My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 142

Chapter 142

Vincenzo’s eyebrows furrowed, his jaw setting hard, “Decided what, Dad?”

Our father looked at each of us, one by one, “I’ve decided to officially adopt Gianna and Jules,” he said, “The legal paperwork is already with my lawyer. It’s a full, binding adoption. Since Jules is still a minor, her mother had already signed for her. All I need now is Gianna’s signature on the final decree to make it permanent.

The world stopped.

Inside my chest, something violent and dark slammed against my ribs. My heart didn’t just beat, if thrashed. A cold rage flooded my veins, turning my blood into lead.

Adopt?

The disgust rose up in my throat, hot and bitter. I thought about the office. I thought about the way her skin felt under my hands, the way I had tasted her blood, the way I had pinned her to my desk and made her arch her back for me. I thought about the marks I had left on her throat, marks that were still fresh.

And now my father wanted to give her our last name?

“Official?” Vincenzo asked, “You’re giving them the name?”

“I’m giving them everything,” Salvatore said, his grip tightening on my chair, “Security, inheritance. The protection of the family. It’s done.”

My stomach turned. The idea of her being family officially made my skin crawl with a kind of revulsion I couldn’t name. It wasn’t because I cared about the bloodline. It was because I didn’t want any walls between us. I didn’t want a label that made what I wanted from her a crime against our own house.

I sat there. I sat perfectly still, my face a frozen mask of boredom, while my mind screamed.

She wasn’t my sister. She would never be my sister. I had felt her heart racing against my chest. I had seen the look in her eyes when I touched her, it wasn’t the look a sister gives a brother.

“That’s a story for another time, Raphael,” he said quietly, “I should get back to Hazel, thought I’d see you allbefore bed.”

He didn’t wait for me to respond. He just turned and walked toward the doors, the sound of his footsteps fading into the hallway.

“Why do you care?” Adriano asked, narrowing his eyes.

I lifted a shoulder in a slow, bored shrug, forcing my muscles to stay loose while my insides were screaming. I couldn’t let him see the way my skin felt like it was crawling. I couldn’t let him see that the word sister was a poison in my mouth.

“I don’t,” I stated, “It was just a question. I’ve been stuck in an office with her for weeks, and Vincenzo specifically told me not to run a background check on her or her family. You can’t blame me for being curious when I’m working in the dark. You know how I am with data, I don’t like gaps in the story.”