My Hot Stepbrother: A Second Chance Romance

by Aria Ford

  “So it really has been a while huh?” Sienna asked.

  “Huh?”

  “That you’ve seen your brother.”

  “Fuck yeah. Three or four years. It was a real bitch having to run the company by myself. I sure could’ve used his help.”

  The car halted. They were in front of Sienna’s apartment complex. Sienna had really enjoyed listening to Marcel talk about his past. It was nice for her to feel something of a connection.

  “Well, it was nice talking to you… uh….”

  “Sienna,” she said, extending her hand.

  “Sienna. Right. Well, take care.” He gave her a quick handshake. The door swiftly opened, and the scent of rain wafted in, which Sienna found to be a pleasant smell.

  She climbed out of the car, and she saw a middle aged man in black wearing a driver’s hat holding the car door open.

  “By the way,” Marcel called out from the car, “my brother is a real go-getter. When I say he doesn’t give a fuck, I really mean it. You’ll be seeing him soon.” Then the driver shut the door. When he got into to the car, the black Lincoln Town car drove away.

  “I highly doubt that,” she said to herself. Then she walked upstairs to her apartment as quickly as she could in order to escape the rain.

  .:.

  He paced around the cell block. He didn’t do drugs anymore, and he didn’t remember drinking anything the night before. There was a strong feeling of elation, but it was a natural feeling. There was nothing hazy about his memory up until he got to the park. There were no other memories to be recalled until he woke up on the park bench.

  “What the fuck did Mags do to me?!” he shouted, pounding his fist into the wall of the holding cell.

  He knew she had something to do with it, but if there was maliciousness in her intent, he felt like he would have sensed it.

  "When I get out of here, I’m going to fuck some shit up," he thought to himself. His anger was seething. He felt a surge of strength course throughout his body. Back at the Black Lotus, he remembered feeling like he could take on the whole group of cops and whisk the woman in red away to some secluded location.

  The woman stayed in his mind, and his anger dissipated. Keeping the woman in mind brought him a sense of serenity.

  “I have to find her and just… know her,” he reminded himself.

  He knew that meeting her would bring him some degree of peace, in spite of the chaos present in his own mind.

  “I have to get out of here!”

  The cell he was in was spacious but had plenty of people in it. Some for drunken behavior, some for possession of narcotics, and some for violence. Mark knew what kind violence these men were in for, though he couldn’t explain how he had intuited the information.

  “Moriarty!” A policeman from outside the cell called. “You’re out!”

  .:.

  Gary was standing by the door of the Lincoln. Even though it had been years since Mark had seen Gary, the sight was welcome after spending a night in a jail cell. The evening was young, and the promise of rain was in the air.

  “Gary you old fox! How are you?” Mark asked when he reached Gary.

  He gave him a hug as soon he was close enough. Gary returned the hug in kind.

  “Good, Markie boy. I heard you went through a rough patch., Gary said, looking over Mark to see if he had sustained any damage.

  “Me? Nah. I put life itself in a rough patch. You never took me to be the kind of guy that shys away from adventure, Gary.”

  “I guess not, Markie. Drop us a line next time you go off the radar. That many years going radio silent is too much for a man.”

  “Yeah I know. I’ll keep in touch next time I disappear. You know that divorce fucked me up,” Mark said in a less light-hearted tone.

  “I know, but I warned you that shacking up with a skinny ass for good will mess you up. I’ve seen it plenty of times with your father,” he said, his hand on Mark’s shoulder.

  “I know. I should’ve listened to you. You were always the only one I could open up with,” Mark said, placing his hand on Gary’s shoulder. “So what’s up? What does my asshole brother want with me?”

  “Just to clean up for now. We have a hotel suite reserved for you. We have a barber scheduled to fix that hair of yours. Jesus Christ! You really do look like shit, Markie.”

  Mark laughed at that. Gary was always able to make him laugh. He was a father of sorts.

  “If you say so Gary,” he said, taking a glimpse into the mirror of the Lincoln.

