My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 451

Chapter 451

Raphael

The therapist’s office was on the thirty-second floor. There were glass walls, expensive furniture and neutral colors.

The kind of place designed to make people feel comfortable.

The receptionist looked nervous when I stepped off the elevator. I walked past her desk and she immediately stood.

“Mr. Capone-”

“I know where I’m going,” I told her as I continued walking.

The office door at the end of the hallway was already open. Inside, Dr. Walker sat behind his desk.

He was around mid-fifties, gray hair, calm posture, and calm eyes. The kind of man who probably thought he understood people.

The moment I entered, his attention shifted toward me. Then toward the two soldiers standing behind me, then toward the four thick folders sitting on his desk.

The folders alone would have made most people reconsider their career choices. There were non-disclosure agreements, additional non-disclosure agreements, confidentiality clauses, financial penalties, security protocols, emergency procedures, contingency procedures and contingencies for the contingencies.

Every document had already been reviewed by three lawyers and one federal judge.

I pulled out the chair across from him and sat.

Dr. Walker folded his hands, “I’ve never seen paperwork quite like this.”

“I know.”

He smiled politely, “You had my entire office investigated.”

“I did.”

“You ran background checks on my staff.”

“Correct.”

“You reviewed ten years of financial records.”

“I had to.”

He raised an eyebrow, “You interviewed my ex-wife.”

“She was surprisingly helpful.”

The therapist stared at me and I stared back. Finally he sighed, “Mr. Capone–”

“Raphael.”

“Raphael.”

I nodded once.

“Why exactly are you here?”

I leaned back in my chair, crossed one ankle over my knee and answered immediately, “Because I’m not stupid.”

That earned a blink.

I continued before he could speak, “People hear the word therapy and assume weakness. I don’t.”

I adjusted the cuff of my watch.

“If a machine develops a fault, you inspect it.”

Dr. Walker opened his mouth.

I kept talking, “If a business starts underperforming, you identify the problem.”

His mouth closed again.

“If an operation becomes inefficient, you correct the inefficiency.”

The therapist watched me carefully.

I pointed at myself, “Same principle.”

“So you view yourself as a machine.”

“No.”

I looked at him because that was the problem. Nobody else would understand why it mattered.

A few seconds meant nothing to normal people but a few seconds could change entire lives in my world.

“A surgeon doesn’t accidentally cut the wrong artery. A pilot doesn’t randomly forget how to land. A bomb technician doesn’t lose focus halfway through a wire,” I leaned forward slightly, “My margin for error is very small. I don’t lose my mind.”

The words came automatically, the same way they always did, as a fact, a certainty, a law of nature.

I rested my forearms on my knees, “Or at least I didn’t.”

The therapist watched me carefully now. I continued before he could ask questions.

“I’ve reviewed my sleep schedule.”

“How much sleep are you getting?”

“Enough.”

“How much?”

“That wasn’t the question.”

A corner of his mouth twitched.

“I’ve reviewed nutrition, exercise, workload, caffeine intake, stress factors and I found no abnormalities.”

The therapist raised an eyebrow, “None?”

“Nothing sufficient to explain this but something has changed.”

The therapist leaned back, “Tell me about the first time it happened.”

Immediately the control room appeared in my mind and I stood.

The therapist blinked, “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know.”

“Sit down.”

I remained standing, one hand slid into my pocket. This feeling was familiar, it was the same feeling I got whenever a conversation drifted somewhere I didn’t want it to go.