Forbidden Sins: One Night With My Stepbrother

Chapter 5

He Knew

Nadia

Had I heard my name correctly?

My heart started pounding as I stood there, my hand on the doorknob. He had called me Nadia, not Arianna.

Did he know it was me all along?

I quickly slammed the door behind me and ran down the back staircase, avoiding the main stairs as I hurried out of the building.

The morning air hit my face as I stepped outside.

I hurried down the driveway, and stopped a passing cab, and climbed into the backseat.

“Just drive,” I said, giving the driver the address to the West mansion.

***

When I reached the estate, the adrenaline had faded, and I felt completely drained. I flung my bedroom door open, dragged out my suitcases out of the closet, and started packing.

Tears filled my eyes as I shoved shirts and jeans into the bag. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

He knew.

The thought kept going through my head. He hadn’t been tricked by the gold mask or the dark room. And probably got sober later or wasn’t as drunk as I imagined. Everything that happened between us, he knew it was me.

The thought made my stomach twist. How was I supposed to face him? How could I look him in the eye after what happened?

Not after the way he had f****d me all night, or how I moaned for him like I’d been starved my whole life.

A sharp knock on the door made me flinch.

I quickly wiped my face as the door opened. My mother, Diana, walked in. She looked completely unbothered, her eyes sweeping over my messy room, with clothes littered around and my suitcase on the floor.

“Where did you sleep last night?” she asked. “You never made it home back with us.”

“At a friend’s place,” I answered quickly.

Diana looked at me for a moment but didn’t ask more questions.

“The driver is waiting downstairs to take your things,” she said, reaching for her designer purse and tossing a small brass key onto my bed. “That’s for the apartment across town. The rent is covered for a year. After that, you’re on your own.”

“Fine,” I muttered, refusing to look at her.

“Don’t cause a scene on your way out,” she warned coldly before turning on her heels to leave.

Not a goodbye or a warm hug. Diana left just like that.

Within an hour, I was sitting on the floor of my new apartment, surrounded by cardboard boxes. It was a small but decent apartment, and it was still comfortable and nicely furnished. The heavy silence of the unfamiliar place pressed down on me.

I curled my knees to my chest and let out a broken, exhausted sob.

I had escaped the mansion, but I couldn’t escape my own head.

A sudden, loud knock on my apartment door shattered the quiet.

I stiffened, my heart leaping into my throat. Caden? Had he tracked me down already?

I walked over to the door with trembling legs, holding my breath as I unlocked it and pulled it open.

Justin stood on the threshold, holding a box of pizza in one hand. His eyes immediately went to my tear-stained face, and the concern on his face deepened.

“Nad,” Justin said softly, stepping inside without waiting for an invitation and closing the door behind him. “You skipped the morning check-in text, and your mom said you moved out early. What the hell happened last night?”

I looked at my best friend, the weight of the secret becoming too much to carry.”

“Justin,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “I did something terrible.”

I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face against his chest as the tears started falling again.

Justin didn’t hesitate. He set the pizza box down on a nearby crate and wrapped his arms tightly around me, holding me as my shoulders shook. He didn’t ask questions or force me to explain right away. He just held me in the middle of my empty, cold apartment while I cried.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you,” he murmured, gently patting my back.

After a few minutes, I pulled away and wiped my cheeks. I sat down on a chair, and Justin took the seat beside me.

“Talk to me, Nad,” Justin said, his voice suddenly serious. “I know you’re usually upset when it comes to your mom. But you’re different right now. What’s going on? Is this about yesterday's party?”

“No,” I said, staring down at my fingers. “No. Yes. I… I went upstairs last night. Caden was out of it. Completely disoriented from whatever his friends gave him.”

Justin nodded slowly, listening intently. “Right. Miles told me he went upstairs to sleep it off.”

“I went to check on him,” I whispered, the words heavy in my mouth. “He thought I was Arianna. He kept calling her name in the dark. And instead of correcting him… instead of just leaving him alone...” I swallowed hard, my face burning with humiliation. “I found Arianna’s gold mask in a booth downstairs. I put it on. And I turned off all the lights so the room was dark, and I got in bed with him.”

Justin's eyes widened. He stared at me, his mouth slightly open, trying to process what I had just told him.

“Nadia… are you telling me you… slept with Caden?”

“Yes,” I cried, covering my face with my hands. “I slept with my stepbrother, Justin. I thought it was my last night, my only chance to ever be close to him before my mom kicked me out. I thought he’d never know. I thought he’d just wake up thinking it was his girlfriend.”

“Oh my God,” Justin muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. “Nad, that’s… this is insane. If Arthur finds out, or your mother…”

“It’s worse than that,” I interrupted.

Justin stopped pacing and looked at me. “How could it possibly be worse?”

“When I woke up at dawn, I tried to sneak out. I was turning the doorknob to leave the room,” I paused. “He wasn’t asleep, Justin. He called out my name. He didn’t say Arianna. He knew it was me the whole time we were together.”

Justin crossed his arms, looking at me, completely speechless. For a guy who always had a witty comeback for everything, he looked completely stunned by my revelation.

“He knows,” Justin hissed. “He knew it was you and still kept quiet. That’s sick, Nad. He should have stopped.”

“I can’t face him,” I sobbed. “I’m so ashamed. I don’t ever want to go back to that side of town and bump into him.”

“You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of,” Justin said firmly. “The fact he knew it was you and kept quiet makes him a terrible person. He should be the one ashamed of himself.”

He reached for the pizza box and held it out to me.

“Come on. Have some pizza.”

I took the slice, even though I still had no appetite.

Justin stayed beside me while I ate, not pushing me to talk anymore.

But somewhere across town, Caden was awake.

And I had no idea what he thought about what happened between us the night before.