Stuck Between Two Hotties: My Stepbrother Stole My Christmas
BLURB
Lena Hale thought heartbreak couldn't get worse until she walked into a luxury restaurant with a Christmas gift in her hand and found her boyfriend on a date with another girl. Broken and humiliated, she flees home for the holidays, hoping her mother's new marriage will give her a quiet place to recover.
Instead, she walks straight into a nightmare.
Her cheating ex, Bryce Carter, is waiting at the mansion...
as the beloved nephew of her new stepfather.
And her new stepbrother, Cassian Ward, the cold, quiet son who sees too much and says too little can't seem to look away from her.
Trapped together for Christmas, Lena is forced to face the boy who broke her and the man who's slowly undoing her in ways she doesn't understand. Bryce wants her back. Cassian wants her safe. And Lena wants to forget she still feels anything at all.
But secrets run deep in the Ward family...
and desire runs deeper.
And this Christmas, falling for the wrong brother might be the most dangerous mistake she's ever made.
Chapters
Share
Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE;
Lena's Pov
The universe has a sick sense of humor.
That was the only explanation for why my life felt like it was unraveling in slow motion.
Just yesterday, Bryce and I had our first real fight.
Not the playful bickering couples laugh about later.
No this one had been sharp, tense, full of raised voices and hurt feelings neither of us knew how to swallow.
He'd said I was "too much."
Too emotional.
Too demanding.
Too... everything.
And I, stupidly, apologized.
Because that's what I always did.
I apologized even when I didn't understand what I'd done wrong.
But this morning, I'd found something tucked under the jacket he left at my apartment a reservation slip for La Lumière, one of the most expensive restaurants in the city. The kind of place with glimmering chandeliers, velvet chairs, and waiters who probably judged your shoe choices.
My heart had fluttered the moment I saw it.
Maybe he'd planned something.
Maybe the fight meant nothing.
Maybe he wanted to fix things.
Maybe God help me I wasn't losing him.
I didn't text him.
Didn't warn him.
Didn't ask if I was supposed to show up.
I wanted to surprise him for once.
I wanted to walk in smiling, holding the little wrapped gift I'd bought him weeks ago a silver bracelet engraved with the date we met.
Pathetic, right?
I got dressed, brushed my hair, put on a soft red sweater, and dabbed perfume on my neck like I was preparing for the kind of moment girls write diary entries about.
My stomach fluttered all the way to the restaurant.
The warm lights outside glowed like a promise.
Soft music drifted through the entrance.
A couple walked out laughing, arm in arm.
It felt like a sign.
Maybe the universe wasn't cruel.
Maybe today would be one of those perfect Christmas stories.
I pulled the door open gently.
The hostess at the podium gave me a polite smile.
"Reservation name?"
"Oh...it should be under Carter. Bryce Carter."
She blinked. Then her expression softened with recognition.
"Oh... yes. He arrived a few minutes ago."
My heart leapt.
He was here.
Waiting for me.
I adjusted the bow on the gift and stepped inside, taking a deep breath as I scanned the tables.
Couples everywhere.
Candles flickering.
Glasses clinking.
Then I saw him.
Or rather heard him first.
Bryce's laugh.
Light. Warm. The one that pulled people in without effort.
I froze.
Because he wasn't alone.
Across from him sat a girl I'd never seen before.
Beautiful.
Long dark curls.
Red lipstick.
A tight black dress that screamed confidence.
She leaned forward, her finger tracing the rim of her wine glass as she said something that made him grin my grin, the one he used to reserve for me.
My throat tightened.
No.
No, no, no.
This wasn't real.
I moved closer, each step heavier than the last, the gift trembling in my hand.
Bryce lifted his champagne glass.
"To us," he said.
My heart dropped.
The girl giggled and clinked her glass with his. "Mmm. To us."
To us.
Not to Christmas.
Not to reconciliation.
To them.
I felt the world tilt slightly.
"Bryce?" My voice cracked as it left my throat.
His head jerked up.
His smile vanished instantly.
"Lena?" he choked, like I was a ghost.
The girl blinked between us. "Um... who's this?"
"My girlfriend," I whispered.
"No," Bryce said too quickly. "Not anymore Lena, wait, it's not..."
"Oh, please." The girl rolled her eyes. "You didn't tell me you still had a girlfriend."
My fingers tightened around the gift box, nails digging into the shiny paper.
I didn't trust my voice, but I forced the words out anyway.
"You... made a reservation for us. I thought..."
"I didn't make it for us," he snapped. "You were supposed to give me space. You never listen."
The words hit harder than a slap.
I swallowed. "So you brought her instead?"
The girl shrugged unapologetically. "He invited me last night."
Last night.
The same night I cried into my pillow after he walked out on me.
My vision blurred.
The restaurant lights swam.
My breath hitched, embarrassingly loud.
"Lena," Bryce said, standing abruptly, reaching for my arm like he deserved to touch me. "Let's talk outside. You're making a scene."
