My Shameful Secret (Forbidden Stepbrother Billionaire Romance) (5 page)

Ah.
Jannie had stopped him on his way to her table.

Silence.

Misha’s stomach started hurting again. Could she stop this? Did she really want to?

A moment of clarity, and she bit her lip hard.

No.

She wanted Jannie to hurt as much as she was hurting now.

Jannie let out a nervous laugh. “Sae—”

“Will you get out of my way?” In his defense, Saehan had spoken quietly, albeit in a curt manner. It wasn’t his fault everyone was eavesdropping, and when someone in the background tittered, Misha knew it was going to get worse.

That was when it was clear to Misha. How everyone was wrong about her. She wasn’t too nice like everyone thought she was. She wasn’t nice at all.

She could be a bitch if she wanted to. She just needed the right reason.

Misha grabbed her backpack and scrambled off her seat. “Saehan,” she called out urgently, hurrying to the three of them.

But it was already too late.

Jannie had slapped her brother’s face. “How dare you?”

Misha stumbled to a stop at the look on the woman’s face. She wasn’t crying, and her chin was lifted high. But somehow, that made it all worse. For all her bragging, Jannie really had felt something for Saehan.

Her brother’s face remained expressionless, and his tone was coldly bored as he asked, “Are you done?”

He suddenly leaned forward, his face inching close to Jannie’s.

His proximity had Jannie trembling, and Misha found herself both sick and fascinated at how Saehan could so easily affect the other girl.

When he spoke, the silence in the place made his words audible to everyone.

“If you want me to fuck you again, keep your mouth shut.” His lip curled. “And we both know you want to. I’m not going to warn you again. You ever dirty my sister’s ears about me, you will cease to exist to me.
Do you understand?
”

Saehan stepped back.

The words sank in.

Misha covered her mouth.

In front of her, Jannie’s face whitened as she stumbled back. She looked around her feverishly as if she was silently begging for someone to defend her. But no one did, not even her friend. When Jannie looked at her, Jen only swallowed and glanced away, as if not wanting to share in her friend’s humiliation.

Jannie spun around, and that was when she saw her. Recognized Misha as the only one who could have told Saehan about what she had said.

Hatred flashed in her eyes just before she stalked away, shoving past Misha.

She lost her balance.

“Misha!” It was Saehan, gripping her hand tightly as he kept her from falling.
 

For a moment, all she could do was hold on to him tightly. The world had turned into a blur, shame burning her alive.
 

“Wait here.” Anger vibrated in her brother’s tone.

Misha tightened her grip on his hand. “No, Sae.” She knew right away he wanted to go after Jannie. “Please. It’s all right.”
 

She heard him breathing hard. “Mish…” He tried to tip her chin up, but she shook her head hard. Misha expected Saehan to refuse to heed her, but after a moment, he simply reached for her bag. Gripping her other hand tightly, Saehan drew her out, his arm curling around her shoulders protectively.

It had been over a year since they last held each other like this. It wasn’t right that what she did to Jannie was the reason they could be like this again. Wasn’t right that because of Misha being bitchy, she could feel this
good.

She closed her eyes.
 

Her brother’s body was hard and hot against her side, his strength a tangible presence that made Misha want to melt into him.

Saehan’s personal driver was waiting for them by the curb. He quickly opened the door at the sight of them, and Saehan helped her in first. Inside his limousine, she quickly moved to the opposite seat and huddled against the corner.
 

Misha heard the door close a moment later. Another moment and she heard Saehan speak. “Misha?”

The sound of his voice was gentle, so much gentler than how he talked to her most of the time now, and it hurt.

Misha quickly turned towards the darkly tinted window, her teeth sinking into her lower lip. In the past, if something happened, she would have no hesitation. She would run to Saehan, crying, knowing he’d be able to say something, do something, to comfort her.
 

“Look at me, Misha.”

Slowly, she did.

He was gazing at her, his sculpted face made harder by strongly repressed emotions. He was still Saehan Charbonneau, still her brother, but somehow it wasn’t the same. It was no longer the same, hadn’t ever been the same since the time she mistook him for another guy and almost came on to him.

But now, when she heard Jannie speak of him like he belonged to her, heard Jannie speak of his body like she knew every inch of it,
tasted
every part of it—

A choked cry escaped Mish. She tried to keep it inside, covering her mouth again, but it was too late.

In front of her, Saehan cursed.

“
Misha
.” His voice was still quiet, but under it was something…urgent. Desperate. As if he had also sensed something had started to change, and he didn’t want it to happen.

Oh God, did he know?

Had he known all this time, what she was realizing just now?

She loved him.

Oh God, she loved Saehan Charbonneau, and not as his little sister.

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

Misha shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong.”

He swore again. “Something’s clearly wrong—” He breathed hard. “Was it because of what you heard? What Jannie said?”

