Alle Kapitel von CRUEL DESIRES: MY BULLY TURNED STEP BROTHER : Kapitel 11 – Kapitel 20

Gabriel's POV The door groaned open, and for a second, I thought I was actually going to vomit. Derek shifted away from me so fast it was like he had never been there, leaving my skin screaming at the sudden loss of heat.My mom stood in the doorway, her eyes scanning the dim library. She looked… suspicious, but then she saw Derek’s easy, arrogant smirk, and she softened. She always softened for the Millers."Are you guys okay?" she asked, her voice tilting upward. "I have been calling you both for five minutes.""We are good, Mom," Derek said. The word Mom sounded like a slur coming out of his mouth, but she beamed like he had just handed her a trophy. He stepped toward her, his hand briefly resting on my shoulder, a heavy, burning weight that felt like a brand. "Gabriel was just filling me in on how much he adores me as his new big brother. Right, Gabe?"I couldn't speak. I just nodded, my chin wobbling. I felt like a puppet with its strings tangled."Oh, that’s wonderful!" she ch

Derek's POV I swiped through the files on my laptop, the glow of the screen the only light in my room. Aish, this photographer is a total hack. I pay him enough to buy a house, and he can’t even get the angle right?I stared at a shot of Gabriel at the stables. He was mid flinch, his shoulders hunched, eyes wide with that pathetic, beautiful terror. The lighting was garbage. It didn't capture the way his skin looked like translucent porcelain under the sun. It didn't show the way he looked like he was about to snap in half.I leaned back, taking a slow sip of the amber liquid in my glass. Gabriel. My little scholarship charity case. My stepbrother.He was a fascinating specimen. I have broken guys before who dared annoyed me, athletes, loudmouths, rich pricks. I usually just use my fists or my father’s influence and call it a day. But Gabriel? He was different. He was soft. He was high quality silk that I wanted to shred with my bare hands just to see the threads come apart. Every t

Derek's POV I was pressed against some guy in a dark corner of the balcony, the taste of cheap vodka and smoke sliding down my throat. It was supposed to be a distraction. I was supposed to be enjoying the fact that I was the king of this pathetic hill.But then someone grabbed my shoulder. Hard."Derek! Man, stop your brother, the ginger kid... I think he’s drowning."The world stopped. The music, the heavy bass, the heat of the guy in front of me, it all turned to ice. I didn't even think. I shoved the guy away so hard he hit the railing, and I lunged toward the pool area.I saw them. A circle of idiots with their phones out, the blue glow of their screens reflecting off the water. They were laughing. They were filming."Move!" I snarled, slamming my way through the crowd. I didn't care who I hit or who I bruised.Then I saw him.Gabriel was a pale blur beneath the surface, his black silk shirt billowing around him like a shroud. He wasn't moving. He was just sinking, a broken doll

Derek's POV The silence that followed Gabriel’s words was louder than the music at the party.You should have left me to die.I froze. I have spent my entire life making people fear me. I have watched guys beg for their lives, seen them turn into sniveling cowards just to keep breathing. But this? This small, broken ginger guy was looking at me with those watery, unfocused eyes and telling me that my greatest effort saving his life was a mistake.A surge ofhot anger flared in my chest. It wasn't the rage I felt for Connor. It was sharper. It was fear."Don't say that," I snapped, my voice a low, dangerous growl. I gripped the bed rail so hard the metal groaned. "Don't you ever say that again. You don't get to decide when you are done with life, Gabe. I decide. And I am nowhere near finished with you.""Derek? Oh, praise God! We got here as fast as we could!"The curtain was yanked back with a violent screech. Gabriel's mother and my father, stood there. Gabriel's mum looked like sh

Gabriel's POV "You are in my house," Derek’s voice was like a low frequency hum that made the glass of water on my nightstand vibrate. "Standing on my floor. Breathing my air. And you are bothering my brother."Usually, that’s where people fold. I have seen grown men turn into ghosts when Derek uses that tone. But Erica was stubborn, fueled by a year of Instagram crushing and the misplaced confidence of a girl who had never been told no by someone who actually meant it.She didn't back down. Instead, she scoffed, a jagged, nervous sound that made Mike wince behind her."Your air? Seriously?" Erica stepped forward, closing the gap Derek had used to intimidate her. Who do you think you are? Kanye West ? Micheal Jackson?"She pulled her phone out of her back pocket, the screen cracked but glowing. This isn't some dark romance movie, Derek. You can’t just talk to people like they're trash because you have a trust fund and a gym membership."I felt my heart skip a beat. My lungs, still ra