Bad Apple: A Stepbrother Romance (Devils & Angels Book 1)

by Stephanie Brother

  “Take care of yourself, Rogue,” Hannah murmured in my ear. “I’ll talk to you soon, okay? And tell Claire she can come when she has the free time.”

  “All right.”

  The hug was especially warm, and it made me think of my mom, now long gone. My eyes stung again, but when she pulled away to look at me, I had a smile ready for her. The elevator doors opened, and I stepped in. She waved at me, and I waved back.

  When the doors closed, I heaved a heavy sigh and leaned against the wall, suddenly feeling tired.

  At least I got to see him, I thought, feeling a lot better about that part. My neck was wet with tears of joy.

  “We do have a Richard Rest admitted, what is your name and I will see if you are on the visitor list.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Claire

  I raised my arms, stretching my body out. Then I twisted and rotated my head, trying to get a crick out of my neck. I rubbed both my shoulders, and leaned back against my seat once again.

  Simon had just stepped out of the room, and I was taking it as a momentary break. I couldn’t help but be cautious around him, so there was no way for me to relax with him there. I didn’t know how long I had, though.

  “What time is it, even,” I muttered to myself, pulling my phone out.

  I was too afraid to even use my phone and I’d left my watch in my hurry to get to work this morning. I had no idea what time it was, but it had to be really late because it had been dark outside for a while. The lights in the room were on, but the blinds hadn't been let down so I could look out the window at the dark night. Even other buildings around us had their lights off.

  I checked the time and winced.

  Shit!

  It was nine and I was still stuck at the office! This was becoming a reoccurring thing in an annoying way. It had been two weeks already, and every day I left the office late. If it was really late, I left really close to eleven. There was a lot of work to do, and Simon stayed behind to work with me, so I couldn’t complain because we both left at the same time.

  It was true that this was a pretty big job. I didn’t know the payout for it yet, but considering all the effort we were putting into it, and from what I’d seen of it, it would be quite a bit of money. I wasn’t sure how much of it would be going to my bank account, but if I got even five percent, it would be a lot on top of my salary.

  Did Rogue go to sleep already?

  It had been a surprise to me, when I started getting home late to find dinner ready and covered for me in the kitchen, and Rogue waiting for me, sleeping in my bed. I didn’t know how to take it, and we hadn't had the chance to talk yet, so I was going along with everything for now, trying my best to keep from getting too attached to him just in case things went bad between us down the road, like I expected them to. I didn’t think he’d left the house much, either, or used much cash. It was different from the old him, that was almost always out for a night in the town and sleeping through most of the day.

  “I really wanna go home,” I muttered to myself, whining just a little.

  I was tempted to lay my head down on the desk, but what if Simon walked in and caught me unawares? At the moment, I was relaxing, but I knew we still had a while yet before he would allow me to leave. All the overtime I was keeping was being marked down, too, and I imagined I would be bagging a bonus at the end of the month, because no matter how involved I could be in my work, I’d never worked overtime. It was simpler to just take my cases home and work there because I lived alone.

  I guess that wouldn’t work now that I have Rogue around. He’s sleeping in my room, too, so is it a good or bad thing that I didn’t turn the second room into a home office instead of a guest bedroom.

  The door opened suddenly, and I turned back to my work, picking up my pen and bending over the document I’d been reading through. I did a casual glance up and saw it was, indeed, Simon, coming back inside. He’d been out for a bathroom break, and I was lucky it had lasted about five minutes.

  Should I go for one myself?

  “How much progress have you made?” Simon asked, coming over to my desk.

  “Um, I’ve gotten this far,” I hesitated as I told him about my progress.

  I moved the document so he could see, pushing it far enough so that, when he rounded the desk to stand behind me, he wouldn’t have to come too close. He still put an arm on the back of my seat and another on the desk top as he looked at the doc, so it felt like he was hovering behind me.

  In the past two weeks, I had been subjected to a lot of this behavior. I didn’t like it, but he hadn't actually done anything besides come a bit too close, but not so close that I could claim it was harassment and he was doing it on purpose.

  Maybe his eyes were just bad.

  “This isn’t as much progress as I would like,” he murmured, sounding a bit disappointed. “Keep going over it. I want you to finish then move over to my desk. We’ll have a bit of a discussion and head home. Don’t forget to be here early tomorrow, too.”

  “Yes, sir,” I said.

  He moved away, going back to his desk, and I let out a sigh of relief. I was still stuck there for at least another hour, but it would be too stifling if he stayed so close to me for long periods of time. I was lucky that it didn’t happen so often, or I would have lost my mind over it already.

  We went on working, and occasionally, I would hear the flip of a page or clacking of keys on a keyboard that weren’t coming from me. I didn’t even try to look up, trying to move as fast as possible without missing any important details.

  Twenty minutes passed just like that, then, unexpectedly, there was a knock on the door.

  I looked up, not even masking my surprise. Not so much that there would be someone around this late, but someone looking for either me or Simon this late? Most people at the office left during normal hours. This late at night, not that many people aside from the night time workers would even stick around.

  “Come in?” Simon said, looking up with a frown on his face.

