Acts of Mercy: A Stepbrother Romance (Men of WRATH Book 5)

“Cream looks good on you.” Cassie smiles as she passes me a flute of champagne mixed with orange juice.

Blushing, I try to wave it away. “Thank you, but I’m seventeen. I don’t want you getting into trouble.”

“Honey, I know how old you are.” She cocks a brow and holds out the glass, giving me a second chance at taking it, which I do. Because, duh.

“Now, don’t feel like you have to spill what’s going on between you and Hudson, but just so you know—there’s never any judgment between the ladies of WRATH.”

I almost spit out the mimosa at her words. “No. I’m not a lady of WRATH. I’m just Hudson’s stepsister.”

A voice chimes in from behind me. “Alyssa. If Hudson wanted you as his bridesmaid, you are definitely a lady of WRATH.”

A full blush threatens to envelop me whole. Turning around I see Bella, pregnant and glowing. She’s wearing a cream sundress with an empire waist, her dark locks flowing around her like some ethereal goddess.

“If you say so.”

Bella extends a hand, delicately landing on my shoulder. “Thank you for agreeing to be in the wedding party. I promise it’ll be fun.”

Nervous, I begin to ramble. “Thank you for having me. And you look stunning by the way. Love your grey eyes. Cream looks good on you too, by the way. Is it Cassie’s doing again?” I motion to her dress and then to my ensemble.

“Honey, I had nothing to do with the color scheme of your wardrobe.” Cassie nudges me in the shoulder. ‘That was all Hudson. He said the color ’would compliment Alyssa’s porcelain skin,’ so of course, I had to oblige.” She pulls this mock doe-eyed look, batting her lashes like some cartoon character.

For the second time in under ten minutes, I find myself blushing. “Well, thank you for picking out the clothes, anyway. I love them, even though they are a bit more modest than what I usually wear.”

Cassie cackles, smacking her thigh with the palm of one hand. “That was all Hudson too. But don’t worry, I snuck some pieces in so you could mix and match conservative with not.” She gives me a wink and shimmies past me, heading to a rack of clothing smack dab in the middle of the living space.

I’m standing there slack-jawed when Bella reaches out for my free hand. “Come sit. And what Cassie said is right. No judgment, ever. It’s pretty much our only rule.”

“Well, that and no secrets,” Cassie calls from behind the dress rack.

I open my mouth to say something when there’s a loud thud against a wall. I jerk my head around, trying to find the source, but everything is normal as far as I can tell.

Bella smirks while shaking her head. I’m about to ask her what that’s about when the thud sounds again, only this time it continues on in a rhythmic pattern.

Well, this is awkward.

“Pay that no mind. It’s just Bella’s dad, traumatizing the shit out of us.” Cassie walks around the clothing rack, holding out a beautiful blush-colored dress.

My brows push together, unsure of what she’s saying. Looking at Bella’s pale face, I can’t help but confirm what Cassie just said. “That’s your dad… making that noise?”

Bella slowly nods up and down as a loud guttural roar paired with a feminine scream fills the room. “God, it’s times like these I wish I could still drink.”

Cassie hands Bella a sparkling water. “I’m sorry, hun. If it helps, I’ll drink enough for the both of us.”

Taking a tentative sip from my glass, I look at the two friends. Their love for one another is apparent. They care for each other and a flicker of jealousy hits me. I’ve always dreamed of having a friendship like that.

Licking my lips of the zippy orange juice and champagne combo, I brave another question. “So, your dad lives here?”

Bella smiles at me, placing her glass on the table next to her before continuing. “No, not really. He and Charlotte are staying here temporarily. Long story short, Charlotte is the second to the newest lady of WRATH. Despite how much she and my dad dance around it, they are a packaged deal.”

Cassie almost chokes on her drink. “Clearly, if the sounds that are coming from their room are any indication.”

Bella groans, covering her face with her hands. “Ugh. Don’t give me any more visuals, please and thank you. I’m okay with them being together, but that doesn’t mean I want the details.”

“I’m sorry, babe. Let’s take your mind off of it with the dresses.” Cassie holds up the blush-colored dress. It’s strapless with a fitted bodice that ends in a mermaid tail.

Bella squeals. “Oh my goodness! It’s just like the picture I sent you! I absolutely love it!”

It is beautiful, and given the history of bridesmaid dresses, I’m glad I don’t have to walk around in anything resembling a purple powder puff.

“It really is beautiful, isn’t it?” Cassie looks at it with misty eyes. “I can’t believe my little nugget is getting married.”

Bella beams, “I know! I can hardly wait! Too bad I’ll have to walk down the aisle looking like a beached whale.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re the farthest thing from a beached whale. You are seriously goals.” My eyes land on her small protruding stomach and I smile. She really is beautiful, and the bump only adds to her natural glow.

“Thank you. That’s what William says.” She gets this look in her eyes as if she’s talking about a man that hung the moon.

“He better tell you that. It’s his fault we had to get a maternity wedding dress custom fitted on such short notice. He couldn’t wait to make you his. Officially, that is. We all know how in love you two are, hanging off of each other each chance you get.”

“Please. Like you and Ren are any different.” Bella rolls her eyes as Cassie giggles.

“Yes. He’s my Prince Charming, all wrapped up in one clueless package.”

