My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 289

Chapter 289

“Why not?” Maddie asked, “He seemed totally crazy about you.”

“He’s just… a lot,” I explained, searching for the right words. I didn’t want to say that his attention felt like a bright spotlight I wasn’t ready to stand under, “He is too strong for a first meeting. It’s like he wants to go from zero to one hundred in five seconds. It made me feel a little bit like I couldn’t breathe.”

Claire nodded, and squeezed my shoulder gently, “I get it, sweetie. Sometimes those fast-talking charm boys are good for a dance, but they are way too much work for anything else. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Exactly,” Maddie agreed, giving me a warm nudge. “Tonight is about us anyway. No boys allowed in our circle”

I smiled, a real, deep smile that warmed me from the inside out. I turned back into the music, my body bending and swaying with Claire and Maddie.

The cool air of five in the morning hit our faces as the black SUV pulled up to the estate. The sky was no longer black, it was a soft, sleepy grey, with tiny streaks of pink just starting to peek over the tops of the tall pine trees.

We stumbled out of the car, our high heels dangling from our fingers by their thin straps. We were quiet so we wouldn’t wake up the whole house, but every time one of us took a step, we let out muffled, giggling snorts.

In our other hands, we clutched three warm cardboard boxes of pizza we had ordered from a late-night spot down

the street.

“Shh!” Maddie whispered, though she was laughing so hard her shoulders were shaking. She held a pizza box flat against her stomach, “If we wake up the boys, they’re going to steal Claire’s pepperoni. Follow me.”

Instead of going to the main kitchen, Maddie led us down the hallway in the east wing, past the tall paintings of the nine generations of the Capone family. She stopped in front of a small, hidden spiral staircase. We climbed it slowly, our bare feet cold against the metal steps, until Maddie pushed open a heavy door at the very top.

We walked out onto the wide, flat roof of the estate.

“This is it,” Maddie murmured, her voice soft with a sweet, private smile, “This is where Adriano and I fell in love. It’s our spot.”

She led us to a cozy corner where there were a few thick, weather-proof outdoor cushions and a heavy wool blanket draped over a bench. We sat down close together, pulling the big blanket over all three of our laps to keep

out the chill.

Down below us, the massive back gardens of the estate looked like a magical forest. My eyes went to the Rose Garden Raphael and I fixed, and I felt a smile pulling at my lips despite everything that happened tonight.

We open the first pizza box. The steam rushed out, warming our cold faces.

“Oh my god,” Claire groaned, pulling a hot, cheesy slice free and taking a huge bite. “This is literally better than anything in the world.”

“Yes,” I agreed, my mouth full of warm dough. I felt so safe sitting here between them.

Maddie set her vegan slice down on the cardboard and turned her head to look at me.

“Gianna,” Maddie said quietly, “You don’t talk about yourself. What do you dream about when you’re alone? What

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are your hobbies, the things that make your heart feel happy?”

1 froze for a second, a piece of pizza halfway to my mouth. Nobody had asked me that in a very, very long time.

I looked down at the warm cardboard box of pizza, my fingers tracing the greasy edge.

“The truth is,” I whispered, my voice barely louder than the morning wind, “I don’t even think I know how to dream. I never really got the chance to try.”

Maddie shifted closer, pulling the heavy wool blanket tighter around both of our shoulders. Claire stopped mid- chew, her eyes locking onto my face.

“What do you mean, Gianna?” Claire asked softly.

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