CHAPTER SEVEN
RILEY
The applause crashed around us like a wave breaking against jagged rocks, loud and unrelenting, but all I heard was the sharp silence that had settled between me and Luna.
She was frozen, eyes wide, blue like the ocean beyond the ceremony, staring straight at me with disbelief painted across her pale face.
The angry flush that had burned her cheeks a moment ago had drained away, leaving her ghostly and raw.
Priceless.
Absolutely fucking priceless.
I leaned back in my chair, smug and slow, savoring the way her gaze flickered from shock to something more complicated.
Confusion? Fear? Desire? Hell, maybe a little of all three.
The way she looked at me like she’d just swallowed something bitter and couldn’t spit it out…
it was beautiful in its own twisted way.
From the second I’d heard her name on the beach, barely a whisper lost beneath the crashing waves, I’d known.
The Australian girl with the pretty face, the unsteady breath, and the mortified expression as she’d stumbled upon me and Anna in the dark. I hadn’t expected much from her, a brief distraction, maybe a little late-night entertainment to break the monotony of this godforsaken resort.
Then she’d said it, her name, without thinking it would have such an impact. Luna.
In that instant, a wicked little seed planted itself in my mind, growing into something delicious, something dangerous.
I saw it then. Her eyes darting to me, even as she apologized, even as she tried to bury the humiliation under a flush of indignation. She was curious. Interested. More than a little intrigued, despite herself.
And the best part? She had no fucking clue who I was.
That ignorance? It was intoxicating.
I played it cool. The teasing, the casual cruelty, it came naturally.
I wasn’t a stranger to pushing buttons, to getting under someone’s skin, and Luna was a fucking goldmine.
Wide-eyed and fiery, stubborn even in embarrassment.
Every stutter, every blush, every frantic attempt to look away was fuel for me.
I walked away that night, the faintest smile tugging at the corner of my mouth, already tasting the chaos that was coming.
Getting rid of this one was going to be fun.
Much more fun than I ever thought this whole step-sibling deal would be.
The applause swelled again, pulling me back from the dark spiral of my thoughts.
I was here for the girl whose life I was about to turn upside down.
Her blue eyes locked on mine one last time before she forced herself to look away, like she was trying to escape the gravity pulling her toward me. But I knew better.
I was already in her head.
Already rewriting the rules.
The slow, triumphant smirk on my lips wasn’t just for show. It was a warning. A promise.
The beginning of a game she never asked to play.
And I? I was the dealer.
“Lose your words already, princess? I haven’t even touched you yet.
” I whispered, savoring the way her eyes, still wide and glassy with shock, darted around like a trapped animal hunting for an escape hatch.
Her breath hitched, a soft, almost fragile sound that was music only I could hear. The tiniest crack in her armor.
She was fragile, vulnerable, and deliciously off-balance. Exactly where I wanted her.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she found her voice. A strained, trembling whisper, barely more than a breath. “How long?”
I let my gaze linger on her, just long enough for her to feel it. The question in her voice trembled, and that sound was better than any confession.
“When you said your name,” I murmured, leaning in, letting her breath catch the edge of mine. “That’s when I knew. But I didn’t start this last night.” I tilted my head, watching the color rise in her cheeks. “You’ve been mine to play with since the moment I heard my father was getting remarried.”
Her cheeks, which had been ashen just moments ago, flushed a furious red, like she was trying to burn the embarrassment right out of her skin.
I leaned back, folding my arms across my chest like a king surveying his newest conquest. Smug. Satisfied. Triumphant.
She shook her head ever so slightly, the faintest tremor betraying her. Her eyes didn’t waver, they pinned me with a volatile cocktail of anger, humiliation, and that raw, wide-eyed hurt that set my insides aflame.
God, it was intoxicating.
“Oh, Luna,” I said softly, the words dripping like sin off my tongue.
“I almost started to believe you were sharper than the rest.” I let my tone fall to a low murmur, the kind meant to be felt as much as heard.
“But maybe that’s my fault. You got a little too caught up in the show on the beach to see the bigger picture.
” I smiled, slow and deliberate. “Can’t say I blame you.
Not everyone handles temptation well the first time. ”
She blinked, a spark of defiance flaring suddenly, igniting those clear blue eyes into something fierce. “You’re a jerk.”
