Stepbrother Desires (Billionaire Contemporary Romance) by Bianca James Read Free Book Online

wasn’t
going to soften. Not after the way he’d made a fool of me at the club. There
was no way.
    “Alright, you can come in for five minutes
and then I want you gone. Out of my life for good.” I said as severely as I
could, with my resolve waning, before pushing past him to open my apartment
door.
    As soon as he stepped inside I saw his eyes
scan my humble apartment. I knew he was judging me. I also knew I shouldn’t
care. But it hurt nonetheless. Sure, it wasn’t the ten bedroom, seven bathroom
home he was used to, but it was my home . How dare he …
    “This is nice,” he said as his gaze came
full circle.
    “Bullshit.” I nearly spat the word in his
face.
    “I’m serious. I like it. You’ve really made
your mark on the place. It’s got … personality. Yeah, personality.” He nodded
to himself.
    “So, what’s so important that you have to
take a break from destroying the environment to track me down?”
    “I guess you saw the press coverage, then.
Lucky they didn’t go chasing after you.” He started laughing. “Not that they
would have had trouble catching you in those heels.”
    “Fuck you!” I flipped him the bird.
    This is how it always was with him. Any
opportunity to laugh at my expense.
    “Lighten up sis. Come on, I’m only trying
to break the ice, here. I’m not here looking for a fight. You’re looking really
good, by the way. College life seems to agree with you.”
    “You mean I don’t look so fat and frumpy
now that I’m working out.” I glared at him, almost daring him, “Go on, you can
say what you’re thinking.”
    “Whoa! Where did that come from? I’ve never
said you were … well, either of those things. Why do you think I was always
giving you a hard time?”
    “Because you’re a bastard?”
    “Because I was threatened by you,” he
snapped back.
    “ You felt threatened by me ?”
I couldn’t believe he just said that.
    “Since Mom passed, it had just been me and
my dad. I was kind of used to that and even though he’s not the easiest guy in
the world to live with —”
    I didn’t mean to, but I snickered at his
assessment.
    Tyler continued as if he hadn’t heard me,
but I knew he had, “but he was all I had and I was worried that he’d start
giving you more attention to get on side with your mom.”
    “Like that was ever going to happen. He
hated me from the time he set eyes on me.”
    “Don’t take it to heart, sis. He hates
pretty much everyone. He’s mean spirited and doesn’t give a fat rat’s ass about
anything or anyone other than his precious company.”
    “Is that why your mom …”
    I cut myself short when I saw his hands
ball into fists and knew better than to finish the question.
    Tyler’s eyes glazed as he nodded. I’d never
seen him look so vulnerable before. Now my heart ached for him in a different
way.
    “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said —”
    “That’s OK. I’ve been in denial for way too
long. It’s probably about time I faced up to why she did it.”
    But all of that was beside the point. “Why
were you always making fun of me, especially in front of your friends? That
wasn’t insecurity. That was just plain nasty. You were behaving just like your
Dad.” He winced when I said that. I’d struck a nerve.
    “Because I didn’t want them to know I had a
crush on my fucking sister. That’s why!” he blurted, as if fearing the words
might choke him.
    “Stepsister.” Was all I could think to say.
Words simply failed me.

Chapter 20
Tyler
     
    There, I’d said it. It was a relief to
finally tell somebody. A crushing burden was lifted from me. I felt like I
could breathe once more.
    “Stepsister. Sister. Do you really think anyone
cares about semantics? I couldn’t help how I felt, but I had to do everything I
could to stop people, like my friends and especially our folks, from finding
out. Do you know what my old man would say or worse, do ?
    “So that’s why you made my life a living
hell and drove me out of