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He’s ridiculous as fuck.
Bryson tilts his head to the side, his eyes focused on mine. I wait for him to say something, anything, but he just watches me for a long moment. “You’re disgusting,” he hisses. “I hope you lose everything. Absolutely fucking everything.”
“Hoping your sister’s life turns to shit isn’t what you want, is it?” I ask.
He shrugs a shoulder. “Isn’t her life already shit?”
Instead of saying anything else, I take a step forward and watch him break out in a sweat at my closeness. He suddenly doesn’t seem so tough. Instead, he takes a step backward to get away from me. He looks scared, and my lips curve up into a grin.
“Maybe it is now, but it won’t be. Why don’t you worry about yourself and your doctor shit?”
“This will not work out for you,” he hisses as he takes a step forward.
I choose not to engage with him any longer. I could say so many things, but it’s pointless. Claire is already mine. Even if she doesn’t know it yet. She will alwaysbemine, bought, paid for, and owned in every way possible.
“Bryson, you are in over your head. What will not work out is your attempt to threaten me. I am not the fucking one to fuck with. There’s a reason your father walked out of here with his tail between his legs.” I take a step toward him. “Do not attempt to fuck with me.”
Holding his gaze, I do not blink, and I do not back down. What I do is silently challenge him. He doesn’t last long before he takes a step backward, then moves around me, breaking eye contact, and just like his father, he walks toward the door with his tail between his legs.
“Bryson?” I call out.
He stops, turning his head and looking over his shoulder at me. His lips are pressed together in a thin line as he stares at me, his eyes narrowed. There is clear hatred in his gaze, and as much as that should bother me, it doesn’t.
“Don’t make your sister’s life miserable by being negative about this. We’re going to be family, and there is nothing that can change that.”
He jerks his chin but doesn’t reply. Instead, he turns back toward the door, and I watch him walk out. I don’t miss Aaron and Andrew Simon standing in the hallway waiting for Bryson.
Weak cowards, all of them. The only one with any fucking backbone is Claire herself. I grin at the thought of her. She walked into that sex club, bound and determined to gain full control of her situation.
She didn’t. But it was cute as fuck that she tried. I admire her, really. Even if it is all for naught because she is going to end up with me anyway. She is the one for me, and I realize it now more than ever.
Claire Simon is definitely my earned prize.
CLAIRE
Once I’ve rested a bit,I shower and dress for the day. When I’m done, I take a good, long, hard look at myself in the mirror. My eyes scan my entire body, looking for any sign that I’ve lost my innocence, but I find nothing. I look the exact same as I did before I had sex. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this.
I wanted there to be some kind of clear sign that I’d done the deed, but there isn’t. With a heavy sigh, I leave my nearly empty bedroom and head for the kitchen. I’m starving. When I walk into the room, I am surprised to find my brothers and father sitting at the breakfast room table, seemingly deep in conversation.
They all stop speaking when they notice me.
Nobody says a single word, their eyes swinging over to meet mine. They watch me, almost as if I’m a caged animal they’re observing. I give them a smile and move around the kitchen to get something to eat.
I don’t ask what’s going on or what they’re talking about. I don’t care. They can have their secret meetings because I know that in a few weeks, it won’t matter because I’ll either be married or free.
I’m banking on free.
Once I’m able to leave, I’m going to go far away from Vegas and Dallas. I’m going to Florida, where I can enjoy the sun and sand in peace. It doesn’t take me long to get some food, deciding on some leftover Chinese from the other night, and I start to head back to eat it alone in my bedroom since it’s clear that my family doesn’t want me in here with them.
“We leave first thing in the morning. Make sure you’re ready to go,” my father calls out.
“All of my things have been shipped off to Dallas already. I have one suitcase full of clothes and toiletries. I could be ready in five minutes,” I mutter.
My father growls. “Don’t be a smart-ass,” he snaps.
Instead of staying and arguing, I head to my room and am surprised to see Shelby sitting on the edge of my bed. It’s not like her to be in my room or anywhere in my vicinity, really.
I move to the reading chair in the corner of the room and gingerly sink down onto the cushion. I don’t say a word to my little sister, knowing she has something she wants to say to me. She’s choosing her words, though I’m sure she’s choosing them to bite, as always.
