My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 717

Chapter 717

My bare feet hit the floor. A sharp sting shot through my arm. I looked down. A tiny red mark sat near the inside of my elbow.

My jaw tightened, “I cannot believe he did that.”

I rubbed the spot harder than necessary before looking around the room.

My handbag. Where was my handbag? Panic rose so quickly it almost stole my breath. My eyes darted across every surface. The desk, the chair, the wardrobe.

Then…

The nightstand.

My handbag sat there neatly, I immediately rummaged through it to see if anything had been taken but everything was there, my phone, my wallet, my necklace.

I grabbed my phone so quickly it almost slipped from my fingers. The screen lit up and there was nothing.

No missed calls.

No unread messages.

No texts.

No voicemail.

I stared at the screen. Maybe, they were still in the air, but Raphael can- maybe there wasn’t any signal

this time.

I refreshed my messages, but still nothing. My thumb opened Raphael’s conversation. The last message was still mine. No reply. Something inside my chest quietly folded in on itself.

For one stupid second, I’d thought he would have sent my hundreds of messages.

I’m coming.

Wait for me.

Don’t panic.

Anything. Instead, there was complete silence. He meant it, right? He meant it when he said things between us were over if I left with Dad.

I swallowed. It hurt far more than I wanted it to. No. I shook my head once. I wouldn’t let him. He can’t leave me. He was probably trying to figure out a way to get me back. He wasn’t someone who gave up. I held the phone against my chest for one brief second, I needed to know what happened.

I pulled my bedroom door open, the hallway looked untouched. The same framed family photographs lined the walls.

Me missing my two front teeth.

My stomach tightened, “Gio?”

Then I heard something, I immediately followed the sound of quiet voices until they led me to the formal living room.

The doors stood half open and I stopped in the doorway.

Dad sat in his usual chair with several thick files spread neatly across the coffee table. Leone occupied the sofa opposite him, reading through another stack of papers while making notes with a fountain pen.

The moment Dad looked up, a smile crossed his face, “You’re awake.”

My hand tightened around my phone, “Dad…” I said quietly, “you really knocked me out.”

Neither man answered.

I took another step into the room, “What was that? Why would you do that?!”

Dad simply watched me.

“The Council…” I continued, “What happened?” my heart started beating faster, “Why won’t anyone answer me? What the hell is going on?”

Dad calmly closed the file in front of him before placing both hands on top of it, “You came home. That’s what happened. I brought my daughter back.”

“I asked you what happened at the Council,” I snapped, the words leaving my mouth before I could soften them.