Início / Romance / The Scandalous Step Siblings: First Enemies, Then Lovers / Capítulo 81 - Capítulo 90

Todos os capítulos de The Scandalous Step Siblings: First Enemies, Then Lovers : Capítulo 81 - Capítulo 90

121 Capítulos

81

Anya's POV This giant glass greenhouse room was basically a sauna and it was way too bright for the drama I was about to start, but there was Lila, looking like a fancy ghost in her silk outfit and hanging around the medical supplies like she was protecting some holy relics or something. I could totally feel her staring at my face and probably counting every single dark circle under my eyes while she judged how close I was standing to Kai’s little stool, but I didn't sit down because I needed to look tall and intimidating so I could be the Critic again. I needed to act like I didn't care about the guy who used to write the best songs in the world, and I just stared at Kai and noticed how he was holding his hand like it was made of glass while his knuckles were turning white."Ethan thinks we are being way too boring and safe," I said, and my voice sounded kind of weird and loud against all the glass walls, "he thinks the fans are going to know this whole 'happy recovery' thing is a

82

Anya’s POVThe dinner was a slow-motion execution. Ethan had set the table with the precision of a crime scene investigator, placing the sponsors at the center and me at the far end, like an unwanted ghost at the feast. The room was lit by a dozen flickering candles that made the shadows on the walls dance in a way that felt predatory.I sat there in a dress that felt like a costume, watching the men in suits tear into their steaks while they discussed Kai’s soul as if it were a quarterly projection. Kai sat opposite me, his face a marble mask of indifference. He hadn't looked at me once since the conservatory. He hadn't even looked at his plate. He just sat there, his injured hand resting in his lap, while Lila sat beside him, whispering small, encouraging things that he didn't seem to hear.The bloated sponsor with the expensive watch leaned forward, a smear of red wine on his lower lip. So, Anya, he said, his voice wet and self-important. Ethan tells us you’re finally digging into

83

Anya's POV The cold metal of the handcuffs snapped shut around my wrists with a definitive, bone-chilling weight, and the sound was so deafening in the sudden silence of the suite that it felt like a gunshot.It was a sharp, mechanical clink that signaled the absolute end of my life as a free woman, and I felt the bite of the steel against my skin, a coldness that seeped into my veins and turned my blood to ice.The officers didn't handle me with even a shred of care or professional courtesy, because they gripped my upper arms with bruising force and pulled me toward the balcony door while my heels caught awkwardly on the stone floor, sending jolts of vibration up my spine as I stumbled."Kai!" I screamed, and the word tore from my throat, raw and desperate, while my voice cracked under the pressure of a rising panic I couldn't contain.Kai took a frantic step forward, the small velvet box still crushed within his good hand, and I could see his knuckles turning white as the fabric of

84

Anya’s POVThe cruiser didn't head for the city lights. Instead, the tires transitioned from smooth asphalt to the crunch of gravel, deep in the wooded perimeter of the Rhodes estate. My heart was a frantic drum against my ribs."The road was moved?" I whispered, leaning forward as much as the cuffs would allow. "What does that even mean? It was a highway."The officer with the scarred eyebrow didn't look back. "GPS spoofing. A signal jammer and a fake mobile detour sign. In the rain, at that speed? Kai thought he was following the curve of the exit. He was actually driving straight into a dead end."I felt sick. Ethan hadn't just managed the aftermath; he had engineered the disaster. He’d turned Kai into a "tortured artist" by literally breaking him.The car came to a halt behind a derelict boathouse near the estate’s private lake. The driver stayed in the car, but the scarred officer got out and opened my door. He didn't unlock the cuffs."Out," he grunted.The night air was freezin

85

Anya’s POVThe drive back to the estate was a suffocating vacuum of unsaid things. Kai drove like a man who had made peace with the idea of dying, his good hand white-knuckled on the steering wheel while his injured one rested uselessly in his lap. I sat in the passenger seat, my wrists still stinging from the bite of the handcuffs, watching the dark trees blur into a smear of charcoal and shadow."He’ll know," I whispered, the words catching in my dry throat. "Ethan isn't a man you can surprise, Kai. If we walk back onto that bus, he’ll know the officers didn't take me to the precinct. He’ll know Javier intervened."Kai didn't look at me. His profile was a jagged edge against the dashboard lights. "Ethan thinks he owns the local police, and he’s mostly right. But he doesn't own everyone. He’ll think there was a procedural delay. A technicality. By the time he realizes the truth, we’ll be across the state line.""And then what?" I asked, my voice rising. "We’re walking back into the l