Unbidden, the vision that had taken hold of her mind reasserted itself. Saehan and Jannie, their naked bodies writhing in bed, her breasts pressing against his chest—

2

The stricken expression on his sister’s face made him want to punch something hard. “Forget what you heard,” Saehan gritted out.

Misha let out a hysterical laugh. “Do you even know what she said?”

“No,” he said, his voice clipped. “And I don’t want to—”

“His dick was so fucking long it was like I was with a porn star,” Misha threw at him.

Saehan stilled, not because of what she was saying, but because of how she was looking at him.

“He fucked me so many times I lost count,” Mish hissed. “I came so hard I almost passed out—”

“Shut up!” Saehan gripped his sister’s shoulders and gave her a hard shake. “What’s wrong with you?”

What’s wrong with her?
Hysterical laughter threatened to bubble out of Misha. The way she felt when she heard Jannie talk about Saehan, the way she felt when Saehan held her, the way she felt about her brother –
 

All of it was wrong.

I hate this. I hate you. I hate having you as my brother.

When Saehan spoke, it was only then that she realized she had spoken it out loud.

“That’s fine,” he said tightly. “I hate having you as my sister, too.”
 

3

The sun was shining brightly, the sky a perfect blue. Best of all, Misha had lost five pounds in time for her high school graduation. But what really made her happy,
secretly,
was the guy standing behind Elizabeth.

He had come!

She had thought he wouldn’t, after the last words she had spoken to him. He avoided being with her every chance he got since then, and she had feared he would bail out of today’s occasion.

But he had not.

He was there.

Saehan Charbonneau.

 
“Come on, Misha, smile for the camera one more time,” Elizabeth cajoled. “Lift your hands up, show off the flowers Saehan gave you.”

She couldn’t help grimacing at the request but did so anyway.
 

“I don’t think she’s that happy about the flowers.” The lazy drawl came from Saehan himself. His British accent had become more pronounced these days. On one hand, it made his voice really sexy, enough to have Misha’s heart skipping a beat. On the other, it made her sad because it symbolized how much time Saehan spent away from their home.

At her brother’s words, Misha wanted to shake her head and protest. She loved the flowers. She loved everything he gave her. She loved him…period.

But she couldn’t ever risk saying the words.

Ever.

“That’s not true,” Elizabeth was protesting. “Tell your brother it’s not so, Mish.”

Their mother’s insistent words left her with no choice, and she muttered, “I appreciate the flowers.” Unfortunately, she couldn’t help sounding like she had to be tortured to say the words.

Elizabeth gasped.

Saehan laughed, a beautifully masculine sound that, for the life of her, Misha couldn’t resist. Before she knew it, she was slowly turning his way—

Ooooooooh.

Pent-up oxygen swooshed out of her mouth as the full impact of his looks hit her.
Why was it always like this
, Misha wondered miserably. Every time they met, it was as if Saehan had become even more gorgeous than before.

Silky ebony hair, drop-dead cerulean eyes, chiseled cheeks, and a ripped bod that, despite being covered by the most elegant black business suit – still managed to exude a sense of raw masculinity.
 

His looks were deliciously perfect, elegance and wickedness melding into one incredibly hot package.

“How about one photo with your brother,” Hector suggested. He had always been the peacemaker in the family. During the rare times Saehan and I had a full-blown argument, Elizabeth would unfailingly side with my brother.

“Oh, yes,” Elizabeth agreed eagerly. “Saehan—” She turned around, and her voice trailed off uncomfortably.

A tall, svelte woman had sidled up next to Saehan, and it was none other than Carina Garland, our year’s prom queen. A flirtatious smile had lit up her beautiful face, and she constantly brushed her breasts against his arm as she spoke in an animated fashion.
 

Misha had seen women do the same thing countless times to Saehan by now. Not just in person, but in videos, too, every time her brother would be caught in public by the paparazzi. She had seen it enough times to know what it meant, what it always meant.

Fuck me, Saehan Charbonneau.

Misha turned away abruptly.

Seeing those things always hurt.

And it hurt a lot more, knowing that she could never do any of those things because of who she and Saehan were in each other’s lives.
 

“Misha?”

When someone called her name the second time, Misha turned around and was surprised to find Jared heading towards her. Before she could answer, Saehan suddenly blocked her line of vision.

Her jaw dropped.
Where had he come from?

“Time to have our photo taken,” he murmured.
 

Behind him, Carina was waving at her like they were the best friends. “Hey, Misha!”

She waved back weakly.
What. A. Poser.
In their four years of high school together, she could count in one hand the number of times they had exchanged words.

“Stand closer please,” Elizabeth urged.

Pulling her close to him, Saehan said under his breath, “Thanks to me, the most popular girl in school took notice of you.”

Without hesitation, Misha pretended to stumble towards him, using the impact to dig her nails into his arm.
Hard.

Saehan grunted in pain.

She quickly pulled away, looking up at him with a fake smile of regret. “So sorry, big bro.”