Page 30 of Heartless Stepbrother
The celebrations continued around us, but I couldn’t hear the words. The vows, the kiss, the happily ever after, they meant nothing compared to the thunder roaring in my veins. I couldn’t focus on my mother’s radiant smile, the hope shining in her eyes, because beside me sat the storm I didn’t know how to weather.
The crowd celebrated, but I felt utterly alone, caught in the crossfire of a war I hadn’t chosen but couldn’t escape.
I dared another glance at him. His gaze didn’t waver. He was calm, collected, the eye of the storm. Yet beneath that controlled surface, I sensed a game unfolding. One I was forced to play, whether I wanted to or not.
“Welcome to the family, stepsis,” he repeated, this time quieter, almost a whisper meant only for me.
The words hung in the air like a dark promise.
And suddenly, I knew nothing about this new life.
Nothing about him.
Nothing about the battles waiting just beyond the horizon.
But one thing was crystal clear: from this moment on, nothing would ever be the same.
CHAPTER SEVEN
RILEY
Theapplausecrashedaroundus like a wave breaking against jagged rocks, loud and unrelenting, but all I heard was the sharp silence that had settled between me and Luna. She was frozen, eyes wide, blue like the ocean beyond the ceremony, staring straight at me with disbelief painted across her pale face.The angry flush that had burned her cheeks a moment ago had drained away, leaving her ghostly and raw.
Priceless.
Absolutely fucking priceless.
I leaned back in my chair, smug and slow, savoring the way her gaze flickered from shock to something more complicated. Confusion? Fear? Desire? Hell, maybe a little of all three. The way she looked at me like she’d just swallowed something bitter and couldn’t spit it out… it was beautiful in its own twisted way.
From the second I’d heard her name on the beach, barely a whisper lost beneath the crashing waves, I’d known.
The Australian girl with the pretty face, the unsteady breath, and the mortified expression as she’d stumbled upon me and Anna in the dark. I hadn’t expected much from her, a brief distraction, maybe a little late-night entertainment to break the monotony of this godforsaken resort.
Then she’d said it, her name, without thinking it would have such an impact. Luna.
In that instant, a wicked little seed planted itself in my mind, growing into something delicious, something dangerous.
I saw it then. Her eyes darting to me, even as she apologized, even as she tried to bury the humiliation under a flush of indignation. She was curious. Interested. More than a little intrigued, despite herself.
And the best part? She had no fucking clue who I was.
That ignorance? It was intoxicating.
I played it cool. The teasing, the casual cruelty, it came naturally. I wasn’t a stranger to pushing buttons, to getting under someone’s skin, and Luna was a fucking goldmine. Wide-eyed and fiery, stubborn even in embarrassment. Every stutter, every blush, every frantic attempt to look away was fuel for me.
I walked away that night, the faintest smile tugging at the corner of my mouth, already tasting the chaos that was coming.
Getting rid of this one was going to be fun.
Much more fun than I ever thought this whole step-sibling deal would be.
The applause swelled again, pulling me back from the dark spiral of my thoughts.
I was here for the girl whose life I was about to turn upside down.
Her blue eyes locked on mine one last time before she forced herself to look away, like she was trying to escape the gravity pulling her toward me. But I knew better.
I was already in her head.
