Page 63 of Heartless Stepbrother

That wasn’t the problem.

The danger was worse. Sneakier. A threat I hadn’t prepared for.

He made my pulse sprint. He made my thoughts trip over themselves. He made me forget to be angry even while I was furious. He made me… feel something I did not want to name.

And that was unacceptable.

If I wasn’t careful, he’d get into my head the same way he’d gotten into my room. Quietly, confidently, like it was already his.

No. I wasn’t going to let that happen.

I needed to fight back.

But how do you fight someone who gets under your skin just by breathing in your direction?

I pressed my palms to my forehead. “Find his weakness,” I muttered. “There has to be something.”

But I had nothing. No leverage. No insight. No map of the battlefield to strategize on. It was like trying to fight smoke.

I inhaled slowly, forcing my brain to turn over possibilities. Who would know something? Who could tell me what I was really up against?

Then it hit me.

Therewassomeone.

Someone who definitely knew more than they were saying.

My phone was on the nightstand. I snatched it up before I could talk myself out of it, the screen glowing softly in the dark.

The unwelcome number sat at the top of my messages, taunting me.

My thumbs hovered.

Then I typed the only question that mattered.

How much trouble am I in?

I stared at the text, heart still pounding erratically from Riley’s proximity, his voice echoing in every corner of my mind.

Before I lost my nerve, I hit send.

The message whooshed away, leaving a blue bubble and a pit in my stomach. I set the phone down but kept my fingers curled around it, gripping it like a lifeline.

Riley’s scent was still in the air. His heat still lingered in the mattress.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

I wasn’t falling for him. I wasn’t.

But as sleep finally dragged me under, phone clutched against my chest, I knew one thing with absolute certainty.

I needed answers.

And I needed them before it was too late.

CHAPTER TWELVE

LUNA