Pustaka
Cari
Beranda / Romance / Stealing His Brother's Girl / The First Crack

Share

The First Crack

Penulis: Scarl James
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-01-16 05:42:19

I barely sleep throughout the night.

My mind won't stop moving. It keeps playing the same things over and over. Everything Sebastian told me. Jane's ex-fiancé. James Sterling. The expensive coat with his initials. The hotel that's only ten minutes away from this apartment. Ten minutes. That number keeps spinning in my head.

When my alarm finally goes off at seven-thirty in the morning, I feel like I haven't slept at all. Maybe I haven't. My whole body hurts as I drag myself out of bed and in to the bathroom.

I flip on the light and immediately wish I hadn't looked in the mirror.

My eyes are swollen and puffy, with dark purple circles underneath them that look almost like bruises. No amount of concealer is going to hide this damage. My skin looks pale and blotchy, like I've been sick. I look like I've spent the entire night crying, even though I haven't shed a single tear. I've just been thinking. Thinking and worrying and trying to make sense of everything.

After obsessing over Jane a
Lanjutkan membaca buku ini secara gratis
Pindai kode untuk mengunduh Aplikasi
Bab sebelumnya Bab selanjutnya
Bab Terkunci

Bab terbaru

  • Stealing His Brother's Girl    A Risky Meeting

    I can't just waltz out of the apartment. I explicitly told them I was exhausted, that I was going straight to bed to rest. If I suddenly say I'm leaving, they'll definitely ask questions. I pace around my room, thinking hard, running through possibilities and discarding them just as quickly.I could say I'm meeting a friend. But which friend? Rowan knows I don't have many friends in the city. He'll ask who. He'll ask where we're going, and I'm not good enough at lying under pressure to come up with convincing details on the spot.I need something concrete. Something believable. Something that gives me a good reason to leave right now and be gone for at least an hour, probably longer.I pace faster, biting my thumbnail.And then it hits me.My wallet.I could say I left my wallet at work. That I just realized it's still in my locker at the café and I need to go get it.It's perfect. It's the kind of thing I would actually do. I'm always forgetting things, always leaving my jacket some

  • Stealing His Brother's Girl    Too Many Coincidences

    My body goes completely numb. Jesus Christ.Rita just told me she saw Jane at a hotel. The Grand Regency. The exact same hotel where James Sterling is staying. And she didn't just see Jane near the hotel. She saw Jane walking into that hotel with a man. A tall man with dark hair wearing an expensive suit. A man who sounds exactly like James Sterling. A man who matches his description.Sebastian was right.Oh God, he was right about everything.Just this morning, I'd almost convinced myself to stop. I was ready to trust Jane. Ready to tell myself that Sebastian's suspicions were paranoid, that I was being ridiculous for even doubting her in the first place. I was going to walk away from this whole investigation and pretend everything was fine, pretend I'd never found that coat or searched through her things.What a pathetic, naive idiot I am.How could I have been so naive? How could I have almost let this go?"It might not be her though," Rita says, still looking at Jane and Rowan's

  • Stealing His Brother's Girl    The First Crack

    I barely sleep throughout the night.My mind won't stop moving. It keeps playing the same things over and over. Everything Sebastian told me. Jane's ex-fiancé. James Sterling. The expensive coat with his initials. The hotel that's only ten minutes away from this apartment. Ten minutes. That number keeps spinning in my head.When my alarm finally goes off at seven-thirty in the morning, I feel like I haven't slept at all. Maybe I haven't. My whole body hurts as I drag myself out of bed and in to the bathroom.I flip on the light and immediately wish I hadn't looked in the mirror.My eyes are swollen and puffy, with dark purple circles underneath them that look almost like bruises. No amount of concealer is going to hide this damage. My skin looks pale and blotchy, like I've been sick. I look like I've spent the entire night crying, even though I haven't shed a single tear. I've just been thinking. Thinking and worrying and trying to make sense of everything.After obsessing over Jane a

  • Stealing His Brother's Girl    Ten Minutes Away

    I want to argue more, want to tell him to leave and text me the information like a normal person, to stop being so dramatic and reckless. But I can hear from his tone thaf he's not budging on this. He's not leaving until I talk to him, and the longer we stand here arguing through a phone while he's visible on the street below, the more likely it is that someone will notice.With a silent curse under my breath, I reach for the window latch. My fingers fumble with it for a second before I manage to unlatch it and slide the window open as quietly as I can. The cool night air rushes in immediately. It hits my skin and raises goosebumps all along my arms, making me shiver. I'm about to climb out when I notice Sebastian walking toward the window instead of waiting for me.I frown. What is he doing?He moves with stealth crossing the small patch of grass and approaching my window. Now that he's this close, I can see his expression more clearly in the dim light. It's sharp and focused, almos

  • Stealing His Brother's Girl    Soft Pink and Deep Red

    Two days.Sebastian said forty-eight hours, and I've been counting every single one of them.Monday drags by slowly.The morning starts with me finally unpacking properly. Yesterday, in my distracted state, I had shoved things randomly. So I pull everything out and start again.Every time I pass Jane's boxes in the corner, my heart beats faster. I know I should look through them. Sebastian told me to keep my eyes open, to search for anything else suspicious. But I can't make myself do it. Not with Jane just downstairs, humming in the kitchen while she makes breakfast. Not with the risk of her walking in and catching me elbow-deep in her belongings.So I leave the boxes alone and finish unpacking my own things instead.Around noon, Jane insists on driving me to work. She wants to see the café, she says. Wants to know more about my life before her hospital shift for the day starts. So I spend twenty minutes trapped in her vanilla-scented car while she chatters about her day ahead.When

  • Stealing His Brother's Girl    Terms and Conditions

    Sebastian is quiet for a long moment."I don't think this coat proves anything," he says finally. "But, I don't like unanswered questions either. You might be reaching. Hell, you probably are reaching. This is most likely exactly what it looks like, an old robe from an ex that she forgot was in her storage."He pauses, making a turn that takes us along the waterfront. "But," he says again, "your logic isn't entirely flawed. Moving across the country and keeping that specific robe means it's something important. And either she lied to Rowan about her name, or she's holding onto something from someone she's never mentioned. Are you absolutely sure she doesn't have a middle name? Sure enough to stake money on it?"I hesitate, replaying the conversation in my mind. "Rowan said her full legal name was Jane Morgan. No middle name. When I kept pushing, he got worried and asked what was going on. He was very clear about it."Sebastian nods slowly. "Alright," he says. "I'll help you. My bre

Bab Lainnya

Anda juga akan menyukai

Jelajahi dan baca novel bagus secara gratis
Akses gratis ke berbagai novel bagus di aplikasi GoodNovel. Unduh buku yang kamu suka dan baca di mana saja & kapan saja.
Baca buku gratis di Aplikasi
Pindai kode untuk membaca di Aplikasi
DMCA.com Protection Status