Graham
A knock at the door lifts my attention from the multiple computer screens in front of me. I glance at my watch and realize it’s almost seven. Working this late isn’t unusual for me, but today has been especially long, with multiple video conferences to put out fires for both the label and my other businesses. I’m fortunate my contract didn’t dictate I relinquish all my other positions to focus solely on this one, but I suppose they knew that would never work.
I yell come in as I lean back in my chair, rubbing between my eyes. When I drop my hand, I see my brother strutting across the room. My eyes open wide in surprise. “The prodigal son returns?”
“You stay away for years, and I’m the prodigal son?” He sits in a chair in front of my desk, stretching his long legs in front of him.
“Hmm. Yeah, but I haven’t been avoiding you for two weeks.” I stand and walk around the desk, then lean against it with my arms folded. My finger waves around his face. “How do you get through airport security with all that metal?”
His gaze flits low for a brief moment before he meets my eyes with a smirk. “I’m guessing the same way you do.”
Touche. “Why have you been avoiding me, Jagger?” I ask, getting right to the point.
“Who says I have? I do have a job, remember? One that requires I travel quite frequently. Besides, we both know you only call me to check in on a particular little blond we both know and love. I figured since you’re back in town, you don’t need my spy skills anymore.”
My jaw works back and for as I stare at his smirking expression. “We both love, huh? What kind of love are we talking about, Jag?”
My teeth grind, waiting for his response. His green eyes, so much like our mother’s, a unique shade resembling sea glass, dance with amusement. “You know I never kiss and tell, bro.”
The five feet separating us vanish, and I lean over him. “What did you say?”
“I think you heard me.”
Without thinking, my fingers tangle in his Jimi Hendrix T-shirt, bringing us nose to nose. “You fucking kissed her?”
“What’s the matter, big brother? Jealous?” He grins wide, and I realize I just took the bait. “You’re not very subtle when you check in, you know? Especially with the growly tones when I’d tell you she was out on dates. My favorites were hearing you sound like a raging bull when I sent you videos of her out with her friends.”
“You’ve been fucking with me.” It’s a statement, not a question because now it all makes sense.
He shrugs, completely unbothered that my hands are still wrapped around his shirt. “You made it easy. Maybe if Golden Boy had asked how his actual brother was doing when he called, I wouldn’t have been so suspicious.”
I shove him back in the chair and take a step back. My fingers run through my hair before gripping my neck. Fuck. “Did you tell her?”
His grin falls as his head twists back and forth. “No. I love Casey. Maybe we weren’t always as close as we are now, but I’m not telling her I started spending time with her because you asked me to. It would hurt her.”
My eyes narrow, my mind zoning in on one phrase. “And how close are you?”
He waggles his brows. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” When I start for him again, he raises his hands. “I’m kidding. I’m kidding. Chill. We’re as close as a brother and sister can be. Remember when you thought of her as a sister?” No, I don’t, actually. I’m not sure I ever saw Casey as a sister. Just as a kid that needed someone in her corner. A kid that needed a friend. “It’s fucked up, bro. You know that, right?”
I do know. I’ve tried to push the attraction away. It took me a while, but I realized time and distance were nothing but a Band-Aid. A generic one at that.
“I’m very aware.”
“And you remember she is just barely legal?”
“I know exactly how old she is.” I’ve never missed a birthday, even if she didn’t know it. Not only is Casey legal, but she’s also no longer a teenager. I know I’m eight years older, but compared to the relationships between the people in her life, we’re practically the same age.
“Why do I feel like you don’t give a fuck about any of that?”
Because I don’t. I press my lips together without answering him.
“You know she used to have a crush on you, right?” I won’t admit it, but he must take my lack of surprise as a sign. “I guess that means you’re not going to tell me what really happened between you two? Why you started having me watch out for her and avoided coming home anytime you thought she might be around?”
“I’ll tell you as soon as you explain why you won’t come home?”
His jaw clamps shut, and the humor in his eyes vanishes, turning to thinly veiled rage. “If you’re asking, you already know.”
“I do, and I know Dad needs you. You have a respons—”
“I don’t have a responsibility to shit. I didn’t ask for any of it. Didn’t sign up for it. And I’m not getting guilted, conned, or suckered into anything, so don’t try.”
