My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 264

Chapter 264

We reached the doors at the end of the hall. I swiped my palm, and the doors hissed open to my private basement office.

This room was my sanctuary. It was a playground of blue light and chrome. Massive curved screens wrapped around the walls, glowing with live feeds from across the globe. In the corner, the skeletal frame of the robot had been building-my pet project-stood under a spotlight, its gears gleaning.

I walked deep into the room, until I leaned back against the edge of my glass desk, shoving one hand into my pocket. I watched her look around, the blue light reflecting in her wide eyes, her lips were slightly parted.

My blood was still buzzing from the kiss in the elevator, but the professional side of me was reeling from what she’d just done.

“That’s it,” I said, “No more filing papers. No more making coffee for me.”

I looked her dead in the eye. I wanted her to understand exactly how much her life had just changed.

“That’s your job now, Gianna,” I told her, gesturing vaguely to the sea of data outside my door, “You’re the filter. You’re the eyes of the Outfit. You stay by my side, you look at what I tell you to look at, and you find the cracks before they break us. You’re going to be a powerful weapon.”

I leaned back against the desk, my eyes drifting away from the high-tech screens and landing on her. I let my gaze slow down, tracing the line of her white button-down shirt and the way her pencil skirt hugged her hips. She looked like a professional, a student, a girl who followed the rules but I knew better. I knew she was a storm.

But then, the memory hit me.

The garden.

I remembered the soft, feather-light pressure of her lips against my cheek. That kiss. It hadn’t been sexual, and that was exactly why it felt so damn strange. It had caught me off guard, vibrating through my jaw and settling deep in my chest in a way that made no sense. Why had she done it? It felt like she was trying to bridge a gap that didn’t exist, like she was trying to reach for something…

It was weird. It was entirely too domestic for a relationship we shared, stepsiblings with benefits. I didn’t like it. I didn’t know what to do with a gesture that wasn’t a transaction.

I felt a smirk tug at the corner of my mouth. I liked that she didn’t play games, “Good. Because the pay is different down here. Every person you saw in that hall, they get paid double what the people upstairs make. Your salary just jumped. Significantly.”

Gianna’s eyebrows shot up, and then she did it, she rolled her eyes. She actually looked annoyed. “Oh, stop it, Raphael,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You don’t have to do that. You’re just saying that because you think I need it…I don’t want handouts. I’m here to work, not to be your charity case.”

I stood up straight, taking a step toward her until I was deep in her personal space. I didn’t sugarcoat things. I didn’t have the patience for it.

“Gianna,” I said, “Look at this room. Look at the people out there. Look at what’s happening out there. That is the difference between us living free and us rotting in a federal prison. It is a thousand times more important than filing taxes or answering phones in the lobby. I pay for results, not for smiles. You gave me a result that saved millions of dollars. You earned that pay before you even walked through my door.”

She bit her lip, her eyes searching mine for a lie. She didn’t find one.