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“Meredith is cheating on you,” I inform him without cushioning the blow, and he flinches. “You deserve better than her.” Softening my tone, I step closer. “You deserve to be happy, Dad, to stop putting up with these gold-digging cunts.” His eyes dart to Blair as if to check her thoughts on that, but I know she doesn’t care. “You deserve to find someone who makes you laugh” —I look at her then too— “and who reminds you what it feels like to be free and revel in life again,” I finish, and she swallows but smiles as I turn back to my father.
“You deserve to be happy. You deserve better than her. Check your email when we leave. I’ll leave it up to you what you decide to do, but Father... remember who you are. Searching and failing is better than putting up with the numb emptiness of someone just because it’s easier, safer. I know that now.”
“I—” He shakes his head, rubbing at it. “I know she is.”
I blink, and he smiles sadly at me and then Blair. “Your mother isn’t very discreet.”
“Because she doesn’t care if she’s caught,” Blair responds and gets to her feet, stepping to my side and slipping her hand into mine. I see my dad’s eyes drop to our clasped hands, but he doesn’t seem surprised until I wrap my fingers around hers, and then they narrow. “She never does. She does this over and over. She drains them of money and gets caught and kicked out, and then we have to leave.”
I jolt at that, but she squeezes my hand.
“It’s who she is, like a snake sinking its poison into people. She has a way of making them blind to her at first until the venom fades away, but by then they are so pumped full of it, it changes who they are.” She sucks in breath. “You seem like a good man, maybe the best man I’ve ever been dragged to live with. Don’t let her ruin you like the others. She’s just an easy cunt, that’s all. There’s nothing special about her. Maybe once there was, her beauty unrivalled. She was even talented once before she gave it up because it was easy to fall back on her looks and use them to get her what she wanted. But everything fades, and soon all that will be left is the rot inside her. Don’t be around when it does. You deserve better, like Cyrus said. There are women out there who will see you for you.” She looks up at me. “Not your past. You just have to give them a chance, even when it’s terrifying to take the leap.”
“She’s right,” I murmur and raise my eyes to his. “We thought you should know.”
“Thank you, Son,” he mumbles tiredly.
“Sorry, Dad,” Asher says, and he smiles at him.
“Not your fault, my boy.” I see Asher beam like he does whenever Dad calls him that.
“Alright, enough of this heart-to-heart, we’re going to have some fun!” Bray calls. “If there are any hot bitches, I’ll get their number for you, Daddy!” he declares as he drags Blair after him, making her laugh.
“More like I’ll get them,” she teases.
I nod at my dad and follow them to the door where they are waiting for me.
“I’m not a total idiot,” my father calls, and I freeze. He looks at Blair then and seems to search for what to say. I wait, my muscles tensing. I don’t want to have to cut him off, but if he hurts Blair, I will. I would do anything for her. “People will judge you.” is all he says.
“People have been doing that for years. Let them.” She smirks, grabs Asher, and kisses him soundly on the lips, making me grin. “They are worth it,” she says, threading her fingers through Bray’s and tugging him after her. I let them go, hesitating as I watch them laugh. Bray picks her up and twirls with her, and I can sense the genuine love and happiness they feel, and it infects my dark, cold heart.
“Cyrus,” Dad calls, and I turn back to him. I can see him struggling for the right words before he smiles. “She reminds me of her.”
“Her?” I prompt.
“Asher’s mom. The only person I ever loved. She’s bright, confident, beautiful, and just has this way around her. It’s so easy to love people like that, just be careful, my boy. Don’t end up like me, jaded and broken, searching for even a hint of that infectious love in every passing woman.”
“I won’t have to,” I reply, and he nods.
“I hope not. Blair is like her but also different. She’s stronger. Don’t let her go, or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Trust me, I know.” He drops his eyes to the papers in front of him but doesn’t seem to be seeing them.
“We love you, you know that, right? That’s why we had to tell you.”
“I know,” he mumbles. “I love you all too. I just wish—I just wish I had done better.”
“I don’t.” I shrug. “It brought her to us.”
I follow them out to the elevator, and Blair turns to me, flicking her hair over her shoulder. That cocky, beautiful smile stretches across her lips as her eyes sparkle. She’s so fucking beautiful, so perfect, it steals my breath, even as she reaches for my hand without thought.
“Everything okay?”
Raising her hand, I kiss her knuckles. “It’s perfect,” I murmur, and she smiles wider.
“Charmer. Come on, let’s go have some fun.” She pulls me after her, and I go willingly. I’d go anywhere she wanted me to. I was a fool to try and resist, to ignore and hate her, but it was because I knew the truth. She’s consumed me, changed me, and become everything to us. Without her, would there be any Crew? Without her laugh, her smile, her soft touch, and infectious personality? She makes us stronger, and she lightens us without clipping our wings.
No, our stepsister has fit right into our lives like she always belonged there, and maybe she did.
But there’s one thing I know for sure—there is no future without her. No matter what my dad says, I don’t ever plan on letting her go. She’s ours now, forever, and always.
