In Love With My Bully Step-brother

Chapter 5 | The Pole

Ashleigh’s POV

Everything after that was in slow motion. Kane, who looked like he was going to leave the dining room, took a seat. Directly opposite me.

I wondered, how was he Reginald Blackstone’s son? If I recalled correctly, that crazy girl from the cafeteria had called him Kane Taylor. Where was the connection?

“Is your steak cold Ashleigh?”

I didn’t realize my name had been called until my mother nudged me with her elbow.

“Huh?” I looked up and saw Reginald peering curiously at me. There was another pair of eyes on me as well, but I chose to ignore them.

“Your steak,” he repeated, pointing at my plate. “You’ve been picking at it. Is it cold?”

“Oh, um…”

I hadn’t quite figured out my reply when Reginald called one of the servers to take away my plate and heat up the steak again. I could hardly protest then so, I didn’t.

Now that my food, the only thing that had served as a suitable distraction, was taken away, I was forced to look down at my fingers because if I didn’t, I would be looking into the stern but mesmerizing eyes of my…future step-brother? It was still a hard pill to swallow.

Beside me, Willow was completely immersed in her phone and I was certain that her own steak had to be really cold by now. Kane said something to her and although she rolled her eyes, I heard her laugh a little.

“What was that?“ Reginald asked.

“Nothing you should concern yourself with.” Kane’s reply was immediate and sharp.

I gasped and then pursed my lips when I realized that had been the wrong move. My mother quickly picked up her glass of wine and took a sip while Reginald hid a flush by taking another bite of his food.

The air in the room was thick with so much tension that by the time my food was returned, I could taste it with the steak. It burned my tongue. Well, that and I rushed my first bite of the hot steak. I tried not to visibly react.

The rest of the dinner seemed to go on without any further comments from Reginald. It seemed that, at the moment, he had given up on trying to get everyone to feel comfortable around each other.

I was thankful when he finally stood up, indicating that dinner was over. Even though I was long done with my food, I’d figured it would be rude to just up and leave.

I allowed Kane and his sister go ahead of me before I finally stood up and luckily, found my way back to my bedroom.

Upstairs, I discovered dreadfully that, I was basically surrounded by two other rooms —Willow’s, adjacent to mine and Kane’s, directly beside mine. Since I was at the end of the hallway, it meant I had to pass both rooms to get to mine.

I basically tiptoed as I did so. By the time I got to my room, I was sweating a little and my heart was pounding very fast. Yeah, that would happen to you when you found out that the person whose foot you’d stepped on twice in one day was going to be sleeping in a room next to you.

“You better watch your back from now on.” I remembered the last words he’d said to me…and that deathly look in his eyes. This guy wasn’t kidding around. He could really hurt me.

With that thought in mind, I forgot my plans to unpack that night and just went straight to bed. I ensured the door was locked and left the light in the closet on so that it spilled a little into the main bedroom. At the last minute, I also left the dress on. I figured that, if I were going to be murdered, I should at least look pretty while it happened.

Even though I had checked everywhere —including the windows —to make sure they were locked, I still couldn’t sleep after I lay on the bed.

Kane had lived in this house much longer than I had and definitely knew parts that I didn’t. There could be another entrance.

That night, I tossed and turned, thinking of the horrible things Kane might do to my body just to exact revenge. And then, horridly, the images switched in my head and for some reason, I was standing nude in front of Kane.

I was tied to a pole in a room I didn’t recognize and beneath my legs, the dress I’d worn to dinner lay in a heap.

Kane stood behind me, wearing nothing but long, black joggers. He moved closer to my back and lifted his right hand. It came down two seconds later on my butt. And, I…I asked him to do it again.

***

Kane’s POV

Shit! f**k! Ugh!

These three words kept ringing in my head as I thought about the girl in the room next door. So tiny that I could squash her like a bug. Seriously where had my dad found that Susie woman? Now her daughter was in our house and that could mean many bad things for me.

I’d worked so hard to keep my identity as mine —not my father’s son. Who had even adviced Reginald to choose my school for the girl? What happened to Willow’s? That fancy all-girl’s school for the gifted looked more like her match than Oak Bridge.

I lay with one hand behind my head while the other fiddled with my pocket knife. I swung the switch blade in and out of the holder, thinking about a way out of this mess.

After the two run-ins I’d had with that girl, I knew she couldn’t be trusted with a secret this huge. She was such a big klutz. I hardly thought she would survive in that school. If I didn’t get to her first then, some other person might.

Something squeezed in my chest as I thought about that. Weird. I shook off the feeling.

I could care less if anything happened to her. In fact, I did want something to happen to her. She’d ruined my favorite jacket and in my books that was punishable by death. Except, I was going to have to look for other ways to hurt her.

With that thought in mind, I turned to face the direction of her room. I aimed and threw the knife which lodged itself directly into one of the wall posters beside my bathroom door. I smirked as I remembered the last words I had spoken to her.

If she was any smart, I’m sure she would heed to that warning.

Eventually, I gave in to the fatigue and closed my eyes.

For the first time that night, I wasn’t plagued by any familiar nightmares. No, this one was worse. As I tossed and turned the entire night, a single clip kept replaying in my head.

Ashleigh was wearing that dress she’d worn to dinner. She had some really obvious boobs, given how tiny she was and the dress had done nothing to hide it. If it weren’t for the hatred I bore for anything that concerned my father, I might have looked. This time though, in the dream, I was looking.

She stood in front of me, her hands tied to a pole in a room I couldn’t recognize. I moved closer to her and started running my hands all over her body till I got to her back. Then I slid my fingers into the hand of the dress and tugged on it. Just as the dress fell of her shoulders, I woke up with a start.

What the f**k was that?!

I glanced at the time and realized it was very early in the morning. Too early to go on a run but the moment I looked down between my legs, I knew that I needed it.