Sinful Desires: Craving My Stepbrother's Touch

Julienne

The cold chill of the air seeped in through my jacket, but I refused to move or look away.

Tears stung my eyes but I fought them back, watching the men lower his casket into the ground. Amidst the sea of funeral operators, I was the only one present he could call family.

Soon enough, there would be a headstone there with his name on it;

Luciano Medici.

Grief washed over me. The pain was suffocating, making it hard for me to breathe. It took everything in me to not keel over. He was gone. The man who despite meeting him only a short time ago, was more of a father to me than anyone else was dead.

I'd never had a good life since I was younger and it was no thanks to my mother who had always been a golddigger, flitting from one man to the next. As I grew older, many of them kept their eyes on me, leading me to have to ward off their advances. Some of them were worse than others, but my mother had never batted an eye.

Instead, she always acted like I was competition and not her daughter. She would mock my appearance, belittle me and do anything to bring me down. I had to work for everything I got and even then she'd made it difficult.

That was my life. But all of that changed when she married Luciano Medici a year ago.

At first, I thought he would be like all the others, trying to harass me or treat me like dirt. But Mr. Medici was different. He was kind, gentle, and loving.

Despite meeting him later in life, he had been more of a parent to me than my own mother ever was.

He treated me like the daughter he never had, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I was experiencing a childhood I had always missed out on.

He would defend me against my mom's cruelty, and for once, I felt like I had someone in my corner. His presence had brought a sense of peace and stability into my life.

And now...he was gone.

For the first time since the ceremony, a tear slipped out of my eyes. How could he be dead when I had just seen him, spoken to him days before?

Keeping an all nighter at work, I had gotten several messages from him, only days before. I had called him and heard his voice, wishing him goodnight.

I didn't expect that the next day, I would come home to find my mother at the entrance, telling me that he had died of cardiac arrest.

I couldn't believe it. How could this have happened when he seemed fine hours before? He was healthy.

But another part of me knew that life was unpredictable, and sometimes, tragedy struck without warning.

Now, I was left to pick up the pieces, mourning the loss of the only person who had ever truly cared about me.

Hours passed in a blur as I trudged through the motions of the funeral service. Now, as I reached into the mansion, the silence enveloped me. My mother was nowhere in sight and I fought back the bitterness. Of course she hadn't cared for him, like I did.

My footsteps echoed as I made my way to my room. Memories from a year ago haunted me now as I stepped into it. I could recall when my mother and I had entered the mansion shortly after their wedding.

I remembered the first time I saw this room, how surprised I was by its beauty, from the wide spaces to the comforting dark mahogany splayed through the place. It was a far cry from the cramped, dingy spaces I'd shared with my mom and her various boyfriends.

And then he told me that this was mine, shocking me to the core.

I had never been offered a room. Even the more wealthy boyfriends my mother took in hadn't hesitated to relegate me to a basement.

I was reluctant to accept it then, yet now it was a space that had become my sanctuary, a home.

In less than a year he had become my home. Luciano Medici had given me a sense of security, of belonging, and now...he was gone.

Curling up on the bed, I let the grief and sadness wash over me completely. Sobs broke out of me and I let the tears slip away. I didn't realize how much time passed when I stopped crying. Sleep crept up my eyelids, making everything heavier and exhausted, and emotionally drained, I let myself drift into slumber.

....

BANG!

My eyes spelled open as I jolted awake. Blinking frantically I met darkness and dim lights of my room. My heart hammered in my chest as I looked around.

What the hell happened? Where did that noise come from?

My breath hitched in alarm as I heard it. Not a loud bang, but the sound of multiple footsteps, heavy and deliberate.

I sat up with a start, my heart racing but it was too late to do anything as my room door was barged into.

Men came in like shadows.

A scream left my lips before they grabbed me, closing my mouth. Fear filled me to the brim as I looked around to see faceless masks. I struggled against them, trying to break free, but they were too strong.

Who were they? How could intruders come here? It had to be impossible, unless...

"Release her mouth," a female voice spoke and I stiffened at the voice. The hand covering my face left, but I couldn't scream as I was spun around.

Flitting to the doorway my heart skipped a beat. My mother stood leaning against the doorway, a smirk on her face. Unease coiled in my belly at the sight.

"Mom, what's going on? Who are these men?" I cried out, mind racing.

As she sauntered forward I was faced with her dim visage, from her blonde tresses to her silvery dress as if she wasn't mourning. But the thing that ached the most was the smile on her face.

"These men are here to take you away Julienne ," she said, her voice dripping in a saccharine sweet tone that made my blood freeze.

"You see, I've been in a bit of debt, and...well, let's just say you're going to have to serve as collateral."

It was like a punch to the gut. The arms restraining me couldn't stop me from trembling as my mind reeled from her words. No, she couldn't be serious.

"What are you talking about?" My voice shook amidst the panic swelling inside me.

Tears bit into my eyes. I had always known how horrid my mother could be considering that she constantly abused me, yet for once I'd prayed she was joking. That this was a cruel prank.

It had to be.

She reached out to me and I flinched as she placed her hand on my cheek, caressing it in a mockingly loving way.

"Don't put up a fight." She said , "You're my daughter, Julienne. It's your duty to help me out. After all, I've wasted years of my life on you. It's time you paid me back."

Horror filled me as it sank into me.

"You can't do this," I protested, yet she only laughed.

"Darling, I already have," she said, her hand leaving my cheek before turning to them.

"What are you waiting for? Take her away."

My heart sank at those words. A mix of disbelief and hollowness filled me as I looked at her.

How could she do this? I was her daughter? Did she really think so little of me? Did she even care for me, even a little bit?

What was left of my heart shattered into a million pieces then and there.

Any fight had left me as the men dragged me away from the only home I knew, the sound of my mother's laughter echoing in my ears.