Criminal: A Bad-Boy Stepbrother Romance Read Online Free Page A

sister is here, and if you screw
me, well... I’ll screw her. In more than one way.”
    Ryder.
    I bite down on my lower lip so hard that it feels
like it’s going to start bleeding at any second, and tears are
threatening my eyes.
    It’s stupid to be so sensitive over something
like this, but I can’t help it. I’ve always been the
sensitive one, not strong like Kaiden or my dad.
    There’s a long pause, and I can picture Kaiden,
his face contorted in... what? Would he be angry at that?
    I don’t honestly know. Maybe he thinks it’s
funny, just a joke.
    But when I hear his voice, it removes all doubt from
my mind.
    “If you touch a hair on her head, you’re
going to wish you killed me when you had the chance, you smug fucking
prick,” he growls, his voice low and hard. I’ve never
heard him sound quite like it, but more than that... he almost got
killed?
    My stomach turns to lead as I take a step backward.
Do I want to hear more? Can I hear more?
    My mind is fuzzy as I try to remain calm, to not let
emotions overtake me.
    “Yeah, well, there’s still time you punk.
You fuck up on the stand, it’s not your life you’re going
to have to be worried about. Think of Abigail as... collateral.”
    “You’re not going to touch her,”
Kaiden threatens, and I take another step towards the parking lot.
“You touch her, and I will fucking dismember you, to hell with
Axel’s orders.”
    Who’s Axel? I shake my head. I can’t take
any more. I turn and head back into the bar and the stale stench of
beer and alcohol and leering faces.
    But for the rest of the night, I’m completely
unable to concentrate. Especially when I see Ryder come in a bit
later, asking for ice and holding it to his swollen jaw.
    For a second, I think that maybe I should’ve
stayed longer and heard what it was that finally set Kaiden off, but
I knew that I’d be better off not knowing. Though left to
wonder about it and worry is an even worse fate, sometimes.
    I don’t see Kaiden the rest of the night, but
when I get home, his bike is in the driveway, and I pull up behind
it.
    Am I going to say anything about what I heard? That I
understand now why he didn’t want me to work there? Hell, is
this why he didn’t want me to come at all?
    Maybe Kaiden had kept my identity a secret to protect
me, and that was why he was fighting so hard to keep me away from
him.
    And then I wonder something worse... was this why
Ryder was looking for a shot-girl in the first place? Did he lure me
in close, just to have this over Kaiden’s head?
    My mind races with the possibilities, the strange
layers that never occurred to me even to think about before. Is this
why Kaiden had been so adamant about me not working at the bar?
    Was that all to protect me?
    ***
    “Look, one more fuckup like that and Ryder’s
gonna can your ass,” Kaiden says with a sneer. His lips curve
upward as he stares down at me like I’d just vomited on his
shoes.
    He is pissed, and all I did was tell a guy not to
spank my ass. I’m getting tired of being treated like meat
around this place, but honestly, I’m terrified of leaving.
    Not just of what me leaving would do to myself, but
my brother as well. Step-brother.
    I have to keep reminding myself of that now, because
ever since I heard him out back with Ryder, I’ve started
softening towards him. Even though this is the third time this week
I’ve had to hear him tell me off.
    “It’s nothing,” I say with a roll
of my eyes. I’m trying to act natural as if I hadn't heard what
was said that night. It was almost a week ago, now. I never got a
chance to talk to him about it because he’s in his room by the
time I get home, and then gone before I get up the next morning.
    I have no idea what he’s been doing, but his
erratic behavior is scaring me now.
    I lick my lips, tucking some of my blonde hair behind
my ear and trying to stand up tall and straight. Look strong.
Intimidating.
    “It’s not okay, Abigail. You’re on
thin ice