My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 634

Chapter 634

“Soft tissue vaporizes rapidly Bone survives longer. So the remains pass through a secondary calcination cycle.”

He said it as calmly as if he were explaining how an engine worked. My fingers tightened around the edge of the seat.

That was the terrifying thing about Raphael. His violence was never loud. It was quiet, precise and absolute.

He could decide someone no longer existed, and the world would keep turning as though they’d never been there at all.

“The remaining calcium phosphate becomes brittle. After cooling, the residue enters a sealed industrial milling unit. It reduces everything that’s left…” He searched briefly for simpler words, “…into an extremely fine mineral powder.”

“Wh-what does that mean?” I asked.

He smiled, “It means that there are no recognizable fragments, No teeth, bone and definitely no DNA worth recovering. I designed it that way.”

I swallowed hard.

He was right.

If the Capones left their victims behind for the police to find, the city morgues would’ve been overflowing by now. Every hunt.

Every war. Every betrayal. There would’ve been bodies everywhere.

Instead…

There almost never were.

He continued, “The powder is chemically stabilized, blended with ordinary construction-grade mineral aggregate, then incorporated into concrete batches produced through one of our subsidiaries.”

He looked at me.

“Once it cures…” his voice stayed almost gentle, “It becomes part of foundations, retaining walls, bridge supports. It is impossible to separate afterward without destroying the entire structure.”

The realization settled over me slowly.

No grave.

No body.

Nothing.

The tires rolled to a stop before he could even shift into park… I had already unbuckled my seat belt.

He turned toward me, “Gia-”

I climbed over the center console so quickly I nearly lost my balance. My knees landed on either side of his lap.

His eyes widened, one hand came up automatically to keep me from falling, “Gianna?”

I grabbed his face with both hands then I kissed him hard, desperately like I was trying to breathe through him.

He froze for the briefest second before kissing me back just as fiercely.

My fingers buried themselves in his hair. My lips trembled. The kiss lasted only seconds before it completely fell apart.

A broken sob escaped me. My forehead dropped against his, “I miss them…” the words shattered as they left my mouth, “I miss them so much. They’re gone… and it’s all because of me. I should’ve stayed away. I should’ve known I didn’t belong in their world. Mom tried to warn me over and over…” I squeezed my eyes shut. “They were so alive, Raphael. They had dreams… they had plans… and now they’re dead because of me.”

Raphael didn’t speak. He simply wrapped both arms around me. One arm supported my back. The other protected my injured head the way it always did.

I buried my face against his neck. My tears soaked into the collar of his shirt, “I couldn’t save them… I couldn’t save any of them…”