She grinned, tossing her long, auburn hair as she sauntered toward me in her leopard-print kitten heels. "Don't you ever get tired of greeting me like that?" she asked me, clutching a manila folder in her hand. "A girl could get the idea that you're not very fond of her."

"I'm not," I growled. I didn't want to leave any room for her to get the impression that I was somehow pleased she was here. "I was expecting my father. Why are you here?"

"Because the senior Mr. Harvey doesn't need to get his hands dirty," she said, stopping mere inches from me. She was wearing a very expensive brand of perfume, but on her, it was putrid. "He knows how to delegate. Shall we do this in your office, Preston, or would you rather get into it right here?"

I hated the way she looked at me then. There was a hunger in her eyes, one that made my stomach turn. I s.n.a.t.c.hed the folder out of her hand, knowing d.a.m.n well that whatever she wanted was detailed in there.

"What the h.e.l.l is this?" I asked her, flipping it open. "Is he trying to buy me out?"

I choked as I saw the reality of the situation. My eyes widened and a hot ember of rage took flame in my chest. This wasn't a buyout offer at all.

I looked at Jane, trying not to shake as I asked her, "Where the f.u.c.k did you get this?"

"Oh, Preston," she purred, walking around behind me. "It wasn't that hard." She stopped and slid her hands around my waist from behind, trailing her blood red nails down my stomach as she whispered, "Next time you're f.u.c.king your stepsister, maybe don't leave the balcony doors open. Anyone could just look in and see."

"And take pictures," I snapped, whirling on her so fast I almost knocked her down. This was how my father had known about me and Maddy. Jane the h.e.l.l-b.i.t.c.h had delivered the photographic evidence right into his sleazy hands.

She regained her balance and smirked. "Don't shoot the messenger, Preston. I just do what I'm told."

"Oh, yes. I'm sure my father twisted your arm about this," I sneered, tossing the folder and its contents into her face. "What does he think this is going to accomplish, huh? Does he think that I'll come crawling back now, begging him not to ruin my future at Harvey Enterprises with these obscene photos? She's not my stepsister yet, Jane. n.o.body going to give a s.h.i.t if my father-"

"-waits to release them until he and Madison's mother are legally married?" Jane asked, batting her eyelashes in mock innocence at me. "If he cuts off all your money and then sends these photos to ever single potential employee Madison will ever interview with in her entire life? You really think no one will give a s.h.i.t that Madison Hearst was f.u.c.king her stepbrother?"

I shook my head in disgust and disbelief. "He can't possibly be serious."

"Oh, he is," Jane a.s.sured me, grinning from ear to ear. "In fact, he's willing to throw you completely under the bus, if that's what it takes. He'll leak the photos to some tabloid somewhere and watch you go down in flames, if he has to. He might even come out the better for it, denouncing his only son's perversions and rooting him out from the company." She stepped on one of the pictures and slid it toward me with the toe of her high heel. "Check your bank accounts, Preston. I'm sure you'll find that you really are between a rock and a hard place."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and quickly logged in to my personal accounts. Just as Jane said, every single one of them had been frozen. Two of them I couldn't even log into at all, and the third had a red banner across the screen that said "pending the results of an investigation."

"I have cash," I told her. It wasn't much, but it was still enough to get me and Maddy the f.u.c.k out of here. "Hundreds of thousands. I don't need billions to start a new life without my father and you."

"You mean the money you keep in the safe at home?" she asked me, and I felt my insides coil with dread. "Carla was sweet enough to fetch that for us. But don't be too mad at her, Preston baby. She was very loyal-right up until the point where your father threatened her with deportation. Little Enrique would be so torn up if his mommy had to go back to Venezuela without him."

I wanted to wring this b.i.t.c.h's neck. I wanted to watch the life drain out of her eyes as I pressed and pressed until her throat collapsed. I wanted her to suffer through every moment leading to her death. And then I wanted to do the same to my b.a.s.t.a.r.d father.

"Think about Madison," Jane said, snapping me out of my murderous rage. "Maybe you don't care what people think. Maybe you'll find a way to get by with that business degree of yours. But let's face it-Madison will be f.u.c.ked. She'll never get a job anywhere ever again. And who knows? Maybe some day she'll have a mysterious accident just like your mother did-"

"I swear to G.o.d, Jane," I whispered, just barely holding back the fury inside of me. "Keep talking about Madison and my mother. Say one more word about either of them, and I'll make sure you have an accident somewhere down the line. Maybe not now, maybe not even in a year, but it'll happen. And it'll be messy. It'll hurt. You'll suffer in ways you can't even comprehend. Say something smart, Jane-I dare you. But if you know me at all, I'm betting you keep your fat, wh.o.r.e mouth shut."

Jane's lips parted, and I waited for her to say something stupid, anything at all that would give me a reason to carry out the sentence she so richly deserved. But then she shrugged, shouldering her Prada bag as she told me, "Just think it over, Preston. You can ruin both your lives, or you can both come away from this relatively unscathed. Maybe it's a s.h.i.t choice, as far as choices go, but at least he's giving you one."

"Go," I said. It was the only word I could manage that wasn't an expletive.

"You're right," she said. "I should. Mr. Harvey will be wanting an update." She looked me up and down before adding, "We could have had it all, Preston. And maybe, if you play your cards right, we still can. I've always liked the thought of having a baby, you know? Stranger things have happened. Feel free to stare at my a.s.s on my way out. Maybe you'll be seeing a little more of it soon?"

I watched her walk away, fiddling with her cell phone as she stepped back through the doors to my office and out into the sunshine that seemed at odds with the anguish I was feeling now.

I spent the next ten minutes ripping everything apart. Everything I owned, everything I had built-I didn't want it. All I wanted was her. And she was the one thing I could never have.

When my knuckles were raw and bloodied I sank to the floor in front of the stairway, my chest heaving as I fought for air between snarls and gasps. Everything was crumbling down around me, and the person I needed the most was the one whose heart I was going to have to break in just a matter of minutes.

Someone texted me. My hands shook as I reached across the floor and retrieved my phone from where it had struck the wall when I'd thrown it. Beyond the cracked screen, I read the last little message from Jane.

Carla went ahead and set up a few cameras on her way out. If you tell that sweet little stepsister of yours anything we talked about, your father will do all that he promised and more!

She was the most evil f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h in the entire world. And I was the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who was going to do her bidding. What choice did I have? My father was going to ruin my life, and Jane had threatened to do something far darker than that. How did she know about my mother's accident? What the h.e.l.l was she trying to imply?

Stepbrother Fixation

"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 f.u.c.k 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 h.e.l.l. 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 pa.s.sed, 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 f.u.c.king 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 f.u.c.k 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 f.u.c.ked 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 s.l.u.t. 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 hoa.r.s.ely. My soul fractured. In every word, I could feel her beautiful, perfect heart was breaking. "You're a f.u.c.king monster. I hope you rot in h.e.l.l."

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

Stepbrother Fixation

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 const.i.tuted. 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. f.u.c.k 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 sw.a.n.ky 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 s.p.a.ces 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 h.e.l.l 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 pa.s.s 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 G.o.d 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 a.s.shole 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 h.e.l.l 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 h.e.l.l 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 h.e.l.l 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 fl.u.s.tered 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 s.n.a.t.c.hed 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 h.e.l.l was going on?