I stepped back.
"No," I whispered. "You made the scene. I just walked in at the wrong time."
He clenched his jaw. "Don't be dramatic. We weren't together."
"We literally fought yesterday!"
"Exactly," he shot back. "Which means we were basically done."
The girl hummed, sipping her wine. "Sounds like miscommunication."
The kind that ruins people.
I forced my lips into something resembling a smile small, sad, broken.
"I bought you something," I said quietly, lifting the gift before letting my arm fall. "But I guess you already got what you wanted."
I placed the box on the edge of the table.
His eyes flicked down to it, guilt momentarily cracking through his arrogance.
He reached out. "Lena..."
"Don't," I breathed. "Just... don't."
I turned before he could say anything else.
The hostess called after me, but her voice blurred with the ringing in my ears.
Outside, the cold winter air slapped my cheeks, but I barely felt it.
I walked until my legs shook, until the lights of the restaurant disappeared behind me, until the numbness in my chest simmered into something hot and painful.
I had given him everything.
Every soft part of me.
Every late-night conversation.
Every hope for the future.
And he threw it away for a girl whose name he probably didn't even know yesterday.
I didn't notice the tears until they hit my collar.
My phone buzzed.
Mom.
"Don't forget your flight tomorrow, sweetheart! Senator Ward is so excited to meet you and introduce you to Cassian."
Right.
Christmas with my mother.
My new stepfather.
My stepbrother.
The fresh start I desperately needed.
I wiped my tears with the back of my sleeve and inhaled shakily.
Fine.
If Bryce could move on this quickly so could I.
I squared my shoulders, lifted my chin, and whispered into the cold night:
"Goodbye, Bryce."
And for the first time in days...
it didn't hurt to say it.
You may also like
8.7
For three years, Blair Guzman poured her resources into turning a broke waiter into an Oscar-winning actor, letting the world believe they were a couple just to keep him under her control.
But the night he won his Oscar, he publicly betrayed her by kissing Kiana—Blair’s estranged, rival sister.
Kiana and her mother brought the scandal right to the Glover family dinner table, trying to humiliate Blair.
"You're just mad because he dumped you for me," Kiana sneered in front of the entire family.
Instead of crying, Blair ruthlessly dismantled them, exposing how their cheap tabloid stunt tanked the family's corporate value.
Impressed by her cold logic, the family matriarch handed Blair the ultimate voting power, but it was a trap.
The matriarch immediately used Blair's elevated status to force her into an arranged marriage with a notorious, debt-ridden playboy just to secure a European shipping lane.
To her family, she was never a daughter—she was just a premium asset to be traded to the highest bidder.
What her greedy family didn't know was that Blair had already made a terrifying deal.
She was secretly married to the ruthless billionaire Butler McIntyre—a man who demanded absolute possession of her body and soul.
Now, her family's arranged parasite and her secret devil of a husband were on a collision course, and the wreckage was going to be spectacular.
7.3
WARNING ⚠️: This book contains sex scenes and mature contents not fit for readers below 18+.
If you love steamy romances and emotional stories, this book is the one.
By day, Damon follows her rules in the kitchen: chopping, kneading, burning his fingers, and surviving her sharp mouth.
By night, she follows his.
Damon Blackwell is a cold, dangerous billionaire who hates Christmas, women, and anything that smells like joy. Haunted by tragedy and trauma, and memories of the girl he once loved and lost, he lives like a machine: money, control, and pleasure without attachment.
Then his grandparents and three ruthless brothers dare him to do the impossible:
Live like a normal man for 12 days to Christmas: no staff, no luxuries, no protection, no control and no bad temper. He has to change and be easygoing with investors.
Fail, and he loses the biggest business deal of his life.
Indulgence is over for him.
The only place Damon knows he can grab survival? A small-town Christmas cooking competition hosted by that one woman who broke his heart years ago.
Merry Steele never expected to see Damon again. The man she left without a word. The man who haunted her dreams after she broke his heart back now stands in her kitchen offering a deal she can't refuse:
Cook for him. Sleep with him. Pretend to be his fiancée until the end of the year.
The pay is tempting. The temptation is even greater.
Before Christmas, can they resist the heat, desire, and lingering love they once shared and keep it strictly business?
As family obligations, enemies, and a high-profile Christmas ball close in, Damon and Merry must correct old heartbreak, passion, and dangerous feelings.
Will Damon ever forgive his fuckmate?
Can Merry resist the billionaire who once stole her heart... or will old flames burn hotter than ever under the snow, the lights, and the Christmas feelings?
9.1
What would a woman do if one day she is waiting for her husband to tell him the news of her pregnancy but he comes home with another woman who is pregnant with his child?
........
Ariadne had a perfect life until her mother died in a car accident and her father remarried, bringing a stepmother and stepsister into her life. Once adored by all, Ariadne became an eyesore to everyone, including her father. Her stepmother and stepsister took everything from her.
