Chapter 15
Anna
My lip bled as I bit down on it hard, trying not to cry. I felt so ashamed. Having people see me cry was just going to make it all that much worse. My humiliation would be public. He hates me. I disgusted him by kissing him and touching him. After all the girls he’s kissed and had touching him, he’s disgusted by me. I thought he just made fun of me because I didn’t look like the other girls he dated. OK, the girls he fucked. My man-whore of a slut brother doesn’t date. He fucks ‘em and dumps ‘em. I’m sure I overheard him say something like that to one of his college buddies a long time ago. Prick!
Tears were burning my eyes but I fought them back long enough to make it to the dressing room, where I collected my purse, keys and phone and wrapped myself up in the coat I’d brought with me, in case it was cold when I left for the night. I didn’t even take the time to get dressed. There was no way I was staying there, at the scene of my disgrace a second longer than I had to.
Running for the main door, I hurled it open without slowing my pace for a moment. I thought I heard Tyler call my name, but I couldn’t be sure. Nor did I give a shit, either. But even if I did, I was suddenly caught in a tangle of arms and legs, bumping against bodies that seemed oblivious to my need to escape urgently.
I ran. I guess I was still a runner after all.
Chapter 16
Tyler
I called her name as I saw her running for the entrance. She heard me. I know she did. But she didn’t stop. Didn’t even slow down. My need to catch her became my focus. She needed to understand. That look on her face was one I’ll never forget. Shame. Humiliation. Disgust. She’d got it all wrong. I needed her to know that.
As I pulled the door open to race after her, my path was blocked.
What the …
Camera flashes blinded me.
People were deliberately standing in my way, stopping me from moving.
“Mr. Reynolds, what do you have to say to the farmers who are losing their farms because your company’s fracking operations have contaminated their water supplies?” I see a digital recorder waving in front of my face.
Who are these people?
Another voice shouts at me. “My Reynolds, how are people supposed to take you and your drilling operations seriously when you’re tipping strippers at a club while they’re barely able to put food on the table?”
“Who the hell are you people? How the hell did you even track me down?”
“Mr. Reynolds —”
“No comment. What I do in my own time is no one else’s damn business!”
Pushing my way through the crowd of overenthusiastic reporters, I didn’t even have a chance to look for Anna. It was all I could do just to fight my way to the car and get out of there. Fast.
As I drove away, dodging the media circus that seemed determined to block my escape, I started to wonder not only what they were doing there, but who tipped them off. I had a fair idea who was responsible.
Chapter 17
Anna
The tears wouldn’t stop. My ribs ached from the constant sobbing and I’d never felt more alone or more disgraced in my life. As much as I wanted to go home, climb into bed and curl up in a ball under the covers, I wanted to vent and talk through my feelings with a friend. But I didn’t actually have any real friends. Or did I?
Through tear blurred eyes, I scrolled the contacts in my phone searching for Melissa’s number. She answered on the third ring.
“Hey, Anna. How are you?” she greeted in her usual cheerful, sing-song voice.
I tried to answer. My throat constricted. I choked then burst into tears again, collapsing against a vacant storefront with my head in my hands – both face and hands smeared with mascara. I no longer cared who saw me or what I looked like. I no longer cared about anything.
“Come on sweetie, just drink this. I promise, it’ll help.” Melissa handed me a glass of something that smelled sweet and delicious.
“What is it?” I managed to ask, between sobs.
“Black spiced rum with a dash of Coke. It’s a miracle cure. Trust me.”
“Spiced rum? Seriously? A cure for what — scurvy?” I said as I sniffed the unusual cocktail.
“Everything.” Melissa laughed. She was trying to get me to calm down and it was almost working. I took a hefty sip of the rum and coke and felt the warmth of the alcohol roll down my throat.
“I think you’re onto something.” The sobbing stopped and I took another swig of the calming spirit and began to really enjoy the sweet syrupy taste.
“No wonder those damn pirates are always singing about their rum. This stuff has some kick to it. I can feel the buzz already.” I was feeling more relaxed by the minute.
“OK, so tell me I got it wrong when you were bawling before. Tell me you aren’t in love with your stepbrother and you didn’t stick your tongue down his throat and grab his cock.”
When I heard it like that, it did sound pretty sick. Another mouthful of rum and I might almost not care.
“No, that about sums it up. You got the gist of it.”
“And he hired you to do a lap dance for him? Isn’t that the creepiest thing ever?”
“No, it wasn’t like that. You didn’t know me before. I didn’t look anything like I do now. Unfit, curvy, brunette. You name it, it was different. I’ve worked my ass off to get into shape and get build up some confidence.”
“So that shiny, golden hair of yours isn’t natural?”
I shook my head. “Sorry, hun, the curtains and the rug definitely don’t match.”
We both burst out laughing. A good dose of rum has a way of making things seem so much funnier.
“So …” Melissa gestured for me to continue the story. “What went wrong tonight?”
