Stepbrother's Debt Read online

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2015 Sam Crescent

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-389-3

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Karyn White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  This is for all my wonderful readers. Thank you so much for your love and support. I hope you enjoy Donnie and Paige, as much as I enjoyed writing their story.

  STEPBROTHER’S DEBT

  The Family, 1

  Sam Crescent

  Copyright © 2015

  Chapter One

  “Whatever happens, Paige, don’t tell anyone.”

  The words whispered by her father several years ago had stuck with her, and still Paige Jones never told anyone anything, not about the card, or the number he’d forced her to remember. That was all inside her head.

  Staring out of the window, she wondered where her mother was taking her.

  “Mom, where are we going?” Paige asked. She was sat in the passenger side of her parents’ run down car. It was in need of some serious repairs, but when money was scarce, repairing a car wasn’t the biggest priority.

  “I told you I was going to fix all of our problems, and I finally have. You’ve got to learn to trust me.”

  She stared at her mother, Sharon, not liking what she’d said. They’d been alone for five years ever since her father just up and left without any explanation, apart from his secret visit to Paige on the final night she saw him. She’d never told her mother, or anyone else, not even the cops. He’d been insistent she not tell anyone, and at eleven years old, she had listened to her father. During these years they’d struggled to make ends meet. Paige had currently gotten a waitressing job at the local diner to help out with the bills while her mother cleaned rich peoples’ houses. They made enough between them to be okay. At sixteen Paige was still in high school and couldn’t work long hours because of her studies.

  “What do you mean that you’ve fixed our problems?”

  “I found a man, and he wanted us to move in. No more shitty apartment with that gross landlord.”

  Paige held her tongue instead of reminding her mother that she’d screwed the landlord regularly to get out of paying the rent. Not that Paige had ever actually caught her mother. She’d heard a couple of tenants talking about it.

  “We’re going to have a new life. One we both deserve. Your father cut out on us, Paige. I’ve done what I can.”

  What should she say? She’d heard her mother crying late at night when one of the men she tried to become more with had dropped her like a pan of hot potatoes. Paige wasn’t an idiot. Her mother used her sexy good looks, along with her body, to try to catch a man who’d stop her being a cleaner. If she was an awful mom, Paige would have hated her, but she wasn’t. Sharon did the best with what she could. It wasn’t her mother’s fault that her husband, Paige’s father, up and left without a word, or no word as far as Sharon had known. Her mother didn’t have a clue about what he said to Paige or the warning that he’d given her. Sharon had been hit hard by the loneliness to the point that Paige no longer could speak her father’s name in his presence.

  “Mom, are you sure about this?”

  “You deserve the best. You deserve a hell of a lot more than a cleaner’s salary can pay. It won’t be long until I get married and then everything will be perfect.”

  “Marriage?”

  “Yes, Anthony wants to marry me, and I’m not going to fight him. He’s made of money and influence, Paige. We’re going to be made, do you hear me? We’ll never have to worry about food or paying the rent.” Her mother visibly shuddered. “It’s designer all the way.”

  “Mom, this kind of thing comes at a price.”

  “I know, honey. Don’t you worry about a thing. Anthony is a sexy man. A little older than me and perhaps a little harder, but he wants me, nonetheless.” With how happy her mother sounded, Paige was afraid to dampen the mood.

  For the next hour all Paige listened to was how wonderful a man he was. Paige was going to adore him and Sharon was half in love with him already, but Paige knew the truth was, she was half in love with his money.

  When they pulled up in front of a large, aged building, Paige didn’t know what to say. She also didn’t know what to say about the fleet of expensive cars leading toward the garage. The security gate along with the six security guards, however, did unnerve her. What kind of man needed six security guards, all wearing serious expressions?

  Grabbing her school bag out of the car, she watched the front door open and a good looking, older man walk out.

  “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Sharon rushed toward him. Anthony held her at arm’s length assessing her. For a few seconds, Paige watched him as he critiqued her mother’s appearance.

  The conservative style blue dress and jacket had thrown Paige a little when her mother walked indoors. Sharon wasn’t the kind of woman to wear conservative clothes, even when the occasion called for it. She used to be a simplistic woman where jeans and a shirt were okay, but now she was talking about fashion.

  Pushing her hair back, Paige leaned against the falling down car just knowing her days of being close to her mother were numbered. Anthony was about to take control of everything.

  The one bad thing about her mother was her flighty attitude. Her father, Richard—and it was hard to think his name as it hurt too much—had abandoned them, and now Sharon was picking up the pieces. She’d known it would only be a matter of time before her mother found someone else.

  She watched the scene before her and froze when she felt a gaze on her. Paige was used to being overlooked. Her weight and general lack of conformity made her an easy target for the girls at school.

