Mistake: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance

by Lauren Landish

  "Yeah well, next time I'm also thinking we can drive our own car, something not designed by a bunch of people who are five seven and top out at a hundred and sixty pounds," he grumbled. "I mean, even the stereo sucks."

  "It gets us where we need to go," I said, setting the cruise control. "We should be there in just over an hour and a half, traffic is pretty good. Don't worry, we'll be there by noon."

  Julian snorted and looked out the window. "I know it was my idea to tell them so quickly, but I have to admit, I'm not exactly looking forward to it."

  "Kimberly warned me along the same lines when we talked about it, about being so quick to tell them that is. She's worried that a lot of people won't understand or accept it."

  Julian looked over at me, his blue eyes burning with intensity. "Krystal, I'm kind of used to it, people not accepting me and being on the outside, regardless of it being my fault or not. But you, can you handle it?"

  "I think so, and if I need, I have you and Kim," I replied. "What else do I need?"

  "Well I know I could use a cheeseburger," Julian joked in reply, lightening the mood. "So are we there yet?"

  "Smart ass."

  The drive was beautiful, especially as we left the urban areas around Boston and headed north into the countryside. Living in Chicago was great, and working at Alinea was a dream come true for me, but there is something about New England that just resonated with me. Maybe it was the memories of visiting my grandfather at the Hepburn estate near Bretton Woods, or maybe an overabundant love of pancakes and maple syrup helped. Regardless of the reason, I loved the drive. Even Julian seemed to relax as concrete was replaced by pine trees as we got closer.

  It wasn't until I turned up the long driveway to the Castelbon Manor that I started to feel nervous. What if Julian was right? What if Mom and John didn't understand? In the short time that Julian and I had been together, it was more than just sexual with us. There was a connection we'd formed, even before that first kiss, and the days afterwards had just deepened it. Of course, being sexually satisfied to the point that I spent my nights almost delirious was a great benefit too.

  Parking the car, I shut off the engine and looked over at Julian. "Well, we're here."

  "Yep. You know, if you turn on the engine and hit the gas now, I don't think they'll know we came," he semi-joked, before the front door opened and Yuki came out. "Damn. Too late. Listen, it's not that I don't want to tell them, but how about we hold off on the public affection until we do? I mean, it might be a little less shocking that way."

  "I can do that," I said, giving his hand a squeeze. I wanted to kiss him. Hell, I wanted to be kissed by him, but I understood. Instead, I got out of the car, and came over to shake hands with Yuki. "Yuki, it's good to see you again so soon."

  "It's good to see you too, Krystal. I was surprised when Sandra said you'd be coming again so soon." Yuki, as always, looked professional and beautiful in her normal work clothes of black slacks and a blouse. Today it was a pale peach, although she had foregone the jacket to allow for the weather. In winter though, she looked more like an executive than a house manager, which I guess she was. "Mister.... sorry, Julian, it's good to see you too."

  Julian came around to shake Yuki's hand. He then surprised us both by bowing very deeply in the Japanese style. "Yuki," he said simply.

  Yuki bowed in return, then chuckled. "Who taught you how to do that?"

  "Would you believe a guy I know in Los Angeles? There's a lot of Japanese people out there, you know."

  "Yes, I know," Yuki deadpanned. She broke out in a smile, and patted Julian on his massive shoulder. "Let me get your car moved and parked while you two go inside. I'll have your bags taken to your rooms."

  "Actually, I have something for you first," I said, opening the trunk of the car and pulling out a paper bag. "I figured I would let you wrap it for your uncle."

  Yuki opened the bag and took out Chef Morimoto's jacket, her jaw dropping and tears coming to her eyes as she read the script. "Krystal," she whispered, folding the jacket up and placing it neatly back in the bag. "Thank you. This is beyond wonderful."

  There are times when it sucks to be rich, and this was one of those times. I could tell Yuki wanted to give me a hug, and I would have been more than happy to get one from her. But, she was the employee, and came from a very hierarchal society, even if she was American now. Employees don't do that with employers. Still, I could tell her meaning, and I nodded, smiling. "Good. I hope your uncle likes it. So, where are our parents?"

