My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 786

Chapter 786

“No,” he looked directly at me, a mocking expression on his face, “But I don’t need forever. I need enough time.”

“For what?”

“For Raphael.”

My stomach dropped to my feet.

Leone smiled, “The moment his feet touch Philadelphia soil, we take him.”

“No,” the word came out before I could stop it, “You won’t get near him.”

“We’ll see,” he crouched in front of me, “This Raphael… is going to come here because of you. As he said, he is already on his way. He’ll come looking for you.”

“And he’ll destroy you.”

“Maybe,” Leone shrugged, “But if we have you, he’ll walk straight into whatever trap I build.”

I shook my head with a smile, “You don’t know him.”

“I know enough,” he glanced at my restrained hands, and stood, “And once we have him, the Council gets a very different story.”

Dad’s brow furrowed, “What story?”

Leone looked toward him, “That the Capones fabricated everything and Gianna will help us. She will testify.”

I laughed bitterly, “You really think I’m going to stand in front of the Council and help you?”

Leone’s expression hardened, “You will.”

“I won’t.”

His eyes narrowed, as he ignored my answer and continued, “You’ll tell them the Capones manipulated you. That they fed you false information. That they made you believe your father was responsible for everything.”

“No,” I stated.

“You’ll tell them you want nothing to do with them.”

My voice grew louder, “I’d rather die.”

Then he gave a slow nod, “That’s what you’re saying now,” he crouched again until we were eye to eye, “But you’re forgetting something. I can hurt the people you love. What happens when the pain isn’t yours?”

I didn’t answer, I just stared at him with all the hatred in the world as he leaned closer.

“What happens when I put Raphael in front of you and make you watch what happens to him because you refused to cooperate? What happens when I cut off his tongue and feed it to you.”

I hated the satisfaction in his voice.

“If you refuse to speak, I’ll find another way to make you speak,” he paused, “And if I have to hurt him badly enough to make you understand what obedience means, I will.”

Dad finally spoke, “Enough.”

1/2

+15 Benus

Leone turned toward him. Dad’s eyes moved to me, “Gio cannot run this family, Leone, not after what happened to him, not after what Vance did. We need her, I need her.”

Leone nodded slowly, “You’re right.”

I stared between them.

Leone stepped between us, “And we need her functional. Alive. Clear-headed. Useful,” he glanced down at me She doesn’t need to love us. She just needs to do what we tell her.”

My eyes burned, “You really think you can control me again?”

Leone’s answer came without hesitation, “Not tonight but eventually? Yes…”

Rage twisted inside of me, “I’m going to kill you if you even think about touching him.”

I yanked hard against the restraints, fighting until the material bit into my wrists.

Leone simply watched me, “Keep fighting. We’ll see how long that lasts,” he turned toward the door, “I’ll get the cars ready and have the island secured, make sure everything is waiting for us. And when the Capones come looking for you, we’ll make damn sure they find exactly what we want them to find, Gianna.”

His hand closed around the door handle, as he looked back at me. A cold smile touched his mouth.

“Let’s see how this ends when we have you. And one of theirs.”

He walked out, but Dad stayed. For a moment, neither of us spoke as I continued to glare at him. Then he slowly crouched in front of me until we were at eye level.

“This isn’t what I wanted for you,” he said quietly, “But you kept asking about Dr. Vance. You kept pushing. You kept digging into things that were never meant to concern you.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify