Chapter 20
KNIGHT
Elias gazes at me with an uneasy stare as he lifts his glass of whiskey to his lips, sitting back in his ridiculous armchair, fitting right into the billionaire lifestyle.
It suits him. Well, at first when he was still grateful for his achievements and success.
Now he’s just arrogant, but he puts on one hell of a show being the powerful businessman by day and doting husband by night.
Truth be told, he’s a piece of shit, and it took me a really long time to figure it out, but now that I see it, it’s impossible to ignore.
It’s mostly the reason why I keep my distance.
That and his gold-digging wife. Fuck, she’s a punishment.
I get why he keeps her around. She’s not bad on the eyes.
She looks just like an older, pearl-clutching version of Harper, but .
. . so much less. Plus, from what Elias says, she goes off in the sheets, not that I particularly want to know about that.
He’s a good twelve years older than me and was raised by our father to be cold and callous, just as he was.
On the other hand, I was an accident that my father had no interest in.
I was seen as weak and not worthy of his time.
After all, he was too busy turning Elias into his clone.
But I preferred it that way. I was raised in the same household, but I only had my mother’s affection.
She was sweet and loving, and she only ever thought about what was best for me.
The day my father came home and blindsided Mom with a divorce and his new nineteen-year-old fiancée, was nothing short of a blessing.
Mom and I took off and started our own life together while Elias was stuck under his thumb.
The only time I ever saw my father after that day was at his funeral, and the only reason I went was to make sure the old bastard was actually dead.
And now Elias is a carbon copy of our old man.
He’s forty-eight and on his third marriage, each of which have fallen apart due to him cheating with younger women, and when I say younger, I mean barely legal. Which is also why I don’t care to get to know Mae.
Sooner or later, she’ll be kicked aside and left begging for scraps due to the ironclad prenup Elias shoved down her throat.
Though I’m sure Mae thinks she can get herself knocked up and give him an heir to his throne in order to claim a chunk of his billions for herself.
It won’t work though. Elias has the best lawyers money can buy.
Whatever he says goes, and if he wants Mae to scrounge for pennies the rest of her life, then that’s exactly what she’ll get.
It’s in her best interest to play his game, and she better hope that he doesn’t tire of her.
Though I have to give credit where it’s due.
Considering they’ve already been married five years, she must be doing something right.
But sooner or later, something is bound to break.
Elias finishes what’s left of his whiskey, and as he stands from his armchair and strides across the room for a refill, he looks back at me. “You free next weekend?” he asks. “Mae wants to organize a family dinner.”
I scoff. “Right. Because the last one went so well.”
Elias rolls his eyes, probably just as irritated by Mae’s pathetic performance as Harper was, though there’s no denying that he does a much better job at hiding his disdain. “This will be family only. I think it’s Mae’s attempt to smooth things over with her daughter.”
My brow arches. “And she thinks having dinner is the way to do that?”
I shake my head. It’s crystal fucking clear that Mae doesn’t know shit about her daughter. If she wanted to smooth it over, she should apologize and leave her the fuck alone.
Elias refills his whiskey and immediately lifts the glass to his lips, having another long drink. “Apparently,” he says with a scoff, his well-structured facade beginning to slip. “If I had it my way, I’d be down there knocking on Harper’s door and teaching that girl a lesson myself.”
The fuck?
I keep quiet, watching him, waiting for whatever comes out of his mouth next. “Making a scene like that in front of my guests. Some of them were colleagues worth billions, and that girl had the audacity to act like a teenage brat.”
I lift my glass to my lips to hide the scoff that tears from the back of my throat. After all, teenage brats are his favorite. “You don’t think things would have gone differently had Mae not provoked her?”
“Please,” he mutters, shaking his head. “Mae can be a daft bitch at times, but it’s not as though she said anything Harper hadn’t heard before. Besides, what’s a little criticism between family? If her mother can’t give an honest opinion, then who the fuck can?”
Me. That’s who. And in my opinion, Harper should have burned the fucking place down on her way out. “Right,” I say slowly, not agreeing in the least.