  "They're in the study," Yuki replied. "John is working from home today, and Sandra has decided to start assisting him. It's quite intriguing to see when the time allows.”

  "Thank you," Julian said, and the three of us headed inside. Yuki peeled off to get the rental car and our bags taken care of while the two of us headed upstairs. We found John and Mom in the study like promised, reading over a pile of documents.

  "They're expanding in their European division," John said, pointing at one piece of paper. "With their growth there and the potential in their Asian division, I think they're going to be fine."

  "Maybe John, but I'm still worried about their tie-ups in Russia and Greece. A lot of companies made a lot of money in the BRIC countries when times were good, but are finding it tough to pull out now that the growth isn't being sustained and the corruption of those nations starts sucking them dry like a vampire."

  "Well, I see you're on your way to making your next billion dollars," Julian said after knocking on the door. "Think I might be able to get in on it?"

  John set his pen down, rising slowly to his feet to come around in front of us. Julian walked towards him, and the two met in about the center of the room. I swore time stopped and everything went quiet as the two Castelbon men faced each other. Julian spoke first. "Hi, Dad."

  "Hi, son," Johnathan replied, his face starting to crack. I couldn't see Julian's face from where I was standing in the room, but the embrace the two men gave each other was impossible to miss. They held each other like that for what seemed an eternity, while Mom and I stood transfixed. When they stepped back, both of their cheeks were a little wet, and I could see Julian do his best to casually wipe his face to play it off.

  "Sandra," Julian said, turning to Mom. "It's good to see you again too."

  "Come here, you big lunk," Mom replied, getting out of her chair to give him a friendly hug. "God you're big. You promise you're not eating Krystal out of house and home?"

  Oh, he's eating me out all right, I thought naughtily, a smile coming to my face. In fact, I love it when he does. "I'm glad to see you're happy about this too," John commented as he came and gave me a hug, totally missing the reason for my smile. Not that I would tell him, even after we told them about Julian and I. There are just some things you do not tell your mother and stepfather.

  Julian

  After we exchanged hugs all around, Krystal and I sat down on the leather couch in the study. Dad rang for drinks, and Yuki herself brought it in, with steaming mugs of Earl Grey tea along with a sugar bowl and creamer. "Here you are, enjoy," Yuki said, disappearing silently.

  I watched her go, and knew without a doubt that our rental car was already parked, and our bags were upstairs in the same rooms we'd used last time Krystal and I visited. Turning back to Dad and Sandra, who were sitting side by side on the other couch, I reached out and took a cup. "She hasn't convinced you to go with green tea all the time yet, Dad?"

  "You know how it is," John said as he spooned an ungodly amount of sugar and a heavy dollop of cream into his mug and stirred. "I'm not saying I can't enjoy it after dinner or iced after I get some exercise, but for afternoons like this, nothing is better than a good British tea."

  "Speaking of exercise, I wanted to tell you guys about some things," I said, taking my tea with just a squeeze of lemon. "I don't want to shock you too much Dad, but I've decided it's time I got a job."

  "Really?" Dad said, sipping his tea and trying not to grin too muc
h. "You know, if you're looking for a place to start, I can certainly find you a spot in our management program."

  I shook my head, chuckling. "No offense Dad, but that's the last thing I want to do. Not that learning the Castelbon business wouldn't be interesting at some point, but I'm not you, and we've got a lot of work to do on our father-son relationship before I start reporting to you as my boss too. Also, I want to stand on my own feet, like Krystal has."

  "I can respect that," Sandra interjected from her seat. "It takes guts to try and make it on your own, Julian."

  "Well, not totally on my own, you know. Let's face it, even now I'm better off than ninety-nine percent of the population. But thank you. Anyway, I've decided to try and make a go of it as a personal trainer. Training is about the only thing I've done well over the past few years, outside raising hell."

