My One-Night Stand Turned Out to Be My Stepbrother のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

NIA’S POV.“She married him a week before I even landed in Atlanta, Ava. A whole week. I didn’t get to meet him. Didn’t get to say a word. Just got a call that said pack your bags, you’re moving into the penthouse.”Ava bounced in the driver’s seat like the news still excited her. “Girl, I know. You’ve been saying it since we left home. But look—your mama waited two years. Two whole years after your daddy. She was lonely. You saw the way she stopped cooking, stopped laughing at those old shows. She deserves somebody.”“She deserves somebody she actually introduces to her daughter first.”“I’m not dismissing you.” Ava turned the music up a notch then immediately back down so she could keep talking. “I’m saying both things can be true. She can want love and you can still be pissed she moved this fast.”I stared out at the city lights crawling past. “I don’t care about who she moves on with. I care that I had to find out from a text that my mother had a new husband.”Ava reached over and

NIA’S POV.“You’ve got to be kidding me.”The words left my mouth before I could stop them. The whole room went quiet. Even the air felt still.My mother looked between me and Kingston, forehead already creasing. “What do you mean?”I forced a short laugh that sounded wrong even to me. “I… I mean… what are the chances? I thought he’d be older. You know. Closer to Victor’s age or something.”Kingston’s eyes flicked to mine for half a second. He caught on fast.“Yeah,” he said, voice steady. “I get that a lot.”Victor chuckled, easy and warm. “People always expect a thirty-something-year-old because of my age. Can’t blame them.”My mother smiled again, the tension leaving her shoulders. “Well, now you’ve met. Sit down, Kingston. There’s still plenty of food.”He pulled out the chair across from me and sat. I stared at my plate. The salmon looked cold now. I picked up my fork just to have something in my hand.Victor asked him about work. Kingston answered in short, normal sentences. Lon

NIA’S POV.The car was too quiet.Kingston drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting on his thigh. I sat in the passenger seat and watched the city move past the window. Atlanta morning traffic. Slow. Stop and go. The leather under me still held the cool of the garage.I could smell his cologne again. Same one from the club. Clean and dark. It filled the small space every time the air kicked on.He didn’t speak for the first few minutes. Neither did I. The silence felt thick. Every time he shifted gears his sleeve pulled back and I saw the edge of a tattoo I had traced with my fingers three nights ago. I looked away fast.“You always this quiet in the morning?” he asked.“Only when I’m being driven to a job I didn’t apply for by my—” I stopped. The word sat wrong in my mouth. “By you.”He made a low sound that might have been a laugh. “Fair.”Another red light. He tapped his thumb against the wheel once, then stopped.“Dad means well,” he said. “He just… doesn’t ask first.”

Nia pov I walked out of Carter Global with my pulse still hammering in my throat. The private elevator felt too small. Every mirrored wall showed the same flushed face and clenched jaw. Serena’s voice kept replaying—the bitch you are with now—and the way Kingston had stepped in front of me like I belonged to him. Protective stepbrother. The words stuck under my skin worse than her almost-scratch. By the time the car service dropped me at the building, the sun was already dropping. I rode the elevator up alone, arms crossed tight, trying to shake the leftover heat from the office. It wouldn’t go. Every time I blinked I saw his hand on my arm, the look on his face when he shoved Serena back, the second of pure possession before he covered it with family talk. The penthouse doors opened to quiet. My mother was in the kitchen, chopping something green. Victor sat at the island with a tablet. Both looked up when I

Nia’s POV Ava’s finger stayed pointed at Kingston like she could erase him from the hallway if she just kept it there long enough. “That’s him. The club guy.” The words hit the quiet room and stayed. Kingston didn’t move. He leaned one shoulder against the doorframe, arms crossed, face unreadable. Only the muscle in his jaw gave anything away. I shut the door in his face. Ava spun on me the second it clicked. “Are you out of your mind?” “Keep your voice down.” “Keep my—Nia.” She grabbed both my shoulders. “That is the man you described in exact detail. Tattoos. The way he moved. The way he—” She cut herself off and dropped her hands. “You said the sex was one of a kind. You said you’d never felt anything like it. And now he’s living here. As your stepbrother.” I sat on the edge of the bed because my legs felt unreliable. “I know.” “No. You don’t get to say ‘I know’ like this is a parking ticket.” Ava paced the short space between the bed and the window. “You need