Read Man Up Stepbrother Online
Authors: Danielle Sibarium
Man Up Stepbrother (22 page)
I still love and adore my brother, but he’s different now. Cold. Hard. Angry.
I get it, life’s been unfair and he does his best to shield me from the shit he feels forced to muddle through. But I miss the easygoing relationship we nurtured when he went away to college. That was the first time I remember him being happy and lighthearted. And we actually liked being around each other when he came home.
The moment he agreed to be my legal guardian, everything between us shifted and changed. He’s overbearing and tries to micro-manage my life. The last time we spoke, I told him to “go to hell,” because he didn’t like the idea of me switching majors from pre-med to acting, and he lit into me.
“I didn’t give up my entire future so you could go play make-believe for the rest of your life. You wanted to heal people. Great. Otherwise, grow the fuck up and stop costing me money!” he yelled.
“That’s not fair, I never asked you to do that.”
“No. I made sure you never had to ask for anything. And this is how you repay me? By fucking me over? Well, I’ve got news for you, I’m not paying for you anymore. You want to go into acting, then you can do it the way all the other Hollywood starlets did, by spreading their legs.”
I didn’t have time to think, my hand flew across his face on its own accord.
Sammy looked stunned, like he couldn’t believe I’d dare slap him.
“Get the fuck out of here,” Sammy said, holding his cheek. “And don’t come back.”
I didn’t expect him to be happy about my decision, but I didn’t expect that either. I just wanted a little breathing room, the opportunity to make some of my own decisions.
I’ve thought about calling and apologizing every day for the last two weeks since the shit hit the fan, but I don’t want him to think I’m weak. If he sees the tiniest chink in my armor, he’ll be all over it, widening it bit by bit, until it grows into a gaping wide hole and I go back to pre-med with my tail between my legs.
Where I’m concerned, Sammy is the ultimate control freak. I’ve accepted it because he is all I have left, and I’m so grateful I didn’t have to go into foster care. But he takes things to another level. Even still, when he has a say, he doesn’t let me go out with my friends. He barely lets me out of the house.
If he catches wind of me so much as talking to a boy, he threatens the poor guy with a baseball bat. And if he doesn’t approve of my class schedule, he doesn’t pay my tuition until I change it to something he approves of. He always finds a way to convince me he knows best, especially when he tightens the purse strings; hence my pre-med major.
I like medicine, but I went into it for the wrong reasons. My parents wanted me to become a world-renowned surgeon, and Sammy convinced me the best way to honor them is to move forward in all areas of life, as if they’re here.
Maybe if they were and I could see the pride in their eyes when they look at me, it would be different. But they’re not, and there is no real reward for all the boring science classes I’ve already been forced to sit through, not to mention the impossible labs I’ve been working on. Not when it isn’t something I love, something I’m passionate about. But I love my brother with all my heart, and if he survives, I’ll go back into medicine. I’ll do whatever the hell he wants me to.
Out of breath and with tears streaming from my eyes, I barrel through the door to his room. A high-pitched squeal escapes me when I see Sammy lying motionless in the hospital bed. Wires run between him and the various machines monitoring him.
“Sammy!” I shriek. “Oh my God, what did they do to you?” I ask over the whooshing of the ventilator sucking in, hitching, and then releasing the air forced into his lungs. If that noise isn’t bad enough, there is a constant hiss coming from the oxygen spout on the wall.
The nurse warned me when she called that he’d been seriously beaten and his injuries were life-threatening, but I didn’t expect
this
. His face is so bruised, one eye is a dark blackish/purple and swollen completely shut. His entire face is swollen and distorted. And that’s only what’s visible. A large bandage covers the top right quarter of his face and runs up to his head.
My knees are weak. I think they’re going to buckle. Tears obscure my vision as I reach out to touch my brother’s hand. I squeeze my eyes shut. Sobs I’m unable to control rack my body. Just as I allow myself to fall, to drop to the floor, strong arms wrap around my waist, lift me up, and pull me away from my brother.
Seized by fear, I suck in a large gulp of oxygen. I can’t find my voice to scream yet, but I kick out and flail in the arms that are stealing me away.
“Blyat! Stop!”
A hand covers my mouth. I’m going to die. Each beat of my heart slams against my chest with the threat that it could be my last. My mouth is dry, I can’t formulate any sound, and I’m shaking like a weak tree in the middle of a Category 5 hurricane. I have no control of my body. All I know is I need to fight; fight for my life.
“Kiera, quiet down. Now!” the deep voice orders. I manage to separate my lips enough to sink my teeth into the hand covering my mouth and kick his leg hard. The way he reacts, I think I got his knee.
“Fuck!!” He shoves me hard across the room opposite the door, away from him.
I face my attacker, taking him in for the first time. Dark hair falls to his eyes. I search his face and body for any visible marks that would distinguish him in a crowd. He has a strong square jaw, and his dark, almost black eyes are narrowed and focused on me.
By the way his shirt is pulling across his broad chest, I can tell he’s got plenty of muscle beneath it. Under normal conditions I’d have no chance against such a formidable adversary, but right now I don’t care how the muscles in his arms ripple as he moves, I have to get away from him. I’m fighting for my life.
“Stay the fuck away from me.” Although my voice is barely more than a whisper, it’s deadly serious. My eyes dart off to the side and back to him over and over again as I search for something, anything in the room I can use as a weapon against my attacker.
“Listen to me,” he orders in a low but definitive tone. “You need to shut up and come with me. I will explain once I get you out of here.”