However, she lost it when their eyes fell on Xander, the sole heir of the richest family in the country and her childhood love. When rumors of Crystal, her step sister and Xander's dating spread, Ariadne used her everything to force Xander into marrying her.
Despite pouring her heart and soul into the marriage Ariadne failed to make Xander reciprocate her feelings. Their loveless marriage came to an end when Crystal returned in their lives.
With a broken heart, Ariadne left the city with a secret and rebuild her life.
Five years later, she returned as a successful interior designer to design her ex-husband's new mansion. But this time, what she saw in Xander's eyes for herself was not hatred. It was something else.
She came face to face with the same people who had wronged her in the past. They still held resentment towards her. But this time Ariadne vowed to strike back at her bullies.
Many secrets were revealed in the process that made Xander regret his past actions. He determined to win Ariadne back.
BUT Will Ariadne be able to forget their past and get back together with Xander or She will choose someone else?
8.5
Hadley married into the Jacobson family, a ruthless Wall Street empire. Her prenuptial agreement was absolute: she wouldn't touch a penny of the family wealth until she produced an heir.
But one rainy night, she used a copied keycard to enter a secret Tribeca penthouse, only to find her husband tangled in bed with a famous actress.
When she slapped the divorce papers in front of him, Cleveland didn't apologize.
"The party who files walks away with nothing. You will die in this position."
He tore the documents to pieces. To protect his flawless public image, he forced Hadley to attend family galas, smirking coldly while his grandfather publicly humiliated her for her "barren" stomach. When Hadley finally fought back and confronted his mistress, Cleveland snapped. With a single phone call, he froze her bank accounts, revoked her access to their home, and left her stranded in a cold parking garage.
She had given up her independence for a man who treated her like a useless breeding machine. He thought he could erase three years of her life in an instant, confident that his money made him invincible.
But Cleveland didn't know she was holding the ultimate weapon to destroy his precious legacy. As he received a frantic call about his mistress and rushed to his SUV, Hadley finally screamed the agonizing secret she had hidden for years.
"I can't give you an heir! It's over!"
Watching his taillights disappear into the dark, Hadley prepared to burn his empire to the ground.
9.1
Isabella thought she had the perfect life as the wealthy Conrad family heiress, complete with a loving childhood sweetheart.
Until she woke up drugged in a hotel bed, blinded by paparazzi flashes, as her fiancé pointed a shaking finger at her, screaming that she had drugged and seduced him.
"She threatened to ruin Kaylie if I didn't sleep with her!" he yelled to the cameras.
Kaylie, the newly discovered biological daughter, stood in the doorway weeping perfectly.
Within hours, Isabella's adoptive father publicly severed all ties, froze her assets, and kicked her out into a violent thunderstorm.
Fleeing the city, her car's brakes suddenly failed.
As Isabella lay dying in the crushed metal of her Porsche, Kaylie strolled up with a pristine umbrella and a genuine smile.
"The mechanic was quite expensive, but cutting the brake lines was worth every penny," Kaylie laughed.
Isabella coughed up blood, her heart turning to ice. Her twenty years of family, love, and loyalty had been nothing but a cruel joke, destroyed by a calculated frame-up.
She died suffocating on absolute betrayal and unadulterated hatred.
Then, she gasped for air.
She wasn't dead. She was sitting in the driver's seat of her car, staring at her flawless reflection in the rearview mirror.
It was exactly four years ago—the day the real heiress first arrived.
A chilling smirk curled the corner of Isabella's mouth. This time, she was going to rip their lives apart from the inside out.
9.0
Carli followed an anonymous text to a dark garage, only to find her fiancé of seven years tangled with another woman in his Porsche.
She smashed his window, threw her engagement ring at his face, and walked away.
But the betrayal didn't stop there. Her own family sided with the cheater. Her father slapped her across the face so hard she bled, demanding she hand over her late aunt's trust fund.
"If you don't do exactly as you're told tonight, I will freeze every credit card in your name," her father roared.
Forced to attend the exclusive Gutierrez family gala, Carli watched her ex-fiancé parade his cheap mistress to humiliate her, while her stepsister tried to publicly ruin her.
Suddenly, a violent screech echoed as the massive crystal chandelier above them snapped from the ceiling.
In a split second of pure instinct, Vaughn shoved his mistress to safety and threw himself to the ground, completely abandoning Carli to be crushed.
Staring up at the plummeting glass, Carli felt the crushing reality that her entire life had been surrounded by monsters.
But the fatal impact never came.
A massive force yanked her into a hard chest, shielding her body entirely from the explosive shrapnel.
Carli opened her eyes to find Fletcher Gutierrez—the ruthless billionaire king of Wall Street and the masked stranger from her reckless one-night stand—bleeding heavily over her.
Feeling his warm blood on her hands, Carli knew the game had just changed.