  The door opened, and the last person I expected to be there stood on the other side of it.

  “Rogue?” I blurted out, standing automatically.

  He gave me a grin and held something he was holding in his hands. It was a bouquet of flowers, and my eyes widened, my jaw dropping in my surprise.

  Rogue was at my office, late at night, bringing flowers?

  “I came to check on you because you’ve been coming home late a lot lately. Wanted to see if you were actually working.”

  I felt my face redden as I shot a glare at him. “Of course I’d be at work, Rogue. Where else could I be this late at night, huh? How did you even know to come here?”

  He shrugged, stepping further into the room, eyes never leaving mine. “I asked around. You know, you’ve been leaving me at home alone too often recently. I get bored, too, you know.”

  I opened my mouth to reply, but Simon spoke up before I could.

  “I know it’s late, Claire, but you’re not supposed to be taking visitors at work. I ignored it the last time because it was important, but you should know better.”

  I bit my tongue at the scolding I wanted to give Rogue, glancing over at Simon. He was scowling at me, looking annoyed as he eyed Rogue in distaste. Thinking back on what Rogue had said, I wondered what he was thinking the relationship between the two of us was. He’d probably misunderstood and thought my boyfriend was coming to visit me at work, not my stepbrother.

  Rogue only then seemed to realize I wasn’t alone in the room, his eyes turning to Simon as he arched an eyebrow. He shot me a look, then looked back at Simon.

  “Sorry about that. It’s just not good to be eating cold or microwaved food all the time, so I brought it along this time.”

  He held up his other hand, and I only then noticed he was holding a bag in his second hand. He walked over to my desk and set both the flowers and the bag. I peeked inside, and saw a couple packed dishes. When I touched the outside of it,
it felt hot, so he must have cooked and brought them over immediately.

  “I was going to the hospital, anyway. I thought I should let you know so you don’t get surprised when you get home and find I’m not there.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “They’ll allow you to see him?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Dad seems to be getting better, and I’ve been going pretty frequently this week. Your mom is getting kicked out to spend time at home for the night, so I offered to spend the night there if she wanted. Things seem to be working themselves out, but she wants to keep vigilant, you know?”

  I knew. No matter how much better Richard got, Mom would keep worrying. The worry was completely warranted, considering how sick Richard was, but since I hadn't gone to see him myself, I could only feel relief at the news. I hadn't talked to Mom much, either, so she hadn't had the chance to tell me. Everyone, including the doctors, were probably looking out for a relapse, and if we were lucky, it wouldn’t happen.

  “Tell them I said hi, okay?” I said quietly, turning away from Simon as I said it.

  Rogue smiled at me and turned to leave without another glance at Simon.

  I sat back down, putting the flowers and the food to the side. I could practically feel Simon’s gaze boring into me, but I acted like I didn’t notice and went back to work.

  There was silence on his side of the room, but eventually he went back to work as well, and I sighed in relief. There was a smile on my face, and I wondered when it got there.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Claire

  I was sleeping in my own bed alone, and I had to admit it to myself. It hadn’t been that long yet, but already I was too used to sleeping in the same bed with Rogue. With him gone, it felt so uncomfortable I couldn’t even get a proper sleep. So, when I heard my phone ring on the nightstand, I was only half asleep.

  “Who could that be this early in the morning,” I muttered to myself.

  My eyes squinted open. The room was still dark, but it was a little bright, and I could tell it was really early, but it was morning.

  “Ugh,” I groaned, reaching my hand out from underneath the covers. I was practically curled in on myself because it felt too cold in bed alone. I grabbed the phone and dragged it over to me.

  The name on the screen woke me up in an instant.

  Simon?

  Why the hell was he calling me at six in the morning?

  I answered the call quickly as I sat up.

  “Good morning, sir,” I said, clearing my throat as my voice came out a bit hoarse.

  Why the hell was he calling me so early in the morning? It was a question I was dying to ask, but I knew better than to actually let the question out.

  “I need you to get to the office now,” he said brusquely. “Be there in thirty minutes or less, Claire. Don’t be late.”

  My eyes opened wide, and I pulled the phone from my ear just to make sure I got the time right. And, I did. It was six and he wanted me to show up for work? Work hours technically started at eight thirty, so getting there at eight was pretty early, getting there at seven was being a high achiever. My boss actually wanted me to show up at six in the fucking morning.

  Was he out of his mind?

  “This is on such short notice,” was what I said instead, shifting to move out of bed. “I’m not prepared yet, sir, I only just woke up. I don’t think I can make it in half an hour. A full hour, maybe?”

  “Are you really serious about your work, Claire?” he asked, sounding like he was reprimanding me. “I’m already at the office, so hurry up and make it here as soon as possible.”

  I opened my mouth to argue again, but there was nothing I could say once again. I couldn’t say it was a lie that he was at the office already, I had no idea and no way to prove whether it was true or not. It would be pretty ridiculous if it was true, though.

  “Of course, sir,” I said slowly after taking some seconds to think it through. “I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

  “Good,” he said, sounding pleased, then hung up.