  They were driving for a while. Mark thinking about what his next move should be. Go back to the whorehouse and find out what Mags had done to him? Or find out about that woman he was mesmerized by? He found that though their meeting was short, her scent still lingered in his memory

  “Something on your mind?” Gary asked from the front.

  “Yeah, but it’s something that I can’t tell you. You would think it's crazy,” Mark replied.

  “Nothing could top that incident with the wolves at the mountains, Markie,” Gary replied.

  “I know.” He paused. ”I’ll tell you once I get my head wrapped around it.” Mark sat back in the seat.

  “Sure thing, Markie,” Gary said.

  The two sat in silence for the remainder of the drive.

  .:.

  A knock at the door woke Sienna from her sleep. She’d had dreams that felt psychedelic and yet like something or somebody was trying to communicate with her. A building flashed in her mind. Sienna was sure that it was in a bad part of town. She wondered why she would be dreaming about such a place, but then again, she had been wondering about a lot of things lately.

  Another knock at the door came, this time, a frantic knock.

  “Could it be, Mark,” she wondered.

  She got up to look through the door and sighed. It was Jane and Claudia, two of her students. She made her way around unpacked boxes, and dirty laundry seemed to form piles everywhere. She opened the door.

  “Hey, gals. What’s going on?”

  “Oh my god, Ms Larson, we heard there was an incident right by the restaurant after we left. We tried calling you, but there was no answer.” Claudia could be a little dramatic.

  Sienna smiled. “I’m fine Claudia, thanks.”

  “I told you,” Jane said to her classmate. “Ms. Larson is tough.”

  Sienna laughed at that. She noticed she was still in her clothes from the night before. She felt embarrassed but didn’t want to dismiss the girls right away.

  “Why don’t you girls come on in? You were right Claudia, there was an incident at the Black Lotus.”

  The girls looked at each other in astonishment. They walked past Sienna to the living room.

  After Sienna had told them the story, the girls had several questions: Did she like Mark? Was is it possible that Marcel might have a crush on Sienna? Which brother did she think was cuter — that sort of thing.

  “Wow, Ms. Larson,” Jane exclaimed. “To think that if we hadn’t gone to the Black Lotus, you wouldn’t be feeling the way you are.”

  “Jane, Cladia, I have you all to thank. Seriously you all keep me going,” Sienna said, feeling elated.

  “You’ve helped us more than you could ever imagine,” said Claudia, standing up to embrace Sienna.

  Jane joined in as well.

  There was a knock at the door, and the hug broke apart. All three looked at each other with puzzled faces.

  “Are we expecting any more students here?” Sienna asked.

  “No. We haven’t told anybody,” Jane said, looking at Claudia who returned the same puzzled look.

  “It could be one of the twin brothers, Miss Larson!” Claudia whispered with a playful smile.

  “Let’s see,” Sienna said feeling nervous.

  When she opened the door, she saw that it was Marcel, looking slick and handsome like before.

  “My brother has done it again,” Marcel said, slightly annoyed.

  “Oh?” Sienn
a said.

  “This time, they’re not cops and it’s not at a restaurant.”

  “Really?” she replied. “Where at?”

  Marcel let out a deep sigh, and he saw the young students who were in the living room.

  “Maybe it’s best if you just come with me right now,” he concluded. “I’d rather say this in private.”

  “Ok, sure.” She spoke in a low voice. “Just let me change first.”

  “I’ll be waiting outside in the car, then,” he replied.

  After she took a quick shower and had gotten into a fresh set of clothes, she told the girls that they were more than welcome to stay at the apartment and to help themselves to whatever they wanted.

  The old driver was waiting at the car when she made her way downstairs. She wondered what could prompt a man of such wealth to share a moment with her for the second time.

  She got into the car and sat next to Marcel Moriarty.

  “He’s at a whorehouse,” he said. “For some reason, he needs both of us to be at a whorehouse where there’s hookers, drug addicts, and other kinds of degenerates. Have you heard of the Velvet Dime before?”

  “Yeah. I hear rich people go there….” Sienna said.

  “I said ‘other types of degenerates’ did I. Well, he told me that he needed both of us to finish his ‘spiritual quest.’ I’m only going because he promised that he will come back and help run the business.”

