Wrong: A Spoiled Stepbrother Romance Read Online Free PDF Page A

power to impress him, make him proud to call me his daughter. I'd be the model guest as long as I was there. I even pledged to be pleasant to that smarmy, cocky, spoiled stepbrother of mine, if he ever came around. I'd let him do his thing if he'd let me do mine. I promised myself this through gritted teeth as the very thought of this 'Rorke' made my stomach turn.
    "No, Maddie! You have to be careful!" my mother yelled when I started clearing some branches with the truck's height. She was visibly bothered and waved her arms as I pulled up the long driveway to Carmine Fratelli's estate. She was wearing pajama bottoms and a robe, a large, ceramic blue coffee mug attached to her hand, as always. It was too late to stop, either direction I went was gonna drag these branches somewhere. I shrugged at her and continued forward, the squeaky sound of the lumber scraping let me know I was definitely doing some damage. When she came marching towards me, I knew I was in for something. Her stern, reddening face let me know that she was about to unload on me. Hoping to diffuse the situation by being angry first, I asked “Mom, what?” before the driver's side window was even all the way down.
    "Don't you, 'mom, what' at me, young lady," she started. It was hard to take her seriously when I was so elevated and she was so far away on the ground. Looking down at her head as it craned up at me just made her look like an indignant ant. Her words, while rapid and sharp, didn't hit with the blows she intended.
    "You are asking a big favor to come live here, especially this close to the wedding. You had better mind your P's and fucking Q's because this isn't my apartment you can trash. This," the sweeping motion with her arm looked well rehearsed, a gesture she had likely practiced to reveal the mansion she had proudly fell in to, "this ain't mine. This entire property of nice things belongs to the most powerful man in town, Carmine Fratelli, my future husband." This was also part of her memorized speech, something I could imagine her yelling at the help. Mom was drunk with power and someone had to reel her in.
    "Mom, what happened to getting to know each other a little better?" my puppy-dog eyes didn't seem to be melting her like I had hoped. A pointed finger and extra-dour face drove home the point that she was stubbornly serious.
    "Your best behavior, kiddo," she demanded of me, "cause he'll kick you out without even blinking."
    After she had exhausted all of her lecture, Mom waved the truck over to a tiny carriage house off to the side of the property. As I carefully maneuvered the truck over, I couldn't help but think that it had likely been built as servant quarters. It was quaint but I would certainly have my privacy, they wouldn't even know I was there. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. In that moment, I did feel some relief, I truly believed that I had hit the jackpot. Bouncing out of the truck, I was brought back to Earth when I saw that Mother was still pouting.
    "You two better get along," Mother insisted before begrudgingly handing over the keys. I immediately assumed that she had meant my new stepfather. Sure, no problem. I wouldn't get in his way and would gladly give my blessing for their marriage. Unless he was beating my mom, she seemed happy and I had no reason to try and get in the way. Hell, what did I even know about successful relationships?
    "I'm not sure if he's home, if he's in there," she continued while pointing at the carriage house.
    "Mr. Fratelli? Your husband lives in there? Where I'm staying?"
    Mom looked confused at first and then lightened up a little, “Oh, no, Rorke. Oh yeah, guess I should've mentioned that you'll be sharing this space with your new stepbrother. To be honest, I don't really know if he's ever home or if he's home all the time? Hmmm,” she wondered to herself as the heat started to reach boil underneath my collar. It wouldn't have surprised me if steam started to shoot out of my