Billionaire Stepbrother's Promise (A Forbidden Romance) by Stephanie Brother

Author:Stephanie Brother [Brother, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-03-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

I walked outside of the auction room and into the main hall where the gala was in full swing. The heavy velvet drapes by the windows let in little light, to encourage everyone to let loose. I smiled distractedly at people as they passed by. As the waiter went by I picked up a glass of wine and downed it. I’d need the liquid courage if I was going to have a talk with Aiden. It was almost impossible to find a quiet place to chat. Instead, he tugged on my arm and gestured toward the window. The velvet drapes had covered up the entrance to an empty balcony, and we slipped through gratefully for a moment of peace.

Aiden walked forward toward the stone railing of the balcony, and all I could do was follow. We spent a few minutes looking down at the people below. Up close by his side, I squeezed my thighs together involuntarily as my body reacted to his proximity. I’d given up trying to figure out what made this man so attractive to me.

“So, is this party business thing for real?” His tone was light and surprisingly candid. It changed his whole countenance, so that he looked approachable for once.

“Yeah,” I said, startled by his friendliness. Was this really the same Aiden who made snarky comments about me doing the same work that the help did?

“I’m glad. You need to be doing something to get out from my stepfather’s thumb.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused. “I’m doing this for... for myself.”

“I mean, that I’m glad you’re going to have a means to your own income. That way you never owe my father a thing, and he can’t just decide what he wants for you.”

My eyes opened in surprise as I saw how bitter Aiden seemed to be. Somehow this had shifted from being about me to himself. I thought carefully back on everything. Going abroad to learn the business, his dreams of being a lawyer suddenly gone, those glances I’d catch from him sometimes…

“You mean…”

“Yes. I never wanted to go Clarissa,” he said, his voice low. “Don’t ever think that I did.”

“I don’t understand.“

“I mean I didn’t want to leave you. My dad had things figured out. It didn’t take a lot, and back then I wasn’t half as good as hiding my thoughts from him as I am now.”

My whole body lifted with every word he uttered.

“He threatened to cut you off and cast you out. He’d found your dad, dug him out from some trailer park. He told me he’d prop him up so that he could claim custody or something. He was going to ruin your life if I didn’t do what he said.”

My hands tightened onto my dress with every word. I felt like my whole world was spinning, everything I thought I knew tumbling down around my ears. Aiden looked at me, his eyes burning from the choice he had to make. I could see the pain that was in his eyes, pain that he’d forged into a hard shell.

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