“She needs that bad attitude fucked out of her.”
I choke on my whiskey. “Excuse me?”
“Oh come on, Knight,” Elias murmurs, making his way back to his pretentious armchair and dropping down, being careful not to spill his whiskey on his designer suit.
“Get off your fucking high horse. You can’t sit here as a red-blooded man and tell me you haven’t noticed how fuckable that girl is.
She’s stunning, and there’s no denying how much she wants me.
I see it when she looks at me. She can barely hold back. ”
I stare at my brother in disgust. I always knew he was a piece of shit, but I never realized just how deep that ran. “You mean your stepdaughter?” I ask, making sure he’s got his head screwed on straight and it’s just the whiskey talking. But fuck, there’s no denying how sick he’s making me feel.
He scoffs again. “That doesn’t mean shit.
I’ve had stepdaughters before. Didn’t stop me then, and it’s not going to stop me now.
I just gotta wait for the right time to let her pounce.
” He pauses to take another long drink, throwing back what’s left of the glass.
It’s his third tumbler of whiskey in less than ten minutes.
“I bet she’d go off. What do you think? I reckon she’d be a little whore like her momma, thirsty for my cock and calling me Daddy until I hand her my black card. ”
I place my glass down on the side table before getting to my feet.
“Brother, I can guarantee that girl doesn’t even notice you, let alone tolerate you,” I tell him before dropping my hand to his shoulder and leaning in, letting him feel the threat behind my stare.
“You lay a hand on Harper without her consent, and I’ll burn your whole fucking empire to the ground. ”
He holds my stare, his gaze narrowing. “Ahh, it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. You fucking want her too, don’t you, little brother? Have you been fantasizing about taking that sweet cunt just as much as I have?”
I let out a breath, needing a moment to find just a fraction of composure before I beat the shit out of him in his damn armchair. “You’re drunk, Elias. Sleep it off before you say something you can’t take back.”
Elias laughs as I stride out of the room, heading straight for the door. “You’ll see, Knight. It’s only a matter of time before she’s mine.”
If only he knew that I already know exactly how she tastes, how she pants when she’s getting close, how her nails dig into my skin as she comes. But he’ll never fucking know because he’ll never fucking touch her. Not if I have anything to do with it.
I shake my head, gritting my teeth in an attempt not to turn around and show him precisely what I think of him.
It wouldn’t even be hard. He’s a sloppy drunk and spends more time in boardrooms than in a gym.
Sure, we’re the same height, and we have more similarities than I care to admit, but when it comes to muscle mass, he’s got nothing on me.
Not to mention the years of vigorous training I’ve been through to ensure I’m in peak physical condition.
I’d snap him like a fucking twig, and what’s more, after those comments about Harper, I’d enjoy it.
I’m just getting into my truck when my phone lights up with an incoming call from Ace, and considering my current mood, I almost let it ring out, but something has me answering his call.
“What’s up, man?”
“Diesel and I are only just getting off. We’re gonna head out to that new bar on 2nd. You down?”
My face scrunches. I don’t particularly want to head out, especially after the fresh bullshit I just discovered in my brother’s private bar.
However, if I were to go home, I have no doubt that I’ll spend the rest of my night picturing Elias and Harper together, and it’s not a pretty sight.
He will do whatever he can to hold his money over her and force her into compliance, but he’d be barking up the wrong tree.
Harper isn’t anything like her mother. She’s not a gold digger, and she’s certainly not frothing at the mouth to be with the man her mother is screwing.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I glance at the time. It’s a little after two in the morning, and while I know I should go home, a drink with the boys will do me a world of good. “Yeah, alright. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
After ending the call, I turn on my truck and feel it rumble to life beneath me. Without skipping a beat, I hit the gas and get the fuck out of this hellhole.
With no traffic on the road, it takes a little over fifteen minutes to reach the bar. After parking and heading inside, I find Diesel and Ace sitting at a table, already halfway through their first drink.
“Aye,” Ace calls over the loud music and the sound of the mechanical bull competition happening deeper in the bar. “I thought for sure you were gonna bail.”