Chapter 733
I hadn’t come here to wear expensive clothes and stand beside my father like everything was normal.
I came here for answers.
And somehow, after an entire day, I had even more questions.
When we finally returned to the house, I thought I could at least spend time with Gio and Perla. I wanted to talk to them. I wanted to understand what happened while I was gone. I wanted to know why Gio looked at Dad that way but Dad stopped me before I could even ask.
“They go to bed early,” he said simply.
So I was back here.
Alone.
In the room I had left six years ago.
Missing Jules.
Missing the Capones.
Missing Raphael so badly it felt like there was a hole in my chest.
I opened my closet, expecting to find something familiar. Instead, I found a time capsule. Everything inside belonged to a girl who no longer existed.
Sixteen-year-old Gianna.
Tiny dresses, old sweaters, clothes that fit a body that hadn’t finished changing. I pulled out a shirt and stared at it. It looked ridiculous in my hands. I put it back.
After searching through everything, I finally found something that fit.
A small tank top and underwear.
I put it on and the tank top ended above my waist. I stood in front of the mirror, my eyes moved over my reflection and my fingers moved to the necklace around my neck.
Raphael’s mother’s necklace.
I touched the pendant softly, just thinking about him made something inside me ache.
I knew he was hurt. I knew he was angry and I couldn’t blame him. He had fought for me. He had lost because of me. The thought made my stomach twist.
I looked back at my reflection, tilting my head slightly as I studied myself. Maybe… Maybe if he saw me like this, maybe if I reminded him of the girl he loved instead of the mess I felt like now. Maybe if I made him smile first, distracted him for just a little while.
1/3
Chapter 733
+15 Bonus
Maybe he wouldn’t be able to stay angry at me.
A small, guilty smile pulled at my lips. It was a little manipulative. A little unfair but Raphael knew me.
I adjusted my hair, pushed my breast together, pulled at my neckline, making it deeper, fixed the necklace so it sat against my skin, and looked at myself one more time.
I wanted to see the way his expression changed when he looked at me and because I wanted to remind
him…
I was still his Gianna.
I climbed onto the soft bed and set my phone up against the pillows. I sat back on my heels, opening my thighs wide to show the thin band of my dark underwear stretched tight between my legs.
And then I stared down at Raphael’s name on the screen for several long, breathless seconds.
He was probably angry.
He had every right to be.
I had walked away with my father.
I had left him standing outside that Council room.
I had left Jules.
I had left everyone.
I wanted him.
I wanted his voice.
I wanted to know if he was okay.
And before anything else, I needed to know the truth.
Could I call Jules?
Would she answer?
Was she angry?
Did Claire and Maddie hate me?
Did the Capones think I had betrayed them?
My thumb hovered over his name, then I pressed the video call button. The screen started ringing and suddenly, all the courage I had carried all day disappeared.
Because I could face my father.
VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret