Todos los capítulos de My stepbrother and his friends want me : Capítulo 81 - Capítulo 90

RHYS I drafted the letter in the early hours, when the city was still dark and the penthouse was quiet enough that my own thoughts felt too loud.The language had to be precise. There could be no ambiguity, no room for interpretation or quiet political manoeuvring. I sat at the desk in the office wing with three screens open and the formal seal of our pack ready to be applied. Every sentence was measured. Every clause was deliberate.The betrothal agreement between myself and Victoria of the Marcelo line was dissolved, effective immediately. No further negotiations would be entertained. No private amendments would be accepted. The alliance terms that had been contingent upon the union were hereby nullified on my authority as heir.I read it over once. Then again.When I was satisfied, I signed it, applied the seal, and initiated the distribution sequence I had prepared the night before.The letter went through the formal channels first. It was encrypted and registered for delivery to

EMMAMy morning started the way the better ones had been starting lately.I woke to the low sound of movement in the kitchen and the smell of coffee already brewing. Cade’s side of the bed was empty but still warm. When I padded out in one of his shirts, he was at the stove and Theo was leaning against the counter with a tablet, scrolling through something with intense focus. They both looked up when I appeared. Cade’s mouth curved. Theo’s eyes softened in that careful way of his.“Morning,” Cade said, already reaching for a second mug.“Morning.”It should have felt like enough. In a lot of ways it did. We moved around each other with the easy rhythm we had been building. Theo asked if I wanted to go over the updated security notes later. Cade muttered something about the gym and whether I felt like joining him for once. I told them both I would think about it, and the conversation drifted into nothing important. Laughter came easier than it used to and everything was fine. But unde

EMMAThe argument started over pasta.Cade thought the sauce needed more garlic. Theo thought Cade had already put in enough to kill a vampire. I sat on the kitchen counter with a glass of water, offering opinions neither of them had asked for and enjoying the fact that they were both taking me far too seriously.“You’re going to ruin it,” Theo warned, positioning himself between Cade and the spice rack.“Move your arm.”“No.”“Do you want to eat bland pasta for the rest of your life?”“I want to eat pasta that doesn’t taste like a garlic clove drowned in tomato sauce.”I snorted into my glass. Cade looked at me, betrayed. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”“I’m on the side of whoever’s cooking. It’s a survival instinct.”Theo laughed, and Cade muttered something under his breath before adding another clove anyway.It was such a stupid argument. I loved it for that.A few weeks ago, I might have watched them bicker and wondered how long it would take before something went wrong. Now,

EMMAThe nightmares are back again.They returned with a vengeance, like they had only been waiting for me to believe I had outrun them. I woke with my face already wet, the pillow damp beneath my cheek, and the same useless anger rising in my chest before I was fully conscious. I wiped the tears with the heel of my hand hard enough that the skin stung. I thought I was over this. I had told myself I was over this. The fact that my body still betrayed me in the dark made me furious.Two days ago Rhys came to the penthouse.I knew he was here the moment the elevator opened on our floor. Something in the air shifted not scent exactly, not sound, just the old, familiar weight of his presence pressing against the edges of rooms he was not even standing in. He had a meeting with Cade and Theo. I stayed upstairs. I told myself I would not go near that hallway.I lasted twenty minutes.Curiosity and something uglier than curiosity pulled me down the corridor until I was standing outside the c

RHYS Cade’s message came through just after noon.We need to see. Now.I was already moving before I finished reading it. My apartment suddenly felt too small, the walls too close. Whatever had put that particular edge in Cade’s usually blunt phrasing was not something that could wait for a convenient hour.Theo was already in the living room when I arrived. Cade stood near the windows with his arms crossed, jaw set in a way I recognised from the worst nights of the old days. He did not waste time on greetings.“Emma told me about a recording,” he said.The temperature in the room seemed to drop.“What recording?”“Victoria played it for her in the cell. Repeatedly. It was your voice, Rhys. Saying you were done with her. That she had been a game. That none of it had been real.” Cade’s eyes stayed locked on mine. “She sat on a concrete floor and listened to you end things while she was already broken. That’s the version of you she has been carrying around in her head. That is what the