My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 25

Raphael

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I sat at my desk. I pulled my laptop toward me, my fingers were shaking just a little as I typed in the code for the security feed.

It was my biggest fucking tell. My body did that whenever the rage got too hot, or whenever my nerves were pulled too tight. It was like a glitch in my head that I hated with every part of my soul.

The screen flickered to life, showing the grainy, blue-tinted hallways and the crowded hall of the mansion.

I found the camera for the VIP corner. There they were. Ciro was leading Gianna through the crowd. I watched as he pushed her gently into a corner. Even through the fuzzy video, I could see how out of place she looked. She was standing stiff, her head darting around.

Then, Ciro checked his watch and leaned in to say something to her before he walked away toward the back exit. He was going to make the drop for Dante.

The second he was out of sight, the shadows moved.

A pack of four girls slid into the frame. I recognized the way they walked before I even saw their faces. High-society trash. Heiresses I’d grown up with in the same wealthy circles. Girls who thought the world was a toy because no one had ever had the balls to tell them "no." They moved in a tight line, their dresses shimmering like snake scales under the strobe lights.

They cornered her. I watched as they stood over Gianna, their mouths moving fast, their faces twisted into sharp smiles. Gianna tried to step away but one of them pushed her.

"Don't touch her," I hissed at the screen, my grip on the laptop tightening until the plastic groaned.

They dragged her toward the bar. Gianna was shaking her head, her hands up as if she was begging them to stop. I watched as she forced Gianna’s head back and tied it around her neck. Gianna reached for the knot, but they slapped her hands away. They were laughing. I could see their shoulders shaking with it, their mouths wide and ugly. To them, she wasn't a person. She was just a toy they could play with because they were bored.

I didn't waste a breath. I swiped the trackpad, switching the angle to the high-definition feed over the main bar. This was the one that would give me the names I needed to write their death warrants.

They were laughing. Jessica. I recognized the green hair and the arrogant tilt of her head. Her father owned the biggest diamond firm in the country, and he’d raised a fucking bully. She leaned in close to Gianna’s ear. I bypassed the lag and fast-forwarded the timestamp, tracking them as they moved toward the edge of the hunting grounds.

Jessica held something between her fingers. A small, bright blue pill.

Molly.

She waited for the perfect moment, when Gianna gasped to speak, she shoved the pill deep into her throat.

I watched Gianna’s body react instantly. She began to cough violently, her frame shaking with the force of it. Her face turned a dark, painful red on the screen as she struggled to pull air into her lungs, the chemical forced down her gullet. The girls didn't help. They just laughed and started dragging her toward the tree line.

A roar of pure rage ripped out of my chest.

"SICK BITCHES!" I screamed.

I didn't think. I just acted. I slammed the laptop shut and threw it across the room. It hit the far wall and shattered into pieces, wires and plastic flying everywhere.

I stood up, my chair flying backward and hitting the floor. My blood felt like boiling oil. They had forced her into a nightmare just because they were bored.

I turned around, my chest heaving, my eyes searching the room.

My gaze fell on the couch.

Gianna was still there. She was laying flat on her back, her head tilted toward the ceiling. She wasn't watching the room. She wasn't watching me. She was staring at the light on the ceiling with wide, glassy eyes. She looked so peaceful, her fingers moving slowly over the velvet, completely lost in the chemical world they had forced her into.

But seeing Ciro sitting there, the man who brought her here, made that fire roar.

I walked toward him. I didn't say a word until I was standing right over him, my shadow swallowing him whole.

"I... I just wanted to hang out with her," Ciro whispered, he wiped a smear of blood from his lip. "I swear. I didn't know she was that important. I thought she was just... your dad's new kid. I didn't think it was a big deal."

I dropped down, grabbing him by the front of his ruined shirt and slamming him back against the wall. I got so close to his face that I could see the tiny red veins in his eyes.

"Not a big deal?" I hissed.

"Boss, please—"

"What were you doing with her, Ciro?" I barked, the question exploding out of me. I shook him so hard his head snapped back against the wall once more, "What were you doing? Tell me. Do you want to fuck her? Is that it? You look at her and see something you can just take?"

I felt a sick, hot knot of anger tighten in my chest, making it hard to breathe.

