was a different story. I didn’t need her adding to my already uphill battle with Creed.

"I won't tell her anything for the next few days, I can promise you that. But only if you promise to go back to pretending you can't fight the next time we spar," he added with a smirk.

I chuckled, and so did Troy. He hopped in his truck, waiting for me to get into Creed's Tesla. I drove it, hoping to piss her off. He drove one way, and I drove the other. The entire time, I was thinking about Creed and her pregnancy.

When I pulled up to Troy and Scarlett's house, Maine was standing in the driveway, having a heated conversation with her head stuck in the window of Tiffany's Audi. Maine looked back at me with a panicked expression before gesturing for Tiffany to leave.

Tiffany waved as she backed out. I would be calling her. I’d asked her to stay away, and if she didn’t, I’d tell her I’d take her allowance next. I’d been giving Tiffany money for years. She was the reason I was in the position I was in now. She owed some very dangerous people money. Troy and Scarlett used to take us on vacations all over the world. To pay back my mother’s debts, I’d gotten the idea to stash away guns and drugs on their private jet. Troy and Scarlett never had to worry. If I got caught, I would have taken the fall. I got good at moving illegal goods to make money.

I jogged to catch up with Maine, who was about to enter the front door. She glared at my hand around her wrist, holding her still.

"What was she doing here, Maine?"

She narrowed her eyes. "You mean our mother? I’m here, so she should be allowed too."

"Since when is she your mother? Scarlett raised you."

"Leave me alone, Noah. You're always on their side," she hissed.

I frowned. "When has there ever been a 'their side,' Maine? You're referring to your father and the woman who took you inwhen Tiffany left you at the hospital. Creed is your sister, Maine. There is no 'you versus them.'"

"Whatever," she yelled, snatching her arm away and entering the house. I let her go.

Ever since that incident in the mall, it was like my blinders where Maine was concerned had been taken off. I noticed that she’d make little snarky remarks about Creed. She’d talk about how Lil' Compton's death had gotten Creed everything without her earning it. Maine acted as if she wasn’t unemployed, living in a remodeled half-a-million-dollar duplex. Troy paid her credit card bills, and every expensive piece of jewelry or handbag Scarlett got, she bought the same for Creed and Maine. I didn't understand why Maine had it in her head that she was being slighted.

I let her go, though. I just hoped whatever she and Tiffany were up to didn’t get her left out in the cold. Tiffany would not be there for her. But I understood why Maine trusted her more than I did. She had not spent years in the same house as her, watching her be manipulative and use people.

I followed her into the house, finding Creed in the kitchen eating fruit at the kitchen island. My eyes immediately fell to her stomach; it looked the same, slightly rounded, but I imagined what it would look like in a few months. Damn, I couldn't wait to hold my baby.

Our eyes connected, and she coughed, nearly choking on a piece of pineapple. "What happened to your face?"

"Your father. I told him you're pregnant, and its mine. He agreed not to tell your mother, I’ll do it myself."

Her face twisted into a scowl. "Why would you do that? I don't even know what I want to do."

I replied calmly, "You don’t have but one option, and that’s having our baby." I washed my hands, then grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and pressed it to my jaw.

She stood from the stool. "Yes. I'm havingmybaby," she emphasized. "And I want you to sign over all parental rights."

I tilted my head, staring at Creed, searching her face for signs that she was out of her mind. She stared right back, challenging me. After a few seconds, I simply shook my head and walked away. My body ached, and I needed my meds to deal with Creed without saying or doing something I'd regret. I heard her chair scrape against the tiled floor and assumed she'd taken a seat again as I left the kitchen.

I realized then that I was going to have to take drastic measures to make Creed understand that I was not her parents, or Maine, or Devon. I wasn’t scared of her wrath.

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