My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 12

Raphael

━━ ⛓ ━━

I leaned against the cold marble wall, my glass heavy in my hand. My brothers were all around me, a solid wall of dark suits, expensive cologne, and mean faces. We stood in the shadows of the hall, watching the reception like it was a funeral.

Across the room, our father was actually smiling. It made my skin crawl. He looked soft. He looked weak. He was standing there with Hazel, who looked like a piece of white glass that would shatter if you breathed on her too hard.

"This is a fucking shit show," Adriano muttered. He was messing with his cufflinks, his knuckles still bleeding from a job he’d finished an hour ago.

"He’s acting like a clown," Dante added, "He treats that kid, Jules, like she’s his own blood. It’s pathetic. And don't even get me started on the older one..."

"Gianna," I said.

The name tasted like smoke on my tongue.

I could still see her face from breakfast two days ago. People usually shake when we enter a room. They look at their shoes. They pray we don't notice them but she didn't. She looked Vincenzo right in the eye and told us to back off. She threw our protection back in our faces like it was trash.

"She’s a problem," Luca said. He was scanning the room, his hand resting near the holster under his jacket, "She thinks her little college campus is a safe zone. She has no idea how fast a girl like her can be snatched off the street in Chicago."

"She needs to be put in her place," Dante said, "You don't say 'no' to a Capone and just walk away. She needs to learn that she’s ours now. Everything in this house belongs to us."

I took a slow sip of my drink, feeling the burn in my chest, "Let her be," I said, "If she wants to walk into the dark alone, let her. If she ends up in a ditch, it’s not our problem. I’m not wasting my best guys on a girl who thinks she’s too smart for a bodyguard."

"What is wrong with you guys?" Vincenzo let out a dry laugh. He was the calmest one, which made him the scariest. He was the one who did the things the rest of us didn't even want to talk about. He adjusted his tie, looking at our father, "The old man wants this. He wants to feel like he’s a good person for five minutes. Let him have his fun. It keeps him happy, and as long as he’s happy, he stays out of my business."

"He’s going soft for a woman who has nothing but a sad story and a nice face," I said, my grip tightening on my glass until I thought the crystal might crack.

"She makes him feel like a human, Raphael," Vincenzo said, turning to look at me. "Try to be a son today instead of an asshole. Just for an hour. Can you do that?"

I didn't answer. I looked back at them. Hazel was beaming at my father, but my eyes went straight to the girl standing behind her.

Gianna was smiling wide, her face glowing. She was wearing a pink dress that hugged every curve of her body. It matched the flush on her cheeks and the tip of her nose.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, a gear turned. I’d seen her before. Not at breakfast, and not in the hallway of this house. It was somewhere else. I knew that face. I’d seen it in a different light, in a different place.

I racked my brain, trying to pull the memory forward, but it stayed just out of reach. It was like a word on the tip of my tongue that I couldn't spit out.

I felt a surge of pure heat in my chest, and it wasn't from the bourbon. I was pissed. I was beyond pissed. I looked over at Vincenzo, who was still standing there completely calm.

This is his fault.

I would have run a full background check the second they moved in. I wanted her phone records, her school files, her bank accounts, everything. I wanted to know who she talked to and where she went when she wasn't studying. But Vincenzo had shut me down. He told me to respect the old man’s wishes. He had tied my hands and let a complete stranger walk into our home.

Because of him, I was standing here looking at a girl I knew I’d seen before, and I had no way of knowing where. The memory was a itch in my brain I couldn't scratch, and it made the air in my lungs feel tight and hot.

As if she felt the weight of my stare, Gianna’s head turned.

Across the crowded hall, her eyes locked onto mine. She didn't look away. She didn't blush or act shy like a normal girl would when a man like me caught her looking. Instead, her smile died instantly. Her face went stone-cold, and her green eyes sharpened into blades.

I let my gaze turn dark, letting her see exactly how much I hated her presence in my home.

She glared back at me with a look so full of pure, unfiltered spite that it actually surprised me.

Finally, she was the one to break it. She didn't look down, she looked away, turning her back on me. She went back to talking to her mother as if I didn't even exist.

That little gold digger thought she won that little moment.

"Raphael," Vincenzo’s voice came from beside me, "Take a walk. You’re scaring the bridesmaids."

───── 𓆙 ─────

The liquor was hitting. The expensive bourbon was starting to burn away the control, turning the annoyance in my gut into something sharper and more fun.

