My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 445

Chapter 445

Of course he felt the distance, the indifference and the complete lack of warmth.

I could practically hear him trying to figure me out, trying to find the version of me he remembered. The version that wasn’t there anymore.

His voice softened, “Are you okay?”

A year ago that question would have affected me, now it didn’t. It was strange. I had expected anger, pain and

longing whenever I thought about what we had in the past. Instead I felt absolutely nothing.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound fine.”

“You didn’t call to discuss my feelings, did you, Leone?”

“You texted me first.”

The reminder immediately made my jaw tighten. A mistake. A stupid moment. A weak moment.

I closed my eyes briefly, “I know.”

His voice grew gentler, “I wasn’t expecting your message.’

I shook my head, “I shouldn’t have sent it.”

“What?”

“I said I shouldn’t have sent it.”

“Why-”

“It was a mistake!”

His breathing changed, just slightly, “You don’t mean that.”

“I do.”

“No.”

A small smile touched my mouth. There it was already, the Leone I remembered. The one who heard only what he wanted to hear.

“You sent me a message after years, Gianna…” he trailed off.

“And?”

“You reached out and you told me that you missed me.’

I rolled my eyes, “It doesn’t mean what you think it means. I was having a bad day.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s all.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

My face scrunched up in annoyance, “I don’t care what you believe.”

The words came out snappier than I intended. For a second neither of us spoke.

Then he sighed, “You’re still angry.”

“No.”

“You’re still hurt.”

I wasn’t either of those things, not angry, not hurt, “No.”

“Gianna, you have no idea what I went through after you-”

I pushed away from the wall and started walking, “I only answered because you wouldn’t stop calling. That’s it I wanted to tell you to stop.”

“Gianna, I kept calling because I was worried,” his voice tightened, “You reached out to me after all these years and then vanished. What was I supposed to think? I thought something was wrong. I thought maybe you needed me. Maybe you needed help-”

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