Mine: A Stepbrother Romance: (With bonus novel Bossy!) (47 page)

“You can’t possibly think this was me.”

“No? Why not? It makes sense. First you embarrass me in the office, then you humiliate me in front of the entire company. What’s left?” She wipes her eyes and glares at me, daring me to deny it. “My family. Couldn’t ask for a better opportunity. I’m such an idiot.”

This is when I should take her in my arms and hold her until I can explain everything. Except I’m an asshole, and all I can think is that the girl I’m falling in love with thinks so little of me that she’d believe I was capable of this level of shit.

Fuck that. I shouldn’t have to beg.

“Why isn’t the video playing yet? Declan? What’s going on? I thought everything was...” His voice trails off as he catches sight of the frozen video on the screen. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he roars.

Oh for fuck’s sake. “Dad, it’s not—”

“Garrett, what’s—” Annette bursts in and stops as soon as she sees me. “Declan? Oh my God!” Her face goes white and she covers her mouth with a shaking hand.

I finally wise up enough to slap the laptop closed. “Do you all seriously think so little of me?”

They’re all looking at me with a kind of sad pity in their eyes. I’m used to people seeing me and thinking I’m all brawn and no brains. Most of the time it amuses me when they find out they’re wrong. And yeah, I’ve done my share of shit over the years, but always in good fun.

You know what? Fuck them if they honestly think I’d do this. “Why do I even bother? I don’t need your damn pity.”

Claire’s voice is soft. Her mother’s arms go around her shoulders. “Congratulations. You win. I knew these past few days were too good to be true. I can’t believe I fell for it. For
you.
” She turns to my father and stands up straight. “I hope you understand that it’s nothing personal, but I quit.”

And with that, she turns on her heels and walks out, as fast as she can without actually running. I can almost feel her desperation to get away before she breaks down again. My first instinct is to go to her and fix things, but Dad slugs me in the shoulder and pushes me back when I try.

“Don’t even fucking think about it. You’ve done enough damage for one day.”

This is fucking ridiculous. I’m still holding the closed laptop, and everything boils over. I roar and throw it across the tent like a fucking Frisbee. It smashes into a loudspeaker and a deafening shriek blasts out, the painful, distorted sound mimicking exactly what I’m feeling inside.

I look at my father and my new stepmother. “You can think what you want, but I wouldn’t do this to her. Not even to stop your marriage.” Annette shakes her head, and I pin her with a look. “But you’re not going to believe me anyway, so I’ll leave and you guys can get on with the fucking scallops. Welcome to the family, Annette.”

They don’t try to stop me when I push my way out of the tent. All I’m thinking about is to try and get to Claire before she leaves. I don’t do relationships, and I don’t even know what I want to say. Maybe I’ll find the right words, maybe I’ll fuck it all up again, but I want her to know I haven’t been faking anything.

Claire’s walking along the moat, heading for the front of the castle. She’s moving quickly, but I’m faster in shoes than she is in heels. I grab her arm. “Wait.”

She whirls, her beautiful red curls fanning out in the sun, her hair a waterfall of red and gold. “I have nothing to say to you.” Her words are so caustic I’m surprised they don’t burn. “Oh wait. I do have one more thing. I hope your case crashes and burns. I hope both you and Cooper get everything you deserve, and that not one thing I did helps your defense. At all.” Her usually warm smile is cruel. “Now I’m done.”

“Like hell you are,” I snarl. I’m not sure how to do contrite, but anger comes easily. “You don’t get to fucking pretend what we have isn’t real.”

“No!” She wails. “Because I can’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth. You’ll say anything, and do anything to turn everything around. I’m done!”

I hold her arm tighter as she tries to pull away. “I don’t fucking think so!”

She shoves.

I’d be fine, but my heel slides on the polished cobblestone surrounding the moat. She stands and watches as my arms flail. Suddenly all I see is sky as I tumble backwards.

Fuck. Not again.

My back impacts first, sending water up around me in all directions, then the rest of me follows as I go under. The world blurs, water rushing into my eyes, over my face, closing over me.

Another fucking pool. This is getting ridiculous.

