Read Online Takeover: A Step-Brother Romance (The Legacy Series Book 1) by Lana Grayson - Free Book Online Page B

for the child that will carry the Bennett name.”
    I swallowed a surge of bile. Darius laughed. My step-brothers didn’t share his amusement.
    “My dear,” he said. “You’ll remain here as our prisoner, bound within our walls and trapped in your brothers’ beds, until the day you bear a son.”
     

 
     

     
     
     
     
    If I was a monster, I found success in my evils.
    I no longer recognized the man in the mirror, but at least the sins I committed and the lives I destroyed would protect the ones I loved.
    I never pretended to be a good man; I simply cared for my family.
    But I wasn’t born as Nicholas Bennett. I was always recognized as the heir—the firstborn son and the future of our family. My father sculpted, perfected, and beat me into the right temperament to serve as his replacement. He influenced politicians, bought out his competitors, and imprisoned his enemies, but he couldn’t outrun time. One day he would fade.
    Then I would become his legacy.
    Except when I’d seize control, no innocent girl would be held captive in her bedroom, waiting for the theft of her innocence and the destruction of her body.
    I fastened my cufflinks and buttoned the suit jacket. The vest and trousers fit better than riding leathers and concealed weapons. We called for the helicopter, but Max rapped at my door before the pilot prepared to take off.
    “Reed’s about to split,” Max said. “You grabbing him this time or me?”
    Max tugged at his suit. He fit in the leather with more ease, but my father hadn’t asked for his usual assistance. He attended me today—crammed between investors and crystal glasses for a lunch meeting. I preferred him at my side. Anything was better for him than crouching in the shadows, drenched in another’s blood.
    I didn’t have time for my youngest brother’s antics. “Where does Reed think he’s going?”
    “Anywhere Dad isn’t.”
    If such a place existed, I hadn’t found it yet. And if Reed ever did, I’d let him go. I’d also order Max to leave with him. Unfortunately, my father’s rule anchored us within the shadow of our estate and under his unblinking stare.
    Reed knew better. The situation hadn’t set well with him, but he endangered everyone with his behavior.
    He endangered the girl.
    I had no reason to hurry. Reed wouldn’t escape without telling me. The south garage housed our bikes, all three meticulously scoured and cleaned of debris from the cornfield.
    He leaned against his motorcycle. He hadn’t opened the garage yet, but his bag rested at his feet. It was a step farther than he made before. Usually, he came to his senses before leaving his bedroom. I once caught him on the stairs.
    Reed seldom lost his smile. The scar on his cheek and ear aged him, but not enough. He wasn’t much older than the girl we captured and locked away. He wasn’t that different either.
    “I’m gone.”
    Reed didn’t look at me. He hadn’t, not since Mark Atwood’s death and our father’s sudden compulsion to marry his widow.
    He said I was too much like him.
    I believed it.
    “This is bullshit, Nick.”
    “Get off the bike,” I said. “Max and I have an appointment at noon. We don’t have time for this.”
    “You know this isn’t right.” His gloved hands twisted. The leather wouldn’t protect him. No matter what he hid or how far he rode, the Bennett name bled into him deeper than any tattoo or scar. “You can’t tell me you’re okay with this.”
    “It’s done, Reed.”
    “You’re going to hurt that girl?”
    “Get off the bike. We’ll go in the house and talk.”
    “You are actually going to rape that girl?”
    I checked my watch. I didn’t have time to justify my actions or pretend to defend anything my father had planned.
    Max crossed his arms. “You leave, and you make it harder on everyone.”
    “Maybe.” The keys flipped into Reed’s hand. “But me and my conscience will just have to deal.”
    “Why do you care so much about an Atwood?”