Forbidden to Love My Stepbrother

Love doesn't just fade or switch, otherwise I would've fallen for someone else, someone other than my stepbrother. Someone as far from family as Grey Zilinski is. But no, not only did I fall for him, I can't forget him even after seven years. I've been waiting for him since he left for the UK to study and hasn't called or replied to any of my messages. Doesn't stop me from sending them though because I can't ignore the fact that it always says "read" under them. Like he wants me to know he's thinking of me but for some reason he can't reach out to me. Maybe I would've given up if this was some one-sided thing, moved on to something better. I'm pretty enough to get any guy, in fact, guys are always asking me out in my DMs or even face-to-face at college. Sure, a lot of them were reaching and I wouldn't have considered even ninety percent of them, but hey, I had options. And yet I stayed the same because I know that's what Grey would want. And tonight I will see him again, after seven long years. It feels like the day can’t go any faster. The boring lectures finally ends at two, I wave goodbye to my fake friends, Sharon and Regina, then get in my car heading straight for home. Not that I am allowed to go anywhere else. The bodyguard riding shotgun in the car while I sit in the back is there not just to protect me but to report and follow the orders of my biological mother who I just call Johanna. The car ride home takes less than twenty minutes. I get out and immediately see her waiting for me. She has the same ash blonde hair as me but while mine's shoulder length, hers goes to her waist. She has her arms crossed. "Why are you dressed like that?" she demands before I even climb the stairs. "Hi, Mom," I say dryly as I walk up to her. "You look like a common street thug rather than a college student. Do you know that?" I hide my eye roll. All I'm wearing are shorts and a tank with knee-high boots. How does that make me look like a thug? "You're out of control, Freya." I stop in front of her as she shakes her head. "Just get in the house and change into the dress I left on your bed." I groan. "Don't even start. You have no taste and no class. You dress like you're from the streets. I hope you know what Grey's return means? It means your father's about to start prepping him to inherit his place as CEO of Zilinski International. You're still behaving like a child instead of acting like a woman who's going to one day work at his side." "I don't want to work. I just want to be a peaceful housewife, pampered and taken care of." She raises her hand like she's going to slap me but stops and just pats my face. "I don't want to bruise you before the party, but respect yourself, Freya. Stop testing me." "Is it really that hard to accept that I'm not a career woman like you?” I ask not for the first time. " I don't want to spend my life alone and sad and still clinging to the man I divorced for my career, like you." The slap comes fast and whips my head to the side. I'm used to it, but what I don't expect is for a voice to call, "Johanna!" It isn't my dad. It's the voice I've been yearning to hear for years, the voice I still hear in my dreams whispering to me, telling me that I belong to him. I whip around and there he is. Grey. My breath stops in my chest. The Grey I remember wasn’t small by any means, he was fit, but in a lean way. This Grey is built heavy, thick with muscle, his arms so solid I don’t think I could wrap both hands around them. His jaw is sharp, a chiseled line that looks like it could cut, dark stubble shadowing his skin. And his hair. Oh God, his hair. He let it grow out the way I once said I liked it. I remember now, lying flat on his bed, flipping through some male model magazine, mouthing off about how long-haired guys were the best. Grey’s is tied back in a half man-bun. A half man-bun! I stand frozen, staring at him with a ridiculous, gleeful smile stretching my face. I can’t even think, let alone form words. “Grey.” Johanna’s voice snaps me out of it. It’s so sickeningly sweet I want to gag. She moves toward the stairs, heels clicking against the marble. “You’re early. I thought you wouldn’t be here until this evening.” “My flight landed ahead of schedule.” He has a hard look on his face, carved out of years I wasn’t there to see. Something in him is different, beyond the muscles and stubble. His blue eyes, nearly pale, ringed faintly with gold, flicker to me. The sight makes my chest lurch, makes me want to squeal, leap into his arms, and never let go. “Grey,” I whisper, but Johanna's hand clamps around my arm like a belt before I can even move. Her grip