by Eden O'Neill
Hard not to considering what I came here for and what Lawson had on the counter just south of his chin. He smiled. “Yeah, it was a good time. Wish I was there now. Didn’t want to come home.”
“Me either.”
“Yeah.” A twinkle in his eyes as he fell back. “Think you’ll do it again next year?”
“I’ll try. Not sure. I want to teach so I’ll probably be looking for jobs, I can imagine.” Teaching was what I was going to school for, elementary education my track. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“Killing time and I guess getting experience.” He pushed the bag my way. “I’m actually going back to Bay Cove to get my pharmaceutical degree. This past summer was just as much about self-exploration as it was about helping people. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, and while I was there I decided graduate school was for me. You go there too, right? Bay Cove-U?”
The fact that this guy knew anything about me at all blew me away. After all, he was literally everything when I’d been in school and not just to me. I knew our moms knew each other, but he maybe said a word or two to me, and that’d been because I was in the way of his group while they’d been walking down the hallway. He’d never been mean about it, just passive.
That didn’t seem to be the case now as he looked at me and smiled. My face immediately heated and I played with my hair. “I do. Maybe I’ll see you.”
“Maybe.” Another dashing smile before he went to ring me up. “This all for you or…”
I literally forgot about what I came in here for.
I chewed my lip, letting Lawson know that was all I needed. He finished bagging me up, then handed it off.
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” he said. “I’ll see you around then?”
“Yeah, hopefully,” I returned, hugging the bag to my body. His gorgeous eyes flickered to it before finding mine, and I wrestled with my hair again. I shrugged. “I don’t normally buy things like this. I mean…”
I didn’t know what I meant or why I felt the need to explain to him. I guessed since our parents knew each other?
I wanted to die again. Especially when he chuckled. Palming the counter, he leaned forward. “You’re not the first to come in here. And even if you were, so what? People have sex. Not a big deal and nothing to be embarrassed about.”
But still, I was here and in front of him.
He winked. “See you around. At school?”
“For sure.”
He backed away, and I was chewing my lip by the time I got out of the store. Kit kept texting, but I could only deal with one thing at a time right now. I decided to take a sidewalk corner behind the store and after buying a bottle of water from the vending machine, I read the box. Might as well get this done now.
*
I rushed home, but even still, the hour had long passed breakfast. I’d obviously missed the gathering, and I knew the moment I rode up the driveway past dad’s silver Mercedes. Someone was behind the vehicle in the yard. He was pulling weeds.
And was shirtless.
My stepbrother Jaxen was down to the jeans he’d worn last night, tugging and pulling at ragweed in my mom’s flower garden. She had people who came and did this, of course, but for whatever reason, my stepbrother was on his knees and doing it himself. His chiseled back muscles roved and strained while he dug in the dirt between flower bushes, his muscled frame glistening with sweat. The squeak of my bicycle gave him pause.
He shifted in seconds.
On his feet before me, growing like a beautiful monster. He tugged off gloves too small for his big hands, my mom’s. Tossing them, he came over, and I thought I’d vomit right where I stood.
What does he want? What does he…
He appraised me, just once before his hand slammed on my bicycle handle. A strong grip and his eyes danced, his body smelling of sweat and raw heat. Truth be told, he smelled really good, and I may have had thoughts to enjoy that.
Had he not been my stepbrother.
Oh, and the fact that he scared the ever-loving shit out of me.
A growl in his voice as he dragged his gaze up from my sundress to my eyes. A small smirk. “You missed breakfast, sis.”
So he noticed, obviously having a good time with my parents. I heard them laughing together. I swallowed. “Had to go get something.”
“Right.” Liquid glass eyes dragged back to my bike. “And on this. What the fuck is this?”
He tugged at my bike, but I held on, pushing back from him. “What the hell is your deal?”
“What do you mean?” He feigned innocence, leaning back on my dad’s car. His feathered brown locks fluttered in the wind. “Do I seem like I have a deal?”
Only totally, and he wasn’t fooling anyone. I saw how he’d looked at me before. There’d been basically hatred there. Add to the fact that he’d screwed me definitely knowing who I was, he had a deal.
I just couldn’t figure out what it was.
I couldn’t figure out why it was warranted. He either had a bone to pick or was seriously screwed up in the head.
I picked the later, starting to pedal off but his hand slammed down on the bike again. “Let me go.”
“No.” He straddled my wheel with his big thighs, a god atop my bicycle. He was almost playful about it, jovial as he tugged my handlebars closer with a grin. “Where did you go?”
“Out.”
“Obviously, but where, and why the fuck on this?” He angled a look. “You don’t have a car or something?”
“I do, but where I went is close and riding my bike is better for the environment.”
“Riding my bike is better for the environment,” he parroted, seriously whacked out in the head. Puffing up, he cuffed his big biceps with a head shake. “Jesus, Rick really outdid himself with you lot. I mean, could you be more of a Girl Scout?”
“Could you be more of an asshole?”
The words escaped so quickly, too quickly, and I couldn’t stop them. I’d been on fire.
He’d made me mad.
