My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 123

Chapter 123

Gianna

I sat in the same seat as always, notebook open, pen resting between my fingers. The lecture had already started, but the words on the screen blurred together before I could even catch them. My eyes moved across the lines, trying to hold onto something but they slipped away too fast.

And instead of the text, all I could see was him.

Standing there that morning.

My jaw tightened as the image forced its way back in, his hand around that girl’s waist. The tiny denim skirt, the way she looked at him like he was something to worship. And him… he didn’t even look at her properly, he just used her and dismissed her.

I pressed my lips together as disgust crawled under my skin.

The same man who had cornered me in the garden the night before. The same one who had leaned in close enough that I could feel his breath, like he was about to- I gripped my pen tighter. No. I wasn’t thinking about that.

I wasn’t.

My chest rose sharply as I forced my eyes back to the board.

A game.

That’s what this was.

My stomach twisted as the realization settled in deeper, colder this time. He knew exactly what he was doing. Men like him always did. He had money, power, a name that made people disappear. Why wouldn’t he play?

I stared down at my notebook, the page still half-empty.

The thought of my mother flashed through my mind, her tired smile, the way she finally looked… safe. Settled. It was her chance at something better and I wasn’t going to let him destroy that.

Because that’s what this was.

Strategy.

He tried to cross a line with me, knowing exactly how wrong it was, knowing exactly what it would do if it got out.

I wrote something down, the words uneven, slightly off, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t afford to stop, not with everything else already slipping.

He could keep his games. He could keep whatever twisted little control tactic he thought he was pulling.

I wasn’t falling for it.

I hadn’t slept. I’d spent the night at the bar, carrying heavy trays of gin and tonics until my shoulders burned. I didn’t get back to the Capone estate until 5:00 AM. I’d seen the guards at the gate, their dark suits, their silent nods. I’d spent the last two hours of the night scrubbing the smell of smoke and cheap lime juice off my skin so my mother wouldn’t smell the “work” on me when she woke up.

Now, sitting in this library, I felt like I was underwater.

Raphael’s voice was a cold echo in my head. “I want to see the projected failure rates.”

I’ve got this.

I’m not weak, I know what I’m doing.

I don’t need anyone to carry me through this.

I’ll figure it out like I always do.

I’ll be okay.

I looked at the girl sitting two rows down. She was typing fast, her fingers flying over the keys. Why was it so easy for everyone else? Why did the world stay still for them?