"Do you want her?" I leaned in even closer, my teeth bared. "You want to be her boyfriend? You want to hold her hand and take her to movies while she's under our roof? Is that the dream, Ciro?"

"No! No, I swear, it wasn't like that!"

I let out a dark laugh that didn't feel like mine. I pointed a shaking finger at Gianna. She was still laying there, her head tilted back, her eyes fixed on the ceiling as if she were watching a different world.

"She looked like easy prey to you, didn't she?" I snarled, "You saw a girl who was lonely, a girl who didn't know the rules, and you thought you could be the one to show her around? You thought you could be the big man?"

I dug my fingers into the bone of his jaw, squeezing until I felt his skin bunch up under my grip. I wanted to bruise him. I wanted him to feel the exact moment my mercy ran out. He let out a small, pathetic whimper, his eyes darting around the room like a trapped rat.

"Do you want to fuck my stepsister, Ciro? Hm? Is that the plan?"

I gave his head a violent shake, snapping his neck back and forth until his teeth rattled. He looked like he was about to cry.

"No, Boss, I—"

I didn't let him finish the lie. I pulled my fist back and buried it deep into the center of his face. The sound of the impact was dull and heavy, like a hammer hitting a piece of meat. It shut him right up.

He slumped back, his head hitting the floor with a hollow thud. I stood over him, my knuckles throbbing with a satisfying heat. That punch wasn't for the rules. It wasn't for the family. It was for the image in my head of him even looking at her. It was for the fact that he thought he could bring someone like Gianna into a place like this.

"If I ever see you within ten feet of her again," I said, "I won't just break your bones. I will make sure there isn't enough of you left for a funeral. Do you understand me?"

Ciro nodded frantically and I turned my back on him, my eyes falling on Gianna.

"Get up," I ordered.

Ciro scrambled to his feet, and wiped his bloody nose with the back of his hand, looking at me with pleading eyes. He was waiting for a bullet. He was waiting for the end.

"You aren't patrolling the mansion anymore," I told him, "You aren't going to be a guard. You aren't going to wear a suit. You aren't going to be anywhere near this house, and you sure as hell aren't going to be anywhere near my family.”

I continued looking at her as I said the words.

"You’re going to the docks," I hissed, "The south side. The fish packing plant. You’re going to spend your days knee-deep in guts and salt. You’re going to haul crates until your back breaks and scrub the floors until your hands bleed. You are the lowest man in this family now."

The docks were where we sent the men we wanted to forget. It was back-breaking, filthy work that smelled of rot and death. It was a death sentence for his social life, his ego, and his future.

"Boss, please... the docks? I can't—"

"You’ll do exactly what I say," I ordered, "Or I can just drag you back to that hunting ground and leave you there for the dogs. At the docks, you’ll stay in the dark where you belong. If I even hear a whisper that you’ve stepped foot in the city center, or if I see your face on a security camera within a mile of Gianna, I will personally feed you to the bay."

I walked over to the door and yanked it open that made the guards in the hall jump to attention.

"Get him out of my sight," I snapped, "Take him to the harbor tonight. Don't let him stop to pack a bag," I cut him off, my glare pinning him to the spot, "He goes with exactly what he has on. If he’s still on this estate in ten minutes, I’m holding you responsible."

That was all they needed to hear. They dragged him out of the room, his pleas fading down the long hallway until a heavy door slammed shut somewhere in the distance.

The only sound left was the soft, rhythmic breathing of the girl on the couch.

I walked over and sat on the very edge of the couch. She was still staring at the ceiling, her eyes huge and dark, reflecting the dim light like two black diamonds.

Then, her head tilted. Slowly. Very slowly.

She looked at me, and her face softened into something loose and dreamy. She reached out. She didn't touch my chest this time. Her hand traveled higher, her touch light as a feather, until her thumb brushed the bridge of my nose.

"Right there," she whispered, "I hit you right there."

I felt my jaw tighten. I remembered the punch. I remembered the sting of it, "Yeah. You did."

She let out a soft, bubbly giggle, and leaned in closer, her heat blooming against my side. She raised one finger and tapped the tip of my nose.

"You deserved it," she murmured, "You’re so mean. So I was mean back."

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