My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 276

Chapter 276

Gianna

I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom of the venue, and I just… looked. The dress had already settled on my body like it belonged there, like it had been waiting for me.

Black smooth silk catching the light in soft flashes every time I shifted my weight. It didn’t cling, not desperately, not cheaply, it followed like it knew exactly where to stop and where to suggest.

I turned slightly, watching the fabric fall along my hips, the slit opening just enough to reveal my leg before slipping back into place when I stilled. My fingers brushed down the side of it.

Five years ago, this had been my world.

Cocktail dresses. Soft laughter over glasses of champagne. White walls lined with art that people pretended to understand while pretending even harder not to care.

I used to belong to nights like this. I exhaled slowly, my gaze flickering back to the mirror, but I wasn’t seeing myself anymore.

I was seeing that night.

The last gallery I ever walked into.

I had been on Leone’s arm, the man I thought I would marry, the man I loved in a way that had felt permanent back then. I could still remember the weight of his hand at the small of my back, guiding me through a crowded room like I was something precious he refused to let out of his reach.

I remembered the way he leaned in to explain a painting I barely cared about, the way I nodded anyway, more focused on the warmth of him than the art in front of us. I remembered laughing softly at something he said, the kind of laugh that came easy back then with him.

I remembered thinking this is it. This is the life. This is where I belong.

My throat tightened.

I turned, slowly, letting my back face the mirror now. The dress dipped low, exposing my spine, the silk falling away just enough. My hair slipped over one shoulder, leaving my skin bare, vulnerable in a way that didn’t feel weak, just real.

“Restroom, Dante. Relax,” I said, snagging a glass of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray.

“Well, stop relaxing. The enemy has entered the perimeter,” he muttered, grabbing my arm and pulling me closer to him, “Victoria is here. Three o’clock. Don’t look. Actually, look, but look like you’re too obsessed with me to notice she’s even breathing the same air.”

I choked on my drink, a small laugh bubbling up, “What?”

“I’m serious, G,” he said, “Here’s the plan, I’m going to act like a bored, mysterious guy. You’re going to act like you’re physically addicted to my presence. I want you to look at me like I’m the air in your lungs. Look at me like you’d crawl over broken glass just to hear me describe my morning coffee.”

I let out a loud, genuine laugh, shaking my head, “Are you actually serious right now? You want me to play the obsessed fan’ role?”

“Yes! Exactly like that!” Dante hissed, a wicked, frantic grin breaking across his face, “Laugh. Lean in. Make it look like I’m the funniest, most charming man on this planet. I want her to see your eyes sparkling and think, ‘ Damn, I really traded a Ferrari for a tricycle.””

I couldn’t help it. The sheer absurdity of his ego was so ridiculous that I started laughing for real. I leaned my head against his shoulder, my body shaking with amusement, “You are so stupid. You know that, right?”

He pulled me tighter against his side, his thumb stroking my bare shoulder in a way that looked intimate but felt like a business transaction, “I’m stupid and currently accompanied by the hottest girl in the room. Now, look at me again like I just invented fire. She’s moving this way.”