  Great. Did she just inherit a new stepsister who was one of the stuck up bitches at school? Glancing over her shoulder, Paige froze. She recognized the guy who had just come from under a car. He wore a white vest and loose fitting jeans. Donnie Martinez was a living legend at the high school where she went. He had his own crowd of people, and no one dared invade that little space. He was older than she was by two years and would be leaving this year.

  The rumors about him were rife, and she wasn’t an idiot. She’d listened to those rumors, and just by witnessing the sheer size of his home along with the six bodyguards, she knew all of those rumors to be true.

  Holy fuck.

  Her mother had just shacked up with one of, if not the, king of the fucking mafia. Paige averted her gaze, going back to her mother. Her life couldn’t have gotten any worse in that moment. No, please don’t let him be the son. Please let him be a worker or the car cleaner or something.

  Sharon pulled away from Anthony long enough to beckon Paige over.

  Taking slow steps, Paige did her best to look happy with her mother even though she was anything but.

  “Anthony, I’d like to introduce you to my daughter, Paige.”

  She smiled just like her mother asked her to.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Paige.”

  “And you,” she said, doing her best not to give anything away.

  I really don’t want to be here right now. Please, don’t be related to Donnie.

  “Seeing as we’re doing the introductions, you’ll have to forgive my son�
��s attire. He likes messing around with his cars on the weekend. Donnie, come here.”

  Donnie brushed past her going to his father’s side.

  “I’d like you both to meet.”

  Paige looked up only to immediately look down again. This was ridiculous if she couldn’t keep eye contact.

  “I take it we’re going to be stepsiblings?” Donnie said.

  His hand appeared in front of her face waiting to shake hers.

  “We’re not related,” she said.

  “Paige, don’t be rude. Of course you’re going to be stepsiblings. Now, be nice to Donnie. This has to be hard for him as well.”

  Forcing herself to look up, she stared into his eyes as she took his hand. It was the first time she touched his hand, and she promised herself it would be the last time.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” she said.

  “Hey, don’t you both go to the same school?” Sharon said.

  Donnie frowned, looking toward his father. “You do, son.”

  “Okay, I didn’t know that.”

  Paige’s checks heated at being a complete unknown, not that she cared. She’d rather be an unknown to him than on his radar.

  I don’t care what anyone says. He’s the mafia.

  She looked at the guards who were speaking into their radios.

  “Let’s get you both inside,” Anthony said.

  “Our bags.” Paige moved toward the car, hitting the trunk with her body weight so that it flipped up. She had to move back quickly, as otherwise she’d have gotten hit in the face. An arm banded around her waist, pulling her back.

  “Be careful,” Donnie said, admonishing her as if she was a simple child.

  “I’m fine.” She pulled out of his arms, grabbing a couple of the bags she packed. Paige didn’t have many things to her name, and she didn’t care about material things. Her father had hated them and preferred to make memories.

  He’s not around to make any more memories.

  She walked toward her mother, who was frowning. “Really, Paige, they have people to get our things.”

  Shaking her head, she followed her mother inside. No one touched her things but her. The last thing she wanted was the wrong people looking through her stuff.

  “Donnie, why don’t you show Paige to her room?” Anthony said.

  “Sure.”

  Turning toward Donnie, the supposed new stepbrother, she took a deep breath.

  “After you,” he said.

  Nodding, she made her way upstairs, holding her bags close to her.

  “Do you want me to take one of those for you?”

  “No thanks.” She could manage all on her own with her bags.

  “You’re pretty attached to your bags.” They walked up three flights of stairs until he pointed at a room. She glanced over the banister to see it was quite a fall down. It would just suit the mafia to throw people down stairs, breaking their necks. “What’s going on in your head?” he asked.

  “Nothing.” There was no way in hell that she was going to be telling him exactly what she was thinking. He opened the door, and she walked past him, freezing when her body brushed across his.

  Was he trying to make them touch?

  The room was the size of their apartment right now. Paige placed her bags to the floor and moved toward the window which looked over the full garden. She spotted a man working in the rose bushes.

  “That’s Ray. Be careful when you talk to him. He’ll talk your ear off about rose bushes for the next millennium.”

  “Will do.”

  “So, how come I’ve never seen you around school? How old are you?”

  “I’m seventeen in three weeks.” She turned toward him, hating how close he was standing. “You don’t notice me because I’m not important enough to be noticed. How are you handling all this?” She quickly fired a question at him.

  “All of what?”

  “My mom, me, your father bringing in a new family? It must be hard for you.”

  “Not at all. Your mother and yourself don’t register on my radar. My father comes and goes as he pleases.”

  Paige didn’t wait to hear any more. She bent down and started going through her bags. As far as she was concerned she wouldn’t ever be on Donnie’s radar. She wanted out of this house and their life as soon as possible.

