All Chapters of Stealing His Brother's Girl : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I love Rowan Oberon. I have loved him for so much longer than I can ever admit out loud. Not in the dramatic, heart-on-sleeve way you see plastered across movie screens, but quietly. Tucked behind all the small moments we’ve shared since childhood. Moments he probably doesn’t even remember. But for me, they are the very air I breathe. Tonight is the night. Tonight, I am finally going to tell him everything. Or at least, I’m supposed to. I’m sitting on his couch, knees tucked to my chest, swaddled in the oversized grey hoodie he lent me last week because it 'smells like comfort.' But in truth, it smells like Rowan, which is both the best and worst thing in the world. He’s pacing. Of course he’s pacing. Rowan always paces when he’s excited, nervous, or whenever he's attempting to distract his brilliant, overthinking brain from a complex problem. I know this pace like I know the freckles on my own arm. He paced like this before he shared the incredible news that he had been accept

“What do you want, Sebastian?” My voice comes out cracked. “I’m not entertaining you today.” I stand on the broken sidewalk outside Rowan’s apartment building, a place I have frequented for years, and for the first time, it feels cold He laughs quietly. “You think I want entertainment from a girl like you?" He mocks, voice low. "A girl who’s busy begging for scraps of affection from a man already planning his honeymoon?” My jaw tightens. Before I can formulate a comeback, he speaks again. “Tell me this, Novalyn. You’re in love with Rowan, yes or no?” I bite back a groan and click my tongue. “I… I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” I turn, thinking maybe if I put some distance between us, I can stop my chest from hammering like a drum. My feet barely hit the ground before I hear him matching my steps. With those long legs of his, he’s always two steps behind even when I want him gone. “It’s pathetic,” he says casually. “Devoting yourself to one man all your lif

I lay on my bed that night, staring at the ceiling, thinking about Sebastian's offer.The club was one thing... just a distraction, a few hours of pretending I could be someone different. Someone who isn’t painfully in love with her best friend. But this? This second offer is something else entirely.'I can help you get Rowan.'The words echo in my head, over and over.They sound too good to be true. Of course I could use help. God knows I've spent years failing on my own. Maybe I do need someone like Sebastian. Someone calculating and ruthless and willing to do whatever it takes.But here's the part that makes me uneasy. What's the point of getting Rowan to notice me, to love me, if I have to betray his trust to do it?Can I live with the guilt? Can I look Rowan in the eyes every day, knowing I sold him out for my own selfish desires?But then again... maybe I can. Maybe once he's in love with me, it won't matter anymore. He'll be too wrapped up in us to care about whatever informati

I wake to the sound of laughter. It's loud. So loud that it pulls me straight out of sleep. For a disorienting moment, I forget where I am. Then it all comes rushing back. I'm in Rowan's apartment. In the room Jane decorated for me. In the space where I'm supposed to start my new life as the third wheel to their perfect relationship.And last night, I found Jane's coat. The one with the wrong initials embroidered on it.J.S.My heart starts racing all over again just thinking about it. I grab my phone from the nightstand, squinting at the screen. 7:42 AM. Sunday morning. The first full day of living here.I throw off the covers and practically stumble across the room to the corner where the boxes are stacked. My hands are shaking slightly as I crouch down and open the one I searched through last night.The coat is still there, right where I left it, folded beneath layers of expensive lingerie.I pull it out carefully, my fingers finding the silver embroidery almost immediately. Thos

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