Dick: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (27 page)

“Preston—are
you okay?”

Maddy looked up at me from the
heap of sheets she’d made on my bed. Her brown hair was a tangled mess around
her face and her green eyes flashed with concern as soon as she lifted her head
and saw me. She was wearing an undershirt of mine and no panties. She looked
more stunning than I’d ever seen her before.

I closed my eyes and took a deep
breath, inhaling the scent of her as I committed her image to memory. This was
how I wanted to remember her: her pretty face still bleary from sleep,
completely unaware of what was about to come; that light dusting of freckles
across her nose looking golden in the mid-morning light; her full, delicate
lips chapped from where I’d roughly kissed them the night before.

“We need to talk, Maddy,” I said,
willing my voice not to break.

She sat up on the bed and combed
her hair with her fingers, trying to wrestle it into place as I looked down at
her. Her gaze drifted to my knuckles. “Preston, you’re bleeding…”

“It’s over,” I said, trying to
push the words out past the lump in my throat. I could feel everything inside
of me screaming not to do this, to find some way to fuck Jane and my father
over.

But there wasn’t a way that
didn’t put Maddy directly in the line of fire. My father had connections, and with
an almost laughably small amount of his fortune, he could make the rest of her
life a living hell. I couldn’t do that to her. She didn’t deserve it. I
couldn’t let her go down with the ship because of me.

“You quit?” she asked, a glimmer
of hope flaring in her eyes. She smiled. “That’s… that’s great! I mean, we’ll
have to figure a few things out now, but it’s what you wanted, right?”

I shook my head at her. She
wasn’t getting it. I had to leave no doubt in her mind as to what would happen
next. “No. I didn’t quit. It’s over.
We’re
over.”

Maddy stared at me for what
seemed like an eternity. With every moment that passed, a new expression washed
over her face. First there was dumb shock, then confusion, followed by a snort
of denial, and then her lips quivered. That last one didn’t leave her, and I
could see her emerald eyes filling with tears.

“You can’t be serious,” she
whispered. I rubbed my face with my hands, trying to hide my own tears.

“You’re so stupid,” I said,
turning my sob of despair into a rueful laugh. “You’re so fucking stupid,
Maddy. Don’t you get it? This whole thing has been one big laugh at your
expense! I mean really, how pathetic does a girl have to be to fuck her
stepbrother?”

When I lowered my hands, Maddy
was still looking at me. I wished she wouldn’t. It only made things that much
harder.

“Why are you saying this?” she
demanded, her voice cracking. “Why are you being so cruel to me?!”

“Because you deserve it!” I
roared. I tried to imagine Jane’s face instead of hers and felt my neck and
face turn red with anger. “Because you’re fucked up and desperate and everybody
knows it but you! My father and your mother—they bet me a sad, pitiful girl
like you would do
anything
to resolve
her daddy issues. I didn’t believe them, but look at you. I did it. I won!”

Maddy launched herself up from
the bed and crossed the room to me. Tears streamed down her face and she shook
like a flower in a storm as she cupped my face in her delicate hands.

“Stop it, Preston. I don’t
believe you. You wouldn’t do this to me. Not after everything…”

I seized her wrists and she
gasped. I knew I was hurting her, but I had to or she’d never believe me.

“You stupid girl,” I whispered. I
managed a sneer, though the disgust I spat was aimed at me and not at her. “You
filthy slut. You’d do anything to have a man tell you you’re not worthless,
wouldn’t you? You’re just like your mother—”

Finally, something inside Maddy
snapped. She slapped me so hard across my face I tasted blood in my mouth.
Stars burst in front of my eyes and I held my breath, staring at the wall as
she panted in front of me. At least now I had an excuse not to look at her.

“You’re a monster,” she said
hoarsely. My soul fractured. In every word, I could feel her beautiful, perfect
heart was breaking. “You’re a fucking monster. I hope you rot in hell.”

As she grabbed her clothes and
hurried from my room, I realized she’d never know that I already was.

It
had been two weeks since I’d last seen him.

The agony had faded into a
comfortable numbness that, at the very least, prevented me from crying all
night. In fact, sleep came now more than ever. I found myself spending a lot of
time unconscious, and for that I was never more grateful.

Every moment I spent in slumber
was a moment I didn’t have to think about Preston Harvey and how he’d ruined my
life. And when the dreams came—the ones where we were still together, where his
lips crashed against mine so fiercely they stole my breath away—a bit of wine
was all that was needed to chase them away again.

He’d tried to call me more than a
few times since that morning in his room when he’d finally admitted he was the
same soulless beast his father was. He’d texted, too, but I never read them.
After the first three days I changed my number, and after that, he only made one
other effort to contact me. He sent me an envelope in the mail with a check
inside of me for one hundred thousand dollars.

