MY STEP-BROTHER'S FAVORITE SIN

Avoiding someone in a penthouse was theoretically impossible. Practically speaking, it turned out to be surprisingly manageable if you never left your room and had your meals delivered.

I'd spent the entirety of Sunday locked in my space, working on the campaign proposal for the hotel chain. Forty-eight slides. Three different color schemes. A complete brand narrative that I was actually proud of. The kind of work that would get me noticed, that would fast-track my promotion, that would justify everything I'd worked for.

It was also the perfect excuse to avoid facing Kai.

The kiss kept replaying in my head like a song stuck on repeat. His hands in my hair. The taste of him. The way his body had responded to mine. The way I'd wanted to drag him out of that kitchen and find somewhere private where we could finish what we'd started.

Completely unprofessional. Completely reckless. Completely...necessary, apparently, based on the way my body had been vibrating since the moment his lips touched mine.

By Monday morning, I'd convinced myself that we could move past it. That it was a moment of weakness, hormones and proximity and the shock of sudden proximity. That we could exist in the same space like civilized people who weren't actively losing their minds.

I was wrong.

I was in the kitchen making coffee when he appeared, already dressed for the day in dark jeans and a black shirt that clung to his chest. He looked like he hadn't slept any more than I had. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his jaw was tight with tension.

Our eyes met for exactly two seconds before he looked away.

"Morning," he said, his voice carefully neutral.

"Morning," I replied, trying to match his tone and failing miserably because my voice came out too soft. Too intimate.

He grabbed a coffee mug and poured without looking at me. "Your mother and my father went out. They'll be back around six."

"Okay."

"I'm going to be in the garage most of the day."

"Okay."

"We can't..." He stopped, his jaw working. "Last night was a mistake. We both know that. It can't happen again."

The rational part of my brain agreed with him. The part that cared about my career, my relationship with my mother, the delicate balance of this new family situation. But the omega part of me...the part that had tasted him and wanted more...that part was screaming at how wrong he was.

"You're right," I said, because he was. We couldn't do this. "It was a mistake."

He looked at me then, and I saw the war happening behind his eyes. The part of him that wanted to argue, that wanted to convince me otherwise. Instead, he nodded like that settled it.

"Good. I'm glad we're on the same page."

He left with his coffee, and I stood there in the pristine kitchen, feeling like I'd just made a terrible decision by agreeing with him.

The rest of the day, I threw myself into work. I sent the proposal to my boss at 4 PM. By 4:30, I had a call.

"Eva, this is incredible." Marcus's voice came through my phone, and I could hear the smile in it. "This is exactly what they want. You've got the senior strategist position, effective immediately. Bonus included. Are you ready to present this on Wednesday?"

Wednesday. Two days. This was it...this was the moment that proved I was more than just another omega trying to make it in a male-dominated industry.

"Absolutely," I said. "I'll be ready."

After I hung up, I sat on my bed and felt the weight of what I'd just accomplished. Senior Strategist at Meridian Marketing. The youngest person in that position at the firm. Forty percent more money. The kind of career trajectory that meant I could have my own place, my own life, my own future that didn't involve living in my mother's shadow or her mistakes.

I should have been celebrating.

Instead, I kept thinking about Kai in the garage, methodically cleaning his bikes, probably trying to work me out of his system the same way I was trying to work him out of mine.

By the time Mom and Harrison got home, I'd managed to pull myself together enough to look somewhat normal. Mom wanted to go out to dinner to celebrate the wedding properly...a fancy restaurant with the four of us. The kind of thing that was meant to bond a new family together.

I dressed carefully. Dark jeans, a silk blouse that was professional but suggested there was a body underneath, heels that made me feel powerful. I wasn't dressing for Kai. I was dressing for myself. That's what I told myself anyway.

The restaurant was upscale, all soft lighting and expensive wine. Harrison and Mom sat next to each other, clearly still in that honeymoon phase where they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Kai and I sat across from each other, our eyes carefully not meeting while the tension between us was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"So, Eva, how's the new job treating you?" Harrison asked, his tone the practiced warmth of someone who was trying very hard to be a good stepfather.

"Actually, I got promoted today," I said, unable to stop the smile. "Senior Strategist."

"That's fantastic!" Mom reached over and squeezed my hand. "I'm so proud of you. That's what you've been working toward for two years."

"Congratulations," Kai said quietly, and when I finally looked at him, he was smiling. It was a real smile, and it gutted me because it was the smile of someone who was proud of me. Someone who cared about my success. "That's a big deal."

"Thank you," I said, holding his gaze for longer than I should have.

"You'll have to tell us more about the presentation," Harrison said. "Wednesday, did you say?"

"Wednesday. I'm presenting to a client at their headquarters across the city."

"Kai drives that direction sometimes," Harrison said, and I watched Kai's entire body stiffen. "You could drive together if you'd like. Seems more efficient than both of you taking separate cars."

The silence that followed was deafening.

"That's okay," I said quickly. "I'm fine taking a car service."

"Nonsense. Kai?" Harrison looked at his son expectantly.

"It's not a problem," Kai said, his voice carefully controlled. "I'll take you."

I wanted to argue. Wanted to find any excuse to not spend an hour in a car with him, confined in a small space where I couldn't escape the pull of his scent. But Harrison was already nodding, satisfied that he'd solved something, and my mother was smiling, and backing out now would raise questions neither of us wanted to answer.

"Great," I said weakly. "Thank you."

The rest of dinner was torture. Watching Kai pretend that last night didn't happen. Watching him be polite and distant while every nerve ending in my body was screaming to touch him. Watching the way his hands gripped his wine glass like he was barely holding himself together.

When we got home, I excused myself early. Said I needed to prep for the presentation. He said he was going back to the garage. We were both lying, and we both knew it.

In my room, I stood at the window and looked out over the city, wondering how something that felt so right could be so catastrophically wrong. Wondering if I was strong enough to keep my hands off him, or if Wednesday in the car was going to be the moment I gave in completely.

Wondering if part of me was already hoping for exactly that.