  “Sounds like a deal. What could go wrong?” Sienna asked.

  “A lot. Ville Vitaly is in town today and one of his favorite places is… well, you guessed it…. He’s a big asshole and so are his goons. They’re always starting shit at the clubs and always fucking up shit for everybody else.”

  Sienna had never been around that kind of scene before. The idea of being around Russian Mobsters excited her. Anything was better than staying home on a Saturday, depressed and wondering why her life had become such a failure.

  “Glad to see you’re excited,” Marcel said, after noticing her smile. “These assholes are always armed with automatics.”

  Sienna couldn’t help but laugh.

  .:.

  It was a long drive across town. Sienna had noticed the further she drove, the more she noticed that buildings and the area in general decreased in quality. Roads were filled with potholes, street signs were filled with graffiti. She saw vagrants wandering around the area.

  “How could I have not known that Mark wasn’t really a homeless person,” she thought. “No way I would be attracted to a homeless person, why now?”

  The Velvet Dime Whorehouse looked exactly the way it did in her dream. Its neon signs and the ejaculating penis was what probably gave her dream a psychedelic feel. There were two armed men at the door who looked like secret service agents. They wore black sunglasses, and their weapons were difficult to conceal.

  “Are these the assholes?” Sienna asked while staring out through her window.

  “Yup, and plenty more inside,” Marcel said. “Gary, you strapped?”

  The window rolled down with Gary already looking over his shoulder. He was a holding a automatic that looked like it belonged to a SWAT team.

  “Always,” he said.

  “Gary was a badass back in the day. Isn’t that right Gary?”

  “If you say so,” Gary replied while stepping out of the driver seat.

  The door opened on Sienna’s side, and she made her way out. As the three were making their way to the front door, two tall identical blondes walked out of the door and descended the steps. Both had their hair pulled tightly back as if they were coming out of a photoshoot. They both wore plush white fur coats and a band around their heads with a flower on them that made them look like angels. However, their faces were full of disgust.

  “Well if it isn’t the Bloom twins. Lily and Daisy. How goes it, ladies? Vitaly being an ass today?” Marcel asked.

  The twins face brightened up when they recognized Marcel. They hugged him simultaneously, and then kissed him on both of cheeks.

  “Ass would be an understatement,” one of them said.

  As Sienna looked closer, she saw that the woman who’d spoken first had a flower that resembled a lily on her band.

  The other, with the daisy, said, “It’s like he brought his entire his entire organization to Velvet Dime! His goons are getting out of control, so Mags ordered all the girls to leave until ‘things settle down.’”

  “Things will settle down, ladies,” Marcel said with a smirk.

  “We know,” said Lily with a smile. “Drop by at our place. We’ll consider it a social visit.”

  They gave Marcel another simultaneous kiss and walked off. When there was plenty of distance between them, Sienna asked, “Friends of yours?”

  “How else would I know about the Velvet Dime’s clientele?” Marcel asked. He continued walking to the door. Gary followed and Sienna brought up the rear.

  They were met by the Russian bodyguards who were standing by the door as if they were employees of the establishment.

  “Piss off. Private party,” one of them said in a Russian accent while revealing an automatic weapon that was underneath his jacket. Gary and Sienna had stopped while Marcel kept walking.

  “Hey, dum-dum,” the other bodyguard called in a much thicker accent. “Private Party. Means walk the other way or you’ll sleep forever.” He uncovered his gun completely, knowing that Marcel wasn’t going to stop.

  Sienna wasn’t sure if she imagined it or not, but when one of them started shooting, Marcel leaped at the gunman and grabbed him by the throat. She could’ve sworn that the bullets had hit him in the torso. Marcel somehow ended up behind the gunman and dug his hands into the Russian’s throat. Blood oozed out from where his fingers were digging into the man’s flesh. Marcel tore the man’s throat apart, exposing the neck bone. The other pointed his gun at him at him, trembling, not sure what to do.

