Chapter 2
1969 Words
How come I wasn’t informed before now?
My thoughts drift to earlier, before she barged in. The memories of me touching myself to the scenarios I’d created, the images I cooked up in my head. The dirty fantasies.
Of him.
Of… both of them.
“I expect you downstairs before the minute is over.” She leaves the room without a backward glance, not bothering to shut the door behind her.
My relief is palpable, at the fact that she’s no longer in my vicinity. But most of all, my hands move over the remains of the book that held most of my secrets. I’m relived she didn’t read anything past what was written on the first page.
I pick up what I can of the pages off the floor, shoving them under my bed along with the torn up book. Closing the door behind me, I make my way downstairs.
The servants are up and about, darting across all areas of the house in preparation for Kane’s arrival.
I cant wrap my head around it.
Kane is coming back home, for the first time in almost four years.
The last time I saw him, almost everything about our relationship changed. It was in the heat of the moment, the last thing I’d expected given our history, given the cause of what got us there.
In one moment, Kane was giving me the time of the day, something he rarely ever did. To him, I was his annoying little step sister, nothing other than a minuscule thorn is his side. Things had escalated the day he was set to go away for business, a start to taking over the company from my father. We squared up against each other, over what I couldn’t even remember, because in the next second he’d stolen my breath away, kissing me with the kind of passion I didn’t think I’d ever be able to forget.
We’re siblings… step-siblings.
Yet, years later thoughts of that kiss plague my mind, day after day. It’s torture to say the least.
Kane had shown me a different side of himself before he left all those years ago. It was a split second where his meticulous persona let loose, he seemed to forgo the consequences.
The realization of what it all meant hit me like a freight train.
What would things be like between us? I always thought he would come back home sooner, but he never did, not until now. He never tried to contact me either. He always made a point to keep in touch with Emaine and my father, but never me.
And now that the moment is finally here, now that he’s actually coming back, the possibilities tunnel through my mind. They’re endless.
They're wrong.
“He’s here!”
Emaine claps her hands together, rushing to the foyer. “Richard!” She calls for my father.
I feel my heart climb up to my throat, as the servants line up, awaiting the arrival of their master’s step-son.
I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m not sure how to act, or where to stand. I’m so nervous I must look like a jittery mess.
“Where is he?” Dad asks, marching down the spiral staircase.
The front door opens. I hold my breath.
The sunlight streaming in through the foyer blurs my view of him, the maids rush up to the entrance, fluttering out the door, nodding their heads in greeting as they move to unload his car.
“It’s so good to have you back, dear.” Emaine walks up to her son, rising up on her tip toes to embrace him in a hug. Kane presses a hand to her back, holding it there for a second before letting go.
“You’ve grown even taller than me now.” Dad chimes in, clapping him on the back, “We’ve missed you boy, it’s a pleasure having you here, there’s so much we have to discuss.”
The word ‘boy’ sticks out to me like a sore thumb. Kane might have left all those years ago as a boy, but standing before me now, he’s anything but. Dad isn’t lying though, he’s taller, way taller. Even at this distance, I have to crane my head to look up at him. He’s also bigger, more muscular.
Kane has always been toned, he’s always had a strong build, but the years did him well. He’s bulkier now, but not in a broad sort of way. His shoulders are more squared, wider, tapering to a more slender waist. He’d traded out dark loose fitting jeans and T-shirts for expensive suits, tailored just for him. They molded to his frame in all the right places, tight around the biceps, snug on his muscular thighs.
He runs a hand down the front of his silk tie, offering his stepfather a small smile. It’s nothing but a tight pull of his mouth. He’s yet to say a word, but still, it’s like the air is stagnant with the intensity emanating from him. His eyes are lazy, not hard, but a bit uncaring as he looks around the space.
“Nothing’s changed.” He drawls. His voice is gritty, a deeper rasp than I remember.
My feet remain frozen. I press my hands together, holding them against my chest, waiting for him to look at me. To notice me.
“Come,” His mother says, pulling on his arm excitedly. He lets her, “I had the maids prepare dinner already. Let’s eat while we catch up. Aurelia will serve us.”
I smile up at him, as his mother pulls him toward where I’m standing. I hold my breath in anticipation, waiting for his eyes to meet mine, to drop down and see me, for the recognition to light up his disinterested gaze.
“K-” The word dies on my lips the moment he moves right by me.
