My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 440

Chapter 440

Claire ignored both of them.

Her attention never left her husband, “You scared her enough to break up with him.”

“I wasn’t trying to.”

“Did you scare her?”

Vincenzo opened his mouth, “…possibly.”

Claire raised an eyebrow, “Possibly?”

“Fine. Yes.”

“Vincenzo.”

“What?”

“Apologize.”

The entire table froze, even me, especially me because apparently watching the head of the Chicago Outfit get ordered to apologize was a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Vincenzo looked personally offended, “Right now?”

“Yes.”

“She isn’t even here…”

Beside me, Madeleine pressed her lips together trying not to smile.

Raphael smiled, “That’s alright. I’ll make sure the message gets delivered.”

His eyes flickered toward me again and my stomach dropped because nobody else understood it.

To everyone else, he was talking about some mystery girlfriend.

But I knew.

Finally Vincenzo looked toward Raphael, then muttered something.

“What was that?” Claire asked sweetly.

Vincenzo’s jaw tightened, “I said I may have overreacted.”

And that was the closest thing to an apology anybody was ever getting from Vincenzo Capone.

And judging by Claire’s expression, even she knew it.

“But… that creates another problem. The things she heard last night. The things she saw,” Vincenzo glared at Raphael, “How do we know she isn’t a liability now?”

I looked down at my coffee again. Suddenly I didn’t feel hungry anymore.

Raphael lifted a shoulder, “I know she isn’t.”

My chest hurt. I should get used to his coldness by now, but I still wasn’t. He said it so easily like I hadn’t spent half the night crying into my pillow, like he hadn’t kissed me against a wall.

Alessia kept watching him, her head tilted slightly. Then she set her fork down, “No,” she said quietly, “It doesn’t just happen to you.”

Raphael sighed immediately, “Alessia-”

Her eyes never left his face, “Don’t do that thing you do.”

He rubbed a hand down his face, “Can we not do this?”

Her voice softened, “I know you better than you know yourself. You’ve been pretending things don’t affect you since you were a kid.”

The room grew quieter.

Alessia smiled sadly, “You used to fall off your bike, scrape half the skin off your knees, and tell me you were fine while you were bleeding through your socks. And you still do it.”

Raphael scoffed and looked away.

Alessia shook her head, “So no, sweetheart. I don’t believe for one second that this is just a case of ‘it happens.’

Raphael stared down into his coffee. For the first time all morning, nobody had a joke ready, nobody interrupted, nobody laughed.

I found myself looking at him before I could stop myself. Something uncomfortable shifted inside my chest.

For one stupid second, I remembered last night. Him sitting in that car, asking if it was goodbye.