My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 62

In the center of the room, there were large glass cages hanging from the ceiling. Inside them, women with painted bodies danced like they had no bones. They wore nothing but thin gold chains.

I saw a woman sitting on a marble table, her eyes rolled back into her head while a man pressed a small pill against her tongue.

"Ciro," I whispered, my voice shaking. I felt small. I felt way too clean for this room. "What is this?"

"This is as high as it goes, Gianna," he said. He leaned in close to my ear so I could hear him over the noise, "These people have so much money that they get bored of being human. So they come here to act like animals."

I watched a man in a silver suit grab a girl by the hair and he forced a drink into her mouth while he laughed with his friends.

Gold plates were filled with white lines of drugs. People leaned down, breathing it in, then stood up with wild, shaking eyes.

I saw a man in the corner with three girls draped over him like blankets. He looked at me, his eyes dark and hungry, and I felt a chill go down my spine. I moved closer to Ciro.

"I think I made a mistake," I said, my heart hammering against my ribs, "I want to leave," I said as I grabbed Ciro’s arm, my fingers digging into his sleeve, "Ciro, I want to go. Now."

Ciro looked at me. The light from a spinning gold ball on the ceiling hit his face, and he looked truly sorry. He looked at the girls dancing in the cages and then back at my terrified face, and I could tell he finally saw how wrong this was.

"I'm sorry," he said, leaning in close so I could hear him over the thumping music. "That was stupid of me. I shouldn't have brought you here. I’m so used to this place that I forgot... I forgot this isn't normal. This is too much for you."

He looked around the room, his eyes scanning the crowd like he was looking for someone. He pulled me toward a dark corner near a large stone pillar. It was a little quieter there, away from the dancing bodies and the spilled wine.

"Listen to me," he said, "I have to do a quick job for the boss. It’s just a drop-off. It will take me ten or maybe fifteen minutes, and then we are out of here. I promise."

I was alone.

I backed up until my shoulders hit the cold stone of the pillar. I tried to make myself small. I watched the room through the gaps in the crowd. A man with a silver mask walked past, his eyes lingering on my face for a second too long.

A wave of noise washed over the crowd. It wasn't the usual laughter. To my left, a group of women began to scream in excitement, jumping up and down and waving their arms. On the other side of the room, men started to howl like wolves, banging their glasses against the marble tables.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

Every person in the place was looking at the center of the room. I followed their eyes, and my heart jumped into my throat.

My eyes went wide. I felt the blood drain from my face as I saw my stepbrothers.