My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 736

Chapter 736

The tears I’d been holding back spilled over, “No…”

Raphael looked back at me, “She said you were the worst sister in the world. She said everyone leaves her. And I didn’t correct her.”

The sob escaped before I could stop it. My entire body folded forward. It felt like someone had reached into my chest and crushed my heart with their bare hand.

I wiped at my face so quickly I only made things worse, “Please. Please let me talk to her. I just… I need to see her. Please, Raph, just one minute. I don’t even care if she screams at me. I just need her to know I didn’t leave her.”

Raphael’s expression hardened, “No.”

I stared at him, “What?”

“No. I want you to understand exactly what you left behind. You won’t call Jules. You won’t see Jules. And if I have any say in it, you won’t be anywhere near her until you tell me what the hell is really going

on.”

My head shook immediately, “Raphael, please don’t do that.”

His voice carried something I’d almost never heard from him before, “You didn’t have to do this either but you still did. And now she’s sitting in that house believing her sister chose someone else over her.”

I shook my head so hard it hurt, “That’s not true.”

He looked straight into my eyes, “This is the one thing I’m willing to punish you with until you trust me enough to tell me the truth, you don’t get Jules.”

My vision blurred completely.

Because out of everything he could’ve taken from me, he’d found the only thing that could truly break me.

Neither of us spoke for a long time then, but we stayed on call. The room was quiet except for my uneven breathing. Raphael didn’t rush to fill the silence. He reached just out of frame before coming back with a cigarette between his fingers.

A silver lighter clicked. He lit the cigarette, took one slow drag, then leaned back in the chair. The end glowed orange. A thin stream of smoke escaped his lips before drifting toward the ceiling.

I frowned, “You’re smoking?”

His eyes stayed on me, “I smoke sometimes.”

I blinked, “You hate cigarettes.”

“I do,” he took another drag, “I hate a lot of things. But sometimes…” his jaw tightened, “…I need something to quiet the violence in my head.”

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Violence.

He didn’t say anger.

He didn’t say frustration.

Violence.

Like it was something living inside him that constantly wanted out.

I swallowed, “You’ve been smoking because of me?”

His eyes narrowed slightly, “I’ve been smoking because if I don’t calm down, people get hurt.”

He brought the cigarette back to his lips. The blood was still smeared across one side of his face. The smoke curled around him until he looked almost unreal.

Then his gaze dropped to my neck. His eyes stayed there for several long seconds, “You kept the

necklace.”

I instinctively touched the pendant resting against my skin. My fingers wrapped around it without thinking, “Yeah. I’m not taking it off again. Because…” I smiled faintly despite everything, “I heard you.”

His expression didn’t change, “Heard what?”

I tucked one leg underneath me, “You thought I was asleep. I wasn’t. I heard you talking.”

His cigarette paused halfway to his mouth.

“I heard you telling Dante about the tracker. So…” I looked down at the pendant again, “I kept it on.”

His eyes searched mine, “You know it’s transmitting?”

I nodded once, “The second I realized what it was, I decided it was staying.”

Raphael stared at me, “Why?”

I laughed quietly, “Because if you can’t reach me, at least you’ll always know where I am. I wanted one thing to stay easy for you.”

And for the first time since the call began, the anger in his eyes cracked only a little, just enough for me

to see the man underneath it.

The cigarette rested between his fingers as he watched me in silence, then his jaw shifted, “Take it off.”

I frowned, “The necklace?”

A corner of his mouth twitched, “No. Your top.”

I blinked, “What?”

“The shirt.”

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