I didn’t want to cash it. I
wanted to pretend like I’d never need anything from Preston, or my family in
general, ever again. But now that I was out of a job, the sad truth was that
I’d have to find a new one, and in the meantime I needed a buffer to keep a
roof over my head.

When I handed the check over to
the teller, I secretly wondered how much of his winnings from my family’s sick
little betting pool this constituted. I’d become so filled with rage that I’d
nearly snapped the pen in half when she’d asked me to sign the back of it. I
didn’t think that particular thought again.

What good would it do, anyway? It
was over and done with. I couldn’t go back in time and fix it now. And in a
way, Preston had freed me. I’d never trust my family again, and because of his
confession, I had finally cut ties with my toxic mother. It was a step forward
of some kind, anyway.

I spent my days distracting
myself by updating my resume, my LinkedIn profile, and a number of other
job-related things, anything that would take my mind off of my past and point
my thoughts toward the future, one that didn’t involve getting used and
discarded ever again.

I would even date, as soon as I
could get around to it. I wouldn’t let Preston Harvey put me off men. I
wouldn’t let what he’d done to me turn me angry and bitter. I wasn’t about to
become my mother, although now I could understand just a little bit better what
had led to her downfall as a human being.

It didn’t make it right, but at
least she wasn’t such a mystery to me anymore.

Just as I was beginning to run
out of things to do, I got the call that would change my life forever. It was a
call I hadn’t been expecting, one from a very prestigious law firm looking for
a new legal secretary to manage their office.

“Can you come downtown for an
interview around three?” the appointment-setter asked.

I glanced at the clock. It was
nearly noon. Fuck it—I’d make it. “Yes,” I said. “I’ll see you then.”

The first thing I did, after
getting dressed, was ride the bus for the very last time. It took me to a Volvo
dealership where I bought my first brand new car. It was a splurge, but it was
a well-deserved splurge, and one that would ensure I was self-sufficient from
now on. No more relying on public transport to get me to my new job in a swanky
office building downtown. I was a new woman. This Madison Hearst didn’t depend
on anyone but herself.

Once I had my new car, my resume,
and my interview clothes in order, I drove downtown and sat through the mid-day
traffic while waiting for the turn lane into the parking garage to open up. I
had no idea what the problem was. At first I thought there might have been an
accident, but as I got closer to the source of the jam, I saw that a parade of
news vehicles were blocking the intersection as they tried to find parking
spaces directly in front of the Harvey Tower. I shook my head and rolled my
eyes. It figured that they’d throw one more wrench into the gears of my life
before they were done with me.

Briefly, I wondered what the hell
the fuss was about. But it was probably just some stupid PR move Preston or his
father had coordinated. Maybe they hadn’t kicked any puppies this week. That seemed
newsworthy, all things considered.

Maybe it was something about the
wedding. That was only days out now. I couldn’t think of why Mr. Harvey would
do something like that at the tower, though. Maybe my mother had put him up to
it.

I finally made it to the garage
and parked, stuffing my printed-out garage pass between the dashboard and
windshield as I stepped out in the warm summer air. I felt good today. I felt
capable and vibrant. Preston obviously had done me the courtesy of not
blacklisting me, which meant that I now had a rather impressive resume at my
disposal. Thank God for small favors, I supposed.

By the time I made it to the
sixteenth floor office, I was still ten minutes early. I handed my resume to a
very sweet, bubbly receptionist and took a few moments to look around the lobby
and get a little better acquainted with what the law firm was expecting.

They took up the whole floor, and
they were clearly very expensive. From what I’d read on their website they
dealt in criminal law, which seemed awfully exciting. I would’ve been excited
for the job regardless, but knowing that I might spend my days involved with
the kind of cases I saw on
Law &
Order
sweetened the deal. It was better than resigning myself to something
like worker’s comp and business law, anyway.

When Mr. Princeton emerged from
his office, my jaw nearly hit the floor. He looked like he’d just stepped out
of the pages of a men’s magazine. He wore an impeccably tailored suit and shoes
that probably cost more than my new car had, and he had one of those
million-dollar smiles that lit up the room brighter than any fancy chandelier
could. Not that he didn’t have those, too, but that smile was absolutely
radiant.

His smile nearly touched his ears
as he walked toward me, and I stood up, accepting his outstretched hand.
“Madison Hearst, I presume?”

“You can call me Maddy,” I said,
and for a moment, I was reminded of Preston Harvey and how he’d always called
me that whenever we were together. No one else ever had. It had only ever been
him.

Stop that,
I told myself, pushing thoughts of my asshole of a stepbrother
from my mind as I followed Mr. Princeton down the hall.
You’ve moved on. He’s in your past. Mr. Princeton is your future, and
you should count your lucky stars that he is.

