My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 432

Chapter 432

There wasn’t room for emotional mistakes. There wasn’t room for blind spots. There wasn’t room for whatever the hell had happened to me last night.

I rubbed my thumb over Medusa’s scales. Eventually the noise in my head began settling. They weren’t disappearing, they were becoming manageable.

I looked down at the python, “You know what the solution is?”

Medusa blinked. I took that as permission to continue, “I do exactly what I told her I’d do. I keep my distance.

Because that was what I was good at.

Problems appeared.

I fixed them.

And right now I was the problem.

So I would fix that too.

I pressed one final kiss against the top of Medusa’s head before carefully lifting her back toward the enclosure.

“You are a terrible therapist.”

The python remained completely unimpressed.

The shower did nothing.

The water was hot enough to turn my skin red. I stood beneath it longer than necessary, letting it pound against the back of my neck while I stared at the tiled wall. Normally it helped. Normally the routine worked.

Wake up.

Shower.

Work.

Think.

Solve problems.

Simple.

Today my thoughts kept drifting. I turned the water off harder than necessary.

Enough.

I had work to do.

I dried off, dressed, fixed my watch, and walked out of my room. Everything felt normal. The house was quiet. The hallways were quiet. The estate was waking up slowly. Exactly like every other morning.

Then I reached the staircase and stopped. The mess Gianna, Jules and I made last night right here was gone but something smelled different.

I frowned, for a second I couldn’t place it. It was something familiar. The scent drifted through the house. Comforting.

I stood there for a second longer than necessary then I started walking faster. The closer I got to the kitchen, the stronger it became.

And suddenly I knew.

A smile tugged at my mouth before I could stop it. I pushed through the kitchen doorway and there she was.

My aunt.

Standing in front of the stove, her dark hair was tied back loosely. Several pans were working at once, something, baked in the oven, something simmered on the stove.

She was moving around the kitchen like she owned it. Which, honestly, she practically did.

“What?”

“First question.”

I ignored her, “Where is it? What is it?”

She smiled, “It’s a she… and her father stole her.”

I frowned, “What?”

“She had a doctor’s appointment this morning,” she pointed a wooden spoon at me, “And before you ask, everything is fine.”

I relaxed slightly. Alessia returned to stirring whatever was cooking.

“Her father wanted to take her himself.”

I could picture that.

Unfortunately.

Rino motherfucking Lombardi carrying a baby around like a priceless diamond while terrifying every nurse within a fifty-foot radius.

The image almost made me laugh.

“He’ll be back this evening and drop her off here.”

I nodded, then without really thinking about it, I hugged her again, harder this time. My arms tightened around her waist.

Alessia went still and slowly lowered the spoon. Then covered my hands with hers. I already knew something was coming.

Alessia had always been dangerous, not because she carried a gun but because she paid attention to all of us. Far too much attention.