My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 302

Chapter 302

Raphael

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The frantic pounding on the door rattled the wood, but it was nothing compared to the sudden, wild panic that erupted in the girl standing across from me.

Gianna froze like a rabbit caught in high beams. Her eyes went incredibly wide, darting from the door, to her own damp bathrobe, and then finally to me.

“Gianna! I know you’re in there!” her mother’s angry voice boomed through the wood again, “Open this door this instant!”

Gianna snapped. She bolted across the room toward me, her bare feet dragging on the rug, and grabbed my bare arms. Her hands were freezing, shaking so hard I could feel the tremors in my own bones.

“You need to hide,” she whispered, “Now. Raphael, you have to hide.”

I stood there, rooted to the spot, looking down at her. It was hard to take the threat seriously when she looked like this. Her hair was still damp, smelling faintly of sweet shampoo, and she was swallowed whole by that oversized, fluffy white bathrobe.

Her cheeks were flushed pink with panic, her chest heaving as she gasped for air. A dark, quiet amusement coiled in me. I was a grown man, and here she was, treating me like a guilty teenager caught sneaking into her bedroom.

“Gianna,” I said, my voice low and completely calm, “Relax.”

“No!” she gasped, her eyes darting around the bedroom, “You don’t understand. If she sees you here, shirtless, in my room…”

She didn’t finish the sentence. She just grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me. It was like a kitten trying to drag an anvil, but I let myself be moved anyway, just to see what she would do.

She dragged me toward the bed. “Under the bed. Can you fit under the bed?” She bent down, lifting the duvet, as she stared at the narrow gap between the wooden frame and the floor.

I let out a soft, dry chuckle, crossing my arms over my chest, “Gianna, look at me. I’m over six feet of muscle and bone. I am not squeezing my ass under a bed frame like a dusty shoe.”

Her head snapped up, her eyes flashing with a mix of anger and sheer panic, “This is not funny, Raphael! She is going to open the door herself if I don’t!”

She looked so utterly terrified of the woman standing on the other side of that bedroom door. The amusement in my chest dimmed just a fraction, replaced by a darker, protective instinct. I didn’t like seeing her look this scared of anyone.

I reached out, my large hand wrapping gently around the back of her neck. I squeezed, forcing her to look up and meet my eyes. My calmness seemed to calm her as well for a split second.

“Hey,” I murmured, “I’m going. Relax. She won’t see me, take a breath, and open the door.”

She swallowed hard, nodding slowly.

I let go of her neck, stepping back into the closet. With one last panicky look at me, Gianna grabbed the handles of the closet doors and pulled them shut, plunging me into the darkness.

But I didn’t let the doors latch.

As soon as her hands left the wood, I reached out and pushed the left door open just a tiny fraction. I kept my fingers on the edge, holding it still. Through the narrow, vertical gap, I had a perfect view of the bedroom, bathed in the pale morning light.