  "You'll learn a lot there son," Dad said, "Lot of sales and customer service. Not to pile on, but what about going back to college? Even someplace online or something would help when you want to move on to a management position."

  "I've thought a little about it, but first I have to see if I passed my certification exam," I replied. "But at least I'll have someone to help keep me in check and show me how to be a good worker."

  "Oh?" Sandra said. "How's that, are you getting a mentor or something?"

  "What Julian's saying is that he's moving to Chicago, and is going to live with me," Krystal said, trying not to gush. I could tell she wanted to just blurt out what we came to say, but she also could tell how I was guiding them. It wasn't that we were trying to play them, but this was the sort of subject to be approached carefully. "I have a big apartment after all."

  "Hmm, won't that interfere with your social lives?" Sandra said. "No offense honey, but since meeting John I've kind of been hoping you'd meet someone like him, and find some happiness outside the kitchen. I know you love it, but there's more to life than fine dining."

  "Yeah.... well, about that," Krystal said, looking at her mom and then at me. "I kind of already have."

  Sandra looked from her daughter to me and back, realization beginning to dawn on her face. "Well then.... uhm, wow. Excuse me please, I think I need to go think about this for a little bit before I say something I'll regret."

  She got up to leave the room, Krystal standing up to follow her before I put my hand on her forearm. "Don't, babe. She needs some time alone, or at least with her thoughts." I looked over at Dad, who was watching the two of us impassively. "Dad?"

  Dad shook his head slowly, and took another drink of his tea. "Julian, I lost you once years ago when I didn't tell you the truth. I missed years of your life, years I'm not going to get back. I'm too damn old to have that happen again. So for me, I'm just going to take this in stride. Now, part of me is surprised, not that you'd find Krystal attractive, but that she'd reciprocate. Krystal, I'm going to say something that might hurt Julian, but I need to ask. Are you sure? My son, as much as I love him, has not been the most consistent guy over the years."

  "I love him, Johnathan. And he's a better man than history suggests. I've seen that over the weeks we've been living together."

  My father finished off his tea and set the cup down, his face having the same expression I'd seen numerous times as a teenager when he'd tried to show me how his work went. Johnathan Castelbon was a thorough thinker, and when he said something, you knew he'd put his mind behind his words. It commanded respect when he was in the board room, and I respected it now.

  "Krystal, your mother is the finest woman I've ever known. She's raised a wonderful daughter. A daughter so good that she appears to have rehabilitated my only son and brought him back into my life. If it was your love, or his love of you that caused it, who am I to argue? Despite what I've tried, I've not been the best father in the world myself. If I was, I would've told the truth to Julian long ago. For that Julian, I'm sorry, and I should ask you for forgiveness. But that's beside the point. Point is Krystal, if you love him, and he loves you, I'm happy for you both. This will take some getting used to, and I'd ask that you two take it a little slow around here for a while, but I'll have Yuki move your bags in together. I assume that would suit you?"

  I blinked, somewhat surprised. I hadn't even thought about it, honestly. "Yeah, I guess so Dad. Seriously, you're okay with this?"

  My father looked down, then laughed once and looked up at me. "I'm okay with it. Now, do you two want to stick around while I do some work, or would you like to relax? It's a Monday afternoon, you're a young couple in love, and it's late summer. Dinner will be at six in the small dining room, if you're okay with that."

  I got up and walked over to my Dad, pulling him up and into a hug. "Thank you Dad," I said softly, squeezing tight. Dad returned the hug, clapping me on the back.

  "Okay, okay. Let go before you break some ribs," he said, mock coughing. "Damn boy, I must have done something right raising you, even if it was just getting you enough milk and protein to turn you into Hercules."

  I let go and stepped back, Krystal coming over to hug him too. They shared some whispered words together, and then the two of us left the study. "So, I guess the question is, what do you want to do now?" I asked, standing in the hallway like a doofus. "I hadn't thought that far ahead."

  "How about we go catch some laps in the pool? I packed my swimsuit."

