Protector: A Billionaire Step-Brother Romance

“Me? I’m not the one acting stupid, how do you think you have any right—” I was so angry that I couldn’t even string together a proper sentence. Honestly, I hadn’t even seen Dad in person more than once or twice since moving out. I’d thought up just the right things to throw in his face when I had a real conversation with him again, but in the middle of all this going on, everything was almost a red haze. Dad was already rolling up his magazine and setting it aside while he composed himself.

“Now, Cole,” he started, his voice marshaled into being as calm as ever, “I can see you’re upset about something, so why don’t you take a drink, and if there’s anything I can do…” he trailed off, raising an eyebrow as he moved around the counter. Even hanging around his house, he was wearing designer clothes, a violet dress shirt and grey vest tucked into jet-black pants. He wasn’t hiding the fact that he was dressing to impress today.

“It isn’t what you’re doing,” I snapped, “it’s what you aren’t! Christ, Dad, one huge scandal wasn’t enough for this family, was it? You really need to pretend to be settling down with some other woman and do it all over again before you’re happy?”

Todd’s expression darkened. “How did you find out about that?”

“God, do you even pay attention to your own press?”

“Son, settle down,” he warned, putting a hand out with a hardening face.

“No, this is too far, Dad! Changing the locks on me was one thing. Yeah, I noticed that. And having those goons of yours keep an eye on my apartment was another, whatever the fuck you were planning to do with that, but I’m not going to sit back and let you just pretend the three of us never existed in your life while you sweep us out and trot in a brand-new family you can ruin!”

“Cole.”

“I bet you’re even giving her the same car mom drove, aren’t you? I saw it in the driveway on the way up here. Too cheap to even try out some new moves?”

“Cole!”

Todd was standing up now and taking a step towards me. As he did so, I noticed a slight sway in his step, and about then I noticed the fact that his bottle of gin was about half-empty already. It wasn’t even noon.

“You’re drunk?” I was shouting by now. “For fuck’s sake, dad, are you even trying to look functional anymore, or are you gonna just start getting sloshed before dinner and yelling at this one before bed right off the bat?” Cheating hadn’t been the only thing that had driven mom away, nor me, and both of us had sported the bruises at one point or another to prove it.

“COLE!” Todd pounded his fist on the mahogany bar so hard the glass of gin shook a little. “Enough of this bullshit! I let you pull your little stunt of playing the runaway son, and you got your little hour in the limelight, but after letting you freeload up in that penthouse on MY credit line and live like a damn king draining MY accounts faster than the biggest parties in L.A., I am not going to let you storm in here like you still live in the place and try to wave this guilt card you’ve been holding onto for years just because you don’t like that I have what it takes to stay afloat in this business! And you will not ruin this for me, understand?”

My fist clenched, but I was quiet for a moment. This was too familiar. I remembered sneaking into Chelsea’s room and hugging her close to me while we listened to yelling that sounded not too different from this coming from our parents’ room. Any expense, and Dad was screaming at Mom, and it wasn’t unusual to hear her sobbing echo down the long marble hallways.

“And another thing,” he was pointing at me now, a little vein in his forehead, “if you so much as think about trying to put a wrench into everything that I’ve got going for me now, don’t pretend for a second that I’ll hesitate to have you out on the street. See what those friends you’ve been buying think of you when Daddy’s cash goes away.”

“You haven’t changed at all,” I barked, “you were always threatening to kick mom out for trying to give us a good childhood—for trying to run the damn house you left behind so much—but when she was the one to leave you, everything fell apart! That’s what you were always like, Todd, possessive of the people around you but never around in the first place. Maybe if you’d have been in the house with us a little more, Chelsea might still be alive!”

I only just barely caught the backhand that came flying up towards my face at that. Dad’s face was red, and not just from the alcohol. He snatched his hand back and used it to grab his glass and empty it, looking away from me.

“Get out of here, Cole,” he said curtly.

I couldn’t stand looking at him anymore. I turned around and left him shaking behind me, probably thinking he’d warded me off with empty threats. But I knew he wouldn’t make good on anything that would put his precious reputation at risk.

A group of the staff was dispersing from the top of the stairs as I came back up, undoubtedly listening in on my dad trying to defend himself.

“Get a good show?” I yelled after a few of them, “lot of fucking help you all were!”

I could hardly see straight I was so mad, but the path back to the entrance was so familiar to me that I could navigate it without even thinking. But as I headed towards the front of the building, my heart skipped a beat. I was passing my little sister’s old room, and the door was ajar.

No, I thought, not even dad would be so thoughtless as to put up some new broad in his dead daughter’s own room. But I didn’t want to put anything past him, and there wouldn’t be any other reason for that door to be anything but shut tight, so I headed toward it and pushed it all the way open. I froze at what I saw.

Inside was an absolutely stunning young woman. She had blonde hair like strands of light gold that spilled down just past her shoulders to dance playfully at her back, swinging around gently as their owner turned her head around to look at me. Bright, icy blue eyes met mine, shining with just as much life as Chelsea’s. Long lashes batted in surprise as she took in my appearance and stood upright.

She was at least a full foot shorter than me, with a petite frame that somehow kept luscious curves around her hips and her breasts, the latter of which were just barely held in by a striped tank top, their nipples trying to peek through the white of the shirt. I couldn’t stop my eyes from following her gorgeous frame down to her legs, so much of those milky-white thighs exposed by short denim shorts that begged to show off more of the beautiful form that wore them, but everything from her knees down was kept covered by high socks that hid everything but the toned shape of her calves and tiny feet.

The woman brought a narrow hand up to the most delicate mouth I’d ever seen, her lips glistening with whatever gloss she’d used. I held up a hand to try to reassure her that I didn’t mean to barge in, but the perfectly innocent expression on her features seemed to tell me that I was already welcome.

&nbs

p; “E-excuse me,” she breathed, and I realized my mouth was open.

Feeling myself blushing, I stood back a little and peered around the room. “Sorry, I uh… I was expecting someone else, I guess.”

You look just like my sister would have at this age, I meant to say.