Page 39 of Auctioned to her Stepbrothers

It would be easier to ignore my feelings and their bitterness and leave the past in the past, because forcing them to face the truth will leave no room for them to continue a relationship with their father.

Family was everything to me, but my mom was kind and loving. She always put me first. After we left, the Aston brothers only had heartless cruel Richard to teach them about love and affection. No wonder they’re so tortured.

Should they be expected to have the same loyalty to their father as I did to my mother?

NO!

The word explodes in my head with the same ferocity as Dick’s fist hitting my mom’s soft flesh. Dick Aston doesn’t deserve loyalty from his sons. He doesn’t deserve one more moment of their time or pretense at a father-son bond, if that even exists anymore.

They deserve someone who loves them for everything they are, and I want to be that person. I tried to show them how it could be when we were together in my apartment. But as soon as we returned to Club Scarlet, everything seemed forgotten.

When I open the door into the hallway, I once again feel as though I’m taking a step into a new life.

Walking away is the easy route, but I’m prepared to do what’s difficult. It has to be me because I’m the one who escaped Dick and his malevolence. I had a chance to experience a happy childhood with a loving parent. I can believe that things can be better with love in our lives because I’ve witnessed that truth.

Lyle, Nate, and Kylian haven’t.

But what can I do to change their minds about me? What can I do to show them that we’re meant to be together? Our lovedoesn’t have to just exist in the past. We don’t have to push it away.

Outside Club Scarlet, I stand for a moment, drawing in a few deep breaths of the night air. The moon begins its cycle, like a scythe slicing the sky, signaling a new beginning.

What will that cycle mean for me?

What will it take to show Kylian, Nate, and Lyle that they don’t have to stay trapped in the past? The future is yet to be written, and our story doesn’t have to have reached its conclusion.

As I make the short walk to my car, I start to formulate a plan.

Words aren’t going to cut it with Kylian. His walls are too thick, like the fortifications of a city, erected to protect his vulnerable center. I think I could get through to Nate and Lyle, but they’re such a tight unit with their brother that it wouldn’t matter.

I need evidence. I need papers that disprove all the allegations he made against my Mom and all the aspersions those accusations have cast on me. I need to show Kylian that what he believes happened all those years ago isn’t reality.

The walls he’s built stand on shaky foundations. All I need is to make them wobble just a little, and maybe his shield will shatter, and he’ll let me in.

* * *

At home, I take five minutes to shower and dress in a fresh pair of jeans and a pretty white blouse. I brush out my hair and slide gold sandals onto my feet, hoping that keeping my look pretty and soft will make Kylian less resistant to me.

I leaf through Mom’s files until I find the documents I need, gathering them as quickly as I can into a plastic folder. They’re precious to me because I know they’re my only hope, but if they serve this purpose, I’m going to destroy them. Holding onto the evidence of unhappy times is like allowing a cloud to hover over your house in perpetuity.

I’m done with clouds, and I’m done with letting the past control me.

Now Kylian, Nate, and Lyle need to get there too.

Driving to Montgomery House, I feel as though I’m floating underwater. All around me, there are people living their lives, but I’m numb to everything apart from my almost stepbrothers.

Should I even be thinking of them that way after everything we’ve done?

Probably not.

But how else can I describe them? We’re not friends. We’re not lovers. All we are to each other can be wrapped up as memories and sated urges. They used my body and worked out their frustrations, and I absorbed it all, hoping they’d see that it meant more to me.

* * *

As I steer onto the sweeping driveway leading to Montgomery House, my heart accelerates in my chest. Will they be here? Will they be awake? Will I have to face Dick looming over me before I can get close to his sons?

Even though I’m a grown woman, the thought of him and the fear he used to elicit in us all is enough to make me shiver. What he did to Mom is as clear in my memory as ever.

The door looms large, and my finger hovers over the doorbell as I take a deep, steadying breath. I have to do this. There isn’t another option.They’ll listen to me, I tell myself. They’ll hear what I have to say, and everything will be okay. I won’t have to lose them again.

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