My heart falls.
He doesn’t even glance in my direction, he walks by like there’s no one standing right here. Like I’m invisible.
My smile fades off my lips.
Didn’t he see me?
He did. He was less than an inch away from me, yet he acted as though I wasn’t even there. My brows pull together, as I pivot in place, watching him walk away without a hitch in his controlled steps.
“Aurelia!” His mother calls over her shoulder, her eyebrows raised, “Didn’t you hear me? Set the table.”
It takes a full second for me to regain my composure. I trail after them slowly, in no rush to face him again. His reaction makes me feel like what happened the last time I saw him was nothing but a figment of my imagination. But I know it wasn’t. All of it was real, way too real. So then, how do I explain this?
They’re already seated at the table by the time I get there.
“So tell me,” Dad says, “How has work at the company been? Is the other branch to your standards?”
Kane is spread out in his seat, relaxed, answering Dad’s question as I set a plate in front of him. My eyes are fixed on the side of his face. There’s no tell that he notices me right next to him. Not even a twitch, not even a side glance.
I set down the glasses, picking up a pitcher of orange juice to serve.
“And the women? Have you thought about settling down yet?”
I’m in the middle of filling Kane’s glass, but Dad’s question makes me stumble, my hand trembles, most of the drink sloshing over the rim and onto his suit pants, the rest of it spilling to the floor.
“s**t! I’m sorry.” I’m frantic, picking up paper towels from the table and trying to rectify my mistake. But the liquid has soaked into the dark, expensive fabric. Kane stares, his eyes fixed on the mess I’ve made of him, but he doesn’t say a word, he doesn’t move a muscle. He lets me dab at the material like a fool, trying to collect the moisture. I reach for more paper towels, trying to clean up after myself as quick as possible. They’re further away though, and my feet slip out from under me as I reach for them.
My body tenses, bracing for the fall.
But I don’t hit the ground.
Kane’s arm curls around my back, his chair scraping back. He holds me against him with just one arm, eyes locked on my face without a single emotion in sight. My chest burns, I’m breathless at the close proximity, and the adrenaline of the almost fall churns in my system.
He’s looking directly into my eyes, giving me the attention I was so desperate for only moments ago. His pale green eyes move over my face slowly, over my nose, my cheeks, my lips, before moving back up to mine.
“Thank you-”
His arm loosens, his touch leaving my back, eyes holding my stare as my body slams to the floor.
Pain sears through my back at the impact. I let out a soft cry, grimacing as the ache spreads.
He settles back into the chair, picking up a discarded towel and patting his trousers. “The women are no more than average. The same everywhere, pathetic enough when they need to be. I haven’t considered settling down.”
I gape at him. He just… what the hell was that?
“You act like there’s a reward awaiting you for being such a train wreck.” Emaine cuts hard eyes at me, “Must you be such a disaster all the time? At the very least, one should be able to pour a simple drink. Now you’ve gone and disrupted dinner, is there anything you’re truly good for? God, I should have locked you up in your room.”
Her words sting. It was a accident, it could have happened to anyone. My eyes search the table, moving from Dad to Kane, waiting on either one of them to speak on my behalf, to come up to my defense. But Dad is eating his meal like no one said a word, and Kane… he just, he just doesn’t care. He doesn’t care that he’s hasn’t seen me for the last four years, he doesn’t care that he caused a fall that could have injured me badly, he certainly doesn’t care that his mother is verbally lashing me for something that wasn’t intentional.
It stings.
All of of it stings.
I scramble to my feet, anger rising inside me as I lash out, “I’m not a goddamn maid anyway! It’s not my responsibility to cater to your beck and call!” I hate the watery note that seeps into my voice, tears burn the backs of my eyes, “If you didn’t want me to be here, then you shouldn’t have asked me to come!”
I march out of the dining room, my steps brisk and heavy as I make my way through the front door. They can all go to hell. I growl out the words, wiping at my tear stained cheeks, “They can all f*****g rot in hell!”
My body slams abruptly into a wall of muscle. I take a step back, shock locking up every inch of my body.
His hazel eyes pierce right through me, that familiar smirk tilting his lips up easily. The same teasing grin that’s taunted me for years.
It suddenly feels like I can’t breathe.
He c***s his head to the side, “Miss me, Cinderella?”
His name slips past my lips in a quiet breath.
“Rune.”
- Writer
