Charged: A Stepbrother Romance Novel (With FREE Bonus Novel Heated!)

by Stephanie Brother

  “Thank you all for coming, and I must apologize for the unconventional way we have all been forced to handle this particularly delicate situation. It has been most bizarre, but I can promise you there have been reasons for secrecy, mostly tied into the elections that Philip made before his death and left in sealed envelopes with myself and my five esteemed colleagues.”

  “Just get on with it”, Pandora shouted.

  “Right”, Egdon continued. “It’s just that legally speaking, I’m required to do this as Philip intended. We’ve had to follow his directions to the letter of the law so to speak.”

  “You see anyone complaining?” Alexis rebuked.

  Poor Egdon wasn’t making much sense, and he could tell his audience were on the edge of mounting the table to castrate him, before reading the contents of the will themselves. In light of this, he continued with as much expediency as he felt like he was allowed.

  “Amongst other instructions I won’t trouble you with, Philip left a list of people he wanted to attend the reading, and a date on which his will would be read. That date is today. We have no idea what the contents of the will are, nor who Philip intends to be the recipient or recipients of his estate and its contents. We have spent the last week itemizing and creating a detailed inventory according to his specific instructions, comparing our findings with the latest incarnation of that list that Philip left, almost seven months ago. It seems there is little discrepancy between the two lists, such was his eye for detail, apart from a number of expensive bottles of wine and champagne which we were unfortunately unable to locate.”

  “And never will”, Alexis spat under her breath.

  “The inventory list is available upon request to anyone who would like to see it, and will also be made public after the will has been read.”

  Egdon eyed the audience over his half frame glasses, pushed papers about on his desk and found the relevant envelope marked Philip Mandrake de Vries: Last will & testament.

  “So this is it”, he said, and stood up.

  Alexis grabbed Pandora tightly. This was a matter of formality to her but there was still something that cast a shadow of doubt over the whole thing. Without Philip’s finances, she had nothing. Literally nothing. That was a situation she had never had to face in her whole life. For the whole time they had been married, Philip gave her an allowance, which was sufficient for herself and her daughters. Everything else he kept completely separate and made great pains to do so. She didn’t even know who the benefactor of his life insurance would be, even though she assumed it had to be her. Essentially, they led a separate life financially, and a married one only in name. The house was his, the cars were his, the ludicrously expensive bottles of wine, the silverware and the antiques. They were all his. Alexis was feeling a little nervous. The six lawyers opened the envelopes in synchronization. While Egdon read, the five others on Philip’s team made sure there were no differences between the documents. At the end of the table, Alexis’s lawyer, looking very much out of his depth, and wondering perhaps if he’d ever get paid for his work, tried desperately to read the will over their shoulders.

  “Oh my”, Egdon said, and then cleared his throat. “Firstly, the matter of my beautiful dog Alexander-”

  “Fucking hell, here we go”, Pandora whispered.

  “Who I named after my caustic wife Alexis.”

  A pantheon of eyes turned to pick her out of the crowd while Egdon paused to let them, seeing the word written in the script in brackets. When the murmurs had quietened down, and Alexis had told a select few to mind their own business, Egdon continued.

  “Alexander was everything that my wife was not. Warm, friendly, obedient and inexpensive. I loved my dog and because of this, I leave him and everything that was his, which includes every single toy, piece of bedding, piece of clothing, accessory or item of a canine nature, to the only person I know will love him as I did in my absence. To that measure, I give Alexander, my precious pet, to my stepdaughter Gracey.”

  “Thank fuck for that”, Pandora said, which gained her a slap on the knee from Alexis for cursing.

  The five lawyers exchanged looks with each other, having had the time to read ahead at what else was written on the card. Egdon hadn’t had a chance yet, but would soon become aware himself. Everyone else, including the lawyer Alexis had employed, who had by now given up trying to look over their shoulders and sat with his arms crossed and his back towards them facing away and into the gardens of the estate beyond, sat on tenterhooks waiting to hear the rest.

  “Everything else that I own, absolutely everything else without exception, down to the last crumb of bread in the box in the kitchen, to the dust that lines the paintings in the hallway, the estate in which you sit, the chairs you sit on and the extensive fortune I’ve squirrelled away in several different bank accounts, I give to the one person I owe more to than anyone else in this world. I feel a deep regret for what happened between us, for never being able to come to terms with what I did, for never apologizing and attempting to make things right. I wasn’t ever the easiest person to get along with, nor did I often make the right decisions, and I’m hoping that this decision goes someway to repairing the gigantic hole that exploded between us. Alexis-”

  At this point, and upon hearing her name, Alexis’s heart actually stopped for almost a second. It was what followed that helped start it again.

  “I hope I have been as good a husband you could have asked for. I know your list of daily demands was extensive, and I believe I did everything I could to provide for you and your three daughters. It’s now time for you to fend for yourselves in the real world.”

  “What the fuck?”, Pandora said, even if it risked another slap. “What the fuck, Mom?”

  But Alexis was aghast. Mouth open she looked like a life sized statue of herself, too still to be real but real enough looking to make you wonder.

