My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 734

Chapter 734

Gianna

The screen rang three times, then it connected. I smiled automatically and it disappeared just as fast.

My breath caught, “Raphael?”

He was sitting somewhere dark with dirty concrete walls. A single light hanging above him.

His white dress shirt was rolled to his elbows, the sleeves stained with dark red. Tiny flecks of blood dotted one side of his face. It was fresh.

He was breathing harder than normal, not exhausted, just controlled like someone forcing himself to calm down.

“Raph…”

My eyes searched the screen. His jaw. His neck. His hands. Looking for injuries, looking for something that told me the blood belonged to him.

He didn’t answer me, didn’t even say a single word. Instead, he lifted one hand and slowly dragged it

down his face.

The blood smeared across his cheek, some of it caught against the edge of his light stubble. He leaned back into the chair without breaking eye contact.

The silence made my stomach twist, “Raphael…” my voice came out smaller than I wanted, “Where are you?”

He just stared at me, saying nothing at all. Cold panic rushed through my veins. My stomach twisted into a tight, heavy knot, and my hands started to shake.

“What happened?”

I sat up straighter on the bed without even realizing it.

“Are you hurt?”

He kept staring, not at my face anymore, but at me. His eyes traveled over the screen slowly, taking in everything.

The tank top, the necklace around my neck, the thin tank top stretched tight across my chest and the little underwear I wore, showing off the bare skin of my legs.

Heat rushed into my cheeks.

For a second, I’d almost forgotten what I was wearing.

“I…” I looked down at myself before meeting his eyes again, “I was just-”

The words died because he still hadn’t said anything. My heartbeat sped up.

“Raphael,” I swallowed, “Please. Say something.”

Another long second passed, then slowly his eyes finally lifted to mine.

He drew one slow breath through his nose. A low, rough sound escaped him, it was not quite a sigh, it wasn’t even a growl either, “Are you okay?”

Everything inside me stopped. That… That was the first thing he asked, not why I’d left, not why I’d gone with my father, not whether I had betrayed him.

I pulled it toward me, trying to throw it over my lap.

“Don’t.”

My hands stopped. I looked back at the screen.

His eyes were still fixed on me, “Don’t cover up.”

I frowned, “I was just going to-”

“I like you like this,” the words came quietly, “They made my night a little easier.”

Everything inside me melted. The blanket slipped back onto the bed. A smile found me before I could stop it, the first real one I’d had all day.

“I thought…” I looked down for a second before meeting his eyes again, “I thought you’d be furious with me.”

“I am.”

My smile faded immediately.

“I’m pissed,” he didn’t raise his voice, just like he never does, “I’m pissed at you but that doesn’t mean I stop loving you.”

I blinked, while his eyes stayed locked on mine. Something in my throat tightened.

“You don’t get punished by me loving you less,” his jaw flexed, “You get loved anyway but I am angry.”