Page 55 of Crown of Steel

Curling my lips into that smirk I know he hates so much, I mumble, “Well, I think you just did. You tried to screw me over in front of Dad. Sit.” My gaze is tied onto his, battling to catch any flicker of emotion that flutters through those beautiful eyes. Yeah, he’s definitely getting annoyed.

Régis eyes the padded velvet seat of the couch, and I expect him to make a show out of rejecting me. He doesn’t. He does, however, choose to take a seat across from me on the other couch like the stubborn little fuck he is. Ignoring that detail, I place my glass on the table, then place my elbows on my knees and bend a little forward, cupping my chin in my folded hands. We stare at each other for a moment, silence intermingling with the crackling of the fire.

“Now, tell me, what are you playing at?” I growl.

What made you cry?

“Nothing,” he snarls. “I’m not playing at anything.”

“Haha, funny.” I fake a bark of laughter, only to shift it back into a deadpan glare. “Are you taking me for a fool?”

His gaze narrows, eyes flaring with rage. “What are you talking about?”

“The prize, Régis. Those fucking qualifications. You knew about the changes, and you hid it from me. Dad didn't say anything, but he must have felt that too. You don’t keep secrets from your family.”

Régis lands a hand through his messy, golden hair, makingmy regard dip to take in the curve of his long, delicate neck. “I didn’t realize you weren't aware,” he finally admits. “I'm just…” Is it me, or does his voice shake a little? “I'm just trying to survive here, Arthur. If that makes us competitors, then so be it. But I need to prove my worth too, and since I don’t have the same network as you have, I turned to someone I knew I could trust.”

“Someone you could—” I press my jaw shut, taking in a deep breath through my nose to calm the sudden rage that threatens to boil up. “You have that same network now. We are family.” Something flashes in those clear eyes and I catch it before it dims. A light.

“Family, right.” He shakes his head and lets out an undignified huff. “Anyway, I turned to Mister Montague because I wanted him to help me to be considered for the prize to begin with. I trust him. We started talking, and that's when he told me that the criteria had changed.”

He’s really serious about this. Seriously thinking of competing against me. That…I don’t know what to make of that. I glare at him. “I told you that you’d want to win that prize.” Régis is a clever guy, but he’s only a first year. If he doesn’t win this year, he has another three tries before he graduates, if he makes it that far. And I have three more years to convince Dad that this fondness for his newfound stepson can stop at paying tuition for Saint-Laurent. He doesn’t have to offer him a job. Worst-case scenario, he gets a job and I fire him once I’m made CEO. My breath comes out on a heavy whoosh, a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Things suddenly don’t look so gloomy anymore.

“You are thinking very hard,” Régis mumbles. When I don’t react immediately, he gives me an apologetic grin. “You always get that little frown on your forehead, when you pinch your brows together.”

“I do?” The question leaves my mouth before I can think.Damn it. “Well, whatever,” I backpedal, but he just laughs his soft, sleek chuckle and nods.

“You do. It gives you an even more serious look.”

Hanging back, I tilt one foot against the coffee table, bending the knee. “Well, that’s because there’s no nice way of telling you that you’re not going to win that prize, so you can save yourself from the effort. Not this year.”

“Because this year the prize is yours?”

“I’m glad you’re finally starting to understand what we’re talking about.”

Régis sends me a secretive smile, but doesn’t reply. His silence forms a tightness in my stomach. I know I’m being an asshole, but I need him to fight back. Show me his claws and teeth. No one ever does that, apart from my own family, no one ever questions my words. They all take my knowledge for granted because they know about my carefully laid out future. As the next CEO of Deveraux Holding, I could be a powerful ally or a serious competitor, depending on our agendas. And that keeps them in check. Not Régis, no. My little stepbrother is rapidly becoming my fearless, bashful nemesis with his handsome, angelic face. Because I get the growing feeling that the more I piss him off, the more he will get in my way, just to prove me wrong.

He tilts his chin in the air as if he caught my thoughts, lips pressed into a thin line. “Well, you’re not the only one who wants to win.”

“If you don’t want to get in my way, like you told me so on numerous occasions, I suggest that now’s the time you take your own advice to heart and stay the fuck away.”

“Afraid you might lose?” Régis flutters his lashes playfully, and arousal stirs in my loins. Fucking finally.

“Against you? Not a chance.”

He smiles at that, and for some reason I get the impression that he’s enjoying this newfound banter as much as I am. “Iwouldn’t celebrate too fast,bigstepbrother. You have no idea what I’m preparing for.”

“No idea, huh? I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you. People like me have contacts in the highest ranks.”

“Who’s threatening who now?” He hisses, his words making my cock thicken.

Oh,chaton, you have no idea how I’d like to corner you.But before I can come up with a sneer, Régis barks out a laugh. “You know, you could just ask me about it, instead of throwing threats my way.” He lets out another fit of laughter, the sound clear and round. It’s the first time I hear him like this, and unable to control myself apparently, I feel the corners of my own lips tip up.

“Would you?” I find myself asking, suddenly curious to find out more about him and pluck his mind for thoughts. “Tell me if I asked?”

“And what? Have my head bitten off by your cruel judgements?” He shakes his head, still grinning. “No, thanks. I’d rather leave in one piece tonight.”

I huff out a chuckle. “Perhaps you’re right at that. Though, speaking of judgements,” I put my other leg on the coffee table, crossing them at the ankle. “We never talked about your first initiation evening with the brothers.” At those words, Régis’s cheeks coat with a delicious pink that makes him look even more handsome and fragile at the same time.

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