Before I could pull away, the vase smashed against my head. I screamed, but the sound turned into nothing as the world danced before my eyes before finally going black.
"So, how was your day alone?" Rachel spoke up, giving me a friendly smile. "Did you spend some quality time together?"
"We really did, didn't we, Parker?" Dad said easily, cutting into the roast. Even though we had maids working for us, we still had family-style dinners. It was tradition. "We had a nice meal together and spent a few hours talking. It's been great catching up, son, right?"
"It was fine," I hissed. "Congrats on first place, by the way."
"Thanks." Kade clapped me on the back, glancing at June before returning his attention to the meal before us. "I didn't think I'd manage, but it worked out in the end even though I was so behind in the..."
His words drifted off. I couldn't focus. I could barely sit after what my father had done to me. And he'd promised he'd do it again, over and over again until I was what he deemed to be good enough for this fucking family.
After knocking me out with the vase, he tied me to a chair in June's room. He told me he'd have to redo everything—all his hard work—until I was “wired the way I should be.”
He beat me then. He used a belt until I was fucking covered in welts and painful bruises. He told me this would be a twice-weekly tradition from then on. He told me he'd beat me until he got those demons out of me, and then he forced me to wear long sleeves so nobody would notice my bleeding, black-and-blue skin.
I'd never seen my father as a monster. He was the quiet, slightly too serious dad who always did his best for us even though he also seemed a little distant. This was the most interest he'd ever shown in me. And little did I know there was a goddamn monster lurking beneath his skin. Maybe we were more alike than I first thought after all.
We were sitting at the dining table, a happy family on the outside, but utterly broken on the inside. Not that anyone would ever show it. We were all about the perfect family image, at least Rachel and Dad were.
My father smiled at me from across the table, and I swallowed thickly.
I hadn't been careful enough. I'd been careless and cocky. And now I was going to pay. I wouldn't get June this way, not while Dad was keeping a watchful eye on me.
I knew if I wanted June, I'd have to get rid of Dad.
Rachel would be easier. Rachel loved me. But not Dad. Dad thought I was the bad apple. Dad thought if he beat me enough, he'd really make me right again. But you can't beat the darkness out of anyone. Especially not when they've already pledged their life to it.
I ate my roast dinner and smiled at the anecdotes and kept my fucking eyes off my stepsister. I'd have to bide my time. I'd have to be careful. But I was more determined than ever. June Wildfox would be my fucking property, and nobody—not even my father—could stop me from having her.
14
Kade
“Fuck, June!” I curse and run my hands through my hair. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
She’s confused, her naked body enticing me as she steps closer, hands exploring my body. I grab her by the wrists, turning to her with a snarl. She can't touch me, and I sure as fuck shouldn't be touching her. This is fucked up on a different level. We can't go through with it.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, pouting. “I… I thought maybe you would like it. That I saved myself for you.”
“Like it?” I ask her, gripping her shoulders, focusing my eyes on hers because otherwise, I don't fucking trust myself. “I want you, June. I want you so bad… Do you think you’ll stay with the same person who is your first fuck? Seriously, do you?”
I’m realizing now what she said could be true. She is twenty-one. She didn’t have a boyfriend when we were still a family. She could be a virgin. June flinches at my words, but I’m not about to stop. I need to convince her just how bad of an idea this is.
“You won’t stay with him, Junebug,” I tell her, softer this time. “You just won’t.”
She looks me dead in the eyes, her mouth pouting. “I do what I want,” she says sternly, and suddenly, her hands have found my jeans, pulling down the zipper. “Haven’t you figured that out yet, Kade? I always get what I want.”
Her voice is sweet as sugar as her hand pushes down my boxers and pulls out my hard cock. I groan and close my eyes as she gasps with surprise, barely able to circle her fingers around the thick head.