  Isabella was slowing realising that her pony might not be on its way after all, and Gracey could do nothing but laugh away the ridiculousness of it.

  “I leave my entire substantial fortune, which has a value of approximately 6.2 billion dollars to my only son, Leighton.”

  While the entire audience looked for the lucky recipient, forgetting momentarily that they’d made the journey for absolutely no reason other than to amuse Philip beyond the grave, Alexis tumbled from her chair, cracked her head open dramatically on the back of the one in front of her and ended up spread eagled across the aisle, weeping large quantities of blood. Before anyone could do anything other than gasp in horror, Alexander was stemming the wound with several lashings of his thick, wet tongue. After that, there was uproar.

  Shouts of “Call an ambulance”, were muffled by the chaos of people storming for the exit to get back to their cars, embarrassed they’d been had by a dead man, while others went over to the lawyers to check the veracity of the statements stepping with reckless abandon over the collapsed frame of the recently widowed and still bleeding Alexis in the process, desperate to get what they thought should be coming to them. Pandora was one of those people, who was now chewing Egdon’s ear off and trying to read every single card her stepfather had written. In amongst it all, Isabella wept for the pony she now knew would no longer be hers, and Gracey just remained where she sat, seemingly impervious to the ruckus that surrounded her. When Alexander began to bark, and someone realised the carpet was on fire from the discarded cigarette Alexis had been holding when she fell, the scene turned from coordinated chaos into complete and utter bedlam.

  Leighton watched on for a moment. Like everyone else, he had no idea what that envelope might contain. He’d honestly come to say goodbye to the father he never knew, and only stayed around after Philip had passed because he was intrigued by the three stepsisters he had now acquired. He felt compelled to get to know them, and some of them in ways he knew would be frowned upon, considering their recently revealed status.

  When he’d seen enough of the pandemonium before him, he found Philip�
��s old office, poured himself an expensive scotch from the drinks cabinet, sat down in what was his father’s old favorite chair and had now become his newest, and waited for someone to join him.

  It took Gracey less time than it did for the ambulance to arrive.

  She took the chair opposite him without a word while Alexander curled up at her feet.

  “You knew all along”, she said, accusingly.

  “I did”, Leighton confessed.

  “Then why didn’t you tell me. All that bullshit about Philip being an ex partner, what was all that about?”

  “Philip was never my father. He was more of a father to you than he ever was to me. We may share the same blood, but he is no more familiar to me than someone walking down the street. I came for him. I stayed here because of you.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means just that.”

  Gracey didn’t want to admit even the possibility of the subtext that was being inferred. It made her embarrassed. Besides which, they were stepbrother and stepsister now, which made it impossible.

  She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Blue lights flashed past the window as an ambulance churned gravel on the driveway. Was she the only one that could feel something between them. It was the same thing she felt at the hospital. The same thing again at the funeral.

  “Did you know about the will?” Gracey said, changing the subject.

  Leighton shook his head. “No one knew what would be written on that card. In all honesty, I thought it would go to your mother.”

  “So did she”, Gracey said.

  “I had a flight booked back out tonight. I’m cancelling that now.”

  “Mom’s going to freak when she wakes up”, Gracey said, the weight of it all beginning to dawn on her.

  “Don’t worry about your mother”, Leighton said, sloshing the scotch around in his glass, “I’m sure we’ll think of something appropriate for her.”

  ***

  With their mother semi conscious and packed up in the back of the ambulance, Pandora, Gracey, Isabella and Alexander watched on, in a repeat of the incident with Philip, as the back door slammed shut and they took her away.

  Pandora knew what she had to do. It was what her mother had whispered into her ear as she’d helped her into a more convenient position to be lifted.

  “Seduce him”, were the words that were going around her head, as if she needed any encouragement. Pandora had a positive way of looking at things. She may not be rich yet, but the hottest man in a thousand mile radius had just become the richest. If she couldn’t get it from her stepfather, she’d be damned if she couldn’t get it from his son.

  Leighton, on the other hand, had very different ideas indeed.

  Chapter 6

  Leighton stood on the porch of his brand new home surveying the landscape that fell away into the night in front of him. On the market, the property would fetch a handsome sum, but he still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with it. If he sold it, he’d throw his new family out on the street, and risk jeopardizing forever what he might potentially have with Gracey. For a man that had women fall at his feet, and a long list already of those that had, he was spending an awful long time thinking about this one. Not only was Gracey a complication in his mind, possibly because she didn’t seem to reciprocate the feelings that Leighton was almost embarrassed to be having, she was also his stepsister. Not many woman had managed to have a hold in Leighton in the way that Gracey seemed to, and every single one that had, Leighton had conquered and quickly grown bored of. Esmeralda was the latest in a long line. He’d kept himself away from his PA for as long as he could manage to, primarily because she was excellent at her job, and he didn’t want to fuck that up. All of that would probably have to change now. If Gracey were to reciprocate his feelings, Esmeralda would be back where she began. A PA and nothing else. Which would mean she would quit and Leighton would have to find someone equally as competent to replace her. Of course Gracey wasn’t the only complication Leighton had, it was pretty clear Pandora was after him, and she was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

