The Other Brother Part 2: Taboo: Stepbrother Billionaire Romance (3 page)

The look of astonishment she casts my way tells me I’m an asshole. This is not news to me. But that’s not the only thing I see.

My comment has made her cheeks flush, and her breath start to come just a little bit faster. Like it or not, she responds to me—responds to dominance.

And since I’m an asshole, the realization makes me smirk.

“You sonofabitch.” She grabs my arm, and I can barely hold back the wince as she squeezes. I know she’s been working out with Tristan, but damn it—she’s gotten strong. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m running.” I narrow my eyes and smile, and she snarls.

“Right by my house?” She cocks her eyebrow, sarcasm heavy in the gesture.

I just continue to look at her. It’s not like I can say anything in my own defense.

“Why are you here? Are you following me?” Her voice is heavy with suspicion, and more than that, with frustration. If it was just sexual, I’d relish making her feel that way.

Knowing the issues that lie behind it though—it has guilt swirling in my gut.

“No, I’m not following you.” What I don’t tell her is that I have, in the past, had people do just that, just to check up on her, to give me updates on her life.

She’s waiting, so reluctantly I continue.

“I just wanted to see…” I lick my lips, unsure how to proceed, “…the house.”

“The
house
? You came all this way to Galveston to see a house you lived in for less than a fucking year?”

I wince; the barb has hit home, making me feel like an instant outsider. Which I was. I am.

Allegra shakes her head, and then gestures at the dog. “Bailey. Foe.”

The stocky black dog barks, and then starts to growl menacingly in its throat. I don’t move, but my fingers twitch.

“When did you get a dog?”

“He’s not mine. He’s Mrs. Diaz’s. I take him out when I go for a run in the morning.”

Bailey.
Right. I remember this guy. A big slobbery teddy bear once he decides he likes you.

Giving in to the urge, I slowly crouch down in front of him. He snarls again, hackles up. It’s probably not the smartest decision, but I hold my hand out for him to sniff.

He does, then plops down on his butt. Head cocked, he eyes me, confusion and curiosity on his goofy doggie face.

And then he pushes forward, nuzzling his head against my palm, tongue out and ready to lick.

“That’s right. You remember me, buddy.” Grinning, I scratch his head and around his ears. He whines in canine ecstasy as Allegra looks down in disgust.

“Bailey,” she repeats, voice firm. “
Foe.
I said foe.”

Bailey flops down to the ground, rolling over to show me his graying belly. Allegra huffs out a sigh of exasperation.

“Since when do you go running?” I rub both hands over Bailey’s belly. He whines when Allegra tugs on his leash and pulls him back by her side.

“You don’t get to ask questions.” My former stepsister casts me the evil eye, but beneath her agitation is something I wasn’t expecting—weariness. “Please, Seth. Please just get the fuck out of here.”

“Allie, if I could just…” I’m not used to begging. But then Allegra has always brought unfamiliar parts of me out into the light.”

“I said
please
. Seth. Go.” Something in her voice clues Bailey into the fact that she’s upset, and the dog who was just my best friend presses against her side and eyes me with decidedly more attitude than he had when he was showing me his belly.

I put my hand up, letting her know that I surrender, that she doesn’t have to let the dog chow down on my balls, which I’m rather fond of. “Look. I just want to talk. And I want to apologize for last night.”

Her cheeks flush, and I know she’s remembering how it felt to be under my hand. It’s a struggle not to push the issue, to grab her in my arms and taste her mouth.

“Fine.” Her expression suggests that if I try, she’ll cut off my balls herself, rather than letting the dog have a crack. “You’ve apologized. Now go before I let Bailey have his morning snack.”

“Let me take you out for dinner. Tonight.” I don’t sound desperate, but for the first time in a long time I feel it. It’s killing me not to use my dominant nature as a weapon against the submissive that I’m still surprised is lurking inside of her.

But that’s not fair. And I want her to come to me on her own terms. Well… mostly. I suspect I’m still going to have to do a hell of a lot of convincing.

“No fucking way.” Her laugh is sarcastic, mocking. I kind of like her mean streak, though I hate that it was probably me who put it there.

“I’m staying at the Tremont. Room 303. If you want to talk you can find me there.” Normally I wouldn’t ask a woman to have dinner with me—I’d tell them what we were doing. And they would happily do it.

