Step Submission (Billionaire Bareback Steamy Taboo Romance) Read Free

rather, Colette? That he still be in love with you? That he picked you up instead of me?”
     
    “I wish he were dead!” I told him. Now that I’d said it, more words came much too quickly for me to stop. “I wish he would die so that no one could have him. No one deserves him. He’s too wonderful and terrible and I wish he would go away forever and never come back. He doesn’t deserve to be happy, and I sure as hell don’t deserve to be miserable!”
     
    Kennith looked like he was going to say something, but I couldn’t stand to hear it. I pushed my bowl away and stood, hurrying from the kitchen and up the stairs to lock myself in one of the guest rooms.

 
    I was aware of how childish I’d been earlier. Still, it seemed that I’d retained some sense of control as opposed to hours later when I was still crying into my pillow.
     
    Engaged. Getting married. Those were things he’d never spoken of with me, regardless of the years and shit we’d shared. I was never “wife material,” not the sort of girl he’d want to bring home to his folks, though I didn’t see why. I was smart, witty, strong, and maybe even beautiful, and yet none of those things mattered—or even registered with—Caleb. Why? Why hadn’t I been good enough?
     
    I didn’t want those feelings, but they bloomed inside of me, each one reaching out like a thorny vine to wrap around some other part of me. In those hours, I thought of how blue his eyes had been, how his lazy smile had always felt like home, how spending the day drunk and in love had felt and smelled and tasted.
     
    But I also thought about the other things. I thought about the way he barely noticed I was home, most days. I thought about how I was always wrong, always stupid in his presence, even when I was right. I thought about how often he reminded me I was good for nothing unless I was with him. The only words of praise he ever bestowed upon me were when he wanted something, and in those last months, that had become increasingly rare.
     
    A thought hit me like a ton of bricks. Was he with her when we were together? Is that why they’re engaged so soon?
     
    It made sense. Caleb had been increasingly withdrawn in those days, and absent too. He hadn’t needed me whatsoever, not for company, conversation, or sex. I’d started drinking alone more and more often, and by the time the intervention rolled around, I was spending practically all my money and time on booze.
     
    But that didn’t matter to Caleb. He probably saw it as a convenient means to an end. After all, he hadn’t needed to break up with me. I’d gone away. Out of sight, out of mind. I felt worthless. How could he be so cruel?
     
    Kennith knocked on my door for what had to be the fiftieth time. And I told him to go the fuck away for what had to have been an equal amount.
     
    “I can’t,” he said. “I can’t sleep when you’re like this, Colette. Please. Open the door so I know that you’re okay.”
     
    I rubbed my bleary eyes, vaulting off the bed and yanking open the door. “I’m not a dramatic teenager, you know. I’m not going to slit my wrists the wrong way in honor of Caleb’s shitty memory…”
     
    I paused, looking up at him. He was standing in front of me in nothing but pajama pants. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his broad, muscular chest gleamed in the golden halo of the hall light. I swallowed. Something about him seemed so comforting suddenly.
     
    “I know that,” he said. “It doesn’t mean you’re okay, though. I’m sorry for how I told you, but… I didn’t want to lie to you, Colette. You’re my stepsister. I could never…”
     
    He trailed off. Then he slipped his strong arms around me, drawing me to his chest in an embrace so warm, so tender that I thought I would melt at his feet.
     
    Part of me wanted to beat on him with my fists, push him away, take out on him what I couldn’t take out on Caleb. But another part of me needed this, needed to feel my