I scanned the room, looking for the only person in this gold-plated cage who actually mattered to me. I found her on the floor, tucked away in the arms of that stone-faced beast she called a husband, Rino fucking Lombardi. Alessia. She was my aunt, my mother figure, and the only reason I hadn't completely lost my mind yet. She was the only softness I was allowed to have, and seeing her with him always made my teeth ache.

Without a word, I caught Dante’s eye and tilted my head toward the floor. Silvio was already moving. We walked over like a hit squad, cutting through the sea of tuxedos until we reached them.

"Alright, Lombardi, hand her over," I said, cutting through the crowd. I slid into the space between Rino and Alessia, giving him a smirk that I knew made his blood pressure spike, "You've had her all night. You're hogging the goods."

Rino’s jaw tightened. He looked like he wanted to reach for the piece under his arm, but before he could say a word, Dante and Silvio materialized on my other side. We flanked her, so he couldn't get to her.

"She’s sitting down," Rino warned, "She’s tired."

"She looks bored to tears, Rino," Silvio laughed as he grabbed Alessia’s hand and spun her away from Rino with a grin, "She needs some actual fun. Real Capone fun."

"Hey!" Alessia gasped.

She was laughing as Silvio spun her right into Dante’s chest.

"Don't worry, Alessia baby," Dante said as he dipped her dangerously low, his hand safely on her waist. I watched Rino’s hand twitch. The man was one second away from a heart attack or a homicide, "We’ve got you. We’re going to show these old people how to actually move."

Then we were all around her, Dante was twirling her like she was made of light, and Silvio was doing some ridiculous, fast footwork.

"You guys are going to get yourselves killed!" she laughed. Her face was flushed, her eyes bright.

"If he kills us, we die happy," I joked, locking eyes with Rino.

He stood on the edge of the floor, arms crossed over his chest.

Just when we were starting to have fun at this godforsaken wedding, the old man clicked his glass. The room went dead silent. He didn't look at his new wife. He looked at us... the six sons he’d spent a lifetime failing.

"I know I haven’t been a man worth celebrating for a long time," Dad started, "I’ve made choices that left scars on this family. Scars on your mother. Scars on you."

I felt my jaw lock. Adriano leaned back, a mocking smirk on his lips. Dante looked like he was ready to pull his gun and end the speech right there.

"But tonight isn't just about me finding a new life," Salvatore continued, his gaze moving across each of us, "It’s about recognizing the men you’ve become despite me. You six... you are the only good thing Isabella and I ever made. You’re fierce, you’re loyal, and you’re better than I ever was at your age."

He took a jagged breath, and for a split second, I felt that same sharp coldness in my own chest. It was the hole our mother left behind. For one heartbeat, seeing him look that broken reminded me that under the expensive suits and the Capone name, we were all just haunting the same empty house.

"I don't expect you to clap. I don't even expect you to forgive me tonight. But I want to toast to my sons. To the legacy of your mother that lives in your eyes. I’m proud to be your father, even if you’re ashamed to be my sons."

He raised the glass high.

"To the Capone men," he said, "I am a man with many sins, but you six are my only truth. I love you more than anything in this world."

Then, Vincenzo reached for his glass. He looked at Adriano, then the rest of us, a silent order in his eyes. Slowly, one by one, we followed. We didn't say a word. We didn't smile. We just lifted our glasses an inch, a cold, hard acknowledgment of the blood we shared.

Then the slow music started playing. Vincenzo took Claire to the floor, and Adriano grabbed Maddie. Dad led Hazel to her seat because she looked like she was about to collapse from exhaustion, and then he turned and asked Gianna for a dance.

Dante disappeared into the crowd with his date, leaving Luca, Silvio, and me at the table. We were fine just sitting there until Adriano’s phone buzzed. He checked the screen, his face turning serious, and he walked off to take the call.

Before I could even blink, Madeleine was standing in front of me. She didn't ask, she just grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the floor. I didn't have a choice. I followed her into the middle of the crowd, I couldn't help but smile as we started to move. She was such a tiny little thing, even with those high heels on. It was honestly kind of adorable how small she looked next to me.

The music slowed down, getting deeper and the floor was crowded, and the lights were dim. It was time for the switch. It was a tradition at these big family parties, you swap partners and keep the circle moving.

I let go of Maddie and stepped toward Claire. She was glowing, her belly big with my brother’s kid. I reached out and took her hand gently, sliding my other arm around her back to support her.

"Careful there, big guy," Claire teased, leaning her weight into me as we moved slowly, "Don't step on my feet. I can't see them anymore."

"I got you, Clairie. You’re safe with me," I held her with a kind of soft respect I didn't show anyone else in the world.

Then it was time to switch again.

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