Criminal: A Bad-Boy Stepbrother Romance Read online

  He doesn’t believe I’m cut out for it. I’m too perfect, in his words, though he says it like the word is poison on his tongue.

  Little miss perfect.

  He just hates that I always got straight A’s in school. A lot of good that does me now, considering everything that has happened.

  My interview is in five minutes. I’d gotten here twenty minutes early, and now I’m just waiting for the right time.

  I am bright enough to know that showing up early isn’t likely to earn me any brownie points in this place. If the owner is anything like Kaiden, you don’t waste someone’s time by showing up late... or early.

  But I watch as the time on my car dashboard slowly clicks down the minutes of my life as my anxiety grows. Maybe I can’t do it. Maybe I’m not good enough.

  Maybe I am just too perfect and should just try to apply for some scholarships and go back to school, in a strange place, where I know no one, and no one knows me. Hell, if I leave the state, Kaiden couldn’t even follow me if he wanted, thanks to the conditions of his bail.

  There’s a strange sense of enjoyment I take in the thoughts of starting anew, but a part of me doesn’t want to. For all the stuff Kaiden puts me through, he is still the only family I have left.

  And I don’t want to lose him again. Even if being near him drives me crazy.

  The clock turns six fifty-nine, and I leave the vehicle.

  Tugging down my skirt and tank top, I look at myself once more in the rear-view mirror. I can hardly recognize myself, with my dark shadowed eyes, heavy mascara, and red lipstick. I teased up my hair a bit too, or at least tried to, to give it more volume, and I hope it doesn’t look as bad to Ryder as it looks to me.

  I take a deep breath.

  Here goes everything.

  Walking towards the door, I look at the flickering light, and the sense of foreboding churns in my stomach, but I push it aside.

  But just then, two people push their way out of the bar, making out and completely ignorant to my presence. Her hands are all over him, and she is grinding on him. Right there in the parking lot as he slams her up against the wall.

  She giggles, and he growls, and as I get closer, I think I’m going to be sick.

  “Kaiden?” I practically shout, and I want to run closer, but the heels are way higher than anything I’ve walked in before, and I have to take each step gingerly, especially on the uneven asphalt.

  He doesn’t stop as he sucks face with the latest floozy. I already know it isn’t the one from last night, or the night before, or the night before that.

  He pins her hands above her head before he finally turns to look at me, shooting me the most arrogant, cocky look I’ve ever seen on his face.

  Did he time this just to piss me off?

  I scowl at him as I push past them, yanking on the door with a “Whatever” thrown in their direction.

  It would’ve been really smooth and badass if the door didn’t choose that moment to get stuck. I yank on it and, of course, it sends me backward, my heels giving way beneath me as I drop unceremoniously to the greasy asphalt.

  I’m ready to sink into the ground when I hear her laughter. My cheeks burn hot until suddenly I can feel Kaiden’s rough hands on my bare shoulders, hoisting me up as he tosses a “Shut up” at his most recent fling.

  She obeys, but I’m already humiliated, and tears sting my eyes.

  “I told you — you aren’t cut out for this,” he whispers in my ear, his words dark and low so that she couldn’t hear him.

  I want to punch him. The nerve!

  Instead, I tug on the door again, and it blissfully opens as I pull myself away from him.

  “I didn’t ask for your opinion,” I remind him as I step inside.

  I have to blink as my eyes adjust to the dim light, but the bigger adjustment is the smell of stale beer and vomit.

  This is not a place for someone like me. I know that. Honestly, if Kaiden weren’t standing right outside the door believing that I couldn’t do it, I’d turn around right now. I’m terrified, and it’s gross in here.

  I look at the few rickety chairs and booths, the fabric torn and some of the chairs looking as if they’d been broken and haphazardly put back together. It’s a place where more than a few bar fights happened.

  A place an eighteen-year-old has no business being.

  I push myself forward, trying to look confident as I teeter in my heels over to the bar. The floor is sticky and makes a sickly sound that I can feel as well as hear over the noise of loud rock music playing out of a jukebox past its prime.

  There are a few guys at the bar, hard and mean looking with grizzled faces and beer bellies, but their expressions soften as they look me over in the lewdest way.

  I guess “soften” isn’t the right word.

  I look behind the bar at the greasy-looking man with the thin mustache and the long, black hair and give him what I hope to be a glowing smile. I don’t want to look apprehensive or terrified, or to give away any of my impressions of him, about his patrons, or about his job.

  “Hi! I’m looking for Ryder?”

  I guess Ryder was looking out for me, or maybe just has cameras in his little dive, because the words are barely out of my mouth when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to see a towering, blond man.