  ****

  Donnie closed the door, frowning. He’d not been lying when he asked why he hadn’t seen her around school. When his father told him that Richard Jones’s ex-wife and kid were coming to live with them, he’d done his research, just like his father wanted. What surprised him the most was the fact she’d never registered to him. He couldn’t even remember her. She was younger than he was, but there was no way a beauty like Paige would have been missed.

  Even with her black hair pulled back in a tight ponytail he saw the glossy curls that would soften her features once let down. Her startling blue eyes saw way too much. He didn’t know if his father saw, but she had an idea of who they were.

  Her body was another matter. Donnie loved full-figured women. He couldn’t get enough of their full tits, abundant curves, and generous body of flesh. He’d been fucking women since he was fourteen, and he’d come to see over the last four years that he liked a woman he could hold onto.

  Slender women spent too much time moaning and groaning about his length whereas a woman with a nice rounded ass could take the pounding he liked to give. He was a master in the bedroom, but then, with his heritage, he was a master in all things.

  Entering his father’s study, he found Anthony sitting behind his desk looking through a file.

  “Do you have anything?”

  Closing the door, Donnie took a seat in front of his father. “Nothing. She doesn’t like anyone touching her stuff.”

  “It may have something in it from her father.”

  “I don’t know. She knows who we are. You can see it in her eyes.”

  “Sharon knows who we are. She’s not stupid, even though she likes to think I believe it.”

  “Are you going to marry her?”

  “Yes. It’ll keep her quiet. We know Richard Jones is dead, leaving behind a helpless mother and teenage daughter. Paige doesn’t know the truth.”

  Donnie didn’t know the whole truth either. Truth be told, he didn’t want to know the whole truth. It was what set The Family, or the Mafia, as others liked to call them, apart. His father was one of the head families that made up the mafia, probably the most important man and Donnie, one day, would have to take his place.

  “That’ll make her my stepsister.”

  “Donnie, I don’t give a fuck what you have to do to get the information out of her. Sharon assures me that Paige was close to her father, more so than most. You’re not really related, so play on the whole stepbrother thing. It’s big now, the whole forbidden shit. Get me what I want to know or keep her occupied until you do.”

  “I’m not going to fuck with a minor.”

  “There are other ways of getting information out of women without screwing them.”

  Donnie didn’t rise to the bait. There were times he was sure his father wanted him to snap just so Anthony would have a reason to cut him down. Being part of The Family meant he’d not had the easiest of upbringings. He was expected to fight to the death in order to protect what had been built over years of tough negotiations and wars.

  He’d already proven himself to his father when he took a bullet for him on his fourteenth birthday. Donnie had gained the respect of their soldiers and of their closest friends and enemies. At eighteen he knew what loss felt like. He had held his brother Henry, the spare that his father produced in case anything went wrong with Donnie, in his arms until he took his last shuddering breath. The memory still caused Donnie nightmares, but he refused to tell anyone.

  The only way to survive in this cutthroat world was to be the best, the hardest, and the coldest. Let no one in.

  He used women on a regular basis after losing his virginity a
t fourteen. That number was such a significant time in his life. Any kind of innocence he’d had inside him was lost. At fourteen he had taken a bullet intended for his father. He’d held his dying brother in his arms. He’d lost his virginity, and then to top the year off, he’d walked into his mother’s bathroom to discover she’d slit her wrists.

  There were times his dreams would all collide into one long year of nightmares. Most women in the mafia found some outlet from the constant coldness that had infected the heart of the men, and even Donnie knew he wasn’t indifferent to it. Over the past four years, he’d become cold, heartless, using women and discarding them as if they were mere trash. He didn’t allow anyone to get close, not even his friends who he’d known since birth. No, in this life it was easier not to care about anyone.

  When he did finally marry, it would be with someone his father chose.

  “How can you marry Sharon Jones?” he asked, turning the conversation back around to him. “She’s not even part of The Family.”

  “I’m marrying her to protect The Family. It’s the same thing. Yes, our closest families would prefer I pick one of their ripe daughters, ripe enough for the taking. That’s not going to be the case. Sharon could be every bit as dangerous as her ex-husband. She’s the enemy, and I’ll keep her close. Work on the daughter. I want to know everything.”

  Rubbing at his temple, Donnie agreed. “She’ll probably be telling everyone at high school that we’re now related.”

  “It’s important you get that information, Donnie. But what is more important is that you keep her distracted until we get it.”

  “For how long?” Donnie asked.

  “For however long it takes. If the only way to keep her silent is to kill her, I’ll do it. If there is another way, do what I do, fuck her. I know your rules about minors, Donnie. Some men wouldn’t give a shit so long as the cunt was there.” Anthony sat back in his chair. “If you have to, wait a year and a bit then take her.”