“Oh, the
Tremont
. La dee
da
.” She wields that sarcasm like Captain America’s shield, though she probably doesn’t know how cute she is while doing it. “You’re just a big man now, aren’t you?”

“It’s a shame that last night you didn’t get a chance to see just how big.” I smirk. Okay, asking isn’t working. I’m going to have to shock her.

But she’s interested. If she wasn’t, she would have walked away by now.

“You know what, on second thought, I’ll just pick you up at seven. I’ll be outside your work. You will be on time.”

She gapes at me. “Are you for real? How do you know where I work?”

“I have a lot of money, Allegra.” I arch an eyebrow when she rolls her eyes. Most women simper. “Enough to keep tabs on you.”

“You’ve been
stalking
me?” Her pitch raises a few decibels, and I wince.

“You’re going to wake the neighbors. And call it what you will…” I can feel the chill frosting my voice as I recall the last time I saw her as a teen. The words I said then echo in my head.

Theo will never hurt you.

“How very high-handed of you, Mr. Thorne.” Allegra’s temper is up. She takes a step forward, Bailey sticking close to her side. “That dominant alpha male bullshit doesn’t work with me.”

“I think we both know that’s not true.” I let my lips curl into a faint smile, and this time her mouth actually opens in shock. While she thinks on that, I again reach out for Bailey, keeping my movements slow. I like that he’s protective, that he’ll guard Allegra against threats.

But I’m not one. At least, not in the way either of them likely think.

Bailey sniffs, then whines and I pet his head. “Good boy.”

“Traitor,” Allegra murmurs to the dog. She doesn’t look at me, but I want her to. Need her to.

“Not a traitor. He just has good taste.” She’s still not looking, instead rolling her eyes at me again.

“If you roll your eyes at me one more time—and believe me, I will know—then you might as well take your panties off before I come pick you up.” There—
there
. She’s gaping at me as if she can’t believe what I just said to her.

I swallow a laugh. It always was hard to one-up this brilliant, beautiful girl.

“I can’t—you can’t—you can’t say things like that!” she stutters, and I smirk. I don’t reply, instead turning and again starting to jog. I cross the street at a nice, even pace.

It takes everything within me not to glance over my shoulder to see if she’s watching me.

ALLEGRA

I
work at The Cheesecake Factory. Yup, just like the girl on
The Big Bang Theory
. Usually it’s packed, because apparently Texans like their chilled dairy desserts. But of course, because I want the place to be busy, to keep my mind off of Seth, it’s almost dead.

He’s going to be here in a few minutes. It’s not like I have to go with him. But if I really didn’t want to, he wouldn’t be coming to pick me up.

He threatened to make me go without my freaking panties. My
panties
.

And even though I want to kick his ass, I’m… excited. It’s not news that I’ve never gotten over him—it’s what sent me to The Velvet Underground in the first place. But after last night…

I can’t stop thinking about him.

What the
hell
is he doing in Galveston, anyway?

An elbow lands in my side, startling me from my thoughts. Turning, I glare at my coworker and friend, Mattie. He flashes me his one-hundred-watt, lady-killer smile. I’ve honestly never seen whiter teeth than in this guy’s mouth.

Also, it’s not ladies he’s trying to kill.

“Little afternoon space trip, sweetcheeks?” He grins again, and I’m almost blinded by the light.

“Maybe.” Considering, I wipe the table I’m standing beside again. I’ve already cleaned the varnished surface three times, but figure one more time can’t hurt.

“Maybe, nothing. Somebody’s having man problems.” He snatches my cleaning rag from my hand and dangles it above my head.

“I am not.” There’s no point in trying to grab the cloth; Mattie’s at least a foot taller than me. Instead, I stalk off to refill the ketchup bottles. He follows me, because he is a relentless cad and rejoices in making my life hell some days.

“Oh, so you are.” His pale-blue eyes light up with mischief. “Tell me. If it’s one thing I know, it’s men.”

I roll my eyes. “Please. You’ve never kept a guy around longer than a week.”

“Exactly.” He gives me the cheesiest smile I’ve ever seen, batting his eyelashes. “I’m an expert.”

I can’t help but laugh. Mattie is the best perk about this job. In fact, he might be the only perk, because it’s definitely not the pay or the hours. He talks nonstop but has the best stories. All of them involve some sort of sexual escapade. Or penises.