I shake my head, circling around toward the chairs meant for visitors to sit. I don’t think I’m strong enough to pick it up and throw it at him, but perhaps if I keep it between us. Or if I go the other way toward my brother, maybe I can press the call button for the nurse before he can stop me.
He advances toward me one slow step at a time, palms up. Fuck! I backed myself into a corner.
“Listen, Kiera. I don’t want you to get hurt. Please, just do as I say.”
Before I can answer, before I can tell him to “fuck off,” another two men enter the room. An older man, pudgy around the middle, and a young blond man that looks to be just as fit and toned as the man trying to accost me. Both sneer at me with a snide smile, like I’m their prey and they just honed in for the kill.
“You know, there’s something to be said about having a room at the end of the hall,” the older man begins speaking in an accent I’m not familiar with. “So far away from everyone.” He claps his hands. “No one can hear what’s happening inside it.” His eyes trail up and down my body with hunger burning in his eyes. Threat understood. “And even better when like this one, it’s conveniently located right beside the stairwell.”
He’s sending a message to stop fighting. Too bad. I have to fight. If I don’t, they’re going to grab me and force me into that stairwell to do who knows what. I won’t go. At least, I won’t go willingly.
The blond guy steps further into the room. He approaches my brother’s bedside and looks down at Sammy with a sick smile on his lips as he cracks his knuckles. “Now that we have her, can I finish?” he asks the old man.
Never taking his eyes off me, the obvious leader of the group answers. “We’ll see about that, won’t we, princess.” It makes me sick that he’s using the nickname only Sammy calls me. His eyes shoot up to the dark-haired man closest to me for a moment.
Mr. Tall, Dark, and Terrifying nods, his stare cold, hard, and stoic before turning his gaze on me. For a nanosecond, something almost sad flashes in his eyes. It’s gone so fast, I’m not sure I didn’t imagine it. All I can be sure I see is the emptiness in his eyes. It’s like he’s dead, like he holds no emotion whatsoever.
With the speed of a tiger taking down a gazelle, before I can react at all, he lunges toward me. One steel-like arm pins me against his chest, the other presses hard over my nose and mouth. The pressure against my nose is causing sharp pain that makes my eyes tear up against my will. Against my will seems to be the theme of the day.
“Stop fighting. Or else my friends here will do to you worse than they did to your brother.”
“Don’t scare the poor girl, Dima,” the old man coos. “There’s no need for threats of violence against her. I have a better idea. How about we cut Sammy’s oxygen off five seconds for every second she struggles against us. I think that will work. How about you, golubushka?”
“No!” I squeal.
I can’t let them hurt Sammy. Not when he’s barely hanging on to life as it is. He needs a chance to recover. I struggle to shake my head. Misunderstanding what I’m disagreeing to, or maybe just trying to show me he’s the one holding all the cards, the old man nods at the blond, who pulls the oxygen cord off the wall-mounted device.
No alarm rings to alert the nurses. There is nothing to suggest these men are thugs, and they are here to finish my brother off. That’s why they choose the oxygen, because it won’t garner attention until it’s too late. I stare at one of the machines monitoring Sammy. I hold my breath as his oxygen level slowly drops, one number at a time. I can’t let them do this.
“Stop, please!” I plead.
The old man just stares at me for a few life-altering seconds.
They win.
“I’ll do whatever you want. Just please leave him alone!”
It’s my turn to sacrifice, to give back to my brother all that he gave to me. My turn to protect him and give him a chance to recover. If the only way I can do that is to give in and let these awful men have their way with me, then it is what I must do. I go slack in the dark-haired man’s arms, not misunderstanding for one moment that by giving up and giving in, I’m saying goodbye to life as I know it, and my brother. Possibly forever.
Other books by Danielle Sibarium
The Eternity Series
For Always (Eternity 1)*FREE*
And Forever (Eternity 2)
The Heart Waves Series
Heart Waves (1) *Free*
Breaking Waves (2)
Waves of Love (3)
Heart Waves Series Boxed Set
Man Up
Each book revolves around a different couple, and each book has its own HEA
Man Up Party Boy (Noah and Lexi)
Man Up Playboy (Cooper and Selene)
Man Up Husband (Troy and Marlena)
Man Up Step Brother (Jagger and Allie)
All Things Russian
My Russian Nightmare
My Russian Disaster (Coming winter 2016/2017)
Stand Alones
To My Hero: A Blog of Our Journey Together
Into You
Regret Me Not
Sites to stalk me!
My Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/DanielleSibarium/
My Twitter
Email
My Website
Acknowledgements
To you, the person that took a chance on this book. Thank you. Thank you for sharing a piece of your life with me and allowing me to share a slice of my imagination with you. It’s been an incredible ride, and I appreciate the company.
About the Author
Danielle grew up as an only child of divorced parents in Brooklyn, New York. Her imagination was developed at an early age. Surrounded by stuffed animals and imaginary friends, she transported herself into a fantasy world full of magic and wonder. Books were the gateway between her play world and reality.
Danielle always loved dialogue and in elementary school began writing plays and short stories. This is when she began to understand she could not only bring her fantastical world to life for herself, but she could enchant others as well.
In 2007 Danielle collaborated with Charlotte Doreen Small to write songs for her CD
More
. Danielle wrote the lyrics for
Take My Hand
, and
Goodbye
, while Charlotte contributed the melody.
Danielle graduated from Farleigh Dickinson University with honors, and currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and three children.
