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Authors: Rosette Bolter

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CHAPTER TWO

 

 

Until this afternoon. The day of our
sister’s wedding day. It had been on the verge of dusk when I’d left the
wedding whisked away on Aiden’s motorcycle. Now it was almost eight o’clock and
sky had become rich with its atmospheric darkness and the light of the stars.
The reception after party, in the hall where we were to be served dinner, was
now full of disco lights and loud pop music. I was standing by my car having
just paid off the taxi driver, and not sure whether I should go back in.
Really, after what had happened to Aiden I should have been calling the police.
But would he even want that? He’d obviously been through some seriously
groundbreaking and top secret science experiment which if reported could put
him in more danger, if not danger to myself. I had to be smart about this. I
refused to be so powerless that I’d do nothing for him, but then … what could I
do?

Still
standing, I closed the door of the car. I realized I needed to talk to Dad
about this. Find out what he knew. If he could do anything about it. Of course,
I wasn’t looking forward to going back in there. I still looked like shit with
my raspberry stained dress and frazzled hair, but it wasn’t even that. People
were going to be upset with me. They would call me a drama queen. A selfish
bitch.

Fucked in the
head.

Yuck. I
didn’t want that. Not to mention I’d just sort of had sex with Aiden and there
was no way I even wanted to
think
about that let alone discuss it with
them. I knew they couldn’t read minds, but what if they smelt him on me…?

Okay. Now I’m
just being paranoid.

Get it
together, Bianca.

I took a deep
breath and then started making my way across the parking lot towards the
resort.

Upon
entering, no one immediately noticed me. Lara and Ryan were in the centre of
the dance floor bopping away crazily to the music, with many other couples
doing the same thing in a circle around them. Plenty of people were just
standing around with their drinks, watching it all unfold. Others at the tables
were just finishing desert and talking through the thick of it. I spotted Dad
on the other side of the room and began making my way towards him.

I didn’t make
it though.

Before I
could get very far Lara’s friend Nicole, the annoying one who was sitting next
to me during the ceremony, came out from nowhere and grabbed my wrists. She
started squealing.

“Hey! You’re
back! Hey everyone! Bianca’s back!”

She pushed me
out into the middle of the dance floor where Lara and Ryan were. Lara’s head
reeled back in surprise and then she turned to her new husband and smiled.

“Be right
back, love.”

Ryan eyed me
suspiciously.

Nicole let go
of one hand and Lara grabbed me by the other. She dragged me out to the room
behind this one, which incidentally was where the after ceremony drinks had been
served. It was quiet here. Empty.

“Have you
lost your mind?” Lara demanded, giving me a huge shove to the chest. “Taking
off like that!”

“I’m sorry,”
I yelled back. “It wasn’t my fault.”

“Well, whose
fault was it?”

I stared at
her, genuinely stumped with how stupid she was.

“Don’t look
at me like that,” she growled.

“Aiden’s
fault,” I gasped after a moment. “Are you blind? Are you deaf? Hello?!”

Lara rolled
her eyes. “How was it Aiden’s fault?”

“Well – he
was the one who made me come with him. There were these other guys here.
Friends of his…”

Lara stared
at me blankly. I was giving too much away and yet not saying enough.

“Where the
hell is Aiden?” she asked.

“Not here,” I
answered.

She crossed
her arms. “Is he coming back?”

“No.”

“What did you
say to him?”

“Huh? I
didn’t – I didn’t say anything. What? Why are you –?”

Lara’s lips
twitched. “No. You said something.”

She brushed
past me and went back into the reception.

“Lara,” I
called. “That’s not fair.”

She kept
walking. A few seconds later she was already in conversation with Nicole.

I saw Nicole
look over Lara’s shoulder, and cover her mouth to suppress a chuckle.

If looks
could kill, I swear to God.

She’d be dead
right now.

 

CHAPTER
THREE

 

 

It took some persistence to get Dad
to move from his chair. He was sitting with my stepmom, a couple of other
relatives, and Ryan’s parents who had come over from their table for a chat.
Apparently I’d shown up right when they were in the middle of it. I had Mom’s
attention to begin with. She asked, “Is Aiden with you?”

To which I
replied, “No.”