  It was almost midnight. It had been three days since the will reading, and Leighton had done nothing but ponder the myriad possibilities that lay in front of him. Despite now owning the house, he had continued to sleep every night at the hotel he had been staying at in town, while desperately trying to work out what to do. Alexis had spent a night in hospital, been diagnosed with concussion and the rest of the time either convalescing in bed or speaking to her lawyer to try and get the inheritance rescinded. She had hardly eaten. Pandora had been less than conspicuous in her attempts to win Leighton over, while Isabella seemed not to understand the complexities of what had happened, and Gracey kept herself very much to herself. She was cordial with Leighton whenever he was at the house, mostly because Leighton chose to respect their current situation and ring the bell whenever he arrived at the estate, but also because she didn’t quite know how else to behave. The feelings she had were not going away, despite her willful insistence. She knew there was no way it could ever happen, yet there it was wherever she looked, and there he was too, reminding her of it. Even now, unbeknownst to Leighton, she was thinking about him, rolling around in her bed, her hand between her thighs.

  Alexander curled up at Leighton’s feet. The evening was mild and stickier than normal for this time of year. Leighton would have to make a decision soon. He would have to return to his real home before too long, and attend to several of the meetings that were now backing up in his absence. This was unlike him. Normally he’d have sold the property and moved on, or he would have seduced the woman without delay. The money could be invested immediately in projects overseas with at least a ten percent yield. At the moment, this asset was not increasing, and every day he prevaricated, he knew the decision would become harder and harder to make.

  Leighton drained the rest of the whisky, sucking the flavor against the roof of his mouth. His dad may have been a non-presence constantly in his life, but he did seem to have the capacity to make a few good decisions. Alexis was a battle-axe but he could see what his father liked in her. Gracey seemed to have her fight, but it was tempered by a beautiful, well-balanced soul. She was as self-effaced a person Leighton had ever met. He couldn’t see much of that at all in Pandora and Isabella. Isabella was the less offensive of the two, too stupid to be anything else, and Pandora seemed driven only by money, which was about as vacuous as it could possibly get. Leighton knew only too well the corrupting and addictive hold money could have on a person, but he also knew the importance of balancing it out with the things in life that money simply could not buy. He couldn’t buy Gracey. Money would not work on her. For that, he’d need something different.

  Chapter 7

  It was the third time in less than two weeks that blue lights had come up the winding drive of 2742 Gulls Pike Avenue. It had taken a while, but they had to be sure. There was no question about it, Philip Mandrake de Vries had been murdered.

  The cause: A toxin derived from the plant foxglove, called digitalin. The effect: An induced heart attack made to look like it had occurred naturally. Philip was prophetic in insisting on an autopsy as part of his will, with the specific intention to look for foul play. Had he not, no one would have assumed it was anything other than an overworked heart giving up on a stressed and obese man.

  The problem that Detective Foster had was who to arrest. Leighton Tempest had been the unlikely recipient of Philip’s huge inheritance, which would give him motive, but he hadn’t been at the house at the time Philip was taken to hospital. That left his wife, Alexis, the chain-smoking alcoholic who everyone expected to be the heir, and her three daughters, who could have just as equally prospered had the inheritance actually gone to them. Most bizarre was the fact that Philip did not have current life insurance. He’d allowed his policy to expire without renewal, almost two years ago.

  Alexis, or indeed any of the three daughters may have just despised Phili
p enough to want to kill him, or it could have been someone else entirely with a personal vendetta. It was difficult to know for sure, which was why Detective Foster decided the best thing to do would be to arrest the whole family, ask a few probing questions and sort the details out later on. He’d get his team to do a forensic sweep of the house and see what they could turn up. Perhaps under questioning, one of the girls would crack. He knew Gracey, the youngest, had spent a long time at her stepfather’s bedside in the hospital, which made his cynical mind even more suspicious of her motives. She also seemed to be developing a relationship with Leighton that spoke of more than just simple acquaintance. Foster had been a detective for only ten years, but he’d been a policeman for nearly thirty, and a journalist before that. He knew where to look for clues, and how to do it without being noticed himself.

  Leighton wasn’t at the forefront of his investigation, but he hadn’t ruled out the possibility that he was involved. Of what he could deduce from his relationship with his father, it seemed that Leighton would have every right to want the man killed. Until his innocence was proven and he was excluded completely from enquiry, Detective Foster had submitted a claim to have the inheritance put on hold. He knew there was little chance of it being allowed, but as soon as a claim was submitted, he could at least tie up the passing over of the money and assets until a counter claim had been lodged. It would buy him as much time as was possible.

  Isabella was the one that opened the door. In her typical way, she invited the Detective and his men into the house for breakfast.

  When Leighton eventually heard what had happened, all three girls and their mother were in holding cells in a Baltimore police station waiting for interview rooms to become available for their questioning. Gracey had scribbled it down on a post it note before being reluctantly told to get in the police car or be handcuffed and dragged there if she didn’t comply. When nobody answered the door, Leighton had to use his key for the very first time. He was greeted by Alexander, who led him to the kitchen and the note.