My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 60

Gianna

━⊰ ❦ ⊱━

I was bored.

Not the normal kind of bored where you scroll through your phone for a few minutes and it goes away. This was the annoying kind. The kind that sat on your chest and made the house feel smaller every hour.

Back home I used to leave whenever I felt like it. I’d walk to the corner store, sit at the park or get coffee at midnight with my girls if I couldn’t sleep.

Here, even stepping outside felt like asking permission. I stood by the window and looked down toward the gates.

Ten guards.

Always ten.

One leaning against the booth, the others pacing slowly across the driveway. The mansion was beautiful but it was also a cage.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through my contacts until I found the name I wanted.

Ciro.

Texting was a nightmare so I just pressed the call button. The phone rang once then he picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me,” I said.

There was a beat of silence.

Then—

“No way,” I could practically hear the grin in his voice, “Gianna?”

“Yeah.”

“Well I’ll be damned,” he laughed quietly. “I thought you forgot I existed.”

I leaned my shoulder against the window frame, watching the guards shift positions near the gate.

“Not really,” I said.

“So this is a friendly call?” he asked.

“More like a bored call.”

He chuckled, “Ah, so I’m the emergency contact for boredom now.”

“Pretty much.”

“Wow. I don’t know if I should feel insulted or honored.”

I smiled slightly, “Take it however you want.”

“Fair enough,” then there was a short pause on the line, “What are you doing right now?” he asked.

“Staring at the gate,” I said.

“That sounds exciting.”

“Thrilling.”

“You could go outside,” he said casually.

I snorted, “You know that’s not how this place works.”

“True.”

I watched one of the guards adjust his jacket near the driveway lights, “You guys treat the front yard like it’s a military zone.”

“Well,” Ciro said lightly, “technically it is.”

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