My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 588

Chapter 588

Hazel held her tightly, too tightly. As though letting go for even a second might mean losing her all over again. She buried her face against Gianna’s hair.

“You found me…” Gianna whispered through tears.

Hazel couldn’t answer. She only held her closer. Then, over Gianna’s shoulder, Hazel lifted her head. Her tear- filled eyes swept across the room until they settled on Denise.

The warmth was gone.

Only a mother’s fury remained.

“Who runs this house?”

Denise stood up, “I do…”

Hazel forced herself to loosen her grip. Only enough to look at her daughter again. Her eyes moved over Gianna’s face, searching every inch as if trying to convince herself she was real.

Then they drifted lower.

The tiny black costume.

The almost bare chest.

The impossibly short skirt.

Hazel’s expression changed.

Without saying a word, she slipped her own wool coat from her shoulders and wrapped it around Gianna.

The heavy fabric swallowed the small costume almost completely.

Hazel pulled the lapels together herself, covering every bit of exposed skin she could.

Gianna blinked, “Mom…”

Hazel tucked a loose strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear, “You’ve been cold for long enough.”

Then she turned slowly. Her eyes settled on Denise. The warmth she had shown Gianna disappeared.

“Do you have any idea,” Hazel asked quietly, “what have you done?”

Denise stood where she was, “I can explain.”

“You most certainly will.”

Denise took one careful step forward, “Ms. Hazel, she had nowhere to-”

“That doesn’t mean you can put my daughter in that!” she shouted.

Denise glanced at Gianna, “It wasn’t like-”

“My daughter is sixteen years old.”

Hazel’s voice echoed through the room.

“Sixteen, but you already know that, didn’t you?! A child who arrived in this city alone, terrified, hungry, and looking for her mother and you looked at that child… and this is what you thought she needed?”

Denise shook her head immediately, “No.”

“You expect me to believe that?!”

Denise shook her head, afraid of all the guns pointing at her, “I found her at the park bench-”

Hazel closed her eyes for one brief second.

“I was sleeping in parks before they found me,” her voice trembled, “If Denise hadn’t found me…. I don’t know what would’ve happened.”

Hazel’s face softened for the smallest moment, then she looked around the room again, at the pole, the costumes, the heels.

Her expression hardened once more.

Gianna hurried on, “She is not lying, she never made me dance for anyone. She never asked me to do what happens here, not once. She only made sure I wasn’t hungry, that I had a bed, that I was warm and safe.”

Tears rolled down Gianna’s face as she reached for Hazel’s hand.

“So please… please don’t hurt them.”

Hazel looked at her daughter for a very long time. Then she slowly squeezed Gianna’s fingers.

She then looked directly at Salvatore, “I want every person in this house identified.”

Gianna’s head snapped up, “Mom-”

Hazel didn’t stop, “I want to know exactly what happens inside these walls. If anyone exploited frightened young women… they will answer for it.”

Gianna stepped in front of Denise instinctively, “They didn’t exploit me.”

Hazel gently moved her daughter behind her again, “You don’t have to protect anyone anymore.”

“I’m not protecting-”

“Yes, you are!” Hazel’s voice hardened, “You are my daughter, Gianna. You do not belong in a house like this. You do not belong among women who sell themselves to strangers.”

Her eyes shifted to Denise, filling with open disgust.