My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 564

Chapter 564

It had quietly become the man holding me while making sure the ice pack stayed exactly where it needed to be

Then Raphael suddenly broke the silence, “…I have a question.”

I lifted my head and looked back at him, “Okay?”

His gaze drifted toward the water, his jaw tightened and his thumb stopped moving against my side, “I’ve been thinking about something you told me a long time ago.”

I frowned, “What did I say?”

His eyes stayed fixed on the horizon, “You said…” He paused, choosing each word carefully, “That when you love someone… you love them for life.”

I froze, blinking up at him.

“You also said…” he swallowed almost imperceptibly, “If someone truly falls in love again, then perhaps what they felt the first time wasn’t love at all.”

The morning suddenly felt very quiet.

Raphael let out a slow breath, “I’ve spent an unreasonable amount of time analyzing that statement. This…” he gestured vaguely between us, “This is unfamiliar territory for me. You are my first in more ways than I know how to explain.”

Something tightened in my chest, a certain weight that I didn’t know how to lift off.

“If I started listing them,” he said quietly, “we would still be sitting here this evening.”

I smiled softly.

Then his expression became serious again, “I don’t know how this works. I don’t know whether people carry pieces of previous relationships with them forever. I don’t know if love… changes shape.”

He looked at me then and for the first time since I’d known Raphael Capone…

I closed my mouth immediately and he took a slow breath.

“I’ve spent months trying to understand something. If love lasts forever…” he said quietly, “…then where does it go? Does it divide? Does it fade? Does it stay exactly the same while another love grows beside it? I don’t know, Gianna, I have never been here before. I’ve never had to compete with someone’s memories.”

His expression remained calm, but I knew him well enough now to see what sat underneath it. He was hurt just thinking about it.

“If there is still part of your heart that belongs to him…” his jaw flexed, “…tell me. I won’t be angry. I won’t punish you for telling me the truth but I need the truth. Because if you loved him the way you told me you did…” he hesitated, “…then I don’t know how I became enough.”

I shifted beneath the blanket until I was facing him completely. The blanket slipped around us, trapping the warmth between our bodies while the cool morning air brushed against the top of my head. The ice pack stayed tucked against my lower back, one of Raphael’s hands still holding it in place without him even thinking about it.

I looked at him for a long moment. His face was calm and patient. Months ago, I would’ve called it unreadable. Cold, even, now I knew better.

Now I could see the tiny things hidden beneath it.

The slight tightening of his jaw. The almost invisible crease between his brows. The way his breathing slowed. The way his shoulders weren’t fully relaxed anymore.