  “You’re looking for me, hun,” he says, his words patronizing, but his deep voice making it seem natural. Just like how Kaiden speaks to women.

  He’s broad and built more like a bodyguard than an owner, but I guess they sometimes double up.

  I stare up at him, and I can’t help but be a little shocked. He’s not like the slimy patrons or the greasy bartender. He is probably thirty-five if I was to guess, and if it weren't for the scar that nipped the top of his lip, he’d be flawless. Like, model-flawless.

  “Oh! Right, yes, hi,” I say with a bright smile, offering him my hand. “I’m Abigail; we talked on the phone?”

  “Yeah, I remember. Shot-girl,” he says as his steely eyes wander up and down my body, inspecting me like I’m a piece of meat. It made my stomach turn when the others did it, but when he does, it’s something different.

  I like it a little bit. It’s flattering.

  I don’t want to think about what that says about me, and I don’t get a chance to. Kaiden pushes his way into the bar, without the brunette he’d been so recently sucking face with.

  He looks at me with his green eyes, his tall and broad body so imposing in the small space. But I shift my gaze back to Ryder, forcing a confident grin on my made-up lips.

  I’m an imposter. I’m not a twenty-one-year-old girl, and I don’t go around in dark eyeshadow, low-cut tops, short skirts and towering heels.

  But I’m going to act like I am.

  “You said I could start tonight?”

  “Yeah,” Ryder says in that deep voice of his. “Yeah, you can start tonight.”

  He doesn’t ask for my ID, my references, nothing. Just like that.

  I feel so relieved, almost smug, until I look at Kaiden’s face and see the anger brewing beneath the surface.

  I guess he’s going to have to find another place to pick up chicks if his little sister is going to be around all the time.

  That gives me a little bit of joy too.

  ***

  My legs are killing me. All night was spent standing, walking around from one table of middle-aged men to another, the bar littered with younger men who’re trying to suck up to Ryder, from the looks of things.

  And to my surprise, the place is packed with women.

  Women who call me sugar-tits and spank my ass as I walked by, just like the men. As if they’re one in the same.

  Women who wear too much perfume and chew gum with their mouth open, and men who leer at everything and smoke pot wherever they please.

  It’s like working in the Wild West. No law, no order, no nothing.

  I’d have been out of there a dozen times over if it wasn’t for the fact that my tip purs
e is risking overflowing.

  I haven’t seen Ryder or Kaiden in a while, but time is passing so fast.

  The town is small, but I swear, most of the people in it are in the bar tonight. I’ve lived in this place for six weeks and barely see anyone except for at the stores, and I guess I know why now. They’re spending all their time here.

  And they’re all spending their hard-earned money on drinks and tips, and if I’m not being blissfully unaware, I’d guess a little something extra. But I have to turn my head on that because I don’t want to get involved in any dirty business.

  But when Kaiden emerges from the back office, his face red as he makes his way over to me, I feel a bit scared. My brother is towering, to say the least, and he looks pissed.

  His hand wraps around my upper arm as he stares down on me, and I can tell he’s already drawing the eyes of the crowd. There’s a tense energy in the air, like everyone’s waiting for something like this to happen.

  He bends down, leaning in towards my ear and practically growling at me.

  “You gotta come home with me. Now,” he says, his strong hand tightening around my bicep. His hand is huge, just like the rest of him, and it encircles my thin arm easily.

  Still, I try to yank it away.

  “Buzz off, Kaiden,” I hiss back. “I’m doing this for you, remember?” I spit though it’s only half true. Sure, I need money to pay him for rent, but I also need money for my own stuff, like moving out and getting a real place to stay in a real city.

  He won’t let me go, though, and starts dragging me to the door. I’m helpless against his strength, and even as I try to yank my arm back, nearly stumbling to my ass, he just keeps dragging me like I’m a dog on his leash.

  I am humiliated beyond compare, even though most of the crowd is probably too drunk and high to remember much of tonight.

  Still, it’s the principle of the thing.

  When the cold air of the outside hits my lungs, and the flashing light above the door spins eerie shadows around us, he finally lets me go as if I wouldn’t just run back inside.

  I guess he’s right on that count because I don’t. I don’t want my older brother dragging me out of the bar again.

  “What the hell, Kaiden?” I spit out as he takes a few steps away from me, putting distance between us. I don’t know if it’s because he’s afraid of me or, more likely, afraid of what he’s going to do if I’m too close. The thought sends a shiver down my spine.

  “You can’t work here,” he says.

  And I roll my eyes with exasperation.

  “You aren’t the boss of me,” I say, and anger starts welling up within my chest. Is that what this is all about? “And I got this dumb job to pay your rent since apparently letting your sister live with you when she’s homeless is such an inconvenience to you!”

