My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 362

Chapter 362

He turned on his heel, his leather shoes crunching over the broken glass on the floor, and stormed out of the room without looking back once.

Perla didn’t waste another second arguing with the empty room. She leaned down and scooped her arms under my knees and my back, lifting my trembling body right out of that horrible metal chair.

“Come here, sweetie,” Perla whispered softly against my hair, her arms warm and tight around me “I’ve got you. Let’s get you out of here right now.”

My body felt completely broken. The burning pain from the electricity was still tingling under my skin, and my muscles were so weak I couldn’t even hold my own head up. I buried my face into her shoulder.

“Wait,” I choked out, my small hand weakly reaching back toward the dark corner of the lab, “My… my bear. Please. Don’t leave him.”

Perla stopped walking. She turned her head, her eyes searching until they landed on a high wooden shelf. Sitting right there was the bear my mom had given me, it was recording… everything.

Perla walked over to the shelf, keeping me tucked securely against her chest with one arm. She reached up with her free hand and gently grabbed the small toy.

She held the bear up, staring down at its sweet, simple face for a long moment. A soft, sad look came over her eyes, and she looked down at me.

“This is the one your mother gave you, right?” Perla asked very softly.

I couldn’t speak through the thick lump of tears in my throat. I just nodded my head against her shoulder, a fresh wave of hot tears soaking into her sweater. I reached out with a trembling hand and tightly squeezed the small bear against my chest, burying my face into its soft, familiar fur.

It smelled like home, it smelled like mom.

“Okay,” Perla whispered, wrapping her arms even tighter around me and the bear, “Let’s go, Gianna.’

I sat on the edge of the mattress, my legs trembling so hard I could barely keep my feet flat on the ground. The crumpled blue summer dress was pulled up past my knees, showing the angry, red, and blistered marks where the cold metal prongs had burned into my skin.

Leone was on his knees in front of me. His large hands, usually so strong and rough, were incredibly gentle as he dipped his fingers into a small white jar of cooling cream.

The moment his cool fingers touched the burning skin of my thigh, a sharp gasp caught in my throat, and I buried my face straight into his shoulder. I sobbed openly, my chest heaving against his chest, my hot tears soaking into his dark shirt. I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding onto him like he was the only safe thing left in the

entire world.

“Shh, I’ve got you, little one,” Leone whispered, and kept his left arm wrapped tight around my waist, holding me steady while his other hand gently spread the thick cream over the burns, “It’s okay. I’m right here, just breathe.”

Even though his words were sweet, I could feel the terrifying ridge of muscle in his jaw. He hated the doctor. He hated what had been done to me.

“That sick piece of trash,” Leone growled under his breath, “He is going to pay for this. I swear to you, Gianna, he

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won’t get away with touching you.”

“It’s okay,” I wept into his neck, trying to comfort him. I squeezed my eyes shut, my fingers gripping the fabric of his shirt. “It will end soon, Leone. The pain… all of it. It’s almost over.”

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