And from
there it was hard to get them to even look at me at all.

After opening
my trap and not being heard a few times, I grabbed a hold of Dad’s arm and whispered
in his ear.

“We need to
talk. Now.”

He took
another drink from his glass and excused himself for the table.

He walked
over. “Sorry I haven’t spoken to you that much,” he said. “Are you having a
good night?”

I blinked.
“You do realize I haven’t been here the whole time, right?”

“Where were
you?”

“I went
outside. I was with Aiden.”

“Oh right,”
he nodded. “And you’re back now.”

“Yeah.”

“What is it
you wanted to talk about?”

“Let’s go
outside,” I said. “I don’t want anyone to overhear.”

He frowned,
but didn’t put up a fight. We made our way back out the entrance and when we’d
cleared enough space from the resort, I turned around to confront him.

“So Aiden
never went to military school?”

“Huh?” he
said, looking confused. “What do you mean?”

“He said that
he was sent to some research facility? Where doctors examined him and conducted
experiments?”

“Oh,” Dad
said. “He told you.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it was
military school, and it wasn’t.”

“What?”

“There were
certain programs that were handled with a military backdrop. We felt that he
could use the discipline and life skills while his care was ongoing.”

“Have you any
idea about what happened to him there? Like,
any
idea?”

Dad shook his
head. “The main thing was that he was away from you and Lara. So you could get on
and live normal lives.”

“But what
about Aiden?”

“You know
what he was like. He was … I don’t know how to say it without sounding cruel.
He was insane.”

“Insane to
live with.”

“I mean, he
was actually crazy. That’s what the lab told us after a few months. If we
didn’t sign the contracts, give permission for certain measures, then they were
going to turf him into the street. Your mother … Diane … Well, she’s been all
happy to see him today. Because it’s been so long. But can you imagine what it
would be like if he came into our lives again for good?”

“What if they
cured him? What if he got better?”

“Aiden will
always be Aiden,” Dad said.

I nodded. “I
just … I found some stuff about him tonight.”

“What stuff?”

“He has
people after him. Like soldiers and stuff.”

“Aiden can
look after himself.”

“You don’t
understand,” I snapped. “What they’ve
done
to him…”

“He looked
healthy to me,” Dad said. “Wild as ever.”

“He’s in
trouble. A bunch of people came to see him. They took him to where they were –”

“Please,” Dad
said. “I’m sure he’s fine, Bianca. He’s a grown man now. He does what he wants.
Now, can we go back inside? Can we enjoy what’s left of this momentous
occasion?”

I stared at
him, feeling like my head was about to explode.

“Come here,”
he said.

“Oh, that’s
okay.”

Big hugs.

Father trying
to comfort his little girl, but there’s so much the father doesn’t know.

So much the
little girl does…

“You see?”
Dad said. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“Like that
solved anything,” I replied sarcastically.

“No,” Dad
said. “Look over there. It’s Aiden. He’s okay.”

I looked
where he was pointing.

And my father
was right after all.

 

CHAPTER FOUR

 

 

Aiden was okay. I was ready to tear
someone’s face off, but there he was perfectly fine and okay.

And it wasn’t
just Aiden.

With him, were
the two soldiers who had chased us back to his place. Both of them alive, and
unscathed. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing. They were actually…

Laughing.

“Bye,” I said
to Dad and began my full flight run towards the resort where they were
entering.

“Be nice,”
Dad called after me.

Nice. I
didn’t really think now was the right moment to censor myself. This was
seriously doing my head in. It had to be explained.

By the time I
reached the inside Aiden was already maneuvering around the floor. Shaking
hands with people. Speaking with Lara and Mom. He didn’t seem upset. He seemed
normal.

“Hey,” I
shouted at him from across the room. “Hey!”

I was loud,
but not loud enough. A few people at the nearest table looked up at me, but the
music drowned it out from going any further. As I attempted to chase after
Aiden I was blocked by one of his buddies.

The one who
had pointed the gun at me.

“I’d stay
away from him if I was you,” he said.

“What?” I
spluttered. “I’m not listening to you.”

I pushed past
him and he reluctantly gave way.

Aiden was at
the bar now. Ordering drinks for him and the other soldier.