Lots
of penises.

And I can totally understand why those penises are drawn to him. He’s hot. Tall, lean, dark-haired and blue-eyed. A very manly beard, brightly tatted-up arms, and a decidedly bad-boy biker vibe.

He’s also completely gay. Like, not even a curious bone in his body.

Sigh.

“I’m waiting, Allie Cat…” Mattie’s voice is singsong, high enough that a table of high school age boys turns to look. I shush him with a flapping motion of my arms.

“Be quiet!” I hiss, and he just laughs. “I don’t kiss and tell, unlike
some
perverts around here.”

“So there was at least some kissing.” He grabs my hands and swings me into a wild dance. There’s a maniacal gleam in his eyes. “Now you
have
to tell me.”

Damn it. I’ve stepped in it. He’s not going to let up until I spill. And it’s not that I don’t trust him… it’s more that if I say it out loud, it’s real.

In for a penny, and all that.

“Six years ago, I had a stepbrother…” I take a deep breath, a perverse part of me savoring the way his eyes widen. Ha. I’ve managed to shock the king of unshockable.

He put his hand up to stop me. “If this involves sex, I’m going to have to get a drink of vodka first. I mean water. Vodka that looks like water.”

I slap at him. “Mattie, I’m not telling you now.”

His attention has already wandered. He whistles under his breath, staring past me to the door.

“Well now, there’s a piece of prime rib.” He whistles again, and the table of young guys again turns to stare, making me huff with exasperation. “Hmm. I’m just going to go see what flavor he is. If he choosse right, he can be on my menu tonight.”

I turn to see who he’s talking about, and squeak a little when I do. Seth is standing just inside the front door of the restaurant. His eyes are locked on me, his stare so intense that I can’t believe I didn’t sense him come in.

When he sees that I’ve noticed him, he smiles, long and slow. I almost swallow my tongue.

“Damn it.”

“Are you kidding me?” Mattie turns to me, incredulous. “
That
is story boy? And you’re claiming to have man
problems
? Sweetcheeks, that right there is not a problem.
That
is a gift from above.”

If only he knew. And if he knew, if he knew all the sordid details of my past, he’d never look at me the same way again.

If I go through with this, if I go with Seth,
I’ll
never look at me the same way again.

“Fuck.” Turning, I head back to the kitchen. My skin is flushed, and I stick my head over the ice bin.

“Sweetcheeks, I was only kidding.” Mattie follows me, right on my heels. “What do you want me to do? Tell him to go away?”

I shake my head, inhaling the crisp air above the ice. The thought of sending him away makes me sick. I wish it didn’t. I wish I still had a firm grip on my anger.

“Just… seat him or something.” I flap a hand over my head, still sucking in the chilly air. “I’ll figure it out in a second.”

“Anything for you, sweetie.”

I trail behind him. I’m partially hiding because I’m trying to compose myself, but even more, I want to see big, tough Seth’s reaction to the ridiculously flirtatious Mattie.

Damn it, I can’t hear. But Mattie’s grinning, showing off those toothpaste-commercial teeth; his hand is on Seth’s arm flirtatiously, and he’s turning on the charm.

Seth does a lot of nodding and then some laughing. A vivid streak of something that is decidedly uncomfortable flashes through me, scalding hot.

Surely I’m not jealous? Of Mattie?

No.

Finally, Mattie leads Seth into the bar then comes back to me. I try not to hop from foot to foot as he approaches, a smirk on his lips.

“What did you say to him?”

“Mmm mmm, mmm mmm mmm.” Mattie licks his lips suggestively. “He’s even better up close, have you noticed?”

“Mattie…” Yes. Yes, I have noticed. And I was really up close at the time.

“He’s very flirty as well. Are you sure he’s straight? Because I sensed a little bend in there somewhere.” Mattie grins. I glare.

He’s bent, all right
. But then so am I. No way am I telling him anything more. It would make him too happy. He deserves to suffer.

“Thanks for seating him.” I turn to fill up the salt and pepper shakers.

“You don’t look happy to see him.” God, Mattie has no concept of personal space. None. He’s following right behind me like a puppy. And I’ve fed him a damn bone. Now he’s never going to leave me alone.