BASTARD: A Stepbrother Romance (These Wicked Games Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

I…” She shakes her head, and my heart sinks, because she looks so much like her son in that moment.
    “I wasn’t planning on stopping by.” He puts an arm around my shoulder. “But then I ran into Maggie.”
    Fuck. Now she’s gonna take it out on me. My pulse speeds up.
    Cynthia looks back and forth between us. She stops on Cade. “Your father will be here soon. You should say hi.”
    “Really? He’s coming all the way from Denmark?”
    “Your real father, the one who raised you through your toughest years. Not the one who contributed a couple minutes and a few grunts.”
    “Great job he did ‘raising me’.”
    “Look at you. You’re doing so well. You have us to thank for—”
    “Bullshit!” Cade interrupts, letting go of me and advancing on his mother.
    He doesn’t tower over her the way he does me, but I see now that he’s grown since I last saw him, because he’s taller than her now. When he left, they were the same height. Which is still pretty tall.
    Seeing him standing there next to her, I can tell he’s even taller than my dad. The one who ‘raised’ him. Which is bull, since Cade was already thirteen when my dad met Cynthia, a year before he divorced my mom.
    “You contributed nothing. Nothing except pain and hardship.”
    “Oh, don’t be melodramatic,” she says, but she can’t look him in the eye. She can’t even look at me, instead staring at a point off to the side.
    “I’m not.” He turns to me. “Come on, Mags, we’re leaving.”
    Cynthia turns on him. “She’s not going anywhere.”
    Cade ignores her, and grabs my arm. “Do you have anything you want to keep, that I can’t buy you a new one of?”
    “My computer,” I say slowly.
    “It’s not backed up in the cloud?”
    I shake my head. “I don’t think so.”
    “It doesn’t matter,” Cynthia interrupts. “Because she’s not going anywhere. You can’t just barge in and kidnap her.”
    “She’s not a kid,” Cade growls. He’s looking at me as he says this. Then, “Come on, I’ll go with you.” He leads me toward the door.
    “You can’t just barge in like this!” his mother repeats. “That’s my house.”
    Cade ignores her. I look back and see her following.
    “Cade,” I whimper. “This is a bad idea.”
    “No, it’s the best fucking idea I ever had. I should have done it years ago. I may not have left you that night, but you’re right about one thing, I should have come for you sooner. Saved you from all this. I can’t change the past. But I can change the future.”
    We get to my room, and Cade opens the door. He almost throws me inside. “Sorry,” he says.
    I shrug. I can tell he’s worked up. “You remembered which one is mine.”
    “Get whatever can’t be bought again. Leave the rest. Just like you’re going to leave this life.”
    I look around my room, wondering if it could possibly be the last time I see it.
    And, unexpectedly, from out of nowhere at all, hope, happiness, joy, these all mix together and bubble up from some geyser within me I didn’t know existed, had never been aware of until now.
    I hear Cynthia come inside, slamming the door, but I’m not afraid. Because Cade is here, and he’s standing in my doorway. And he’s between her and me. And I know he’d never let her hurt me. Not anymore.
    I’m safe.
    A smile spreads across my face, and I grab my laptop and slide it into my messenger bag. I leave the charger: I’d have to dig behind my desk to unplug it, and I don’t want to waste the time. This feels tenuous, like a dream that could break at any moment, so I want to give it as few moments as possible to do so.
    Besides, Cade will buy me a new one.

Chapter 12
    Cade has my arm as he leads me past his mother, who’s standing by the front door. It’s locked, and he has to take a second to open it.
    “I’m warning you…” she says, and I hate to admit it, but I get that sinking feeling in my stomach.
    Cade stops just outside the doorway and turns, pushes