Step Family Novels & Stories

Grayson steps closer. “If this is about the company ” “It’s not,” Stephen interrupts. “It’s about Ethan.” Grayson freezes. Stephen watches him carefully. “You’re too emotional,” Stephen says quietly. “You’re making decisions based on feelings.” Grayson’s hands clench. “He’s my son.” Stephen’s voice turns cold. “He’s not.” The words hit like a gunshot. Jamie appears behind us. “He is.” Stephen looks at him. “You’re just a child.” Jamie steps forward. “He’s my brother.”

“You said that wouldn’t help. He’s part of a team. Kill him, someone worse comes next. We need his secrets or to turn him.” I groaned. “Right… I said that.” “Yeah, you did. That’s why Dad made this school plan—get close, gain leverage, cripple them from inside.” I rubbed my temple. “Maybe I’m more screwed up than I thought.” Conti nodded. “You think? And you haven’t even heard the best part.” I scowled. “Go ahead, ruin my day.” Conti grinned. “Your stepmother and stepsister are moving in tomorrow.”

“It can’t happen again. I’m your stepmother. You’re my stepson. We can’t… we can’t do that again. It can’t happen. Not with what’s at stake.” His hands clenched at his sides, and he closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, they were sharper than ever. “I care about you, Lucia. And what happened this morning is proof...” he hesitated, swallowing hard. "I’ll protect you, no matter what.” I shook my head, trying to fight the swirl of feelings inside me. “No. We need to keep boundaries, Hunter. You’re my stepson. I’m your stepmother. That’s the reality.”

“Because the way that heart monitor was spiking, I thought you were flatlining—turns out you were just getting your freak on.” I didn’t even flinch. I just smirked, my voice low. “What can I say? Love’s a hell of a drug.” Alex made a gagging sound, dragging a chair across the floor and plopping into it like a pissed-off babysitter. “Y’all are insane. Like actually. Ariana, your leg has staples in it.” “And your head is stitched like Frankenstein,” I shot back. “What’s your point?” Alex pointed between us like he was solving a crime. “You two are step-siblings. This is forbidden, illegal in several countries, and definitely against hospital policy.”

His laughter grew louder and more unhinged. “You don’t have the heart,my boy.” Stephan wiped the blood from his mouth. “You’ve always been too weak for this family. That’s why you ran. That’s why your own never claimed you.” Father? Melissa’s drug-fogged brain tried to process that. Ethan and Stephan were related? He was always a part of the five families? Which meant… “You ran away when you were sixteen,” Stephan continued. “Your weak ass couldn’t even handle the training. You could not handle what Zeus asked of us. Your where too much of a pussy, a fucking weak pussy”

I am aware that from the outside we look like them. I am aware that we are not like them, or not yet, or not in any way that has a word attached to it. She lives in my home. She is carrying my son. She came back on terms she wrote herself and I agreed to all of them without negotiating a single line. We have not named any of it. We are two people in a waiting room without a category. She reaches down and moves her bag two inches to the left for no reason I can identify. I understand, watching her do it, that she is nervous.

“Plus, Brad probably travels all the time, liaising with shareholders, meeting politicians, and bribing important people with his deep pockets. You know that’s par for the course in the construction biz. Developers are all shady as hell, and I’m sure Brad Landry is no different. So yeah, I don’t think there’s a bat’s chance in hell of crossing paths with my ex-stepfather.” Lila looks thoughtful. “Well, when you put it that way ...” I nod firmly while stuffing the last of my clothes into my suitcase. “I definitely think it won’t happen. But what about you? Don’t you have a summer job lined up with your uncle? Don’t you need to pack?” Lila blushes and suddenly turns back to her laptop. “Yes, I

I said. “Doesn't it the same baby who helps you to cage Rose with you?” Stephen asked seems interesting in my life drama. “Yes…” I leaned back on the sofa, closing my eyes. “So tell her his father is asking for him. Give that baby to his father and solve this person's mystery” Steph suggested. “And you think I didn't think about that” I snapped. “Sorry…” He kept himself quiet. “I don't know what attachment she has with that baby, She was ready for the third section for him after knowing what happened in the third section,” I said, breaking the silence.

“There must be something wrong with you.” “It’s not as wonderful as it sounds,” Stephanie replied looking down. “On my twentieth birthday, after a long and painful illness, my mother died. A few months later, my father informed me that he decided to get married again. His second wife had been his mistress for years. She wanted to become a Collins at all costs. This woman had a son, from another man, someone she knew before she met my father. So, I’ve found myself living under the same roof with a stepmother and an older step-brother. Everything went pretty well, until one night when he... he entered my room and…”

“It’s been six years since your wife died. Your son needed a mother.” Callum scoffed. Right, that was the type of mindset that his father died. Just like what he did when his mother died when he was six years old, he wanted another woman to join the family just to expand his connections. “I don’t think my son would need a mother. Especially if his stepmother would be a woman like the one you brought home when I was young.” He might sound bitter but he did not care. He would not let Caleb experience the things that he experienced when his father married another woman and bore another son.