Just in front
of me Nicole had stepped in to his side to enter the conversation. I stood
behind her, breathing heavily, thinking about how I was going to get rid of
her.

“My ex used
to have a motorcycle,” Nicole said flirtatiously. “I used to wait until he was
asleep before grabbing his keys and having some fun with it. Till this day, he
never knew about the times me and the bike shared.”

“Well, I
guess I better watch my bike then,” Aiden remarked. “Otherwise you might steal
it.”

“Not so
fast,” Nicole replied. “We’re not even dating yet.”

“Okay, okay,
that’s quite enough,” I blurted out.

Nicole turned
to face me. “Oh. It’s just you.”

Aiden didn’t
turn.

I tapped him
on the shoulder. “Hey.”

He glanced
back. “Hey.”

“What the
fuck?”

“Pardon me?”

Then right in
the middle of our convo, Lara got hold of a microphone and started calling to
everyone. “Attention… Attention… Hey there. I just wanted to say a few more
words…”

God, does it
ever end?

I turned back
to Aiden and he and Nicole were brushing me aside to stand at the edge of
Lara’s circle. I looked to the second soldier, seated at the bar. He shook his
head at me.

“Don’t get
uppity with me,” I said. “I know your secret. I’m onto you guys. I don’t know
what you’re up to, but –”

“He made us a
bet,” the guy said. “He said he could have any woman he wanted. Even his
sister.”

“What…? But
we didn’t –”

“We heard
everything,” he said. “We have to hand it to him. Aiden is a ladies-man.”

“Are you
saying…? You guys were in on it?”

The guy
blinked. Then took another drink.

Before I
could press him further, Lara’s voice was echoing in my ear –

“… that’s why
even when we have our differences, it’s important to put the past behind us and
forgive and forget. So I’d like to thank two very special people who are here
with us tonight – my brother Aiden, and my sister Bianca, without whom our lives
would … never be the same. Come on guys – get up here! Let everyone see how
pretty and handsome you are!”

 

CHAPTER FIVE

 

 

Was this her revenge against me? For
running out on her earlier?

Or was she
just drunk and oblivious?

Too late now.
I wasn’t going to get away. Those expectant eyes all over me. All over Aiden.
Before I was even in the circle with them, Aiden had taken the mike from Lara
and was getting ready to give a speech to the crowd. “Thank you, thank you,” he
said. A pause.

He was
waiting.

Waiting for
me to be in there with them.

And twelve
hours ago this situation would have been nervous for me. Him being there, and
everyone watching me. Even if I hadn’t embarrassed myself already. Even if my
dress wasn’t ruined. Twelve hours ago this would have seemed like difficult
situation.

Even if I
hadn’t fucked him.

“A lot of
people here know who I am, but you don’t actually know
me
,” Aiden said.
“Other than a guy who takes a piss whenever he feels like.”

Laughter.

People
actually found that funny.

“It’s true
that I haven’t been around for either Lara’s or Bianca’s lives growing up. In
some part, that really wasn’t my fault. And in some ways it was. Because I was
an absolute terror.”

Oh God. Mom
was crying.

“But I’m back
now,” Aiden declared. “Back to be a part of the family again. So get ready
guys, because I’m going to be round all the time now. Starting tonight I’m
moving back in with Mom and Dad so I can get my life finally sorted out. But
also … it’s great to know I’m going to close to Lara and Ryan so I can help
them with everything they’re going to need. Whatever that is.”

He then
turned and looked at me.

“It’s also
great to be close to Bianca again,” he said. “Sorry for embarrassing you
before. Come here. Both of you. I love you guys.”

Cheers.
Clapping.

Mom crying
and now Lara crying too.

Going
straight into his heavy chest. Being comforted by his broad, muscular arm.
Trusting him. Showing appreciation.

And their
eyes are on me. Aiden. Lara.

The whole
room.

“Come on,
Bianca,” Aiden said.

“Yeah, do it
for me,” Lara said, half joking.

I’m frozen. I
cannot move.

So they come
over to me. Both of them hugged me at the same time.

The room
filled with applause.

Victory
loomed in Aiden’s eyes.

But the
speeches weren’t finished yet.

BOOK: Stepbrother Bear - Complete
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