Page 31 of Auctioned to her Stepbrothers

“All of you. In here. Now.” He stands outside his door, waiting for the three of us to file past him, as if we’re still children, and he just caught us looking at pictures of naked women online.

“What’s going on, Pops?” Kylian says, his casual, mocking tone letting Dick-Ass know that he couldn’t care less that our dad is riled up about something.

“That’s a really good question,Son.” He puts emphasis on the last word as if to remind Kylian who’s in charge, but our older brother remains unimpressed, flopping onto the couch along the wall farthest from Dad’s desk.

“It has come to my attention that the three of you boys recently made a very large expenditure,” Dick-Ass says.

At first, I think of Nate’s donation to the hospital, but it wouldn’t have posted yet. A sliver of fear inches into my belly as realization dawns.

“What puzzles me most,” Dick continues, “is why Aston men—no matter how young and inexperienced you may be—would need to pay for sex.”

The three of us have private accounts. He shouldn’t be able to see what we’re spending money on.

“What’s the problem?” he asks, looking around at all of us. “Do you have endurance issues? Do you have to fuck virgins who won’t know the difference?”

What the fuck? No matter what bank statement the old man might have gotten his hands on, I’m absolutely positive the item listed from the auction didn’t read “Sex with a virgin.”

“How do you know what we spend money on?” Nate never loses his cool, but there’s alarm in his tone.

“Aston men should be able to get any woman they want,” Dad says. “It’s pathetic.”

All three of us are glaring at him, and it’s not his accusations that enrage me, but the fact that he’s invading our privacy.

“How do you know that?” Nate asks, an uncommonly hard edge to his voice.

“I have to protect my assets,” Dick says, moving behind his desk. “And I’ll do whatever’s necessary to ensure family loyalty. I’ve always kept watch over the three of you.”

Kylian rises and crosses the room to get in Dad’s face. “We’re grown men. What the fuck do you mean you watch over us?”

Dick reaches into his top drawer and pulls out an envelope. He produces several large glossy prints and spreads them across his desk.

“What the fuck?!” Kylian growls as Dad turns the images toward him.

My spine turns to ice. They’re photographs from the hotel bar. Us and Honor. Dear old Dad’s has had us followed.

“Pretty little thing,” Dad says, looking down at Honor in a shot that shows off her legs. “I’m sure she was a lot of fun, but was she really worth all the money? It’s disgusting, paying for some young girl’s cherry.”

I let out a breath. He doesn’t know it’s Honor. The angle of the shots doesn’t reveal her full likeness to Victoria, and he barely gave her any attention when she lived under this roof, lucky for her.

My eyes dart to Nate, who seems to have reached the same conclusion as I have. Dad might be mad we spent money on sex, but he would erupt like a fucking volcano if he knew the woman in the pictures was his long-lost almost stepdaughter.

“Let’s go,” Nate says, giving Ky’s sleeve a pull.

“YOU STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!” Dad’s favorite controlling catchphrase causes spittle to fly from his mouth.

“You know what’s disgusting and pathetic?” Ky says to Dad, completely ignoring Nate’s urging and Dad’s ranting. “Having nothing better to do than butt into our lives. What’s the matter? Can’t you get it up anymore? Are you jealous we’re getting some action?”

The old man is literally shaking as his rage builds. “Need I remind you, you wouldn’t have any money for fucking little whores if it weren’t for me and for our family’s business?” Dad says, his eyes black bullets aimed straight for Ky.

Sure, Dad works hard, but we wouldn’t even have our business without the money that came from Mom’s family, and Dad knows it. Nothing pisses Ky off more than Dad claiming credit, as if he’s some sort of financial genius.

Sterner now, Nate says, “C’mon, Ky. Leave it alone.”

I advance toward our big brother to forcibly pull him from the room, because I can see in his eyes what he’s about to say—what weapon he’s about to hurl—but the realization hits me too late.

Ky snatches up a picture from the desk. “Want to know who this pretty little virgin is? Want to know whose cherry we popped? Take a look at her, Dad.” He shoves the picture toward Dick, even as he sorts through the others, finding a photo that best shows her face.

“Recognize her?” Kylian demands. “The blond hair? Big blue eyes?” There’s confusion on Dick’s face when Ky spits out, “It’s Honor, Dad, the daughter of the woman who hated you so much she abandoned all of us so that she’d never have to see your face again.”

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