The only upside to landing fully clothed in a pool and watching as the world fades away until your ass hits bottom, is that nothing fucking matters anymore. It’s strangely, uncomfortably and somewhat soggily freeing.

Kicking off the bottom, I launch myself to the surface, the water rushing past me. I burst out, catching the edge with my hands and pulling myself high enough that I see her disappearing into the back of one of the cars we’d hired to drive guests home. “Claire!” I scream at the top of my lungs.

She turns, briefly, shakes her head. Then she gets in, slamming the door behind her.

“I fucking love you!” I finally said the words so many girls have hoped to hear, but the only one that matters doesn’t. The engine starts, and then she’s gone, leaving me treading water with my words echoing in my head. I mouth them, needing to taste them again, to make them real. They come out in a soft whisper.

“I do. I fucking love you.”

Not that it matters anymore.

I
give the driver my mom’s old address, and lean back to let the full weight of my humiliation sink in. My broken engagement to Michael should’ve been worse, but finding out that Declan used and manipulated me over and over makes me want to crawl under a rock and die.

It’s a relief that I hadn’t completely moved my stuff into Garrett’s house yet. We’ve moved most of our things over there already, but for tonight at least I don’t have to face sleeping in the lion’s den. His house is gorgeous. It has everything I could ever want, and I can’t wait until school starts up so I can move out.

Fucking Declan.

I put aside my personal feelings and worked a case I found abhorrent for him. Yes, it was my job, but without him and his encouragement I would’ve quit as soon as I found out who we were working for. What did I get in return? Humiliation beyond my wildest dreams.

There are no shades of gray here.

My phone rings. It’s been doing that over and over since I ran off. It’s muted, but the screen keeps flashing at me, demanding attention I don’t have the energy to give. I don’t want to talk to
anyone
. Not Mom. Not Garrett. Especially not Declan. I don’t want to answer questions or explain the unexplainable.

Again, more ringing. With a growl, I hit the button to lower my window and throw it as hard as I can. It sails onto the shoulder, exploding in a satisfying shower of glass and metal. Probably not a great idea since I just joined the ranks of the unemployed, but I don’t care. It was worth it.

I throw my head back and laugh, letting the wind dry my face. The driver sends a slightly worried look over his shoulder. Not caring if he sees how crazy I’m feeling at the moment, I bare my teeth in a huge grin. Let him tell his buddies about the weird chick he drove home. Better that than pity.

Declan didn’t even leave me the dignity of underwear. Just one more insult to add to the pile.

Life will go on. Eventually.

I should be grateful he was too incompetent to get the feed into the main tent. Wouldn’t that have been fun? It’s bad enough I’m going to have to have this conversation with my mother. Spending the rest of my career wondering if someone around the table has watched me have sex would have been a nightmare.

Someone other than my stepbrother.

What did I do to deserve this?

That’s all I want to know. What did he possibly have to gain by pushing and pushing until I fell for him, and then trying to destroy my world?

Do I just attract the biggest assholes on the planet?

“Why?” I mouth, picturing the way Declan looked when he stood across from me at the altar.

“W
hy, Declan? Why do you do this to yourself?” Dad’s facing the window, not even looking at me. “You’re smart, charismatic, skilled. You could be an amazing attorney if you applied yourself. It’s like you want an excuse to fail. Is that it? If you turn everything into a joke, nothing will matter?”

It’s the day after their wedding, but they aren’t leaving on their honeymoon until after the Cooper case is finished, so Dad has the perfect opportunity to nail me to the wall. Shockingly enough I wasn’t exactly in the mood to chat after my little swim.

“Don’t stand there and fucking psychoanalyze me. How about you? Why do you find it so hard to believe I wasn’t responsible?” Head high, I look Dad in the eyes as he turns to face me. “Or don’t you care about the truth so long as blaming me fits into your tidy little narrative.”

I was half surprised nobody was waiting outside the elevator to arrest me when I came in.

The next silence seems like it lasts forever. “I do care, but you’ve done nothing lately except show me over and over that you resent Claire and Annette. Excuse my language, but get the fuck over it already. Annette will never replace your mother, but she’s a part of my life now and so are you. You’re going to have to find a way to accept it.”

