Hard: A Step-Brother Romance Read Online Free Page B

quite a bit of money—most of which she
refused. And he made sure you had everything you needed while you were growing
up.”
    Sure,
everything I needed except a father! Someone to hug me after school, to ground
me that one time Momma found a pack of cigarettes stuffed under my mattress, to
teach me to drive the car he gave me. He sent me to a fancy prep school but never
once came to a play, science fair, or graduation. Dad never remembered my
birthday either, he was always a year and two weeks late.
    I
spent my teenage years hating him, but he only cared when he decided to
edge into my life. By then it was too late. I created excuse after excuse not
to see him. College homework. Finals. Group assignments. Rush—and I wasn’t even
in a sorority.
    Now
he was dead.
    And
I was inheriting the vast fortunate of a man I hardly knew.
    Did
I deserve it? Hell no. Did he deserve me? Absolutely not .
    “Shay.”
William pushed a pair of glasses up his nose and studied the paperwork. “I know
things were tense within your home, but your father wanted the best for you,
always did. That’s why he made sure the family would be taken care of after he was
gone.”
    “My father
never wanted a family.”
    “That’s
not true. He very much wanted a family. And he loved you with every beat of his
heart, but he never knew how to show it. And, with what happened with your
mother…well…”
    “Yeah.”
    I
exhaled. It did nothing. Something had to give. After the hangover and crazy
sex a few days ago, I didn’t trust myself to have a drink. Good thing a piece
of wedding-funeral cake awaited me at home. I needed to eat about five pounds
worth of icing and figure out what I was supposed to do.
    Investments?
No idea.
    Find
an accountant. That was a good place to start.
    Get
a yacht? That’s what rich people did, right? Probably needed to learn to swim
first. Hell, I’d purchase a whole lake. My stomach flipped.
    Maybe
I’d start small. Buy a pint of the really good ice-cream on my way home.
    Except
I only wanted one flavor.
    Vanilla .
    Oh, man
did I need something vanilla. With dark swirls of ink and enough power to knock
me on my butt and keep me there. Another night with a man like Zach would
definitely take my mind off of this insanity.
    “Before
you get too excited, we have a couple particulars to discuss,” William said. He
cleared his throat, harumping over some of the fine print on the
contract. “Because of the…enormity of your father’s resources, the actual
liquid assets and investments were combined into your trust. You will receive
the money with your scheduled inheritance when you graduate. In…six months.”
    “Five.”
    “Oh.”
William squinted at the paper. “Uh, I think your father mistyped your information.”
    Not
a surprise.
    “In
any case, Shay, the estate and his immediate belongings—car, home, material
possessions—will be divided between his living heirs.”
    His what now? Heirs ?
    Plural ?
    The
hair on my neck prickled. I held up a hand, gesturing for William to explain
what the hell that meant. He cringed.
    “I
see your father and you…haven’t spoken for some time.”
    “What
heirs? I am his living heir.” I stiffened. “Oh, no. I knew he was
playing around while he was still with Momma. He has a secret lovechild
somewhere, doesn’t he?”
    “No,
no.” William paused. “Well, not quite.”
    “Oh,
Lord. What did he do?”
    “It’s
not what you think. You know your father was in love with Emily Brewer. She was
a lovely lady. You would have liked her.”
    I wasn’t
going to disparage a woman I didn’t know, especially one who was tragically
killed in the same car crash that took my father. But even when I learned of
the engagement, I wasn’t ready to get mani-pedi’s with my new step-mother. My
father had his life. I had mine. If we only wanted to meet up for the holidays,
all the better.
    “Your
father’s wedding…” William folded his hands. “It was just for the family. A
nice