Just then, Ashley walks into the room. “She’s finally down. That took longer than expected. What did I miss?”

I must look confused because Bella turns to me and squeezes my hand. “She was putting Harper down for me. It’s her nap time.”

Ah, Harper. Bella’s stepdaughter, though you wouldn’t know it by the way the two look at each other. From the little I saw at the dinner party, it’s as if the little blonde baby girl was her own flesh and blood.

“Sorry I missed her.” I smile, remembering the girl’s cherub-like features and infectious giggles.

“Don’t worry. You’ll get to see plenty of her based on what I saw outside.” Cassie walks over to Ashley handing her a mimosa.

“Ohhhhh. Now you have to tell us. Remember, rule number one. No secrets!”

My face grows hot and I’m pretty sure I’m the color of Cassie’s red soled heels. “Nothing. Hudson and I were just having a disagreement.”

Ashley purses her lips and shakes her head. “Leave the poor girl alone. She’s the new girl.”

“Duh. That’s why we have to break her in!” Cassie cackles as she makes her way back to the dresses.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any more awkward, Charlotte walks in, looking as radiant as ever. Hell, I would be too if I’d been the one making all that noise earlier.

The thought makes me giggle, making her eyes flash to mine. She gives me a curious glance but doesn’t comment. Thank god, because I don’t think I could’ve lied.

“Morning everyone.” She fidgets with her hands as she walks toward one of the sofas.

“Charlotte!” Bella waddles toward her. “You got here just in time. Cassie brought over the bridesmaid dresses, and although you’re not officially in the wedding, she brought you a couple of dresses in the same color scheme as the rest of us.”

Charlotte turns to Cassie, a delicate shade of pink spreading across her cheeks. “Thank you. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”

“None whatsoever. Aiden had already given me your sizes, so it was no big deal to pull a couple of extra dresses. Besides, he gave me his black charge card and told me to go wild. How could I say no to that?” Cassie winks while handing her a mimosa.

Poor Ashley, the new girl ambassador, takes up for Charlotte as well. “Oh, stop. Can’t you see she’s bashful?”

Cassie makes a pained sound, something akin to a wounded animal before waiving Ashley’s words away. “She needs to get used to us. Now that she’s part of the fam-bam she’ll be seeing a lot of us and you know there are no secrets between the ladies of WRATH.”

I spit into my glass, not liking the ‘no secrets’ part of that statement. If they knew what I’d done…

“You okay, sweetie?” Bella looks at me with furrowed brows.

“She probably freaked out about the secret thing, didn’t you, doll? It’s okay, I meant between us. We keep plenty of secrets from the men.” She smirks before throwing back some of her own drink. “Don’t worry. We won’t be telling Hudson we let you drink. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s taken on this over protective role a little too seriously.”

Ashley mumbles something under her breath, but I can’t quite make it out.

“Okay. Let’s get down to business. We have a couple of things to go through, but just as an FYI, we are adding Charlotte and Alyssa to the spa appointments later in the week.” Cassie points at the two of us before continuing. “For now, we have to finalize the guest list and table settings.”

“Oh, I want Charlotte at the head table with us.” Bella bites her lip, trying to fight a full grin. “If the sounds coming out of your room this morning are any indication, it won’t be long before all of us are sitting at your head table.”

Ohhhhh, no she didn’t.

My eyes dart to poor Charlotte who’s visibly pale, looking like she’s about to pass out.

These girls have no mercy. They take no prisoners.

Ashley reaches out and grabs Charlotte’s hand. “They’re like sharks, these ones. If you show them a drop of blood, they’ll be out for more. Best to remain stoic, not to show them any emotion.”

Bella shoots Ashley a megawatt grin. “Is that what you think you do? Don’t think we aren’t on to you and that not-so-mystery man of yours.”

At this my ears perk up. “I thought there were no secrets?”

Cassie raises a brow, staring down poor Ashley. “That’s right. So why don’t you fess up already?”

Ashley scoffs, “Well, it’s not a secret if you claim to already know, is it?”

Cassie glares back, pulling a dress off the rack and walking it over to Charlotte. “Here. This is my first pick. Aiden’s jaw will drop as soon as he sees you in it.”

“Oh, we’re not together. He’s my sister’s ex-boyfriend. We just go way back.” Her face reddens as she fidgets with her hands once more.

Cassie snorts, “Sure thing, darling. That moaning we all heard must’ve been you playing porn on the television… Just so you know, your room butts against this one, and y’all weren’t exactly being quiet.”

Yup. I think Charlotte is about to pass out. She went from pale to red, and now back to pale.

“Oh my god, I’m going to pee myself if you don’t stop making me laugh!” Bella squeaks out between full bellied laughs. “I see that you’re horrified at the idea of being heard, Charlotte, but years with Cassie has chiseled away at whatever sexual waspiness I once possessed.”

I laugh, my face scrunching up at this crowd, “I’m not sure waspiness is a word.”

“You get the picture,” Bella finally manages out, dabbing at the corner of her eyes. “But seriously, no secrets and no shame. Ever.”

Those words ring out in my head even as the conversation continues. Making me think that maybe, just maybe, I’ve found my tribe. After all, she did say…

No shame. Ever.