Stepbrother Affairs (The Monroe Family Secrets Book 3) by Lauren Branford

One Week
    Audrey
    (This chapter is previewed at the end of Book II)
 
                  A fresh linen towel was rolled under my arm as I glanced over my usual spot on the top of the hill. The grass had dry spots now that the summer pressed on and less appetizing than it had been in the previous weeks. Surveying the grounds, it was clear to me what the reason was. The pool sat motionlessly, except for the trickle from the water fountain that rested on the north edge. Sebastian must have taken Darla out to see the rest of the property before she left this week. Without my stepbrother swimming in the pool, I decided to take up residency.
    I was only a week away from my world excursion. My friend Rebecca from boarding school decided to spend the first month with me in Europe. Though the initial thought of the two of us trekking across the world seemed enjoyable, on this day, however I didn’t feel excited. In fact, I felt nothing. Just like the waning summer, I had lost my enthusiasm.
    Though Sebastian and I ended our tryst, I still thought of him nearly every minute of the day. Somehow, he had cast a spell on me that couldn’t be lifted, even by common sense. It was difficult to know what about him captivated me. Perhaps he was the muscle-bound lover that got away. Still, I felt that his smile was the most bewitching. Men with the smiles of mischievous boys always knew how to sink their arrows right inside of me.
    I, however, felt that this summer had not vain. As a woman, I had grown. In boarding school, if a girl like Darla came along and threatened the object of my affection, I would have sent her screaming home. Sometimes it was just an embarrassing photo of her that leaked from her cellphone. Other times it was replacing her shampoo with hair remover. I’m not proud of what I did, but boarding school was a savage place, and I had to be the fiercest cat in the cage.
    “Sebastian!” I heard Lydia call out from inside of the house. “Don’t!”
    “Fuck this shit!” Sebastian screamed. Then I heard the crash of something large breaking inside of the hallway. Suddenly, my afternoon of tanning had been ruined.
                  “Calm down!” Lydia screamed. I leaned up in time to see my father and brother running from the croquette course.
                  “What’s going on?” my father yelled to me.
                  “I don’t know,” I said with a widened expression. Something had made Sebastian extremely angry.
                  “AH!” Sebastian yelled as the two front doors flew open. He ran shirtless into the car park where he stumbled onto the median of grass. Sebastian’s face was bright red and veins pulsated from his neck. “What the fuck?”
                  “What’s going on, Sebastian?” my brother Michael asked as he ran over to him. As soon as Michael touched Sebastian’s shoulder, he hit his hands away in a fury.
                  “Don’t fucking touch me!” Sebastian yelled as he fell onto the grass. Now he was sobbing uncontrollably.
                  “It’s Darla,” Lydia said as she walked with arms folded outside of the mansion. “She’s missing.”
     

Missing
    Michael
                  “What do you mean?” my father asked as he ran into the house. I walked away from Sebastian after he smacked me on the hand. Though it was obvious my stepbrother was in pain, it seemed as though we were not close enough for me to comfort him.
                  “Robert, don’t go in–“ Lydia said as she rushed back into the house. However, it was too late.
                  “Who did this?” my father bellowed from inside the house. I glanced inside of the doors to see a large glass statue knocked onto its side. With a piece of the broken art in his hands, my father ran back outside toward Sebastian was who kneeling down in a stupor on the grass. “Did you fucking