Page 7 of Jealous Stepbrother
Another thing Asher left me with is a stepdad who looks at me a little differently now, even though he doesn’t know.Can’tpossibly know that his son ruined me in that one reckless night. I was keeping the House of M news under wraps until I actually signed on the dotted line.
Now…
I stare at the coffee until it goes cold. The steam fades first, then the taste, until it’s nothing but bitter sludge in a paper cup. I tell myself I’m not going back. But…the truth sits heavy in my chest. I don’t like unanswered questions. Especially not ones wrapped in Asher’s voice and strung with invisible wire. It’s been four years. Why now? Why is he doing this? Why me?
By the time I stand, my excuses are already lined up. I’m going back to demand answers. To see how far he’ll go. To take whatever advantage I can before I bolt.
That’s all. Definitely not because a part of me, the same reckless part that ignored every warning that night four years ago, needs to see if the fire—thatpotentfire—that simmers just below his surface is still white hot. Singeing everything in its path.
Including me.
That part? Well, it can fuck right off.
He looks entirely too smug,unsurprised and downright amused when I walk back into his conference room.
“Back so soon?”
I swallow my pride with bile. “I need this internship.”
He closes the distance between us in two strides. His fingers brush a strand of hair from my face. His eyes fall to my mouth.
“You’ll have it,” he says softly. “But on one condition.”
I hold my breath. “What?” Then I shake my head, remembering all the questions I planned to ask. “No, wait. First, tell me why you did all this… to get me here.”
He leans in, brushing his lips against my ear like a secret.
“You think what happened between us four years ago ended just because you ran screaming far too late after I warned you to stop?” An almost cruel smile quirks his lips. “No, baby. I just hit the pause button. Let you run around, tire your sweet little ass out, then bring you right back when yourealizethat this…” his long fingers flicker between us, his eyes glinting with wicked, explicit delight, “is as inevitable as that hungry pulse in your tight little pussy that beats just for me.”
I slap him.
The crack echoes in the high-ceilinged room. My palm stings.
But he barely moves, doesn’t even flinch. He simply… smiles. Dark and dangerous. Ravenous and feral with it.
He toys with the same strand of my hair even as the imprint of my hand flares across his taut cheek.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he croons. “Welcome to the firm, baby sis.”
Oh God. I hate him.
And I hate how much I want him.
CHAPTER 2
MINE BEFORE SHE KNEW IT
Asher
Iwarned her.
Four years ago, I told her to stop pushing me.
She didn’t listen.
And now here we are, exactly where I knew we’d end up.
Back then, I thought I was giving her a choice. I realize now there was never a choice for either of us.