“Why her?” I need to know. It’s something I should have asked months ago, but I didn’t want to hear his answer.

Dad smiles wistfully. “I love her. Not more or less than your mother, but differently. Annette will never be Caitlyn, and I don’t want her to be. They’re different people, but I love them both. Your mother would’ve wanted me to move on, just as I would have if our places had been reversed. I wish you could see that.”

Listening to him yell would be less uncomfortable than this. I know the shitty greeting card sap he’s spouting is probably true, but it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

“Every time I go to the house, it looks a little less like our home. Mom’s painting isn’t in its old spot.” My words sound better suited for an eight year old than for a grown man. “Little by little, she’s disappearing all over again.”

“Your mother isn’t in those things.” Dad’s icy blue eyes, exactly like mine, stare right into my own. “Of course Annette will make her mark there. She’s living there now.” He sighs. “I didn’t do either of us any favors by throwing myself into work and letting the house turn into a museum. It was long due for a change. Maybe you should try coming home every once in a while, and you’ll see.”

I’m the first to look away. “Yeah, whatever.”

“You’ll always be welcome, you and Claire both, though I’d advise staying away from her for a while.”

“I didn’t do it,” I whisper, not expecting a response.

Dad grimaces and runs a hand through his hair. “I know.” He holds a hand up to stop me when I open my mouth. “You’re not off the hook. I still hold you partially to blame for it happening. Claire told us the details as she knows them, and I know you well enough to guess at some of what’s missing. If you’d come to me earlier, we might have been able to fix this.”

“So why do you suddenly believe me?” Don’t get me wrong, I’m fucking thrilled someone does, but I’m suspicious about the sudden change of heart.

He gives me a funny little half-smile. “I should say that as your father I’ll always believe you, but honestly? I heard what you said when she left.”

Shit. “That was... uh—”

“Stop! I’m not sure I want to hear about it. It’s been hard enough pretending not to notice the way you two have been dancing around each other here at the office. All I need to know is that your motivations have nothing to do with me and her mother, and that you didn’t intend to hurt her.”

I shrug. “The way to Hell is paved with good intentions. But no. The way I feel about Claire is about her, not some fucked up revenge plot. Not that she believes me.”

“You’re a Riordan. You’ll figure it out.”

“So’s she, as of Sunday,” I point out.

Dad looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Do you just
have
to make everything as awkward as possible?”

For the first time since the wedding, I laugh. My mood actually feels a bit lighter. Not happy exactly, but not so alone. “So Claire’s not coming back, then?”

“Officially? She’s taking a leave of absence. Unofficially? I’m not sure she’ll be back. It’s too bad. Barring all the messes involving you, she seemed to be doing good work.”

“She was. I know I’m on thin ice myself, but I want you to know she was handling a very difficult assignment with more professionalism than I probably would have in her place.” It’s true, for all the shit I gave her, Claire’s ability to put aside her issues with Cooper and still do her job was one of the things that first impressed me about her.

Well, second if I count our first night together. That was really fucking impressive too.

Dad doesn’t need to hear that.

“I know. I’ve been following everything to do with the Cooper case very closely.” He raises an eyebrow at me and I wonder exactly what he means by
everything.
“If she doesn’t continue on with us, I’ll pull some strings to make sure it turns out alright for her.”

That’s one less worry on my mind. “So I still have a job?”

“Yes, yes.” He waves me away. “Get back to work.”

“H
oney, I’m home!” I barge right into Dad’s house. If they want me to knock they should take away my key.

There’s something really bizarre about feeling like a stranger in the house I grew up in. I lived here for twenty years, but coming back to it now feels completely different. Signs of that jump out at me right away. In the center of the wall in the foyer is a picture of Annette and Dad out in the orchard that they had done for their engagement.

He’s looking at her and smiling like they’ve just shared a joke I’ll never be a part of. I remember that smile, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen it. Off to the side is a picture of Claire and her mom together. It looks like it was taken on the same day. There’s one of me and Dad too, but it’s ancient. From my graduation I think.