My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Raphael

Claire’s voice echoed across the room before I even looked up, “I’m serious,” she said, shifting the small bundle in her arms, “we should do this every week.”

The baby made a small sound, his fingers curling into her shirt. She smiled down at him, soft and gone for a second, then snapped right back to us with that same wild energy she always had.

“Family game night,” she added, grinning. “Mandatory attendance. No excuses.”

Adriano let out a low laugh from where he was already sprawled on the floor, one arm behind his head. “You just want legal permission to boss everyone around.”

“I already do that,” Claire shot back without missing a beat, “This just makes it official.”

Madeleine shifted beside him, sitting cross-legged, hands folded in her lap holding baby Nero, “I like it,” she said softly. “It feels… normal.”

Vincenzo sat against the couch instead of on it, Aurelia between his legs as he carefully tilted a glass of orange juice toward her mouth. His hand brushed Claire’s cheek when she leaned closer.

“Fine,” he said simply. “It’s a tradition now.”

Dante groaned loudly from the floor, “Great, nothing says quality time like watching Luca pretend he doesn’t hate

all of us.”

“I don’t pretend,” Luca said flatly without looking up from his cards.

Silvio snorted, “He’s right, you know. He hates us very openly.”

Jewel laughed too loud for the joke, swinging her legs over the edge of the chair. “I’m going to win anyway. You’re all old and slow.”

“Watch it,” Dante warned, pointing a finger at her. “I’ll adopt you just so I can ground you for a month.”

“You can’t even take care of yourself,” Luca muttered.

The room was filled with noise, voices overlapping, and laughter echoing. Insults that meant nothing and everything at the same time.

And then I felt something… someone. My head turned before anyone else reacted. Gianna stepped into the living room and froze, looking around at all of us.

The light caught the stray hairs around her face, the same hair I had wrapped around my fist in my sleep. My throat went bone-dry. Looking at her was like looking at a crime scene I had committed in the dark.

And for a terrifying second, I was sure the marks of that dream were written all over my face for everyone to see.

Hazel noticed her immediately, “Where were you?”

“I was out,” she said, a little too quickly. “With friends.”

Gianna whirled toward her, her eyes widening. “Mom-”

“Oh, that’s all I needed to hear,” Dante said, sitting up instantly like someone had flipped a switch, “Get over here.”

“No, I don’t want to-”

“Nope,” he cut her off, already getting to his feet, “I love competitive people.”

Before she could react, he crossed the room, grabbed her lightly by the wrist, and dragged her toward the couch.

“Dante-”

“Relax,” he said easily, dropping her into a seat beside him, “You’re family now. You don’t get to escape the trauma of Capone game night. You play, you lose, you cry about it in the shower later. That’s the cycle.”

“I don’t cry,” she muttered, pulling her knees to her chest and tugging her skirt down.

“Good,” Dante shot back, dropping down beside her. “Then you’ll fit right in with the rest of these sociopaths.”

I watched her settle onto the floor. She was barely three feet away from me now. My gaze dropped without permission.

Her hair fell loose around her shoulders, still holding that faint shimmer under the light. Her neck was exposed, soft, unguarded.