I WANT YOUR STEP DADDY, BESTIE

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Chapter 2 Chapter 2: Have I had One night stand with Kane before?

Nadia’s POV

I packed like I was dressing a porcelain doll.

Three pastel sundresses. A cream silk blouse that buttoned all the way to my collarbone. Pearl studs. Soft, rosy lip balm that smelled like vanilla. It was the uniform of the sweet, reliable girl who always remembered her manners.

Before I zipped my luggage shut, my eyes drifted to the top shelf of my closet. Hidden behind a stack of thick winter sweaters sat a small black metal box. Inside was my crimson wig, my dark plum lipsticks, and the heavy silver choker I wore when I wanted to disappear into someone’s dark hotel room for a few hours.

Not this weekend, I reminded myself, turning the key in the tiny padlock. Nadia Hart stays strictly in line.

Ten minutes later, Brielle’s white Porsche custom horn blared from the driveway below.

The drive to Coral Gables took twenty minutes of Brielle speeding through red lights, complaining about her mother, and re-applying her lip gloss at seventy miles an hour. By the time we pulled up to the Vale estate, my nerves were already slightly frayed.

The estate was obnoxious. A towering, Mediterranean-style monster behind massive wrought-iron gates, surrounded by manicured palms and overlooking the bay.

“Mom! We’re here!” Brielle shouted, kicking open the double front doors and letting her oversized tote bag drop right onto the white marble floor.

Celeste Vale stepped out of the formal dining room, looking like a page out of a luxury magazine. Her blonde hair was swept into a flawless chignon, her tailored silk pantsuit without a single wrinkle.

“Brielle, please stop screaming,” Celeste sighed, though her face softened slightly as her eyes landed on me. “Nadia, darling. It’s so wonderful to have you. Thank you for coming. Lord knows this girl needs a good influence around her.”

“It’s great to see you, Mrs. Vale,” I said, giving her my sweetest, most polite smile.

“I’m going up to change into my bikini!” Brielle announced, already halfway up the grand floating staircase. “Nadia, come on!”

“Go ahead, B,” I called up after her. “I’m just going to grab a glass of water first.”

“Kitchen is down the main hall to the right, sweetie,” Celeste said warmly before her phone buzzed in her hand. She checked the screen, tapped her beige nails against the glass, and frowned. “Excuse me, girls. I have to take this board call.”

The main floor fell dead silent as Celeste hurried into her private office.

I stood alone in the grand foyer, the air conditioning humming softly overhead. Instead of heading toward the kitchen, my curiosity got the better of me. I wandered down the long, wood-paneled hallway toward the back of the house, where floor-to-ceiling glass windows offered a view of the infinity pool stretching out toward the ocean.

I rounded a corner, stepping onto the dark, polished hardwood of what looked like a massive private library.

A man was standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows, his back to me.

He was tall. Exceptionally broad across the shoulders, wearing a tailored black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing thick, corded muscle and a heavy silver watch that caught the sunlight.

My feet froze to the floor.

He didn't turn around immediately, but his voice cut through the quiet room like a low, heavy rumble.

“You’re in my light.”

The sound sent a sudden, violent shiver straight down my spine. It was deep. Gravelly. Pitch-shifted by the acoustics of the high ceilings.

I swallowed hard, clearing my throat. “I—I’m sorry. I was just looking for the kitchen.”

He turned around slowly.

Kane Vale was even more imposing in person than Brielle had described. His dark hair was lightly dusted with silver at the temples, his jawline sharp enough to cut glass, and his eyes—a striking, stormy grey—locked onto mine with a terrifying amount of focus.

“You must be Nadia,” he said. He didn't smile. He just stood there, taking me in, his gaze dragging slowly from my pale yellow sandals up to my cream silk top.

“Yes,” I stammered, my usual calm demeanor instantly shattering. “Mr. Vale. It’s... nice to meet you.”