I roll my head around my neck, wanting to argue but knowing it will get me nowhere. “Does Casey know?”
He gives me a hard look. “No. Do you know what that would do to her?”
I nod, but the truth will come out eventually. Secrets always had a nasty habit of getting uncovered, no matter how deeply you tried to bury them. “I don’t like it, Jag. Any of it.”
“How the fuck do you think I feel? And for the record, I’m not sure I like that you want to bone our little stepsister, but here we are.”
“It’s not like that,” I growl, then let my head fall back, staring at the ceiling.
“Then how is it? Because from this side of the fence, it looks like the grown-ass man that doted on his little stepsister was creeping the entire time.”
And that is the reason I stayed away. For two years, I limited our interactions. I thought whatever the hell her innocent kiss stirred in me would dissipate with time. I tried to remember she was my stepsister. To remember, I’d practically watch her grow up. I was an adult, and she was a child. Nothing helped because no matter what or who I did, it was her face, those soft lips, those pretty eyes so full of innocence that I saw.
When I saw her asshole boyfriend’s hands all over her, I knew it wasn’t happening. The urge to rip his arms from his body and beat him with them was strong all night. When I saw them in the garden, heard her tell him no, and saw him refuse to stop, I lost it. But it was those few moments alone with her afterward that told me everything. This thing I felt wasn’t going away, but even though she was a legal adult that day, I knew how it would look.
So, I made a plan. I would keep my distance and cut off all communication so no one could accuse me of manipulating her. Until two weeks ago, no one could accuse me of inappropriate behavior, but now she’s an adult. She’s not stuck in that awkward place of when you’re an adult yet still a teenager.
One phone call changed everything. I didn’t just come back to claim a job title.
“You taking this job wasn’t a coincidence, was it?”
“It was always supposed to be mine. You know that.”
“And you’re avoiding the question. Did you come back for the job or for Casey?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does if you’re going to hurt her because Casey isn’t like the other girls you’re used to.”
My teeth clench hard. Does he think I don’t know that? That I haven’t known all along? No one knows her better than I do. “I would never hurt her, and I’ll kill anyone else who does.” It’s a promise I intend to keep one day, too. Every person who has hurt her body or her heart will pay.
“We’ll see, bro. You don’t have a great track record with women.”
I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean. Messy breakups and drama have never been my thing. A line of broken hearts isn’t my style. I was always faithful to the few girlfriends I had, and those who weren’t given the title knew the score.
But the statement irritates me for some reason. “And you do?” I snap. His green eyes flash with venom. Of the two of us, Jagger is the one with the jilted girlfriends and toxic exes. I don’t know the details, but his love life hasn’t been drama-free. But I also know my brother never set out to hurt anyone. “I’m not admitting to anything,” I finally relent, running my hand through my hair with a sigh. “But if I were, I would say that I would never go after Casey unless I was sure she is what I want. I would never be reckless with her heart.”
“Better not,” he points between us, “or you and I will have problems.”
“You know, I told you to watch out for her, not become her white knight.” Despite trying to seem as if I’m teasing, even I hear how jealous I am.
“I’m no white knight. Not for her or anyone. But we got close, , so I’ll break your face if you break her heart.” A wry grin spreads across his mouth, and I know whatever he says next is meant to get under my skin. “Although it doesn’t matter since she’s over her crush on you. She told me so herself.”
I’m a cocky bastard—pretentious, arrogant, and entitled. But I can be because I can back it up. I get what I want when I want it because I don’t wait for it to be handed to me. I go after it.
But it’s not arrogance that makes me smirk and call bullshit. It’s the fact that both times I’ve been near her, I could see the want in her eyes. She tried to hide it. Seemed desperate to keep walls erected. But her eyes told her lies.
“Yeah, she can keep telling herself that.” I roll my neck and chuckle, then jerk my head toward the door. “How about we go get a drink?”
He glances at his phone and then lifts his eyes to me. He eyeballs my suit and tie with a lifted brow before a slow smirk pulls his mouth. “Fine, but I pick the place.” He stands and walks toward the door. “And I know just where I want to take you.”