I never said things like that to people. I may have thought them once or twice, but never did I actually say things like that. It just wasn’t in my character, but he was driving me crazy.
His eyes went crazier.
Hands grappling my handlebars, he jutted my bike forward and attempted to throw me off it.
“Stop!”
He didn’t stop, tugging on my handlebars and with a strong push, I pedaled off and darted in the other direction. I thought I was free, getting to the backyard.
The rake handle came out of nowhere.
It intercepted my spokes, stopping my wheel, and I flew forward.
My scream hit the air as I bypassed my handlebars completely, literally flying over them. The ground came quickly.
But I hit a chest first, a firm one when my stepbrother tackled me up and got me flush against his hard body.
“Let go, psycho!” I slapped at his chest, fighting him, but he was too strong. My arms gathered, he pinned them at my sides, dragging me up his body.
He grinned. “Oh, please struggle,” he said, pulling me close.
His actual cock probed at my tummy, and a quake hit the entirety of my limbs that he was actually getting off on this.
My stepbrother was truly a psychopath, the devil masked as a beautiful god, and I started to scream, until his gaze past over my shoulder. He let go of me quickly, so quick I actually fell to my knees on the dirt.
“And what’s this?” came from behind me, Jaxen’s eyes on the small volcanic eruption that had been my purse. It launched off into the yard when I flew over my bike handles.
And my purchase had been inside.
I’d taken the pill, but still had the box it came in. I should have thrown it away behind the pharmacy when I’d had the chance.
I should have thrown it all away.
I knew that the moment my stepbrother got the box in his hands. He studied it for what felt like forever, and every second that pas
sed, a slow dread moved through me. If he looked deranged before.
Nothing but pure evil faced me now.
He didn’t even look upset, merely smiling in response. “So the Girl Scout isn’t so perfect. What? You miss a birth control pill?”
“Give that back.” I reached for it, but he grabbed me again—hard. He jerked my arm behind my back, and I called out.
His nose brushed mine. “Or did you lie to me?” he growled, tugging my arm harder. “You a liar? You’re not on the pill?”
“I am, but I missed a couple.”
“You missed a couple.” A dark chuckle, his lips pulling apart against the bridge of my nose. He bit down on it a little. “I think you lied, sis. I think you never were on birth control.”
“I was. I am. I swear. I just missed a couple. That’s why I took the pill. I wasn’t trying to trap you or anything. Jaxen…”
“Jax.” He mouthed my neck and the harsh heat stalled my breath, my entire body swimming in fear. I felt my heart race in my neck, my tummy quivering. He smiled his crazed smile. “I think stepmommy dearest and Rick need to know exactly what you are. A lying whore who goes around trying to trap guys.”
“I didn’t.” I pleaded. “Why would I have gotten the pill in the first place? You see I already took it.”
The packaging was all there, right there in front of him.
A deep chuckle and I realized he was playing with me, just more of this madness. More getting off on this.
“Even still, I think I’ll tell them,” he stated, dragging his finger down my neck. “They need to know what we did. Who you are?”
Tears pricked my eyes, my hand on his bicep. “Jax, please don’t.”
His hand found my mouth, forcing my lips apart. His eyes twitched crazy again, his smile a dark one. “You don’t get any rights here. Not with me.”
“Why are you doing this?” I pleaded, shaking. “Why are you treating me like this? What did I do?”
“What did you do?” Another smile. He let me go, and I fell to my knees, my shins completely covered in dirt.
I dragged my head up.
“Try existing, Girl Scout,” he said, tossing the box at me. It hit my shoulder and he smirked. “The fact that you’re a whore just like your mother makes it more fun for me.”
My chest heaved, my insides threatening to explode outside my body again. Heavy steps and he sauntered back over to the rake that had tossed me over my bicycle handles. He’d obviously pushed it into my spokes.
His hand rested on the top. “Probably should get yourself inside. Clean yourself up?” A wide grin. “You look like you’re about to cry.”
I wouldn’t and definitely not in front of him.
Getting to my feet, I brushed myself off, grabbing my things.
I heard nothing but his dark chuckles as I headed inside.
I’d hear them in my nightmares.
Chapter Five
Cleo
Jaxen obviously had a bone to pick with my mom and me. He didn’t even know us, yet hated us, but I refused to try and figure out his crazy. Outside had been the musings of an obvious psychopath, but something I could do about it was alert my dad. This news would most certainly crush him. He’d really wanted Jax to come down here and get to know us, to know me. He’d been so thrilled he was coming he even got Jaxen into my university. Something kind of hard to do considering Jaxen was a senior like me and entrance into Bay Cove was very competitive. He’d wanted someone there for Jax to connect with, me there.
He’d wanted us to be a family.
He’d shared this more than once, constant talks over the dinner table and how thrilled he was that his son had not only agreed to come down, but go to school here. Jaxen did come, but clearly with some kind of delusional chip on his shoulder. Maybe he hated me because his dad hadn’t been around. Maybe he was angry and that made him ruthless.
Either way, I didn’t care.
I just knew my dad would want to know about this. He wanted us to be a family, but he never would have wanted this. Jaxen had been peaches and cream in front of my parents, but it had to be a front. Didn’t it?
