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It was close to eight years since Mom passed away. Personally, I didn’t care who he spent his nights with but marrying a strange woman without a word to us was reckless of him.
How could he bring a woman and her daughter into our home without even talking to us about it? He was a clever and successful businessman but when it came to being a dad, he was a complete failure.
I hated him and he never understood why, acting like it was all my mom’s fault for raising such spoiled brats. He’d not only failed his wife but his sons too.
“Stop scaring me,” said Caleb from the backseat. “I hate it when you go silent like this.”
“Don’t you guys understand?” I asked, speeding through the street. “We don’t know who he’s married. What if she’s a snake waiting for her chance to strike us down? She even has a daughter. What if they’re here to sabotage us and take what’s ours.”
“You think they’ll dare to cross us?” Corey asked.
“Oh, grow up!” I growled. “Playing badass among the sheep of the campus is different from going up against a mature woman in the real world. Especially if she’s a player who knows what she’s up against.”
“Calm down, Noah,” Caleb said in a low, grim tone. “Don’t lose your head just yet. Let’s see what our old man is up to first.”
I breathed heavily and stayed silent. Caleb was right. We had to stay calm and determine the risks we faced.
Lost in our thoughts, we stayed quiet for the rest of the ride.
Reaching the estate, I slowed the car down and waited for one of the guards to open the tall gates. When the gap was wide enough, I stepped on the gas and shot forward.
Amhurst Manor was brightly lit against the darkened sky. A mix of longing and rage went through me at the sight of our childhood home. Memories, both good and horrible, rose in my mind.
“Let’s get this over with,” I said, climbing out of the front seat.
My brothers followed me as I strode toward the open doorway of the entrance hall.
Entering the house, we followed the familiar path to our father’s study on the third floor. Light spilled through the half-open door invitingly, but it only made me angrier.
Caleb walked past me and entered the room without bothering to knock.
Corey and I followed him, taking in the elaborate set-up on the coffee table in the corner. Crystal decanters with dark amber liquids were gathered around a tray of glass tumblers and an ice bucket.
I inhaled the heady scent of whiskey in the air and moved toward the man seated close by. Our father cut an impressive figure in his navy silk shirt and cream-colored waistcoat. Even in his early fifties, he had a good crop of dark auburn hair that was heavily flecked with white.
What a fox, I thought grudgingly, staring at my father.
“Have a seat, boys,” he said, gesturing toward the plush chairs before him.
Dad started making us drinks the moment we sat down.
“Did you tell your brothers the news?” Dad asked, fixing his gaze on me.
“Yeah.”
He sighed, pushing the glasses toward us. “Well, congratulate me. It’s the happiest day of my life. I feel like the luckiest man alive today.”
“Ugh,” Corey muttered, drinking his whiskey in one gulp and making a face. “Do you have to be so soppy?”
“How can you say it’s the happiest day of your life?” I demanded, not touching my drink. “The day you married our mother should be the best day of your life. She married you even though you didn’t deserve her.”
Dad let out an exaggerated sigh.
“Eva is my wife now,” he said in a grim tone, his dark blue eyes fixing on us. “You will treat her with respect.”
“Eva who?” Caleb asked. “Who the hell is she and why’d you suddenly marry her? More importantly, when did you marry her? Where have you been hiding her? Please, don’t tell me you took an eighteen-year-old bimbo to Vegas and put a ring on her finger.”
Corey stared at Dad with wide eyes. “Is that true, Dad? Our stepmom’s younger than us?”
