Chapter 7

KESTER. This woman had made it a point of duty to torment my life. If only she knew how much I hated having her around. I had barely spoken to her since she showed up at my office yesterday unannounced. This whole marriage arrangement between my parents and hers would be the worst thing that'll ever happen to her - not me, because I can never love her. No matter how hard she tried. "Do we really have to go?" Her silky voice sounded from behind me. She walked toward me and placed her slender hands around my waist from behind, "I came to spend some quality time with you." "I never asked you to come, June," I pulled her hands off me, "But since you are here, get dressed and let's go. I have important matters to attend to in the pack." I locked my luggage and headed to my mirror, adjusting my hair. She was quiet for a while before speaking again, "Okay. I'll get to spend some time with your mum, too." Was that meant to console her? That's her business. From the corner of my eye, I saw something sitting carefully by the side of the table. "What the fuck?" I muttered under my breath, picking up the bag and opening it. "How did this get here?" "Oh. Kasmine gave them to me," June said with a wide grin. I froze as rage clouded my senses. "She what?" June shrugged, that insipid smile still on her lips, oblivious to the ticking bomb in the room. "She said I could have them since I liked them. I thought it was sweet of her—" My hand tightened around the bag, my knuckles white with the force of it. I barely registered June's voice trailing off behind me as I stormed out of the room. My thought was a haze of red. How dare she? Such casual disregard. By the time I reached Kasmine's door, I was seething. I didn't bother knocking. Hell, I didn't even hesitate. My anger gave me permission to breach every boundary. I shoved the door open, the handle slamming against the wall. The sight that greeted me stopped me dead in my tracks. She stood in the center of the room, tying a towel around herself—red, my favorite color. Her hair was damp, water dripping onto her shoulders, slowly sliding down her skin. For a moment, everything else faded, leaving only the image of her standing there, looking so infuriatingly perfect it made my head spin. "Kester!" she yelled as she clutched the towel tighter. "What the hell is wrong with you? You can't just barge in here like that!" I didn't answer. Couldn't. My gaze dropped to the droplets gliding down her collarbone, disappearing into the curve of her towel. Heat surged through me, unwelcome and maddening. I clenched my fists, forcing myself to focus. "Why the fuck did you give these to June?" I growled, tossing the bag onto her bed, making the contents spill out. "She liked them. I have no use for them, so I gave them to her." She replied with an eye roll. Seeing her shrug off my anger like it was an annoyance pushed me to the edge. Kasmine grabbed a robe from her closet, slipping it over her shoulders in that nonchalant way of hers that got me mad. "You gave them to her because you thought you had no use for them?" My voice was barely restrained. She looked at me over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "Exactly. What else was I supposed to do with them, Kester? I'm not seeing anyone. I don't have a boyfriend—thanks to you, by the way." I took a step closer, "You don't get to give out a gift, Kasmine. I've always told you this!" "Oh, please. Spare me the lecture. What am I supposed to do? Prance around in lingerie for no one? You've made damn sure that any man who gets within ten feet of me thinks twice about it." "Watch it, Kasmine..." I warned, feeling my anger rise a little more than I'd like. "I won't watch it, Kester!" she snapped, stepping closer now, the fire in her eyes matching the storm in my chest. "Do you know how suffocating it's been? I can't date or even talk to a guy without worrying you'll come storming in to scare him off! And for what? Because you like controlling me? Because you think you can?" My hands clenched at my sides, the rage bubbling dangerously close to the surface. "No," I growled, taking another step forward and grabbing her by her slender arm. "Because the idea of you with anyone else makes me want to fucking destroy something!" Fuck. That wasn't supposed to be heard by her. That was a mistake. Her breath hitched, and her eyes darted to the lingerie on the bed before resting her shocked gaze on me. "What? Ke... Kester? What did you..." I saw the sheer shock in her eyes. "You think this is about control? About me being your overbearing stepbrother?" I shook my head, a bitter laugh escaping me. "No, Kasmine. It is far more than that." Her lips parted, but no words came out. "You're mine," I said, the words spilling out before I could stop them. My voice was raw, my chest heaving. "You've always been mine. And no one else gets to have you until I say otherwise, no matter how much you hate it. Always have that at the back of your mind." Her hand went to her throat, her fingers brushing against the damp skin there. "You... You can't mean that," she whispered, shaking her head frantically as tears glistened in her eyes. I leaned down, my breath fanning her ear, "I mean every word I have just said... Mine..."