It has been just a year since my father passed away and my mother has already remarried? How could she be so ready to just move on and start over so soon? Before I could even wrap my mind around her bombshell, another surprise walked through the door, Dave- The nerdy boy in my class who had rescued me from being raped and had fucked the hell out of me on our prom night just weeks earlier, was none other than the handsome son of my mother's new husband who will now be my stepbrother, and the spark between us became a forbidden flame. Passions and betrayals threatened to burn down the fragile ties binding my new family and I realized no one could be trusted. Not my callous mother, not my devilish husband, not my hot and sweet stepbrother, perhaps not even myself. But my troubles are only beginning, as my dangerous attraction to my new stepbrother led to a new heart beating in my tummy. With everything on the line, I had no choice but to try protecting the people I love and reclaim the future stolen from me. After all, I was Carmen Cartier. And I don't back down from a fight.
View MoreCARMEN“Terri?!” I called, rushing into every room I could, opening doors and slamming them shut in frustration whenever I didn’t find anyone in.“Terri! Mariah!” I didn’t consider the fact that the neighbors would probably be annoyed in that moment, I just wanted to find out where they both were without Mariah’s wheelchair and with blood drops on the floor. There was no explanation that I thought of in my head that made any of that scene make sense completely.I took my phone and dialed Terri’s number, walking out of the apartment and going down the stairs to pace back and forth, looking around for any sign of them. My stomach was starting to scrunch itself, and there was nothing that I said to myself that calmed me down in any way.I tried to call Terri three more times, but she never picked up the phone.I debated calling Jasper and telling him about his mother going missing, especially with the state that he was in, so I decided to call Dave back.“Is something wrong? Do you want
CARMEN“Dave, what are you doing with Jasper’s phone? Please tell me it’s not what I think it is,” I said, shaking my head as panic settled inside my stomach.“I need you to come back home. We should all settle this when everybody is home, right? You don’t have to worry about sleeping here. I’ll drive you back to where you are when we’re done,” he said with his eerily calm voice once again, ignoring my question.“Where is Jasper?” I asked as I fished for my purse and walked out of the room and into the living room to find Terri and tell her that I would be back soon.“He’s right here with me,” Dave answered.“Don’t do anything you’re going to regret later. I’ll be right there,” I told him and hung up when I found Terri sitting and reading something to Mariah to get her to fall asleep.“Hi, Terri. I was just… I’m going back to the house, but I’ll be right back,” I was quick to tell her that I would be back due to the panic that came across her face when I told her that I would be headi
CARMENWhen we finally got to Terri’s apartment, I collapsed on her couch as she pushed Mariah in. All my tears had dried out of my eyes, and I didn’t have any to shed anymore.“You can go take a shower in one of the bathrooms,” she said, pointing towards a door of one of the bedrooms, which I didn’t hesitate to stand up and head to.“That used to be Emily’s room before she moved out. She has some clothes in the closet that I’m sure she’s not going to pick up, so you can help yourself,” Terri announced before I could close the door.“Thank you,” I mumbled, abashed.I pulled my phone out of my purse as soon as I was in the privacy of the room, dialing Dave’s number and waiting impatiently for him to pick up the phone.“Carmen, are you alright?” he asked immediately after picking up the phone, and I had to take a deep breath to prevent my voice from getting shaky as I explained everything that had just happened.“I’m at Terri’s apartment; she’s the woman who takes care of Jasper’s mothe
CARMEN“Jasper, please back away a bit, you’re scaring me,” I said as he started to head for me. I was actively thinking of how to get away from him if need be, but he placed the key to the door in his pocket.“You should be scared, Carmen. Do you have any idea how hurt and angry I am now that I know that everything you have ever told me has been a lie?” He narrowed his eyes, staggering until I got to the glass door separating me from the balcony. I didn’t want an altercation that would lead to someone’s life being in danger, so I did not open the door.“Why did you lie to me, and why did Dave help you with it? Imagine my surprise when I called your mother and she said she had no idea about it,” he slurred, given me a drunken laughter as he trapped me between his arms and the door. The bottle of alcohol was still in his hand, and I could smell every bit of it on his breath.“I did not lie to you, Jasper. Not in the way that you think,” I defended, but he was not buying any of it.“You
