My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 406

Chapter 406

Raphael

“Do you have one on me too?”

The question hung between us.

Gianna stood near the desk, damp hair dripping slowly onto the carpet while she stared at me like she wasn’t sure she actually wanted the answer anymore.

“I asked you something,” she said more quietly now, “Is there one on me too?”

I looked at her for a long second before answering, “No.”

Her expression didn’t change, but she shook her head, “I don’t believe you.”

I exhaled once and added, “I was going to.”

That got a reaction, her jaw tightened immediately.

“But I didn’t,” I continued before she could explode, “Vincenzo shut it down.”

She blinked once, “Vincenzo?”

“He’s the head of the family,” I said simply. “He told me to leave you alone. So I dropped it.”

Gianna stared at me for another second before letting out a soft laugh through her nose, “So otherwise you would’ve done it.”

I parted my lips to answer her on instinct, but the words stalled halfway out. There wasn’t any point in lying. I hated pointless dishonesty, and Gianna deserved more respect than that.

“…Yeah,” I admitted calmly.

Something in her face shifted again after that like she already expected it but hearing it out loud still clearly pissed her off.

“That’s actually fucking horrible.”

“It’s practical.”

“No, Raphael, it’s creepy.”

I stayed leaning against the desk, arms folded loosely over my chest while she paced once across the room again.

“You really just investigate people like it’s nothing?”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t feel weird about it?”

“No.”

Her eyes flashed, “How?”

I sighed, “Because that’s what people are to me.” 

“Yes.”

“Then what changed?”

That answer took me longer, not because I didn’t know it but because I did. I just didn’t know why it mattered enough to hesitate over.

“At first,” I said slowly, “you were just another stranger living in the house.”

Her face hardened slightly at that.

“I figured I’d run a standard check eventually. Mostly because you showed up out of nowhere and nobody knew anything about you besides basic surface-level shit.”

“That’s comforting.”

“You know what family I was raised in, Gianna.”

“That doesn’t magically make it okay.’

“No,” I agreed calmly, “But it explains it.”

She crossed her arms tighter over herself.

I continued before she could interrupt again, “After Vincenzo told me to back off, I left it alone.”

“But you did it again,” she guessed immediately.