I sat down in his office and
watched as he closed the door and stepped around the opposite side of his desk.
“I have to say,” he began, adjusting his perfectly form-fitting blazer, “I’m
impressed. This is one hell of a resume, Madison—sorry. Maddy,” he corrected
himself.

I beamed. Then Preston really
hadn’t
added insult to injury. I was
relieved. “Thank you, Mr. Princeton,” I said. “This is one hell of a law firm,
from what I hear.”

He laughed. It was a sweet,
honeyed sound. “Let’s cut to the chase. Your qualifications are top-notch. And
from just the few minutes I’ve spent with you, you seem like the kind of
employee who would fit right in here at Princeton & Kline. All that coupled
with the personal recommendation we received from Preston Harvey himself, I’m
ready to offer you the job right here.”

I couldn’t help it. I had to ask.
“Mr. Harvey contacted you directly?”

Mr. Princeton nodded. “Oh, yeah.
He called this morning. Said he saw our ad on a jobs site and knew the perfect
woman for the job.”

My heart skipped a beat. Preston
had been trawling the job boards for me? Why? What the hell did he care?

A recommendation was one thing.
The fact that my stepbrother had been actively interested in my employment was
another. I knew for a fact that Preston had way better things to do than scour
Craigslist ads on my behalf. Had he grown a conscience since I’d been away? Was
he actually feeling guilty?

I tried not to think too hard on
it, though it flustered me all the same. “Working for Preston Harvey was… a
wonderful experience,” I said. And it had been—right up until the point that it
wasn’t anymore. I didn’t count it as a lie. “I’m so thrilled that he was
satisfied with my service enough to call you and get my foot in the door.”

Mr. Princeton grinned. “He spoke
so highly of you that I was afraid someone else had snatched you up already.
You seem to have it all, Maddy. Which brings us to your salary…”

I was on the edge of my seat now.
I was sure a place like this paid handsomely. Visions of renting an actual
house danced through my head, and Mr. Princeton was about to speak again when
his receptionist burst through the door.

“Mr. Princeton,” she said
breathlessly, “I’m so sorry to interrupt. But you have to see this.”

He frowned
at her. “Can’t it wait, Amy?”

She shook her head so hard I was
sure her earrings were going to fly right out of her ears. “No, sir. Come
quick. It’s all over the news.”

Mr. Princeton raised his eyebrows
at me. “I guess that means you should come too,” he said.

I stood up, my stomach flipping
as I followed Amy and Mr. Princeton down another hall toward the break room.
What the hell was going on?

As soon as I walked in, I saw it
plain as day on the TV. Just outside Harvey Tower, several news crews had
gathered around my stepbrother, each one of them shoving their microphones in
his face, yet all standing so deathly still as he spoke. Someone turned it up
and I gripped my clutch tightly as I listened to what he said.

“…in cooperating with state and
Federal authorities, Harvey Enterprises has exposed Harold Verger’s intent to
collude with government officials in order to shut down the 39
^th
Street homeless shelter on fabricated charges of code violations. Mr. Verger
then intended to demolish the shelter to make way for a person investment
project: a luxury condo development that would cater to the wealthiest citizens
of this fine city. Meanwhile, hundreds of homeless would be displaced,
including battered women and children for whom there was no other place to
turn.”

I couldn’t believe what I was
hearing. Preston was actually admitting to God and country what Harvey
Enterprises had intended to do just to retain a client—one with senatorial
aspirations, no less. He was selling himself, Mr. Verger, his father, and his
own company out to do it. But there he was, admitting everything on live
television.

“Holy shit,”
I murmured.

Mr.
Princeton folded his arms. “You’re tellin’ me.”

Preston continued, “In light of
this and other incidents which have come to light over the past few weeks,
Harvey Enterprises will be restructuring. Mr. Harvey—my father—will step down
from his position as the head of our company, and with the board of directors’
unanimous approval, I will take his place.”

My knees almost gave out from
under me. This was huge. The only way it could have been more shocking was if a
nuclear bomb had detonated in the heart of the city. But then Preston delivered
one more surprise for me.

He looked into the camera and
said, “There have been a lot of people who were hurt along the way, people who
didn’t deserve it and who never should have been in the line of fire to begin
with. As a company, we have often asked others to sacrifice for us instead of
being willing to sacrifice anything ourselves. The future of Harvey Enterprises
is simple: more ethics, more honesty. If that means less money, so be it.” He
paused. I felt like he was staring right into my eyes. “If that means those
that we’ve hurt can finally see some justice now, so be it.”

“I have to go,” I said, turning
to Mr. Princeton. “I’m sorry. I really am. And thank you so much for
everything. But I have to go.”

“Maddy—” he
began.

I was already gone. How could I
possibly stay here?