Maybe he just hates you.
Again, I couldn’t care, the guy totally dangerous. He’d gone from so kind last night, gentle. I’d met him and hadn’t even wanted to leave him, his hands so big and strong and his personality completely inviting. He’d been, in a word, perfect.
And nothing but a lie.
He didn’t care about me. He just wanted to crush me, and Dad needed to know. I found him in his office, tapping on the door frame. He was surrounded by papers and, as per usual, working when he’d come home to relax and be with family. I was well aware he and Mom would be off and back to business first thing tomorrow after Jaxen and I were supposed to go to school.
His eyes flickered up. “Oh, come in, sweetheart. Come in. I’m almost done here.”
By done, he must have been referring to a break. My adoptive father never stopped being busy. His work in politics kept him always preoccupied.
It was one of the things I admired about him.
Constantly in the trenches, Dad fought policies and the men and women above them to make things better for so many people over the years. And that’d been only in the years since he’d married my mom. The pair may have met in politics, but he’d worked as an active player in government long before my mom and I came along. He’d been the saving grace for our family. The rock for both my mom and me. We’d had some trying times before he’d come along.
Heartbreak.
Struggle.
And he’d been there for the aftermath, still fighting but with a different struggle. He picked up the pieces of a shattered family broken by pain and suffering. He’d mended us and put me completely back together with my mom. I honestly didn’t remember life before Rick Fairchild came into our lives.
At least, I tried not to.
Dad waved me in around his stacks of papers, probably in here since after breakfast. He grinned. “Come. Come. I’ll make room for you.”
He’d always said that, could make room however tight. It only made the reason I came to him that much harder.
But I needed the strength.
His son was crazy, point-blank. I didn’t want to come in here, bust everything up but I felt like I had no choice. What Jaxen had done last night and today was completely unacceptable. He’d been cruel, evil and malicious. People got locked up for lesser things they’d done.
And he did it right in my adoptive father’s house.
Jax was a guest in this house and he hurt me, my strides quiet into my dad’s study. Dad had his MacBook open, but closed it after striking a few keys.
He sat back with laced fingers. “What’s up? Missed you at breakfast this morning.” His eyebrows drew in deeply. “Mom said you were having feminine worries.”
As awesome as my dad was he was still a guy at the end of the day. I rolled my eyes. “It’s called a period, Dad.”
“Yes, er, um, period.” Rick Fairchild’s cheeks colored, a man who gave speeches in front of hundreds, thousands. He patted his desk. “Anyway, you doing all right?”
I took him up on the seat he offered, lounging back against his desk. I shook my head. “Not exactly. I wanted to talk to you about that.”
His brow jumped. “Your, um…” A neck scratch. “Period, honey? I have to say, I think your mom is better suited.”
Dear God.
“No, not the period.”
Appearing relieved, he chuckled. “Then what then?”
How could I say his son was a freak? How could I tell him the son he was trying to reconnect with, unite our families together with, was crazy and had it out for me? This house was well aware of my dad and Jaxen’s history.
There was a reason I’d never met my stepbrother before.
My mom, Rick, and I were a family built on pain, struggle. The three of us came from divided households, from heartache, and through the ashes, we’d been able to find each
other. We healed but that couldn’t deny what each of us had come from.
Dad had his own woes back in the Midwest, his own mangled history. That past divided his previous family, and though I didn’t quite know the details, I did know not once had it’d ever been in the cards for me or Mom to meet Jaxen. Every time I’d bring it up, I was given words like “it’s complicated” or “it just can’t happen.” Jaxen, I guessed, had been adamant about staying with his mom after the divorce, and it had to have destroyed my father inside.
I knew because of how he was with me.
I’d gotten so much love from this man that I called father. He’d been my father, and we weren’t even related. If something had divided him from his family, a messy divorce or whatever, it would have broken him.
Even if he never showed it.
He’d been strong, but I caught him more than once looking at photos. Pictures of Jaxen and the ones of him as a little kid. He had so many, stopping at age eleven, the age I guess when they’d been separated.
Thinking about all that now, I had nothing but a lack of words. What I had to say would literally break my dad’s heart.
I just knew it would.
“Honey?” He tilted his head at me. “What’s going on?”
I had to be brave. I had to tell the truth. Even with the potential damage, I had to.
I wet my lips. “I guess I wanted to talk to you about Jaxen.”
“Oh?” So much pride on his face, a strong smile. Broad smile. It brightened his whole expression, his eyes warm. “He’s great, isn’t he?” he stated turning. Flicking open the blinds, I was well aware of who he could see in the front yard.
I saw him too, Jax revving up the lawnmower and using it. He’d pulled Dad’s out right from the garage, the one usually only our gardening staff used.
Just as half naked, Jaxen mowed away, glistening in the warm heat outside. He rubbed his brow, and catching Dad’s eye, he lifted a hand.
Dad returned, another smile on his lips. “Can you believe he volunteered to do that? And right after breakfast. A breakfast he made.” Dad chuckled. “I told him we had people to do that, but he insisted.”
He did?
