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The word echoes through my skull. But she’s right, isn’t she?
We are family.
And no one—not her or my father or Oakley—will ever accept the thing between us.
Because one day, she’ll be my stepmum and Reese…
He’ll be my stepbrother.
4
REESE
Isit at the table in Christian’s kitchen with my fist curled on top of the worn wood. I can’t hear Mum talking to Olivia, but I know she is. Jealousy burns through me, knowing that she’s spending time up there, checking she’s okay while I stay down here.
The guilt from knowing she was hurt last night because of me floods my veins. Because of my stupid revenge mission on Dale fucking Starling. If I’d have just done as Elliot had instructed and only fucked his car up a bit, then he might not have felt the need to go to such extremes to hit back at us.
I squeeze my eyes closed, desperately trying to rid myself of the image of Dale pinning Olivia to the ground as he—
“Fuck,” I hiss, achingly aware of what would have happened if we hadn’t got there when we did. I could see his intentions clear as day in his dark, evil eyes.
“Everything okay, sweetheart?” Mum asks as she marches into the room, startling me.
“Uh…”
“She’s okay. You all got there just in time. You did good.” She smiles at me as if she actually means that. As if she’s not suspicious as fuck about all of this.
I can see the accusation right there in her eyes, but for some reason, she keeps it locked down.
Mum isn’t stupid. Far fucking from it. I have no doubt that if she weren’t born as a woman into this town ruled by men, then she’d have been in Christian’s position right now instead of being his right-hand woman.
I’ve never once heard her complain about it, but I’ve seen the way other men have treated her over the years, even back when I didn’t understand. But since getting close to Olivia, I’ve had a front-row seat to how she feels about living in this town and having to abide by the old-fashioned traditions we’re ruled by. It’s more than obvious how hard Mum must have fought to get where she is now.
“Yeah,” I mutter, unable to agree with her previous statement. “I should head out. Go and check on Oak.”
“Olivia is worried about him,” she muses as she reaches into a cupboard for a mug before bringing the coffee machine to life. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him quite that angry.”
“Rightly so,” I mutter, feeling pretty close to the fucking edge myself.
“Elliot and Theo will keep him in check.”
“Still, I need to head over.” The last thing we need right now is Oak, or any of them getting suspicious.
“Actually, I need you to stay here with Olivia for a little bit. I’m supposed to be meeting Krystal. I’ll only be gone an hour or so,” Mum says, her voice soft in a way I’m not sure I’ve heard for a few years.
“Seriously, you need to meet Krystal? Today of all days?” I gawk at her.
“She’s going through some things. I promised her we could get coffee. I won’t be long.” A refusal is on the tip of my tongue when she then turns toward me with Olivia’s favourite mug in her hand. “Take this up to her, please. I think she’d much rather see you than she would me.”
I really fucking doubt it. But I need her, and my selfishness is going to win right now.
I held off as long as I could last night, but the second it was safe to sneak into her room unseen, I was there.
I’d expected her to be asleep. I had every intention of watching her for a bit, getting enough to convince myself that she was okay and then to slip out again unnoticed.
The last thing I wanted was to see her big, scared eyes staring up at me as she told me she couldn’t sleep because of that motherfucker. And I really wasn’t expecting my presence, my embrace, to be soothing enough to send her to sleep.
My body begged for me to drift off with her scent filling my nose. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t risk Christian or Oak coming in to check on her and finding me there.
