Bend (A Stepbrother Romance) (22 page)

Security was on them in a flash, trying to tug them apart. Everyone else scattered out of the way and kept snapping pictures.

“Keir, let him go!” I shouted as the two men snarled at each other. I couldn’t hear what was being said—a third security guard swooped in and pulled me out of the way.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Keir and the photographer were finally pulled apart. But then Keir swung back and punched him dead in the face.

It all happened in slow motion. The man’s nose cracked and blood burst over Keir’s knuckles before he could pull away.

The security guards threw them both to the ground and held them there, arms pinned against their backs.

I froze right where I was, though Keir’s head lifted and his eyes searched for me.

“Police are on their way!” someone called from the lobby doors.“Evidence! We have evidence!” a camerawoman shouted.

The man’s nose was bleeding onto the concrete.

Keir cursed over the din of the shouting photographers, who kept right on snapping pictures.

Sirens sounded in the distance.

And, numb and dumbstruck, all I could think was,
Guess I’m missing my flight, after all.

═ ♪ ♫ ♪ ═

The newspaper hit the kitchen table with an echoing crack. Keir and I both cringed. Sitting shoulder to shoulder, we faced his father and my mother.

I couldn’t make myself look at the headline, much as the big, bold letters tried to pull my eyes in.

“Read it,” Glenn said quietly.

I looked down.
STEP AFFAIR INTENSIFIES: Keir Sonder Arrested After Paparazzi Attack; Stepsister On The Sidelines

Keir was uncharacteristically silent as he stared down at the words.

I’d come to my senses and called his father as soon as the police hauled him away. Glenn had him bailed out immediately. At first the tour was going to continue, but with little explanation, Glenn had the whole thing postponed and ordered Keir to fly right home.

The paper explained why. At least I had nothing to do with submitting any information on this one.

“This is it?” Keir finally asked, gesturing. “This is why you pushed back the tour?”

“Just by a couple of days,” Glenn grumbled. “Just long enough to get you here and say what needs to be said.”

“And what’s that?” Keir asked, matching his quiet tone.

“This,” Glenn said, gesturing between us, “has to end. This is why you can’t be together. Sorry, kids.”

“I don’t care about some fucking tabloid,” Keir snarled, slamming his fist down on it. “And neither should you. It’s just bullshit.”

“I care about you losing your shit over some name-calling,” Glenn said, looking between us. My cheeks burned red. This was at least partially my fault. I’d singled out the photographer who spat the insults—I’d started the confrontation.
Me and my goddamn temper. I’ve ruined everything.

Mom rested a hand on Glenn’s arm. “Maybe if they just lay low for a while?” she asked him. “What if they’ve found what we have, honey? What if it’s love? Do you want to take that from them?”

Mom was defending us? Defending our relationship instead of trying to break it apart? I exchanged a look with Keir. Was it even love? I wasn’t sure I’d know it if it bit me on the ass.

“I didn’t care what they did, but apparently, a lot of other people do,” Glenn growled. “Including people I do business with. They’re stepsiblings, in the eyes of the world.”

I hung my head. I didn’t want to hurt Glenn’s business. I didn’t want to hurt anyone at all, but that’s what was happening.

“Fine,” Keir said, placing his palms on the table. He snarled, “No more fucking my stepsister. Message received. Now why don’t you tell me why you never mentioned my half-sister?”

Glenn blanched. The silence that followed Keir’s question was deafening. My heart may have been breaking but there were still more important matters at hand.

I took it as my cue to exit.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Keir

Everything was blowing up in my face. Cadence and I had finally come together, finally opened up, and now our very own family was trying to tear us apart.

I was inclined to say “fuck it” and ignore my father’s request completely. Especially considering that he seemed to know about Lorna and was content to keep her a secret.

“How long have you known?” I asked as soon as Cadence and her mother were out of earshot.

“I only found out that the girl existed after you were born,” he said. “I never reached out.”

“Why?” I asked, incredulous. “I would have wanted to know I had a sister! I would have wanted to meet her.”

“I know that,” he growled. “But I didn’t want that family getting their hands on your, fighting for visitation and custody… I didn’t want you exposed to that.”

I ran my hands through my hair. “To what?”

He didn’t answer.

I laughed out loud out of disbelief as I realized what it was. “What, were they poor? You kept us apart out of snobbery?” I asked, shaking my head. “I thought you were a good man. All these years. Guess I was wrong.”

“I did what I thought was best,” he said. “I just wanted to protect you. I wanted you to have everything you wanted out of life, Keir. They would have dragged you down.”

“What I wanted was my family!” I sank back into my chair before I realized that I’d even stood.

He placed his hands on the table. “You’re an adult now. You can do whatever you want. I won’t try to stop you.”

“Except when it comes to Cadence, right?” I snarled.

“For your sake more than mine,” he said. “You’re a
joke
right now. You’re going to flush your music career down the toilet if you keep this up. No one will ever take you seriously.”

I stood. “And you think people don’t think you’re a joke, marrying that woman?” I asked.

His face darkened. “Don’t go there. Victoria and I are happy.”

I laughed again. “You know what? This is all your fault. I’m just as weak and stupid as you when it comes to women, but you might actually be worse. At least Cadence is a decent person. Victoria’s going to turn on you. Just you fucking wait and see.”

He threw his hands up in exasperation. “You’d just love that, wouldn’t you? You can’t wait to stick me with an ‘I told you so.’ All I’ve tried to do is give you everything you wanted. Am I supposed to apologize for that?”

I fell into silence. Victoria was going to show him her true colors eventually. No way she’d changed, no matter what Cadence thought.

And when she did… when they finally split…

We’d be free to do whatever we wanted.
Patience
.

