My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 106

Gianna

━⊰ ❦ ⊱━

“I’m nobody’s princess,” I said but my body locked in place the second his voice settled into the room like something rotten.

Cole leaned against the doorway like he owned it. His eyes dragged over me slowly, taking his time, like I was something he had already decided the price of.

He walked closer. One step. Then another. Boots heavy against the floor. I forced my chin up.

“Stop right there.”

An ugly smile pulled at his mouth, “You don’t get to give orders here.”

His gaze flicked over my face, then down, then back up again. I held his stare. Inside, something twisted tight. Don’t show it. Don’t you dare show it.

“You’ve got nerve,” he went on, “Walking around with that last name tied to you now. Your mother moved fast,” he added. “One day she’s drowning, next day she’s sitting pretty under a rich man’s roof.”

My hands curled into fists at my sides, “Say another word about my mom, I dare you.”

He smiled wider. His eyes flicked past me for half a second, toward the couch, then came right back.

“I just find it interesting,” he continued, “how quickly people learn to survive when the right man shows up with the right kind of money.”

Something hot flared in my chest, “If you have something to say,” I said, “say it without dressing it up.”

“Alright. Your mother found herself a powerful man. Good for her. Smart move. Shame it didn’t teach you the same lesson.”

I let out a short breath through my nose, “Yeah?” I said. “And what lesson is that?”

His gaze sharpened, “That power isn’t something you fight,” he said, “It’s something you use. Let’s not pretend you don’t understand how this works,” he murmured. “You’re in a house now where money moves like water. Accounts open and close with a whisper.”

My stomach tightened.

“You have access,” he continued, watching my face carefully. “More than you had yesterday.”

There it was. I knew where this was going.

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