  “It is a fucking inconvenience.” He spins about and glares at me, his green eyes flashing with anger. “And you have no idea what you’re talking about. What it’s like in there,” he says, pointing his finger at the closed door as his other hand runs through his hair.

  I wonder if he’s been drinking. He’d disappeared a long time, after all.

  “I know what it’s like, Kaiden. I’m not a baby, and I’m just doing it for the money, not because I want to be like you.”

  I feel bad throwing that in his face, but it’s true. I don’t want the lifestyle he has. I don’t want to come to a bar just to hang out, to waste my life away and chill out with my friends.

  Not that I have any friends.

  He sneers at me, and it gives him such a perfect “bad boy” look it’s uncanny. Like out of a movie.

  That makes me hate him more because I know exactly why all the girls want him. Despite his assholish arrogance, he has the body and the face that lets him get away with murder.

  Well, not quite, considering his bail. But close enough.

  “If this is just about rent, you walk in there right now and tell Ryder you’re through. You can’t cut it,” he orders. And if I were anyone else, I likely would’ve backed down.

  But I am his sister, and he owes me. More than owes me.

  I reach into my purse, taking out the wads of dollar bills, flashing them to his face.

  “Look! Rent! Aren’t you happy now, Kaiden? I’m not a liability anymore,” I sneer right back, and by now I’m pissed.

  He is the reason I couldn’t go to college; he is the reason I had to take this job, and now he’s trying to force me to quit?

  He can’t control every aspect of my life, damn it!

  He’s breathing heavily, and he takes a few steps closer to me. He has over a foot on me usually, but in my heels, I come up almost to his shoulders though he’s over one hundred pounds of muscle more than me too.

  Kaiden is an intimidating guy.

  But he’d never hurt me. Not like that.

  “Abigail, I mean it,” he says darkly.

  I take a step backward and shake my head.

  “You can’t tell me what to do, Kaiden. Get over it,” I say as I shove the money back in my purse.

  He reaches out, grabbing my face and forcing me to look at him, and there is so much emotion in his expression that I don’t understand. Couldn’t comprehend. The intensity behind his eyes is unlike anything I’d ever seen, and it gives me pause.

  But then he releases me and storms back into the club, leaving me alone in the chilly, dark outside to catch my breath.

  It’s been a hard week, and not just because I’ve worked every day. That would be hard in and of itself, especially in the heels that were killing my feet.

  It was hard because dealing with drunks brings about a sort of mental exhaustion I haven’t felt before. Seeing their faces day after day and catching that haunted unhappiness between the hoots and the hollers, it takes a toll.

  But I think the worst part of it is that Kaiden is avoiding me. He sneaks in after I’ve gone to bed. There hasn’t been any women. No sex. Nothing to incite my rage.

  And he hasn’t talked to me since our fight at the club. It’s driving me crazy, and I didn’t think that it could affect me like it is. I’m torn up about it. The worst part is I barely even know why. I guess it’s because I’m invading ‘his’ place, but even that doesn’t wholly make sense. There’s something else going on between us, and I have no idea what.

  I give another drunk a gin, and he grabs my ass before handing me a ten-dollar bill with a leering grin. I feel like I’m going to be sick to my stomach, and when I try to tug the bill out of his hand, he tightens his grasp.

  “I’ll do it for a kiss,” he says, puckering up his weathered lips and looking at me through his watery eyes with expectation.

  But I’m not that desperate, and I let it go, turning my back on him. I need some air, and I look at the bartender, motioning that I’m heading out for a second.

  Opening the door, I find the eerie light to be strangely soothing, but when I hear a motorcycle’s engine rev up, I quickly move away from the entrance and the parking lot towards the back.

  I can hear some voices though I can’t make them out yet.

  Maybe I’m stupid, but I’m getting curious, and I try to make soft steps as I move towards them. I hold my breath, and it’s like by instinct I know I shouldn’t be here. As if I’m tiptoeing up to my parent’s bedroom at night, trying to hear what they’re saying about us.

  “Man, I’m already looking at three years, minimum, for you.” I recognized the voice just as clear as day.

  Kaiden.

  I press myself up against the wall of the building, breathing softly through my nose. I can’t hear who replies or what they say as the motorcycle gets nearer. He seems to be parked in the lot, revving the engine for some reason.

  My ears strain, and I hear Kaiden’s voice again.

  “You know what this means,” he says, his tone threatening and dark.

  But then there’s another deep voice I recognize, and it’s like my blood turns cold in my veins.


  “You want to play that game with me, boy? Fine. But just remember that your little 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.