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“What?” I give him a doubtful look. “Why would I?”
“You’ve seen what our father can do, haven’t you?”
Is that a look of remorse on his face? Does he actually regret hitting me?
“What’s it to you?” I bark at him.
“Well, it’s not like you’re the most popular person in Eden Falls right now,” he grimaces, lighting up a new joint despite my warnings. “Having Dexter on your side could really help you. People wouldn’t pick on you as much. He’d take care of you, like he did of Lily Anna.”
“I don’t need anyone taking care of me,” I raise my chin defiantly. “I’m pretty sure I can do that myself.”
“Pretty sure isn’t going to cut it,” Brazen shakes his head in dismissal. “You haven’t even been to school yet. You think people are going to treat you any better there?”
“Like I said,” I retort icily. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don’t need your counsel.”
“I’m just trying to be nice,” he gets out through gritted teeth. “You could do with having at least one person on your side. I thought your goddamn fiancé would be a good option. But you’re obviously too stupid to follow simple orders.”
“I don’t need to follow your orders,” I remind him. “You seem to be forgetting I came before you, little bro. You do as I say.”
“Yeah, good luck convincing anyone to do as you say,” he smirks. “Nobody’s going to listen to some new money bitch who grew a pair of balls so tiny I could blow them off.”
He puffs in my face and I make a grimace.
“You know, I thought you’d be at least a little prettier, since your mom was apparently such a beautiful woman. I guess you can take a bitch out of the gutter, but you can never take the gutter out of the bitch.”
My blood boils in anger and I fight the instinct to tackle him. I wouldn’t win a physical fight against Brazen, but I was always better at mind games, anyway. He’d pay for this in time.
“And what about you? You follow our father’s orders without even thinking about them. You beat me up, bro. You hit an innocent girl just cause Daddy told you to, Brazen. What would your precious maid think of that?”
He pales and I smirk at him.
“Oh, don’t think I didn’t notice you staring, bro.”
He advances on me, ready to strike, and I recoil in the expectation of a slap that never comes. Brazen talks himself out of it, slowly lowering his hand. He mutters something under his breath, as if talking to himself.
“What did you say?” I ask sweetly. “Couldn’t hear you. Maybe because you’re being a gross little perv who’s so obsessed with the maid he-”
This time, Brazen doesn’t hesitate. He hits me right in the jaw, knocking me on my ass for the second time. I cry out when he hits me, but the sudden rush of adrenaline coursing through my body makes me jump right back up. I advance on him. I may be shorter and weaker, but I’m older, which makes me a Firstborn.
“You’re going to fucking pay for this,” I snarl at him. “I’m going to tell father.”
He pales at the thought before shrugging, tilting his head. “You do that, bitch. We’ll see who wins this one.”
He walks out of the bedroom, finally leaving me alone. I groan inwardly before inspecting my new injuries in the mirror. I have bruises all over my body, and I’ve barely been here a week. What the fuck are they going to do to me by the end of the year?
* * *
“Lily Anna, darling, you’re using the wrong spoon.”
I look up at the syrupy-sweet face of my stepmother, Bryony. She’s basically five feet eleven of expertly bleached blond hair and plastic on Louboutins.
“Thanks for the…” I swallow, remembering my place and hating myself for succumbing to the role they’ve given me.
It’s temporary, I remind myself. Only temporary.
“Thank you for telling me, Bryony.”
“Please,” she smiles, revealing two rows of perfect pearly whites. “I already told you to call me Mom.”