  I raised my eyebrows. "Swimsuit? I didn't know you had a swimsuit, even. I've never seen you in one."

  "I'm still able to hear you!" Dad called from the study. "I said I'm okay with it, but watch it!"

  Krystal and I looked at each other and laughed. "Sorry Dad,” I said, and we hurried down the hallway. Once we were out of Dad's listening range, I leaned in, still laughing softly, feeling giddy that we'd gotten that off our chests. "So what's this about a swimsuit?"

  "Why don't you go up to your room and change, and I'll meet you poolside and you can find out for yourself?" Krystal said, her voice dropping to a sexy purr that sent tingles through my body. "Yuki won't have moved our bags yet."

  "Two minutes, I'll meet you at the pool," I said, sprinting down the hallway. I needed to change, and I needed to try and get rid of the erection that was forming in my pants. I just hoped the pool water was cold, or there might be trouble.

  Chapter 19

  Julian

  Krystal and I didn't see Sandra until dinner time, where she came in after Dad, Krystal and myself were already sitting down. I was worried she wouldn't come at first, wearing the same clothes she'd been wearing that afternoon. Dad was the same, although Krystal and I had changed after going swimming.

  "Sorry you three, I was just trying to wrap my head around all of this," Sandra said as she sat down at the small four person table that was used by the family when we didn't have guests. Castelbon Manor had three dining rooms, a grand room for the occasional large dinner party, a small family one we were using now, and one that was used by the servants when they took their meals. Yuki also had one in her house on the grounds, but I'd only seen it once. Her house was her house, after all.

  "Mom," Krystal said, but Sandra held her hand up. Krystal closed her mouth and looked at her mother, worry on her face.

  "I spent the afternoon walking around the grounds, thinking. Julian, I'm not trying to be mean spirited, but your history would make any mother worry about her daughter. But, I also trust Krystal, and know she can take care of herself. So if she loves you, then I'll accept it. I'm not saying I'm comfortable with it, or even okay with it, but I love my daughter, and I love my husband. So I'll accept it. Over time, if it all works out, I'm sure I'll be more comfortable."

  Dinner was semi-relaxed after that, and pretty delicious, my father has a good kitchen staff at the manor. As we ate, the four of us talked, making sure to avoid the topic of our relationship.

  "So Julian, where are you thinking of doing training?" Sandra asked as she cut her fish. "Gold's, Cross fit, what are you thinking?"

  "To be honest, while I might get more initial meet
ings with clients that way, I don't think I could convert them very well, although Gold's and Powerhouse might be an option," I replied. "They'll have the members who might be looking for my type of build while aren't really hardcore. I've got a couple of independent gyms in mind as well, no names you'd know, but they're good. The challenge with those types of places is the trainers who work there really know their stuff. I'm going to be the total new guy, in a gym of trainers who I would hire if I needed help."

  Dad nodded sagely. "It's an interesting conundrum. Have you thought about working in one place and doing your own workouts in another? No offense Julian, but that ink of yours would intimidate a lot of the housewives and office workers who have the disposable cash for your services."

  "I'd thought of it, I'm not sure what I'm going to do," I replied. "In any case, I think I can work hard at it. I spent enough years partying at least."

  Our conversation continued throughout dinner, and by the end, it felt like as regular a family meal as I'd had with my father in ages. Krystal and I kept our looks at each other to a minimum for Sandra's sake, and we finished dinner on a good note, some grilled figs with crumbly bits and something Krystal called a compote. I didn't know what it was, but I enjoyed it. In fact, I'd say it was the best meal of my life up until then.

  After dinner, we went upstairs, finding that Yuki had moved Sandra's bags into my room. It made sense, the space was slightly bigger, and I did have a king sized bed in there. Closing the door behind us, I looked at Krystal, who was more beautiful than ever for me in the lamp light. "Well, this has gone a lot better than I expected," I said, coming over and hugging her. "Thank goodness for that."

  "Hey Julian?" she said, returning the hug. "Would you dance with me?"