My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 609

Chapter 609

Raphael

I sat beside Gianna’s bed, the lamp on her nightstand was turned down low, the curtains were closed. The room smelled faintly of antiseptic from the fresh dressing around her head.

She hadn’t moved in almost twenty minutes.

The doctor had said sleep was exactly what her brain needed.

I believed him.

Even so, I found myself watching the slow rise and fall of her chest.

My eyes moved to the white bandage wrapped around her head. The swelling around her temple had already become darker. Purple was beginning to creep beneath her skin. The stitches underneath would remain for around ten days if healing progressed normally.

I had already instructed one of our nurses to remain in the house through the night. Another would rotate in during the morning.

Someone would always be here.

Always.

Her hand rested outside the blanket. I reached over and touched two fingers lightly against her wrist. Her pulse was regular. I let my hand fall back into my lap.

The basement replayed itself again. The way she looked at me after Denise confessed. That expression stayed longer than everything else. As though someone had reached inside her and stolen a part of the world she’d believed in.

There was nothing I could do about that.

Broken trust wasn’t something surgeons stitched together. It healed badly. If it healed at all.

I looked at her again, she was still asleep. Her face had finally relaxed,

I leaned forward slowly, lowered my head and pressed a light kiss against the center of her forehead, just above the dressing.

“You continue to make irrational decisions, and I continue to revolve my entire life around making sure they don’t kill you,” I whispered.

The words were more for me than they were for her.

Her heart was weaker now. Her body was weaker. Any serious emotional shock from this point forward carried a risk she might not survive.

She turned her head slightly toward the chair beside her bed.

Vincenzo was already there, “She’s home, Hazel and she is safe.”

Her eyes closed and for several seconds she simply breathed.

“I took care of Denise,” Vincenzo added and Hazel opened her eyes again, “She will never touch Gianna again. She will never come near your family again.”

Hazel blinked, “…Thank… you.”

He adjusted the blanket around her shoulder with surprising care, “You should rest.”

I remained by the doorway, watching. People feared Vincenzo because they only ever saw the man who buried enemies.

Very few ever witnessed this version.

He rose from the chair without another word. When he turned, his eyes landed on me. Whatever softness had been there a moment ago disappeared.