Bend (A Stepbrother Romance) (19 page)

“Shh,” I whispered, pulling her closer to me so she could lean on my shoulder. “What happened?”

Her body trembled as she took a deep breath, but her voice was flat. “There was a boy that I met in college. We went out for a long time before I brought him home. I thought he and my mom were a little too… flirtatious with each other.” My grip on her arm tightened. I had a feeling I knew where this was going.
Looks like I judged her mother correctly. Dammit
. “When he visited again over the summer before senior year, I caught them together. In her bed.”

I shook my head. “That’s really fucked up.”

“Yeah.” She ran her hand up and down my arm. At least her tears had stopped. “I realized then that it was just the culmination of a pattern. My high school friends called her a MILF. She always flirted with the guys. I suspected she kissed one of my boyfriends back then, but I was in denial about it for a long time.”

Seriously?
The woman sounded like a nightmare. “That might actually be a little more fucked up.” Now more than ever I knew I had to get my father away from her—but how?

Cadence sat up and wiped her eyes. “The worst part is, I’m not even sure I’m that mad anymore. I should be. I’ll feel like a giant fucking idiot if something like that ever happens again. But I miss her.”

“What has she had to say about all this?” I asked, brushing her cheeks dry with my thumbs.

She snorted. “She thinks it’s ‘all in good fun.’ She thinks it’s a joke. Right after I found them together, she said to me, ‘Who would ever want you when they could have me?’ She was joking about her revealing outfit and fake eyelashes, but the message kinda stuck.”

“Shit,” I cursed under my breath. That made what I’d said that morning about ten times worse. “I’d still be mad if I were you. Hell, I’m mad
for
you. Who the fuck does that?”

“She’s a needy woman.” Cadence shrugged. “She’s always desperate for attention and she got used to getting by on her looks. But maybe she’s changed.” Her brow furrowed. “You aren’t going to say anything about this, are you? To your father?”

“Shouldn’t I?”

“They seem really happy,” she said softly. “Both of them. Maybe she’s different. It’s been a while since all that happened. Don’t you want to give them a chance?”

“No. I was against this from the start.” She tensed, but I held her against me. “I was wrong about you, but you can’t say that I was wrong about her.”

“Please, just stop,” she said. “I want to give her a chance. Now that I’m seeing her again, I realized I’ve missed talking to her. She was a good mother when there weren’t any men around.”

I was willing to bet that she wasn’t, but I bit my tongue. “Okay,” I said. “Whatever you want.” And I meant it. Now, when I finally had the information I’d been looking for, the big secret that would make my father see sense and show Victoria the door—now I didn’t think I could do it. Because I wasn’t ready lose Cadence. And maybe I wouldn’t be for a long time.

I drew my thumb along her bottom lip. “If it makes you feel any better, your mother won’t be stealing me away anytime soon.”

Her lip curled. “Gross.” We both laughed as the dark cloud of our conversation finally began to dissolve.

“Nobody will steal me away,” I said, leaning my forehead against hers. “I don’t even
see
anyone else anymore. All I think about is you.”

“Keir,” she breathed. “Are you crazy?” She curled her fingers through my hair, despite her words. “We can’t… be together. Your father—”

“Yeah, told you off, I’m sure. Tough shit.” She gasped as I gripped her hair tight, tugging her head back. “If we have to be sneaky, we’ll be sneaky. At least until the tabloids lose interest. But you’re mine now.” And I kissed her, hard, though her lips were still swollen and her eyes were still red-rimmed. She brought out that possessive side in me, and it had been rampaging ever since I’d seen that photo of her with another guy. That anyone would even suggest that she was with him instead of me… I growled against her mouth. I had to fuck her again. I had to make sure she knew just how much she belonged to me.

She seemed to feel the same, clinging to the back of my neck as if her life depended on it.

I managed to get us both undressed this time. I took her right there on the couch, coaxing her to straddle my lap and ride my length, grinding against me and getting herself off as I looked up at her face. Her hazel eyes were a lightning storm of passion, flashing, growing darker, watching me and reading me with such intensity. As if she were trying to crawl inside my soul.

I played her like an instrument until she was close to coming, pinching, stroking, sucking all the sensitive places that I could reach until she was in a frenzy of need. Only then did I hold her in place and thrust myself into her, driving both of us to our ends. Together.

She lay in my arms, fitting perfectly against my chest. “Cadence.” I sighed her name—and I thought of her song. I hadn’t written a word since we’d been apart. I wasn’t kidding when I called her my muse.
Shit, I need to keep her with me if I ever want to move on from this damn track.
“Baby. How would you like to meet me in New York?”

“New York? What do you mean?”

“I’m back in Dallas tomorrow. Or tonight, technically,” I said, glancing at her clock. It was well after midnight. “Then I’m in Austin, but after that, I head for the eastern leg of the tour starting in New York City over the weekend.”

“I do miss the East Coast,” she said, propping herself up on her elbow so she could look down at me.

“I’ll have Dad’s assistant arrange your flight and a car,” I said. I hated how I sounded—so stupidly hopeful. This wasn’t like me at all. “We’ll party after the show. There’s an event… you could meet some photography people.”

A slow smile spread over her face. “You’ve thought about this before just now.”

“I have,” I admitted, though I hadn’t been serious at the time. I’d just heard a few artists’ names and thought she might be interested. I never really imagined that she’d actually join me at the stupid record label party or whatever the fuck the event was about. Someone had dropped an album. I didn’t care, I just knew I was expected to make an appearance with the whole damn band. Cadence would make it bearable. Maybe even fun.

“Meet me there,” I said, kissing her head.

