My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 105

I sank down slowly onto the edge of the couch beside her, careful, like I might hurt her just by being too close. My fingers twisted together in my lap again, tighter this time.

“It’s Cole, isn’t it?” I snapped suddenly, “He did this.”

No one rushed to answer. Bri shifted in her seat with a quiet hiss, adjusting her leg like it hurt to even breathe, “Who else you think?” she muttered, “You think we just fell down the stairs together?”

Jas let out a short breath through her nose, her arms tightening across her chest. “He came with his men,” she said flatly.

Mama D’s hand pressed harder into her side at that, her jaw tightening, but she didn’t interrupt.

Morgan spoke next, “He gave us a choice,” she said. “We either sign everything over… or we clear the whole debt.”

Something cold crept down my spine.

“Clear it?” I echoed, my voice tightening. “All of it?”

Bri laughed again, but there was nothing funny about it, “Yeah,” she said. “With money we don’t have.”

“He says we’re already in too deep,” Morgan added, “Says the debt keeps growing. Interest, penalties… all that shit he makes up as he goes.”

“That’s not a deal,” I said, shaking my head. “That’s—”

“Control,” Tasha cut in.

I looked between them, my chest tightening with every second. “So what, if you don’t pay him back, he just—what? Takes the business?”

Bri’s eyes flicked up to mine, and something in her expression made my stomach twist, “Not just the business,” she said.

I felt it before she even finished. That cold, sinking feeling.

“He turns it into something else,” Morgan said quietly, “That’s what he wants.”

My fingers stilled in my lap, “What do you mean?” I asked, even though something in me already knew.

Bri leaned her head back against the chair, staring at the ceiling like she was too tired to even hold herself up anymore. “He doesn’t want escorts,” she said bluntly, “He wants full control.”

Jasmine’s jaw clenched, “No rules. No security. No saying no.”

“No,” I breathed.

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