Game of the Stepbrothers (2 Wicked Stepbrothers 1 Innocent Girl 4)

Even though they’re twins, Aiden and Blane only share a physical appearance. It is true - sometimes it was even hard for me to distinguish between the two of them, and judging by the current events, I still have that problem …

Blane was the bad seed on the outside, rebellious and darkly brooding. Aiden was my sweet stepbrother, my best friend … Until he lost it.

Blane loved me, Aiden tortured me.

Blane caressed me, Aiden carved scars into my body.

Blane took care of me, Aiden only wanted me so he could destroy me and be victorious over his brother … It’s a game of brothers and I’ve gotten caught up in the middle of it.

“So much to tell you, baby,” Aiden whispers deliriously in my ear, and my eyes widen at what’s about to happen. I’m slowly realizing I can’t do anything about the predicament I’m in.

He’s got me, and this time …

He won’t let go.

I reach up and pull hard on his arm, for which I’m rewarded with a curse and a slap across my face, after which Aiden finally turns me around to see his face.

When our eyes meet, his hand still clasped over my mouth, I’m left speechless.

The resemblance is uncanny - he has the same haircut as Blane, the same face, the same eyes … They’re the same build, too. No one could tell them apart, except for me. Because I know that dark glint in Aiden’s eyes all too well, and I know whatever awaits me won’t be good.

“Time to play,” he growls at me and drags me off as I kick and try to scream, but I’m no match for his sculpted body and strong, muscular arms.

My eyes fall to my last hope, thankful Aiden didn’t notice it.

When I tugged on his arm, I tugged on my pendant too, and it came off in my arm. I let it fall on the beach and it’s the only trace left of me there.

I think of Blane desperately.

Please find me, love …

Find me before it’s too late for me.

Chapter 5

I’m dragged across the island, the shrubbery beneath my feet cutting into my skin and scraping my heels as I fight to regain control over my body. But it’s no use - Aiden’s grip is tight and death-like on my arms and I know this time he won’t let go as easily as he did before.

Finally, he has enough of my muffled screams and he tears a piece off my night gown, stuffing it in my mouth maliciously so I can’t make a sound. Hot tears of humiliation flow down my cheeks as I realize how exposed I am now, and to the person I despise and fear most in the world, no less.

He drags me for a long time and I struggle the whole way there. Finally, we arrive at a house which looks the same as mine and Blane’s, but is supposedly the other one on the island. The house which surely looks welcoming and warm in the sunlight is dark and ominous, enveloped in darkness and only illuminated by a few rays of moonlight.

A woman stands at the door and as we come closer, my eyes widen immediately. It’s the woman from the beach whom I now realize I saw with Aiden, not Blane - but something else about her is familiar.

“Move the fuck away, Marissa,” Aiden hisses as soon as we’re in her hearing range and the blonde quickly does what she is told, which makes me wonder why she is so fast to react.

Guess she knows what happens when she doesn’t obey, and it can’t be good.

But then a short gasp leaves my lips, muffled by the piece of fabric stuffed tightly in my mouth. I recognize the woman as the one who was with Aiden when he took me to his house all those years ago. I remember Blane telling me with horror how his twin strangled her.

But if she died … how can she be here?

I mumble in the fabric and Aiden drags me inside the house, letting me drop to the floor like a ragdoll. I look up at him with pleading eyes as he stands over me, asserting his dominance. The woman, Marissa, comes up behind him like a lost puppy, and she looks at him with such insane adoration it sends chills down my spine.

I have no idea what I’ve stumbled upon here, but these two both seem completely, utterly insane. My thought are confirmed when Aiden laughs shrilly in my face, taunting me with his laughter and the manic look in his eyes.

“Thought you could escape?” he asks me, a devilish grin on his face. “You never will, Emme … Every time you think you’re safe, I’ll be one step behind, waiting to claim you.”

My eyes flutter to Marissa, but she seems unbothered by this information. Really, it’s as if they’re working together somehow, as she doesn’t even make a scene or so much as ask him what he’s doing, dragging a gagged woman into their house.

Sick fucks.

Aiden comes for me and I let out a muffled cry, but all he does is pull out the rag out of my mouth, a finger raised in warning before my face.

“Still got that scar?” he asks me and I nod slowly, looking up at him with all the hatred in my body.

“Good,” he says with an evil grin. “Now if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep that mouth nice and shut unless you want another one to join you.”

To consolidate his words, he waves a razor in my face and the steel glints in the moonlight. I feel the tears coming through again, realizing how fucked up this whole situation is.

Aiden grabs me by the shoulders next and drags me downstairs where there is an attic. It’s cold and damp and I hate it as soon as I see it. I’m sure there are rats here, which I wouldn’t even mind, if it meant I could be in their company instead of Aiden’s.

“Home sweet home,” he rasps in my ear, shoving me on a mattress on the floor. At least it’s clean and not smelly, which makes me feel a little bit better. I’m in such a state of shock I don’t even manage one scream as he ties me up and stuffs something in my mouth to keep me quiet.

Finally, I’m left gagged and tied up on the mattress as I whimper softly, tears streaming down my face. Aiden steps back to admire his handiwork and smiles like a madman, apparently pleased with what he sees.

Then, his expression changes.

Ever so slowly, he touches his fingers to my cheek, caressing me softly, like I’m not a ragdoll but a porcelain doll, like he’s so afraid the lightest touch might break me.

I look up into his eyes and search for feelings there.

But as fast as it appeared on his face, Aiden’s expression darkens again. His hand lingers on my cheek, but is now threatening instead of brotherly. And then, he smacks me hard, the blow throwing me back on the mattress.

“You’ve been a bad girl, Emme,” he snarls, the anger in his voice so apparent and scary, it makes me think I won’t even make it through the night.

But then, a vicious smile replaces his frown and he pulls up a chair next to my mattress, glaring at me the whole time.

“Have to get a good look at you,” he murmurs to himself. “Been a long time.”

He settles into his seat, his eyes glued on me, and I know my sleepless nights are here to stay as long as he’s around.

Because Aiden Castillo is the stuff nightmares are made from …

***

I hate the fact that time is passing and no one has come for me. No one knows where I am, or who took me. I think of Blane and how worried he must be and it just breaks my heart, knowing I may never see him again.

I’ve been in the devil’s home for about a day or two now. I have no idea what time it is, my only recollection of time being the times Aiden drags me to the bathroom so I can wash up.

He brings me food downstairs and sits with me all the time.

He hasn’t touched me … yet.

But what he does instead is disturbing, too.