  With a sigh, I dragged myself out of bed. First, I went to the bathroom to get a quick shower. I took about five minutes, then rushed back out, still drying myself out, and went through my closet for clothes. I’d tied my hair up instead of washing it, because there wouldn’t be enough time to dry it out. I could probably make it there before seven, but I wasn’t sure.

  I got dressed really quickly, went back to the bathroom and brushed my teeth with one hand, and my hair with the other. Then I rinsed out my mouth and went to pick up my purse, shoes and coat. I pulled the shoes on first, then the coat as I moved toward the door.

  A sound from behind me made me stop and turn around, with only one arm in the jacket and the purse hanging from my hand.

  “Rogue?” I said, surprised to see him coming out of his room. “I thought you were at the hospital last night…”

  He arched an eyebrow at me. He was fully dressed, minus shoes, but his clothes looked wrinkled, too, like he’d actually slept in them. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over my chest and frowning at me.

  “Of course I went. I just came back early and decided to move to my room for once. I figured you’d be tired with all the extra hours you’ve been pulling, so I didn’t want to disturb you. What the hell are you doing moving around at this hour, though?”

  I rolled my eyes at him as I fixed myself up. “What do you think?”

  His eyes ran down, then back up my length, and the intensity of his gaze made a small shiver go down my spine, even if the gaze was totally pure in that moment.

  “You look like you’re about to go to work, but that’s impossible, right? It’s too fucking early, Claire.”

  I sighed. “It’s not like I don’t realize how early it is. Sorry for waking you up this early, but my boss gave me a wake-up call and told me to show up, so I can't exactly ignore him.

  “Claire, you came home past midnight last night, I don’t even know when you found the time to sleep and you’re up this early?” he said, sound upset as he stood up straight. “Just what the hell is up with that boss of yours, huh?”

  “I don’t know,” I said urgently. “I know you don’t like this, and neither do I if I’m being honest, but I still have to get going, okay? I’ll see you later.”

  I turned tail and left quickly before Rogue could complain about it. I wanted to complain, too. I just didn’t have a choice.

  The day was just lighting up as I got in my car and drove to work, moving as fast as was legal. I made a quick trip, because it was too early for even light traffic on the road.

  When I made it into the office, I found Simon already there. He wasn’t at his desk, working, or waiting for me. Instead, he stood by the window, looking outside. When I entered, he didn’t move to acknowledge me, and it made me hesitate by the door.

  “Sir?” I called tentatively.

  “Feel free to call me Simon, Claire,” he said without turning.

  I bit down on my lip, thinking there was no way I was going to do that. We needed to keep a professional distance, after all. He could call me by my fist name all he wanted, but he was the boss, and I was the subordinate here. When I didn’t reply, he finally turned around.

  “You must be hungry, yes?” he said, glancing at my empty hands. “You didn’t even have a coffee with you like you usually do in the morning. We should have breakfast, then we’ll come back here and continue on the case.”

  I stared at him, suddenly feeling tired. With all the late nights I’d been pulling, he woke me up this morning and made me come this early to work, practically the ass crack of dawn, and now he wanted to take me out for breakfast?

  Was he playing with me or something?

  I was tired, irritated, and hungry. Not to mention getting fed up of all his bullshit. My suspicions of him had never changed. I was at the end of my rope of endurance.

  “Look, sir,” I said, my voice low. “I came in early because you asked me to. I’ve been go
ing home really late because you asked me, too. But even after all this time, is this really necessary?”

  He arched an eyebrow at me. “Is doing your job necessary? I don’t think you have to look at it quite like that.”

  “That is not what I mean. I haven’t even been to see my dad yet because of this case, and you’re treating it as if it might never end. I mean, I know how much it’s costing, to a certain extent, but it’s a pretty open and shut case, it shouldn’t be taking this long, unless I’m really missing something. I don’t see why we’re still working on it after three straight weeks of me pulling all-nighters at the office.”

  I had buckled down and acted like the perfect employee. I wasn’t trying to impress him per se, it was just another job that I needed to get done quickly so I could move on to something else. And yet, thanks to this man, I had spent way too much time on it, to the point I didn’t even have free time at home anymore, because even on Sundays when I didn’t need to go to work, there was plenty of work I needed to get done before I returned to the office.

  The frustration had been building over the past few weeks with every day I had to stay in that office, and now it had broken.

  After all, I wasn’t the type of woman to allow just anyone to walk all over me as well.

  “Claire,” Simon said, scowling at me. “I don’t see what you have to complain about. I’m offering you breakfast, is that a crime? I asked you to come in early, but it’s a bit late, you know? It’s already seven. I waited over an hour for you, Claire.”

  I frowned, wanting to speak up that I didn’t ask him to, and even if it was seven already, not that many minutes could have passed before I arrived.

  “You are going to have breakfast with me,” he said slowly, looking annoyed. “Or, you’re free to go elsewhere and look for another job.” he smirked. “Maybe we should do that? After all, you’re a woman that’s into committing incest. If word got out, it could ruin our reputation, you know.”

  I gaped at Simon for a moment, surprised. In the next moment, though, I glared at him.