“And that’s pretty much what happened,” I said, angrily as I finished the story. “So, if there’s any part about me falling in love with my stepbrother, or running away from home so I didn’t have to deal with the pain of seeing him with other girls and feel like an idiot or how I ended up with his dick in my hand while I lap danced for him in a strip club, feel free to fucking ask.”
Suddenly I felt terrible. I was shouting at Melissa like she had some part in this pathetic drama and all she was doing was trying to help. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. I’m just so angry with myself. With my brother ... stepbrother. With everything and everyone, really.” I started to sob again.
“It’s alright sweetie,” Melissa said calmly as she hugged me close. “You let it all out and if you need to unload some shit on me, that’s fine, too.” I felt her reassuring hand making circles on my back as she tried to soothe me. It must have worked because the sobbing started to ease.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said as I looked at the patchwork of tears and mascara I’d left behind on Melissa’s T shirt. “Shit! And I’m sorry about that, too.”
She dismissed the mess I’d made with a shrug of her shoulders. “What’s really important is how he feels about you. Have you told him how you feel?”
“Are you kidding me? He’s gorgeous, smart and funny. He can have any girl he wants. In fact, he pretty much does have any girl he wants … and then some.”
“I still don’t see why you haven’t —”
“Told him? Seriously? I was an insecure, curvy little brat of a sister. He would have laughed himself stupid if I’d said anything. And he used to treat me like crap and tease me just about every day.”
“Yeah,” Melissa interjected. “But he’s not laughing now, is he? Didn’t he just hand over a whole shitload of cash to have you to dance for him?”
“But he didn’t know it was me,” I countered.
“Exactly my point.”
The realization began to dawn on me. My brother, OK, stepbrother, actually had the hots for me. Not the old me. The new me. The here and now me.
Chapter 18
Tyler
“What’s this goddamn crap all about?
” my father screamed wildly as he threw the folded newspaper down in front of me as I idly toyed with my half eaten breakfast.
Oh shit. He’s really pissed.
“A titty bar? That’s where you have to meet the press for an interview and photo shoot?” I could see the veins in his temple bulging and the crimson on his neck rising above his collar.
“Come on Dad, it was hardly my fault. I didn’t send them there.”
“They didn’t find out you’d be there on their own. Someone had to have tipped them off. Do you have any idea how this looks?” He picked up the paper and started waving it in my face. “How you’ve made me look?”
“But —”
“But my ass. The board are gonna use this against you. You’ve given them all the ammo they need.”
“It’s your company. Can’t you do something?”
“I can do a whole lot of things, son. I can get a piss ant to pull a freight car if I tell it to, but that’s not gonna help. Our family owns nearly all the stock, but your Granddaddy made damn sure the board had enough voting power to keep us honest, so not even I can tell them what they can and can’t do.
“I’ve got PR consultants and lobbyists all over the country trying to sort out this fracking mess and cover up the damage these hippy protesters are doing and now I’ve got to make them waste time dealing with your mess, too?”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t my —”
Dad held his hand up to silence me before resuming his tirade. “I don’t want to hear it. If I want any more shit from you, I’ll squeeze your head. The press is going to tear you, me and the company a new one with this ... this … crap.” He fisted the newspaper into a crumpled mess and threw it at me before storming toward the dining room door.
I remained silent, figuring that it probably wasn’t the best time to tell him that I was in love with my sister.
Chapter 19
Anna
His muscular physique filled the hallway. I knew whose silhouette was being framed by the window at the end of the hallway the moment I turned the corner and saw it. His well-proportioned shoulders and narrow waist were unmistakable. Not to mention divine.
“How did you find me?” I said rather bluntly as I approached.
My God, he was good looking man. Breathtaking.
Focus Anna. Don’t fall for his charm and good looks.
“Having lawyers and investigators on retainer has its uses. So does having a family name with some clout in this city.”
“After all the times you’ve made fun of me, belittled me in front of your snobby friends, paraded every wanton slut you’ve picked up in front of me and now you feel the need to track me down to harass me some more?”
Tyler took a deep breath, like he wanted to argue. Then he just sighed. “We need to talk.”
“I’ve got nothing to say and you’ve got nothing I want to hear right now.” I had my cranky pants on and he wasn’t going to disarm me with is slick charm. Or his cute smile. And, no, I wasn’t going to melt as his to-die-for blue eyes cast their spell over me. No way. I wasn’t going to soften. Not after the way he’d made a fool of me at the club. There was no way.
“Alright, you can come in for five minutes and then I want you gone. Out of my life for good.” I said as severely as I could, with my resolve waning, before pushing past him to open my apartment door.
As soon as he stepped inside I saw his eyes scan my humble apartment. I knew he was judging me. I also knew I shouldn’t care. But it hurt nonetheless. Sure, it wasn’t the ten bedroom, seven bathroom home he was used to, but it was my home. How dare he …
“This is nice,” he said as his gaze came full circle.
“Bullshit.” I nearly spat the word in his face.
“I’m serious. I like it. You’ve really made your mark on the place. It’s got … personality. Yeah, personality.” He nodded to himself.