squeezes, nails biting lightly through my sleeve. She’s smiling, but it’s painted on, stiff and fake. “Isn’t it nice to have us all here together?” she asks like it is such a glorious thing. Grey steps closer, barely making a sound. “Hey, Luna.” His voice is deep, familiar, and it nearly unravels me completely. I feel like melting right there. That nickname. He’s using it like time did not move. I still don’t know what it means, but it drags back memories so fast my eyes sting. I swallow hard and manage, “Hey. Welcome home.” “Glad that’s out of the way,” Johanna cuts in briskly, steering me inside. “Let’s get you dressed and looking decent.” She pulls me toward the door, into the foyer and up the wide spiral staircase quickly. I don’t stop staring at Grey, and he doesn’t stop staring at me. His mouth doesn’t curve into a smile, but God, he’s hotter than I remember. So much hotter. I must look like a total mess, I didn't even get to change my clothes. Johanna is still ranting as we climb to my room, I can't even remember what she was talking about. Needless to say, this mansion belongs to my father. One of his, anyway. I’ve lived here alone since I was ten. My father and stepmother do not, not really. They left me to rattle around this place like a ghost. As for Johanna, don’t even mention her. She only comes every few months, and when she does, it’s just to bark orders at me the way she is now. She tugs me roughly into my room and shuts the door with a sharp click. I throw my bag to the floor, scowling. Why did she have to be here when I just saw Grey again? “Listen to me, Freya.” She has that warning tone on, the one she thinks gets me to do as she wants. “I don’t know what you’re thinking in that head of yours, but I can only assume it’s something stupid. Grey isn’t here to play around or play house. I know you’re still hung up on what happened between you two seven years ago, you can forget it.” My jaw locks, teeth grinding, fists clenching. I snap around to glare at her. “What are you trying to say, Mom?” “Your father wouldn’t have allowed Grey back if he hadn’t proven himself. We all know what happened before was hormones, and the fact that you two lived together in this house alone for too long. But don’t forget, Grey is your father’s only heir. He must inherit the company.” she feeds me the same line I have heard for years and I could have screamed. “He isn’t his son,” I bite out. “He’s his wife’s son.” “Freya.” she sounds threatening now, finger raised to my face. “I’m warning you, don’t mess things up. Find a good boyfriend, or I’ll find one for you. Jake and Scott are good options.” I make a face like I’m about to throw up. Ew. “There’s also Miles,” she adds, ignoring my disgust. “All good boys from wealthy homes, fitting for a princess like you.” She reaches to cup my face, but I jerk away before her fingers touch me. “Stop hounding me, Mom. Grey and I haven’t seen or spoken to each other in seven years. Give it a rest.” Just how obsessive is she? And way too observant. I have to keep my emotions locked tight around her, she sees through me too easily. “Let it remain like that, Freya, while Grey is living in this house.” A smile threatens to break across my face, but I crush it down. “How long is he staying?” I ask. “Only as long as he proves himself capable. In the meantime, you should consider proving yourself too. I heard you’re failing a class.” Here it comes. I roll my eyes as she sighs. “Freya, I can’t keep paying your teachers off to give you passing grades. It’s becoming ridiculous.” Well, she’s the one who shoved me into business when I clearly have zero interest in the course. So she can keep paying for me to scrape through exams. She moves to the bed where she’s laid out a dress, one long, frilly thing dripping with gems, meant to make me sparkle and stand out like a peacock. Anything to keep her from being embarrassed in front of her prospective boyfriends for me. “Make sure you change into this for the party. And bathe. Comb those coils out of your hair. Trying to be what you are not is unbecoming.” I don’t bother answering. I just roll my eyes so hard it’s a miracle they don’t get lost in my head. “Yes, Mom,” I say just to make her leave. She studies me for a long moment, shakes her head, and sighs before sweeping out of the room. I collapse onto my bed, arms stretched wide, breath rushing out of me. Exhaustion clings to my skin like heat. My mind, ever helpful, tosses up the only thing it wants me to think about, Grey. “He’s back.” I snatch my pillow and press it over my face to muffle the scream of my excitement. He really came back. Finally! I waited so long for this day.