My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 127

Chapter 127

Raphael walked toward the restricted elevator, the one that bypassed the lobby and went straight to the private area of the office, I didn’t know what it was and Aileen warned me not to ask questions about it. He swiped his black card, the light flashed green, scanned his eyes and the doors hissed open.

He stepped inside and disappeared, leaving me almost alone on the entire floor.

I pulled the next ledger closer, the dust tickling my throat. I slid the device back under my waistband, finding fresh patch of skin on my hip.

Click. Click

The jolt made my teeth ache, but the page became clear again.

Entry 142: 12,000 USD – Legal Consultation.

I didn’t care if the building was empty. I didn’t care if everyone was halfway home. I was going to finish this if I had to burn every inch of my skin to do it.

“Gianna? Are you still here?”

I jumped, my hand instinctively flyng to my bag to hide the TENS unit. I looked up, blinking against the harsh monitor light, and saw Aileen standing there, her bag slung over her shoulder.

I blinked, my eyes burning, “I’m here.”

She stepped into the harsh pool of light at my workstation, her coat already draped over her arm, “The whole floor is empty. Even the night security is wondering why the light is still triggered. It’s past six, honey. You need to breathe.”

“I’ll leave in a few hours,” I said, my hand instinctively tightening around the TENS unit in my pocket, “I just have to finish this set.”

We worked like that for two hours. Having her there made the letters stop dancing quite so much. I liked Aileen; she was always so sweet, always going out of her way to make sure I had coffee or understood a memo. She felt like the only warm thing in this entire glass-and-steel lifeless building.

At 8:00 PM, my phone vibrated on the desk.

My shift started in forty-five minutes.

“I have to go,” I said, my voice raspy. I started saving the files and shutting down the terminal.

Aileen stood up, stretching her arms above her head. She looked at me, her gaze lingering just a second longer than usual. “It’s dinner time, Gianna. I know a great little Chinese place just a few blocks from here. Do you… do you want to grab a bite? Since we’re both already late?”