Page 16

I looked down at the photo. In it, me and Cal were ten years old, both holding wooden swords, standing at the bottom of a tree house that the gardener had built for us, at our estate in Kent. Inside the tree house, half lying on a graceful, sweeping branch, was a girl. Sixteen and beautiful. Her long, brown hair fell in a waterfall, and her dark-red velvet gown made her look like a fair maiden. She’d gone to a renaissance fair later that day. I could still remember it all so clearly.

A drop of blood from my lip dripped onto the frame, marring her face.

“Your brother is already a lost cause. Hopefully he continues to excel at hockey. You, son, are my only hope to continue my legacy.” My father sighed heavily. “So, unless you want to end up like your sister and join her in the cold ground, get a fucking grip.”

My fingers tightened on the frame, and the small crack in the glass at the top corner splintered across the image. A spiderweb of broken glass.

“Understood. I’ll do better.”

“Yes, you will.” My father sighed again.

He checked his phone, and I knew I was dismissed. I got up and made it to the doorway before he spoke again.

“And Brody, your new stepsister—she’s had some trouble in the past. Marjory assures me that she has her under control, but she’s soft on the girl. I want you to watch her. Make sure she doesn’t get out of line. Let me know how she acts, and then wecan plan accordingly. She’s a Sinclair now. She needs to act like one.”

I stared at my father, already turned away from me after throwing my dead sister in my face and reminding me of my only value to him. To be his heir.

Fuck him.

He was concerned about the addition of my new stepsister into the family? He should be. She was trouble; I could see it a mile off. She wasn’t going to follow my father’s rules. She could be the key to destroying this new marriage and returning the Sinclair family to its natural order.

A scandal could be just what would see the back of the gold digger and her hell spawn. It would be poetic, really.

“Understood,” I said to my father’s bent head, knowing he’d already forgotten I was there.

I left the room, anticipation brewing in my blood.

That little heathen was going to be her mother’s downfall, and she had no idea.

Let the games begin.

Selena

The house was ridiculous.When I’d been younger, my family had been very comfortable, but the Sinclairs’ wealth was on another level. My mom showed off the entire mansion, from the gym to the solarium, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, and a walk-in closet big enough to misplace Narnia in.

“And here is the youth wing,” she chuckled, tickled pink by her own joke.

“The youth wing?”

“Mm-hmm, since you’re all in college, we wouldn’t want to cramp your style. You kids live alone on this side of the house. John and I are on the other. That way, if you come home late, you’re not disturbing anyone.”

“We wouldn’t want that,” I murmured.

So, after the last few years, my mom thought it was a good idea to have me sleep in an area of the house surrounded by strange men, and too far to wake her from? Nice to know she was still putting her own comfort above all else.

“I know what you’re thinking,” my mom said in a rare show of insight. “But your room has a key, and you don’t need to feel worried around your new brothers. They’re family.”

I didn’t bother to respond to that comment. My mom would tell herself whatever she wanted to make herself feel better. Nothing I could say would change that. Well, maybe if I told her that I’d kissed my new stepbrother last night, until we were both clinging to each other, and he’d had a hard-on rivaling an elephant trunk, she might rethink things, but probably not.

“Your room,” my mom said, pushing open the door. “We can change it or paint it however you want… I wasn’t sure what to do.”

“It’s fine. I don’t care,” I told her shortly.

The room was dark green, deep as the pines that sat along the edge of the shore, visible from the window. The carpet was cream and thick. I suddenly wanted to sink my bare toes into it. It was nicer than I’d expected.

“Now, this has a Jack-and-Jill bathroom with one of the other bedrooms, but they’re easy enough to navigate. A walk-in closet, though what you’re going to put in it lately, I have no idea. That reminds me, I thought we could go shopping?—”

“Where’s Cici’s room?” I wondered. My little sister lived on campus during the school year but came home for holidays.