“I’m going to meet Lorna,” I said to him as thoughts of Cadence calmed me. “I’m going to meet that whole family, and I’ll judge for myself how involved I want to be.” Another thought occurred to me—one that twisted my stomach up in knots. “You didn’t deliberately keep Mom away, did you?”

“No.” My father slumped in his chair. “I signed her up for the best rehab facility in the state. I sent her money for a time. She disappeared all on her own, Keir. I’m sorry.”

“Are my flights arranged?” I asked, changing the subject. “We only rescheduled two concerts, right? I need to be in Boston in three days.”

“Our assistants are on it,” he said with a heavy sigh, “They’ll send you the whole itinerary tomorrow.”

I left him without another word. There was nothing left to say.

I knocked on Cadence’s door. When she opened it, wearing just a long t-shirt and panties, I kissed her with no words and no explanations.

I took her slowly and quietly that evening, partially out of defiance. I made love to her in my father’s house, flipping the middle finger at him and his demands and his stupid fucking rules.

“We have to stay apart for a while,” I said, kissing her neck later in the night. We were tangled in the sheets, damp with sweat, yet comfortable. Happy.

“I know,” she said, her voice cracking. “I knew it would come to this. I knew we couldn’t be together. I don’t know why I let myself hope otherwise.”

“Stop,” I said, pressing a finger to her mouth. “You and I both know there’s a divorce in their future.” She started to protest, but it died on her lips. “And I’ll wait. I want to wait for you, Cadence. I don’t care how long it takes.”

One tear leaked from one of her eyes. Then another. “I’ll wait too, Keir. I don’t think I could move on, even if I wanted to.”

“Good.” I kissed her again, then rolled from the bed. “I hate to leave you right now but I don’t want to be here in the morning. I don’t want to see him.”

She sat up, clutching the sheets to her chest. She looked so perfect, her hair wild and her face lit only by moonlight, I had no choice but to wrap my arms around her. She clung to me so tightly I thought I’d never escape. And that would have been fine by me.

But she released me after a long moment. “You’ll have to forgive him eventually, Keir. I’m sure he had a good reason for doing what he did.” She stroked my hair. “I regret cutting my Mom off for so long. Despite what she did. I know she isn’t trustworthy, but I still want her in my life, at least somewhat.”

“Later,” I said, not ready to discuss it even though I knew she was right. “Send me Lorna’s contact info?”

Cadence nodded. “I will. She’s going to be pissed at me, but I’m not sorry I told you.”

“I’m glad you did,” I said, quickly dressing. “Thank you.”

I didn’t know what else to say. What did you tell a girl when you had to leave her and had to stay away from her for some indeterminable amount of time? “Keep in touch?” “See you for the holidays?”

“I’ll miss you,” she said, her eyes glistening as she smiled. “Stay out of trouble.”

I grinned. “You, too. See you soon, sis.”

She rolled her eyes.
Good
, I thought as I forced myself to leave the room. It was much better to exasperate her than to make her cry.

Now there was only one more girl I had to visit before rejoining the band. Would she be exasperated, or would she cry? Or would she be angry and refuse to meet me? I had no way of knowing—I didn’t actually know her at all.

But I couldn’t wait to find out what she was like. And I’d seek out the rest of her family, too.

And maybe, finally, the gaping hole left behind by my mother that I’d ignored for so long could start to heal.

═ ♪ ♫ ♪ ═

“Lorna Hills?”

“Keir Sonder?” Her lip curled slightly with disapproval as she looked me up and down. Maybe ripped jeans weren’t the best choice.
Pardon me for being a rock star
. “I guess your stepsister couldn’t keep her mouth shut.”

“Don’t be angry at Cadence,” I said. “She means well.”

Lorna hadn’t been at all receptive when I’d called. In fact, she’d hung up immediately.

She’d called back ten minutes later, though, and extended an invitation to her grandparents’ home. Reluctant as she was to meet, she was willing to arrange a get-together for their sake. They didn’t even know I existed until Lorna told them herself after her meeting with Cadence, and they were beside themselves with excitement.

And so was I.

Their home was small. Cozy. Knick-knacks lined the mantel, knit blankets draped over the couch.
This is what my father was so afraid of?

The older couple appeared from the kitchen and embraced me without any reservations, no hesitation at all. “We’re so, so happy to meet you!” Lorna’s grandmother said.
My grandmother
. I fought back a lump in my throat, and a sudden wish that Cadence could have been there with me.

“You have your mother’s eyes. Just like mine,” her grandfather said. Sure enough, I saw my own stormy grays reflected in his. I cleared my throat.

“Come on,” her grandmother said, clasping one of my hands between both of hers, “I made dinner. We want to hear all about this rock star career of yours!”

I felt like my head was spinning all through the meal. I couldn’t stop looking at my grandparents. Or at Lorna. She didn’t share our eyes, but she had similar facial features—the strong jaw, the straight nose.

I followed her outside after dinner. “Didn’t know you smoked,” I said, watching her light a cigarette.

“You don’t know anything about me,” she countered, and she was right.

“I know why my father kept us apart,” I said, cutting right to the heart of the matter. Bluntness was always better, in my opinion. Especially when it came to a seemingly stubborn girl like her. “It was bullshit. I would have wanted to meet you, if I’d known earlier.”

She took along drag and blew smoke out over the small backyard. “I spent a lot of time resenting you.”

I chuckled. “I could tell. We might be
Hot Ears'
most hated band.”

She turned and looked me up and down. “We don’t want anything from you, you know,” she went on. “I’m helping them out just fine.” She gestured at the house behind her. “They lived in a trailer, you know. My aunt—our aunt—still does. She won’t take your charity either.”