Ugh, that asshole, acting like nothing happened. “Just fixing something now,” I answer shortly. As I put the spatula and pan into the sink, I see over my shoulder that he's walking toward me. He plants himself between the island and the fridge, trapping me by the counter.
“Your mother is very upset,” he tells me, his eyebrow bending into a concerned frown.
“Is she?” I ask through gritted teeth. If he expects me to apologize, as though her mood is my fault, then he's mistaken.
“Brynn, I think you've gotten the wrong idea about me,” he murmurs, taking another step toward me. I reluctantly turn to face him. “You have no idea how hard it is for a man, to have a beautiful woman like you in the house.”
“I'm your stepdaughter, Pierce,” I practically growl as my heartbeat jumps in my chest.
“You've really blossomed this summer, Brynn. You've become a woman,” he says, stepping into me. I can feel his warm breath on my face.
“I want you to get away from me,” I whisper, my throat tightening.
“Just for a moment…I need to feel…” he moans pitifully, sliding his hand onto my hip and then over my ass. My anger ignites at his touch, blasting away my fear. I get my arms up between us and shove him away.
“Get off me, you fucking asshole!” I scream. He looks at me in shock. “You think you're some gentleman with your fancy suits and your mansion, but inside you're just some sick pervert, taking advantage of anyone you can. I see who you really are, even if no one else does.”
His face twists with anger, and I feel my cheek light up with pain before my brain can process that he's slapped me. I bring my hand up to my burning face, my head still pulled to the side, just as Pierce disappears in a blur.
I straighten up with a gasp as I realize Nate has just tackled him to the floor, and they are now grappling fiercely on the kitchen tiles.
“Don't you fucking touch her!” he yells at his father, whose face is turning red in an effort to defend himself against his much stronger son. I hear footsteps from the stairwell and see my mom running down the hallway and manage to unfreeze myself.
“Nate! Nate, stop!” I yell, as he manages to find the top position. My mom screams as Nate punches Pierce hard across his jaw. I throw myself on Nate's back as he cocks his arm back in preparation for another punch. “Nate, I'm OK, I'm OK,” I repeat in his ear. I feel him relax a little and begin to pull him up. He drops his arm and stands up with me. Pierce pushes him away as he stands up, too, and they face off, each breathing heavily, Pierce with a trail of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
“What's going on?” my mom finally whispers, her voice full of fear.
“I saw everything,” Nate growls, addressing his father. “You hypocrite.”
To my shock, Pierce begins to laugh. “I knew it, I knew it! Look at you two!” he says, pointing at us.
“What's he talking about?” my mom asks, glancing at me.
“They're fucking!” Pierce bursts out.
“No…what?” my mom murmurs.
“Oh, Christ, Holly, are you really that fucking stupid? You didn't even suspect?”
My mom shakes her head. “That's why you're fighting?”
“No,” Nate says, turning to her. “I saw him trying to feel up Brynn, and then she told him to stop, and he slapped her.”
A look of horror spreads across my mom's face. She looks at me, then at Pierce.
“Is this true? Is it true?” Pierce doesn't even bother responding to her accusations, just turns his palms upward and shrugs. A wailing cry escapes my mom's lips. For a second I think she's going to collapse, but then she throws herself at Pierce, her limbs a blur as she attacks him. “I trusted you! I trusted you!” she screams. Pierce puts his arms up to defend himself as Nate steps forward and wraps his arms around her, hemming her in and then pulling her away. “My own daughter! My own daughter, you son of a bitch!”
With a strangled cry, she turns her head and begins to sob against Nate's chest. Pierce surveys the three of us, aligned against him on the other side of the kitchen.
“Nothing?” Nate whispers, as he rubs my mom's shoulder. “You have nothing to say for yourself?”
“Come on, Nate. You're really going to believe them?” Pierce says, a sneer of contempt on his face.
“I don't have to—I saw you with my own eyes. But I should have believed Brynn in the first place,” Nate says quietly, though I can hear the strength in his voice. Pierce can only manage a snort of derision before he walks toward the hallway. “My mother,” Nate says, and Pierce stops, his back still toward his son. “You made everything up, didn't you?”