My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 63

Gianna

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I stared at the man in the center of the room. My brain felt slow, like it was trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces. I looked at him for a long time, but I felt like I didn't even know who he was.

I thought about the Raphael I saw at the office. That man wore suits that cost thousands of dollars. His hair was always combed back, every strand in its perfect place. He spoke with big, cold words and stood as straight as a pole and wore his glasses. He was polished. He was clean. He was a perfect businessman.

The man standing there was a stranger.

He wasn't wearing a suit. He had on a black leather jacket and under the jacket, he wore nothing. His chest was wide and bare, and it was covered in dark ink. I saw wings, skulls, and snakes that moved over his skin every time he breathed. The tattoos were everywhere, crawling up his neck and disappearing under the leather.

His hair was a mess. It fell over his forehead in dark, tangled strands, like he had been running his fingers through it all night. He had thick silver rings on almost every finger. One of his hands held a glass of dark liquid, and the other arm was thrown carelessly around a woman's shoulder.

She was beautiful, wearing a thin dress that showed everything. She leaned in and pressed her lips to the side of his neck, kissing the skin just below his ear.

He didn't even look at her.

He was busy talking to a man standing nearby. He looked like the leader of a gang, not the boss of a company.

I felt my heart skip a beat. I looked at the bridge of his nose. There it was. The red mark. The cut I had given him.

I tried to plant my feet, but there were three of them, and they were strong. They dragged me out of my safe corner and right into the middle of the crowded floor. People were dancing and bumping into us from every side. A wall of tall men and dancing women blocked my view. My stepbrothers couldn't see me, and I couldn't see them. I was lost in the sea of bodies.

The girls pulled me into a small circle. The girl with the green hair put her arms around my neck. She was warm and shaky.

"You look so lost!" she laughed. She touched my cheek with her sticky fingers. "Is this your first time at the Void, pretty girl?"

I swallowed hard. I looked at the dark ceiling and the cages above us. "Yes," I whispered.

The three of them looked at each other. They let out a loud, high-pitched scream of joy. The green-haired girl turned to the crowd and pointed at me.