My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 488

Chapter 488

With a single yank, he tore her away from me.

“No! Let me go!” Perla screamed, and thrashed against his grip, using her free hand to claw at his wrist, trying to break his hold, “Giovanni, stop it! You can’t let him do this to her! He’s breaking her hands! He’s hurting her!”

My father didn’t care. He didn’t even look at her face as he dragged her backward toward the doorway, his arm completely solid.

“You are done here, Perla,” Daddy said, “You have forgotten your place in this family. You were sent here to watch, not to think.”

“You are a monster!” Perla shrieked, her face turning bright red with tears as she struggled with every ounce of strength she had left, “She is your daughter, you goddamn coward! Look at her face! Look at what he did to her lip! You are letting a sick bastard torture your own blood! I hate you! I fucking hate you!”

Daddy dragged her out into the dark hallway, his large frame completely blocking the light for a second. Outside, two heavy security guards immediately took her by the shoulders, her screams turning muffled and distant as they forced her down the corridor toward the elevators.

My father walked back into the office, adjusting the lapels of his dark coat. He didn’t look at me once. He turned his head slowly, his eyes landing on Leone, who was still standing perfectly still by the doorframe with his hands buried deep inside his pockets.

“From this moment on, you sit in the chair,” Giovanni ordered Leone, “You will stay in every single session. You will ensure the doctor is not interrupted, and you will make sure the girl stays in the seat until the treatment is complete. Do you understand me?”

Leone didn’t answer right away. His dark eyes slowly shifted from my father’s face down to where I sat trembling in the leather chair.

For the first time since we had entered the room, I looked back at him. My vision was blurry from the tears and the blood dripping from my split lip, but the hatred inside my chest was burning hot.

He took his hands out of his pockets, and walked slowly toward the chair where Perla had sat. He dropped into the seat, his dark eyes never leaving my face, his breathing shallow and tight.

“Proceed, Doctor,” Leone ordered, looking into my eyes.

The next sixty minutes didn’t feel like time anymore. They felt like a long, endless hallway of white light and screaming.

Doctor Vance didn’t stop. Because my father had given him permission, and because Leone was sitting in the corner like a guard, the doctor took his time.

He used the blunt silver needle again and again, pressing it into the soft skin under my other fingernails until the silver handle was slick with my blood. Every single second was a fresh explosion of heat that shattered my thoughts into tiny, useless pieces. I screamed until my throat felt like it was tearing open, until no sound came out but a dry, rattling gasp.

Through the entire hour, Leone never looked away. He sat perfectly still on that chair, his broad shoulders stiff, his face as pale as a sheet of paper. His dark eyes tracked every single drop of blood that hit the white tiles. I could see his chest heaving under his shirt, his breathing heavy, his knuckles turning a ghostly white as he fisted his hands in his lap.