86

Anya's The morning of the first show arrived with the subtone of a funeral. We had crossed the state line under the cover of a restless, drug-induced sleep—at least for Kai. I had spent the night awake in my cramped bunk, the vibration of the road beneath me feeling like a countdown. My body was a map of contradictions; the places where Kai had touched me in the dark suite were still humming, but my mind was cold, calculating the distance between the tour bus and the nearest legal sanctuary.By 8:00 AM, the bus pulled into the loading dock of the arena. It was a massive, concrete throat waiting to swallow us. Crew members in black t-shirts swarmed the belly of the bus, unloading crates of lighting rigs and soundboards. The air was thick with the smell of diesel and the frantic energy of a high-stakes comeback."Anya, coffee. Black. Two sugars for the stage manager, and a green tea for Lila," Ethan’s voice cut through my thoughts. He was standing in the lounge, looking refreshed, a co

87

Anya’s POVKai was leaning lazily against the doorframe, his chest heaving, his eyes darting between me and Lila. The torn velvet of his jacket hung like a wounded wing."Kai, what did you do?" I whispered, my hand reflexively clutching the flash drive hidden against my skin."He found the link," Kai rasped, ignoring my question. He looked at Lila, his gaze lethal. "Give me the phone, Lila. Now."Lila backed away, her heels clicking sharply on the metal floor. "Kai, you’re not thinking straight. Ethan has the police on standby. He’s protecting you!""He’s burying me!" Kai roared, a sound so raw it made the server racks seem to tremble. He lunged forward, not with his usual grace, but with the desperation of a man who had nothing left to lose. He grabbed Lila’s wrist, his good hand forcing her to drop the phone."Anya, go," he commanded, pinning Lila against the cooling unit. "Get to the sound booth. The crowd is in. He can't touch you while the house lights are down without making a s

88

Anya’s POVThe world didn't go black. It went white, then a searing, electric blue.The taser hit my lower back, and for a second, my nervous system became a live wire. My muscles locked, my jaw clamped shut, and I collapsed against the sound console. But Ethan had been sloppy. In his haste to drop me, he hadn’t accounted for the fact that my falling body would strike the master fader.The sound in the arena didn't die. It doubled.The "thud" melody Kai was playing—the raw, bleeding heart of his trauma—blasted through the subwoofers with such force that the plastic cups in the front row likely shattered. It was a distorted, screaming roar of piano strings.Ethan hissed a curse, reaching over my twitching body to grab the flash drive. But the lead engineer, the man with the grey beard, had seen enough. He didn't know the full story, but he knew an artist was being choked. He stepped in Ethan’s way, his massive frame blocking the console."Back off, Vance," the engineer growled. "The bo

89

Anya’s POVThe bus hummed with a predatory energy as we cut through the darkness of the interstate. Kai was asleep or pretending to be his head leaned back against the headboard of the narrow bed. I sat on the floor, the cold vibration of the engine rattling my bones. My back was a map of fire where the taser had kissed my skin, but I couldn't rest.In the dim purple light, I looked at Kai. This was the "North Star." Broken, beautiful, and utterly dependent on the very people who were poisoning him. The bond between us had shifted. It wasn't just the shared history of my scathing reviews or his arrogant dismissals anymore. It was the weight of the secret we carried the digital ghost of his attempted murder sitting in my bra.I reached into my pocket and pulled out my tablet, shielding the screen with my body so the overhead camera couldn't see my fingers. I wasn't just checking setlists.I was mapping Ethan.Every predator has a pattern. Ethan Vance liked clean lines and "unfortunate

90

The humidity of New Orleans hit us like a damp shroud the moment the bus doors hissed open. The air smelled of swamp water, chicory, and the rot of old secrets. For the first time in weeks, the atmosphere felt as heavy as the weight of the digital evidence tucked against my skin. Ethan was already on the sidewalk, his sunglasses hiding eyes that I knew were scanning the perimeter for any sign of Javier or the fallout from the previous night's "technical glitch.""Keep him moving," Ethan snapped at me, gesturing toward the back of the bus where Kai was lingering. "The fans are already lining up at the stage door. I want him in the dressing room and under the lights before the humidity ruins his hair or his temperament."I nodded, keeping my head down, my fingers clutching my clipboard like a shield. "Yes, Ethan."I stepped back into the bus to find Kai. He was standing in the narrow hallway, his shirt half-buttoned, staring at the scarred skin of his left wrist. The bond we had forged

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