Avery huffed. “He never tried. You don’t get it. Everything changed after he showed up. I had to share you, my house, my stuff, even my friends.” There was silence for a moment, and then she sniffled. “It was so much better when he wasn’t here.” Her voice was a whisper now, barely audible. “But now he’s back. What’s he going to take from me this time?”
I didn’t stay for the rest of the conversation, not wanting to hear anymore.
I closed the bathroom door behind me, the soft click loud in the cavern of silence. My back landed against the door with a thud, and I breathed in the smell of her: sweet vanilla cream, like a goddamn dessert.
Her words played over and over in my head—words I was never meant to hear, and while I felt remorse for the pain my initial arrival had clearly caused Avery when we were kids, one particular phrase was stuck in my mind.
What’s he going to take from me now?
Imoved in front of the vanity, my hands on either side of the sink, and stared down the man in the mirror. My dark green eyes peered back at me, looking rather sinister paired with the forming smirk.
Sweet, precious Avery. I’m going to take everything.
When I was done with her, she’d be completely unraveled, nothing but want and need. Her pride, her resistance, would disappear. I’d take her apart piece by piece until there was no room between her thoughts and mine.
She’d exist only for me.
I’d finally have my stepsister right where I always wanted her: needy, ruined, and all mine.
***
“I made your favorite,” Avery’s mom said with a smile as I sat at the table. “It’s been a while, but I think I did it right.” She let out a hopeful laugh, and I forced a chuckle of my own, hoping to ease the nervous energy.
“Thanks.” I was grateful for the effort Marissa always put in for me, even when I was the teenage punk who came into her life like a wrecking ball, looking for somewhere to belong, someone to love me.
The breakfast skillet—potatoes, eggs, ham, and cheese—in the middle of the table looked absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, I was distracted, trapped between my dad, who still hadn’t spokento me since I moved back in temporarily, and Avery, who stared daggers laced with poison into my soul.
Avery didn’t know I’d heard her harsh words this morning, or that they stirred up a twinge of guilt within me. While I wanted to talk about us eventually, she needed to be knocked down a peg or two first, reminded I wasn’t one to be trifled with. Not now.
Not when I’d seen her naked and begging for my cock.
“Did you go anywhere last night?” I asked, turning to face Avery with a questioning look.
“No,” she answered, panic already presenting itself as she white-knuckled her fork and avoided my gaze to shovel food into her mouth.
“Hmm. Are you sure? I swear I heard a bunch of noise.” I paused to fill my plate. “And I thought I saw someone walking around outside your window.”
That got her.
She choked on her food, eyes wide and glued on me.
Her mom looked at her, brows furrowed. “Did you go somewhere? What’s Rowen talking about?” She turned to me. “Did you really see someone? Why didn’t you say something last night? What if they were planning on stealing something or hurting one of us?”
“Hun, let them speak. You’re asking too many questions,” my dad cut in, eyeing me suspiciously.
She was still looking between the two of us, waiting for a response to ease her worried mind.
“Avery?” I asked.
If looks could kill.Avery was probably imagining murdering me herself, stabbing me to death on the table while our parents watched, blood spraying everywhere as she ripped my beating heart out and threw it on the floor to stomp on it.
“I didn’t go anywhere, Mom, and no one was here either. I have no idea what Rowen is talking about. He just thinks it's funny to fuck with me for some reason.” She spoke my name like it left a bad taste in her mouth, but then she smiled, like she’d just thought of something. “He was probably high and hallucinating.”
“Rowen, I swear to God, if you brought that sh—” my dad started.
“I didn’t bring ‘that shit’ into your house,” I said plainly without looking at him.
I raised a taunting eyebrow at my opponent, waiting for her next blow.