He didn't answer right away. He took a slow step toward me, pouring two fingers of amber liquid from a crystal decanter into a heavy glass. The ice clinked sharply.

“Brielle talks about you a lot,” Kane said, taking a slow sip. “The quiet one. The innocent one.”

“She overexaggerates,” I muttered, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.

Why was I breathing so fast? Why did my stomach feel like it was dropping out of a plane?

I looked at his hands. Broad palms. Long, strong fingers resting around the glass.

Wait.

My brain short-circuited.

A memory—sharp, dark, and terrifyingly vivid—slammed into the back of my mind.

Six months ago. A dimly lit penthouse suite at the Four Seasons in Brickell. Pitch black except for the city lights bleeding through the sheers. A man’s large, calloused hands gripping my waist from behind, pressing me against the cold glass. The heavy scent of cedarwood, expensive tobacco, and scotch...

I stared at his wrists. His broad shoulders. The slight curve of his lower lip.

Oh, god.

My heart hammered so hard against my ribs I thought he could hear it. Was it him? Could it have been him?

During my anonymous nights, I never let the men turn on the main lights. I kept my red wig on, kept my face turned away, kept my mouth shut so they wouldn't recognize my voice. But that body... those shoulders... that exact scent of cedarwood...

Kane noticed me staring. His eyebrows twitched upward, a subtle, dangerous line forming between them.

“Is something wrong, Nadia?” he asked, taking another step closer. He was entirely too close now. I could smell the faint tang of his cologne. It was the exact same scent.

“No!” I blurted out, my voice cracking slightly. I winced internally. Get a grip, Nadia. Act normal. “No, I’m fine. Just... tired from the drive.”

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Kane said quietly. He set his glass down on the edge of his mahogany desk with a dull thud. He leaned back against the wood, crossing his arms over his chest. His stormy eyes narrowed as he searched my face. “Have we met before?”

The question hung in the heavy air between us like a loaded gun.

My mouth went completely dry. “N-no. Of course not. I would... I’d remember if we met.”

“Would you?” Kane asked softly. A slow, faint curve touched the corner of his lips, but there was no warmth in it. It was calculated. Observant. “You seem remarkably uncomfortable in your own skin right now for a girl who’s supposed to be so composed.”

“I’m just... polite, Mr. Vale,” I managed to say, clutching the fabric of my yellow skirt so tightly my knuckles turned white.

“Polite,” he repeated the word like he was testing its flavor, letting it roll off his tongue. He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice into a whisper that felt entirely too intimate. “Or terrified that I can see right through you?”

I froze. My breath hitched in my chest.

He knows, my panicked mind screamed. He recognized me. He remembers the red wig. He remembers the suite.

Before I could run out of the room, heavy footsteps echoed down the hardwood hall.

“Kane!” Brielle’s voice shouted, popping into the doorway in a bright pink bikini with a sheer sarong tied around her waist. “You’re home early!”

The suffocating tension in the room instantly snapped like a pulled wire.

Kane didn't flinch. He casually shifted his posture, lifting his glass of scotch off the desk as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

“I had a few contracts to sign, Brielle,” Kane said smoothly, his voice dropping back into its calm, detached stepfather tone.

“Did you meet Nadia?” Brielle asked, strutting into the room and immediately sliding her arm through Kane’s bicep, leaning her head against his shoulder. She looked up at him with wide, hungry eyes. “Isn't she sweet? I told you she was practically a nun.”

Kane looked up from Brielle, his dark, stormy eyes locking directly back onto mine over his stepdaughter's head.

“Yes,” Kane said slowly, a sharp, dangerous gleam flashing in his eyes. “Very sweet.”

My stomach churned in absolute terror.

I backed out of the doorway, my knees trembling beneath my skirt.

I had spent months thinking I was the one in control of my secret life. But as I looked at Kane Vale standing there with his arm wrapped around Brielle, I realized one awful, horrifying truth.

I wasn't sure if I was meeting my best friend's stepfather for the first time... or if I had already been in his bed.

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