The Other Brother Part 2: Taboo: Stepbrother Billionaire Romance

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

The Other Brother Part 2: Taboo

Dear Reader,

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

The Other Brother continues in Part 3: Illicit, available March 10 at vendors everywhere!

About the authors

Read on for an excerpt from Ivy in Bloom by Tawny Stokes

Read on for an excerpt from A Bride for a Billionaire, available now from Lauren Hawkeye | MATTEO

And check out this innovative project from Summer Daniels, owner of What To Read After Fifty Shades of Grey!

Thank you for continuing with the story of Seth and Allegra! When we left off, Allegra had just been surprised at home by her biological brother Theo… and she’s not sure how she feels about that.

We hope you enjoy
The Other Brother Part 2: Taboo
!

Happy reading!

ALLEGRA

N
ow, what kind of hello is that for your big brother?

I move into Theo’s arms, but I’m strangely reluctant to do so. I tell myself it’s because he just scared the crap out of me. But when he hugs me tight, and it takes everything I have not to squirm away, I know that’s not it.

I’ve hugged Theo a million times before, but somehow this feels nothing like it did when we were kids. It’s like hugging a stranger. He smells like dirt and sweat, the kind of body odor that takes weeks to accumulate. I know that the grimy metallic odor comes from being in jail, and that that in itself isn’t his fault, but I still can’t quite stop my gag reflex, though I try to hide it. When he narrows his eyes at me, I know I haven’t been successful.

“What’s the matter? Don’t you love your big brother anymore?” He smirks at me, but as I look up into his blue eyes I see… a challenge?

“Of course I love you.” I laugh nervously. It has to be because he startled me. There’s no other reason to be on edge around my brother.

There’s no denying that he’s different, though. I’d expected it, and yet—I don’t like it. I just want him to wash away the rough edges and be the brother I know again.

But I of all people know that sometimes you just can’t go back.

“Why don’t you go take a shower and settle in? Then we’ll catch up.” I’m desperate for a minute alone.

He eyes me for a moment, and I can feel my nerves skittering through my veins—he’s sizing me up, as if he’s trying to figure out whether or not I’ve insulted him. I’m not sure I’ll like the outcome if he decides on the former. But finally he nods, running a hand through his long greasy hair.

I feel like the biggest bitch in the world, but that hair—it makes me shudder. Theo, though—he’s vain. Once he would rather have died than be seen looking the way he does, even by family.

Seeing Seth has turned me all inside out. I just want something familiar, something
normal
.

I want my brother back the way he was, before any of this shit happened.

“Where’s Dad?” I’m incredibly uncomfortable and in need of a buffer. Theo is silent, and I adjust my robe, tying it tighter; the worn terrycloth does nothing to hide me.

I feel very vulnerable and exposed, and not in a sexy way, like I did back at the club. This kind of exposure… it makes my skin crawl.

“Right here.” Dad steps into the hallway and relief crashes over me. “I had to grab some stuff from the car.”

“Dad.” Guilt quickly follows the relief. What the hell is wrong with me, being scared of my own damn brother? I know we haven’t gotten along well in recent years, but still… he’s blood.

He’d never hurt me. He’s not like Seth—though even after all these years, I somehow know that Seth wouldn’t hurt me either. Not physically.

Why am I even comparing them? I’ve never thought of Seth as my brother.

“There are fresh towels in the bathroom, and shampoo and soap in the shower.” Dad hands Theo a small duffle bag that’s so new the tags are still hanging off of it. “Allegra, I didn’t get a chance to make up Theo’s room. Maybe you can put some sheets on the bed while Theo showers.”

I notice that Theo doesn’t give Dad the stink eye at the suggestion that he bathe, which makes me purse my lips. I watch as he ascends the stairs, only letting out a long, shuddering breath once he’s disappeared from sight.

“You okay, kiddo?” Dad rakes a hand through his hair, and in that moment, I notice the lines on his face that have deepened over the last few years. I wince inwardly, knowing that a lot of them are my fault.

“Of course I am.” I smile brightly at him—I refuse to be any more of a burden on this man.

“Don’t lie. You’re spooked.” He pins me with eyes that look so much like Theo’s. Physically, they’re almost clones, those two, although skin deep is as far as though similarities go. “What’s wrong?”

“I—I didn’t know when Theo was coming home today, that’s all. I didn’t expect to run into him in the hallway.” I chuckle, but there’s no humor in it. “He startled me.”

“Didn’t expect him this early, either.” Dad looks a bit troubled, and I don’t like seeing him that way. I wonder if he’s bothered by it too, how different Theo seems.

Of course he is. No one wants to see one of their children go to prison.

“It’s going to take some time for us to learn to be a family again,” Dad starts, frowning a little. “We’re going to have to cut Theo some slack.”

“Yeah. Sure.” We stare at each other silently for a moment, before I turn to head up the stairs. “I’ll go put those sheets on the bed.”

“Thanks, sweetie. I’m going to make some sandwiches.” Dad turns toward the kitchen. “Do you want one?”

“Yeah, I could eat.” My stomach chooses that moment to growl, and my dad chuckles.

Me? My face turns scarlet as I remember exactly how I worked up that appetite.

“I’ll be back down in a second.” Afraid that my face will somehow tell my dad exactly what I was up to tonight, I rush up the stairs. Clean sheets are in the linen closet outside of the bathroom. As I cross the landing, I notice that the bathroom door is ajar. Hot, moist air wraps around me, then dissipates, leaving me chilled.

Why the hell didn’t he close the damn door?
Grabbing a set of navy-blue sheets with one hand, I reach for the doorknob with the other, intending to close it. I don’t know what the bathroom facilities were like in jail, and I can’t imagine they had much privacy. Maybe I should feel sorry for Theo.

But he’s home now, and there are going to be some rules.

The door is jerked open before I can grab the doorknob. Theo stands in the cloud of steam, naked except for a towel that he’s wrapped around his waist.

“Sorry.” I blurt this out as a kneejerk reaction, even though he’s the one who left the door open. I try to avert my eyes, but my gaze is drawn by the huge changes in my brother.

He’s gotten pale, and where he was once lean, he is now soft. Crude-looking tattoos spread across his chest and ring his upper arms.

“Did you need something?” Theo smirks as my stare whips upward from his chest to his face. The half smile there is the biggest change of all.

I hadn’t expected that we would all be one big happy family again once he got home. But it was looking as if there was going to be a bit more of an adjustment than I’d anticipated.