The word made me smile.
“Jerk,” I echoed softly, a chuckle rumbling low in my chest. “I’m so much worse than that.”
Her hands clenched tightly in her lap, knuckles white, fingers trembling. I could smell the faintest trace of her perfume mixed with the salty ocean breeze. She was tense, like a coil ready to snap. Perfect.
There was something intoxicating about the way her walls crumbled under my gaze, the way she tried to hold herself together but failed.
“This family,” I continued, voice low, dark as the ocean surrounding us, “is going to be a battleground. And you? You’re stuck in the middle of it, whether you like it or not.”
She swallowed hard, eyes darting away for a flicker, then snapping back to mine, defiant, fierce.
“I’m not afraid of you,” she said, voice trembling but brave.
That made me laugh, soft and cruel. “You should be.”
A faint breeze stirred the tropical leaves around us, the distant crash of waves underscoring the tension thickening the air.
I studied her. The subtle rise and fall of her chest, the way her lips pressed into a thin line. The girl who thought she could just slip quietly into this new life, who had no idea what she was walking into.
The crowd around us started to move, but none of it registered. All I could see was her. All I could feel was the electric charge pulsing between us, the promise of chaos waiting to be unleashed.
I caught her gaze once more.
“Remember this moment,” I whispered just loud enough for her to hear, “because from now on, nothing will ever be the same.” I laughed, deep, uninhibited, the kind of laugh that bubbles up when you know you hold all the cards.
A few heads turned, curious eyes flickering my way, but I didn’t care. Let them stare. This was my stage. My moment to unsettle the pretty little girl who thought she could glide through this life untouched.
I’ve always loved this. The way power shifts, the way the right words and a sharp glance can crumble facades. Especially girls like her, so sure they’re untouchable, too wrapped up in their own perfect little worlds to see the danger coming.
“Why?” Her voice was a fragile thread, trembling just enough to make it real. “Why would you... Why would you do that?”
For a moment, I almost laughed again. Not because it was funny, but because she asked it like she thought there might be an answer that would make sense.
I leaned back in my chair, studying her. The party blurred behind her, the swirl of guests, the shimmer of the ocean, but she was sharp and trembling, caught in her own thoughts.
“Cruel…” I said quietly, my mouth curving. “Is that what you think this is?”
Her lips parted, but no sound came out.
I tilted my head, keeping my voice low so no one else could hear. “This… situation. The wedding. The perfect little family my father thinks he can build again.” My fingers brushed over her shoulder, making her flinch. “It was never meant to happen.”
Her eyes widened, confusion cutting through the fear.
“I’m just correcting a mistake,” I said. “And unfortunately for you, that means your mother doesn’t belong here. Neither do you.”
Color drained from her face. She looked at me like she was trying to decide if I was joking, or if I was the kind of person who never joked at all.
Her whisper came cracked and small. “Why would you say something like that?”
“The why doesn’t matter,” I murmured. I leaned closer, close enough to see the tremor in her breath, close enough for the scent of her perfume to twist around my control. “What matters is that it’s going to happen. You’re going to help me end this little fantasy before it takes root.”
Her breath hitched. “And if I don’t?”
My gaze dipped to her lips again, slow and deliberate, a silent challenge.
I watched her swallow hard, eyes flickering away, then back.
The tension pulsed in the air, raw and electric.
I saw it, the tremor in her hands, the hitch in her breath.
She wanted to deny it, to push it away, but it was there.
Unavoidable. “Then you’ll find out how fast peace turns to war in my world. ”
For a second, neither of us moved. Her gaze locked on mine, searching for mercy and finding only the quiet, steady certainty that there would be none.
And still, beneath the fear, beneath the outrage, something flickered. The smallest spark of defiance.
Good.
Let her fight me. Let her hate me. It would make the fall all the more spectacular.
I leaned back, my arm brushing against hers in a casual, intimate touch that set her skin prickling like electric fire. The closeness was a game, a dance, and she was both my opponent and my prey.
She pulled her hand back, tension rippling in her shoulders.
I studied her, the curve of her jaw, the way her lashes fluttered when she blinked hard, like she was trying to hold back a tidal wave of emotion. She thought this was just a step-family mess. A blip on her timeline. But she had no idea what she’d stepped into.