Page 31 of Heartless Stepbrother

Already rewriting the rules.

The slow, triumphant smirk on my lips wasn’t just for show. It was a warning. A promise.

The beginning of a game she never asked to play.

And I? I was the dealer.

“Lose your words already, princess? I haven’t even touched you yet.” I whispered, savoring the way her eyes, still wide and glassy with shock, darted around like a trapped animal hunting for an escape hatch. Her breath hitched, a soft, almost fragile sound that was music only I could hear. The tiniest crack in her armor.

She was fragile, vulnerable, and deliciously off-balance. Exactly where I wanted her.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she found her voice. A strained, trembling whisper, barely more than a breath. “How long?”

I let my gaze linger on her, just long enough for her to feel it. The question in her voice trembled, and that sound was better than any confession.

“When you said your name,” I murmured, leaning in, letting her breath catch the edge of mine. “That’s when I knew. But I didn’t start this last night.” I tilted my head, watching the colorrise in her cheeks. “You’ve been mine to play with since the moment I heard my father was getting remarried.”

Her cheeks, which had been ashen just moments ago, flushed a furious red, like she was trying to burn the embarrassment right out of her skin.

I leaned back, folding my arms across my chest like a king surveying his newest conquest. Smug. Satisfied. Triumphant.

She shook her head ever so slightly, the faintest tremor betraying her. Her eyes didn’t waver, they pinned me with a volatile cocktail of anger, humiliation, and that raw, wide-eyed hurt that set my insides aflame.

God, it was intoxicating.

“Oh, Luna,” I said softly, the words dripping like sin off my tongue. “I almost started to believe you were sharper than the rest.” I let my tone fall to a low murmur, the kind meant to be felt as much as heard. “But maybe that’s my fault. You got a little too caught up in the show on the beach to see the bigger picture.” I smiled, slow and deliberate. “Can’t say I blame you. Not everyone handles temptation well the first time.”

She blinked, a spark of defiance flaring suddenly, igniting those clear blue eyes into something fierce. “You’re a jerk.”

The word made me smile.

“Jerk,” I echoed softly, a chuckle rumbling low in my chest. “I’m so much worse than that.”

Her hands clenched tightly in her lap, knuckles white, fingers trembling. I could smell the faintest trace of her perfume mixed with the salty ocean breeze. She was tense, like a coil ready to snap. Perfect.

There was something intoxicating about the way her walls crumbled under my gaze, the way she tried to hold herself together but failed.

“This family,” I continued, voice low, dark as the ocean surrounding us, “is going to be a battleground. And you? You’re stuck in the middle of it, whether you like it or not.”

She swallowed hard, eyes darting away for a flicker, then snapping back to mine, defiant, fierce.

“I’m not afraid of you,” she said, voice trembling but brave.

That made me laugh, soft and cruel. “You should be.”

A faint breeze stirred the tropical leaves around us, the distant crash of waves underscoring the tension thickening the air.

I studied her. The subtle rise and fall of her chest, the way her lips pressed into a thin line. The girl who thought she could just slip quietly into this new life, who had no idea what she was walking into.

The crowd around us started to move, but none of it registered. All I could see was her. All I could feel was the electric charge pulsing between us, the promise of chaos waiting to be unleashed.

I caught her gaze once more.

“Remember this moment,” I whispered just loud enough for her to hear, “because from now on, nothing will ever be the same.” I laughed, deep, uninhibited, the kind of laugh that bubbles up when you know you hold all the cards.

A few heads turned, curious eyes flickering my way, but I didn’t care. Let them stare. This was my stage. My moment to unsettle the pretty little girl who thought she could glide through this life untouched.

I’ve always loved this. The way power shifts, the way the right words and a sharp glance can crumble facades. Especially girls like her, so sure they’re untouchable, too wrapped up in their own perfect little worlds to see the danger coming.