CARMEN“Mom, is Jasper there with you?” I asked, glancing at Dave to let him know that something had gone wrong. He stood upright, setting his plate of pie aside and staring at me as I waited for my mother’s reply.“He’s not, but he did call earlier. He asked me about this aviation company that you said you were working with, and how come you never told me you were going to India?” I placed my hand on my face and rubbed hard with a tired sigh.“What did you tell him?” I inquired, knowing what the truth was without even having her answer.“I told him the truth, of course,” she answered, and I groaned and walked out of the kitchen as Dave followed me with his hand over his waist.“Come on, Carmen. You know better than lying with my name without telling me about it first. If you wanted to hide something from him, you should have told me about it. I would have helped you, but I was just as confused as you were,” she defended herself.I stayed silent for a moment, not sure what to tell her
CARMENDave and I glanced at each other in immediate panic before scrambling out of the bed and trying hard to put on our clothes in record time.“Do you think Jasper followed us all the way here?” I asked as the heavy knocks came against the door once again, and Dave gave me a look that said he was just thinking the same thing.If it turned out to be Jasper, there was no lying our way out of it. We would be caught out, and everyone would know at a time that we didn’t even want them knowing, especially now that we had gone all the way to the countryside to have an affair with each other.Dave was the first to put his clothes on completely, helping me zip my dress up before we rushed out to the living room.“I’ll open the door. You can stay behind,” he told me, letting me stand a few feet behind him as he opened the door.The first thing that greeted us was the heavy wind that came from outside that we had been too engrossed in each other and our panic to notice. The couple that had ha
CARMEN“I love you, Carmen.”My eyes widened at that announcement, and I could feel my heart rip to shreds at his words. It felt too different hearing it from him than it did when Jasper told me that he loved me, and that was the one confirmation that I needed – I loved him just as much as he loved me, if not more.“This is not me pressuring you to say it back or feel the same way, by the way. I just wanted to get it off my chest,” he reminded, but it was too late for that since I already felt enough and more to match what he had for me.“Shut up,” I laughed, shaking my head as he stared at me in confusion. I could tell that he didn’t know whether to laugh or not, and it only made me laugh even more.“You’re such an idiot if you really think I don’t love you as much as you love me, Dave.” I walked over to him, and he stood up to meet my eyes with a look that took my breath away. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he pulled me closer to him. “I love you, Dave. I love you so much.”
CARMENJasper walked towards Dave and I, causing me to instinctively shift away from where Dave stood. I could feel my heart try to get into my throat and rush out of my mouth to plop against the floor.“Did you know he was coming?” Dave asked me as Jasper got closer and closer.“Of course not,” I answered, clearing my throat and thinking of something to lie about that would be believable enough for him, especially since I had never mentioned Dave in any of this.“You forgot this in the car, so I turned around and followed the taxi you brought it over to you when you wouldn’t pick up any of my calls,” he said, handing me a small wallet that was supposed to be in my purse.“Thank you,” I said with a smile, foolishly expecting him to leave the building and not ask any questions. “I’m sure you have a lot of work to—”“Dave, what are you doing here?” Jasper went straight to the point, looking at Dave and ignoring me. “I thought it was a thing between Carmen and these people from an aviati
CARMEN“I really think it would be much safer if I just drove you and dropped you off. You’re making this harder than it ought to be,” Jasper argued with me that morning after I had just lied to him about why I was leaving for the countryside.“You just said you had a lot of work to do. I don’t understand why you would want to drive all the way there,” I argued, placing my bag over my shoulder and walking out of the house as he trailed behind me to the garden, where Terri and Mariah sat.“Don’t make a scene in front of them, Carmen. I’m going to drive you out of the state, and that’s final,” he said into my ear. “Maybe this time, I’ll find out what this aviation company is that you have been telling me about and I’ll hold someone accountable if something happens to you all the way in India.”“You know what? Suit yourself.” I raised my hands in surrender. “If you want to drive me, no problem.”I figured that I would find a way to lose him when we reached the stop that Dave had told me
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