She chuckled. “Will Kelly be there?”

“Doubt it.”

“Okay,” she said, smiling, “But we’ll have to be sneaky, all right? We arrive and leave separately, if the press is going to be around.”

“It’s a deal,” I said, knowing damn well I would have agreed to any condition she decided to conjure up. I’d have dressed in a spacesuit if she’d asked.
I am head over fucking heels
. And for once, I didn’t mind at all.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Cadence

The time couldn’t go by fast enough. Keir wanted me to join him on tour. He
wanted
me. Such a strange turn of events—I wondered what had made him change his mind? Perhaps something his father had said?

It wasn’t important. What was important was being together—and keeping it secret.

Especially from my boss. It had been a few days since she’d spoken to me but, as if she somehow read my mind and knew about my night with Keir, she called me into her office the next morning.

“Any updates?” Wendi asked without looking up from her computer.

“I’ve been swamped with assignments from the writers,” I said, hoping that would deflect any disappointment, “I haven’t really had a chance to look into Keir lately.”
And I’d rather keep my own name and face out the paper if that’s okay with you guys
.

“All right,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Then she finally looked up, her dark eyes narrowed. “You do realize that the only natural conclusion to a saga like this one is a sex tape, right?”

“I’m afraid you won’t be getting one from me,” I said, looking away in embarrassment. “We’re not… together, anyway.”

“Hmm.” Wendi tapped her fingers against her chin. “Sex tape, or big public breakup scene, or… an arrest would be good. How likely is he to take a swing at an over-aggressive cameraman?”

Pretty likely
was my guess but I didn’t want to encourage whatever it was she was dreaming up. “He wouldn’t do that.”

“Right. Well. Let me know when you find something else.”

I only kept digging out of habit, to fill the time between requests from the writers. It wasn’t that I expected to find anything; I was just coming to enjoy feeling like a detective. A successful detective, that. I did find something else later on that day—something that I didn’t really know that I was even searching for. Something that I was sure—absolutely sure—that I shouldn’t share with Wendi or with anyone at work.

Something I wasn’t sure how I could explain to Keir without sounding like a stalker.

He had a sister.

I stared at the confirmation sitting in my email. Of all fucking people… Her Facebook was private, so I could do no digging there. But I didn’t need to research her on social media—I already knew who she was.

Lorna Hills.

While researching Keir’s mother, I’d found that Elizabeth Holt was not her maiden name, either. She’d been married before she’d met Keir’s father, and had given birth to a daughter even before that. A daughter she’d likewise left behind, though it was with her own parents—Lorna’s grandparents. And Keir’s, I guessed.

Did Keir know about any of this? I’d gotten the impression that he didn’t have a clue—that he’d never really looked into his mother’s names, never really sought her out.

The woman herself was still a shadow—her trail disappeared, just as Keir’s father had said. But why didn’t he think to trace her backwards, either? She may have been lost, but did no one care about her history?

Well, now I knew. A combination of genealogy websites, phone books, and a few investigative phone inquiries had led me right to Lorna.

The email from her grandmother’s sister’s son—Lorna and Keir’s own second cousin—confirmed it.
Dear Cassie,
it started, as I’d not contacted her under my real name,

I’m sorry to tell you that Elizabeth has been out of contact with us for a very long time. I’m not sure how you managed to track us down. She has very little family. Her parents aren’t well, but I hear her daughter lives in LA—perhaps she’s been in contact with Elizabeth recently. I don’t have her current phone number but here is a link to her Facebook page. Her name is Lorna and she is a writer or a critic, or something like that. I’d love it if you would keep me updated as to whether or not you can track Elizabeth down. We often wonder about her—and we worry.

All the best,

Monica

Shit
. This was a major bombshell. Would I drop this on him in New York? Did I dare, after the way he’d freaked out when I dug up his mugshot? He wasn’t even angry about the photo itself, he was mad that I’d looked into his mother’s name—his family.
What other secrets are they hiding?

Working quickly, I dug up an email address for Lorna herself, hidden deep in the archives of the company’s media contacts.

I composed a quick email, afraid that I would say too much if I let myself over think it.

Hello, Miss Hills! Huge fan here, and aspiring writer/photographer. I was hoping to interview you for a gossip column I’m working on for
Snap Sparkle Pop
—trashy, I know, but I’m hoping to elevate our musical articles at the very least. Is there any chance we could meet for a coffee and a quick chat sometime?

Thanks so much,

Cadence Ryan

There. That was as close to the truth as I could conjure up.

Now I just had to hope that she would meet with me—and that she wouldn’t recognize me as the girl from the concert who’d stamped on her foot when and if she saw my face.

═ ♪ ♫ ♪ ═

Luck or fate was on my side. Lorna replied and we planned to get together only two days later. I met her in a coffee shop near her office, offering poor Zach no explanation as to why I was skipping out on lunch with him.
Let him stew. This one is none of his business. He’ll just sell this to Wendi if he finds out
.

I beat Lorna there and ordered coffees for both of us. I sat near the front window, facing the door so I’d be prepared for her arrival. It was almost as nerve-wracking as a blind date. Should I tell her what I know right away?
Be professional
, I reminded myself.

Lorna took off her sunglasses when she entered, and eyes rested on me right away. I waved.

“You must be Cadence,” she said, sinking into the chair in front of me with a heavy sigh. “Good God, what a week. I’m glad for an excuse to get out of the office for a while.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking her hand.

“You too. Thanks for the coffee.” She took a sip of the black liquid without adding anything to it. “Perfect.” Then she squinted at me. “I feel like I’ve seen you before.”