  In a voice that sounded more unnaturally grizzly, Marcel said, “Tell Vitaly to get his men out of here, or they’ll end up like your friend here.” He shook the dead man like a rag doll. Marcel lifted him up from the ground and then dropped him. The Russian was still shaking his gun at him but showed no sign that he would comply. He squeezed the trigger and a spurt of gun shots followed. Sienna saw clearly that Marcel was hit by the bullets. Blood splashed out, but it did not slow Marcel’s reaction. He made his way behind the Russian the same as the other gunman. An animalistic hand popped out from the Russian’s chest. He was lifted off the ground, gasping and dying, and then dropped as Marcel slid his hand out.

  When Marcel turned around, his face was not his own. The first thing she saw were his eyes, they were a kind of yellow that one could see in the dark. His ears were slightly pointed like the kind you would see on a wolf. He was breathing heavily, looking into Sienna’s eyes as if she were next. Because of the distance, Sienna wasn’t sure if she saw fangs or not.

  A light drizzle of rain fell after a soft rumble of thunder. Sienna looked to Gary, who’s face was stoic despite the carnage that just took place.

  “What’s going on here?” Sienna asked, trembling.

  “A gift from Markie. Remember when Marcel told you about that incident at the mountains, well, this is the result.” Gary replied. “It probably has to do with the fact they are twins. That even though they are miles apart, they share everything.”

  Marcel resumed his normal form.

  He laughed, observing Sienna’s terrified look. He took a couple of steps toward her. She recoiled and Marcel laughed even harder.

  “Well, you said you didn’t want to feel dull didn’t you?”

  “Don’t be an ass, Marcel,” Gary said.

  “Just dicking around. Don’t tell me you feel like running back home do you?” He was fully human, other than his yellow eyes.

  She noticed how both of his shoes were torn at the front. “Yeah, that’s what sucks about turning into a wolf; it fucks up your clothes pretty bad.”

  The en
trance opened, and out came two more Russian goons with their guns drawn. Gary quickly brandished his own and blasted his shotgun. Sienna dropped to the floor for safety as Gary continued to fire. The bullets hit Marcel who was calm at the shoot out. Once the Russians were dead, Gary picked her up by the shoulders and she was taken to the entrance along with Marcel who was in partial wolf form.

  “Stay out here with her, Gary. Looks like I’m gonna have to clean house,” Marcel said in a demonic voice.

  Sienna saw that his hands were monstrously bigger than before. Each fingertip had a sharp claw that looked deadly to touch.

  Sienna watched as Marcel transformed into a wolf. His mouth formed into a snout, and his teeth appeared sharp enough to bite a man’s head off. His legs formed into hind quarters and his hands formed into giant paws. His clothes ripped off as he grew into an animal that was the size of a horse. Grey fur covered his body, and when he was on all fours, he let out a deafening a howl. He snarled at both Sienna and Gary, then barged through the entrance of the Velvet Dime.

  Sienna heard what sounded like cursing in Russian. Gary pulled her down for safety as gun shots rang throughout the building. Shards of glass fell on them as gunfire blasted through windows in the rooms above. There were cries of agony as Sienna heard flesh being ripped apart amid the vicious sounds of Marcel. An object thumped to the ground when the gunshots subsided. She wish that it had traveled farther and gagged; it was a severed arm.

  More gunfire and cries of agony were heard until all fell into silence. Sienna looked to Gary as if he might know what had happened.

  “The coast is clear,” he declared.

  He stood up with his shotgun ready and stuck his out to have a look inside. He looked back at Sienna over his shoulder. He nodded. Sienna stood up and walked until she was behind Gary.

  “How does it look in there?” Sienna asked in a whisper.

  “You might want to keep your eyes closed,” Gary said in a normal voice.

  She regretted not heeding Gary’s advice when she walked in; it was one thing to hear a massacre take place, it was another to see the result. There were limbs everywhere. Blood on the walls, ceiling, and counters. The Velvet Dime was a seedy looking place to begin with, but looking at dead men with horror frozen on their face gave Sienna a queasy feeling. Blood dripped from the ceiling, nearly grazing Sienna’s nose. She wanted to scream in horror, but at the same time, she wanted to see how far the madness would go.