My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 394

Chapter 394

Raphael

I could hear her laughing somewhere ahead of me.

The sound moved through the trees, slipping just out of reach every time I got close enough to touch her. Moonlight flashed against the black of her dress disappearing deeper into the woods.

A slow grin pulled at my mouth as I followed after her.

She thought she was winning.

That was the cute part.

I stepped over a fallen branch, the cameras hidden high in the trees tracked every second of her movement across my phone screen. A flashing red dot blinked right toward the northern side of the grounds. 1

Right towards… the trap.

My grin widened.

My poor fucking girl.

She had spent the last ten minutes teasing me like she forgot whose woods she was running through. Every path. Every hidden wire. Every trap buried beneath the leaves.

Mine.

And Gianna…

Gianna ran exactly where I wanted her to.

I could already picture the look on her face when it happened. The thought alone made heat settle low in my stomach.

Another burst of laughter echoed ahead before I caught sight of her between the trees again. Her dark hair flew behind her while she ran.

She glanced behind her for one second, just one and that was all it took. Her foot hit the hidden wire buried beneath the leaves.

A sharp snap echoed through the woods. Then suddenly, “Raphael-!”

The rope yanked tight around both her ankles so violently it ripped a scream from her throat. Her body flew upward through the air before she could even catch herself.

Leaves exploded everywhere.

The branch above her groaned hard as she shot upside down into the air, hanging several feet above the ground by both ankles.

I stopped walking, looked up.

And laughed.

A shocked sound tore out of her as she swung wildly from the tree branch, her hair hanging down while her dress slid straight over her stomach from gravity. The black fabric bunched around her waist, exposing the soft skin of her thighs and the tiny strip of black underneath.

“Oh my God!”

Her hands grabbed at the rope around her ankles while she twisted violently, trying to pull herself upright again.

“You asshole!” she yelled.

I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked toward her slowly through the leaves, unable to stop smiling.

The moonlight hit her perfectly.

Upside down.

A soft clicking sound echoed above us. Then slowly, the rope began lowering her downward from the branch.

Gianna gasped softly as her body descended inch by inch until her upside down face finally stopped directly in front of mine.

Level with me.

Close enough that I could feel her warm breath against my mouth. Close enough to see anger and excitement fighting inside her eyes at the same time. And she looked furious.

Turned on.

Humiliated.

Beautiful.

I lifted my hand slowly and brushed a strand of hair away from her upside down face, “You should’ve stopped teasing me when you had the chance,” I murmured.

Gianna swung lightly in front of me, glaring so hard it only made me want to laugh more.

“You are genuinely the worst person alive,” she snapped.

“Mhm.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.”

Her eyes narrowed even more at my calm voice. She looked completely ridiculous while trying to act intimidating. And somehow she still looked hot enough to ruin my self-control.

I reached out slowly and caught one of her swinging wrists before she could smack me.

“Stop moving so much,” I said lazily.