“So, what’s so important that you have to take a break from destroying the environment to track me down?”
“I guess you saw the press coverage, then. Lucky they didn’t go chasing after you.” He started laughing. “Not that they would have had trouble catching you in those heels.”
“Fuck you!” I flipped him the bird.
This is how it always was with him. Any opportunity to laugh at my expense.
“Lighten up sis. Come on, I’m only trying to break the ice, here. I’m not here looking for a fight. You’re looking really good, by the way. College life seems to agree with you.”
“You mean I don’t look so fat and frumpy now that I’m working out.” I glared at him, almost daring him, “Go on, you can say what you’re thinking.”
“Whoa! Where did that come from? I’ve never said you were … well, either of those things. Why do you think I was always giving you a hard time?”
“Because you’re a bastard?”
“Because I was threatened by you,” he snapped back.
“You felt threatened by me?” I couldn’t believe he just said that.
“Since Mom passed, it had just been me and my dad. I was kind of used to that and even though he’s not the easiest guy in the world to live with —”
I didn’t mean to, but I snickered at his assessment.
Tyler continued as if he hadn’t heard me, but I knew he had, “but he was all I had and I was worried that he’d start giving you more attention to get on side with your mom.”
“Like that was ever going to happen. He hated me from the time he set eyes on me.”
“Don’t take it to heart, sis. He hates pretty much everyone. He’s mean spirited and doesn’t give a fat rat’s ass about anything or anyone other than his precious company.”
“Is that why your mom …”
I cut myself short when I saw his hands ball into fists and knew better than to finish the question.
Tyler’s eyes glazed as he nodded. I’d never seen him look so vulnerable before. Now my heart ached for him in a different way.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said —”
“That’s OK. I’ve been in denial for way too long. It’s probably about time I faced up to why she did it.”
But all of that was beside the point. “Why were you always making fun of me, especially in front of your friends? That wasn’t insecurity. That was just plain nasty. You were behaving just like your Dad.” He winced when I said that. I’d struck a nerve.
“Because I didn’t want them to know I had a crush on my fucking sister. That’s why!” he blurted, as if fearing the words might choke him.
“Stepsister.” Was all I could think to say. Words simply failed me.
Chapter 20
Tyler
There, I’d said it. It was a relief to finally tell somebody. A crushing burden was lifted from me. I felt like I could breathe once more.
“Stepsister. Sister. Do you really think anyone cares about semantics? I couldn’t help how I felt, but I had to do everything I could to stop people, like my friends and especially our folks, from finding out. Do you know what my old man would say or worse, do?
“So that’s why you made my life a living hell and drove me out of home?”
I was aghast. I couldn’t process what I was hearing. I never had the faintest idea that she left because of me.
“Drove you out of the house? I thought you ran off because you were sick of living with my father and the way your mom kept taking his side on everything, all the time?”
“I left because I couldn’t stand being near you. I hated watching you with all those women. I hated hearing you brag to your buddies about your conquests. I hated the way you treated me like shit. I hated you … I was in love with you!”
I did not see that coming.
“You were what?” Surely, I hadn’t heard that right?
“You heard me. I’m not saying it again.” She crossed her arms and glared at me defiantly. “I won’t be making a fool of myself again, either.”
I was speechless. As hard as I tried to make se
nse of everything I was hearing, I just couldn’t. Nothing made sense. It just wasn’t possible. That’s when I decided. That’s when I didn’t give a shit any longer about what my dad would think or what he’d do. I’d been living under his shadow and by his rules all my life. Now was the time to saddle up, lock and load as my Granddaddy used to say.
Chapter 21
Anna
He moved with the speed and grace of a predatory cat, like a panther. And I was his prey. Before I had time to process what was happening, he was practically on top of me. He’d closed the gap in less than a second and the next thing I knew, his mouth was on mine. Despite my best efforts to resist his primal pillaging of my virtue, my own body betrayed me as my lips opened to receive him and my traitorous tongue sought his, passionately and without reservation.
The mutiny spread like wildfire. My nipples erupted, pressing hard against my bra and blouse. I could feel them brushing tantalizingly against Tyler’s muscled chest as he ravaged me with his mouth. My breathing was a ragged mess as I fought to reply to his passion with my own and my heart raced as I crushed my breasts against him.
Then the heat spread. All the way down. The yearning built up in my tummy and I found myself involuntarily bucking my hips so I could feel his warmth and firmness where I needed it most. I’d never felt so out of control in my life. I was possessed. And I loved it.
The emptiness I felt down there craved to be filled. To be filled with him. All of him.
But he was my stepbrother. It wasn’t right. Wasn’t it one of the reasons I ran away? This thing I felt, it wasn’t frowned upon or considered forbidden for no reason. It was wrong.
I pushed him away, breaking off his hungry, needful kiss.
“What’s wrong? I thought you wanted this?” He looked confused.
Stepbrother Desires (Billionaire Contemporary Romance) Page 4
