My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 571

Chapter 571

But the words stayed trapped behind my teeth because every time I imagined saying them… I imagined something else too. Mom’s smile disappearing. The happiness she’d found with Salvatore cracking apart because of me.

I couldn’t do that to her, not after everything she’d survived with my father. If keeping quiet meant she got to spend whatever time she had left believing she’d found happiness….

Then I’d keep quiet.

I looked down at my hands.

Sometimes…

I caught myself wondering what would have happened if life had taken one tiny turn somewhere.

If Mom had never married Salvatore. If our families had stayed separate. If Raphael had simply walked into my life exactly the same way he already had…

Only without the impossible label hanging over us.

A small smile slipped onto my face before I could stop it. Mom would’ve adored him. She already liked him without knowing the truth.

I could almost picture it.

Raphael showing up to dinner exactly on time. Bringing flowers because he’d researched her favorite ones weeks beforehand. Helping her with her medication schedule. Listening more than he spoke.

Mom would probably spend every conversation telling me not to let him get away. The thought made warmth spread across my cheeks.

Oh…

She would’ve loved having him as a son-in-law, heat flooded my face so quickly I almost groaned.

Beside me, Raphael closed the folder and set it on the bench, “You look warm.”

I looked up, “What?”

“You’ve become noticeably red.”

I looked at my mom and then back at him, “I think it’s the sun.”

He looked toward the sky, “We’re sitting in the shade.”

A small smile appeared on his face, “I assumed as much.”

I stood too, “I’ll walk you out.”

His eyes found mine for the briefest second. Mom looked between us again. That same thoughtful expression returned to her face. I suddenly became very interested in the fountain.

“Back in a minute,” I told her.

She nodded slowly, “I’ll be… waiting.”

We started walking side by side through the gardens. The stone path curved between tall hedges and flowering trees. The sounds from the fountain grew quieter behind us until all I could hear were our footsteps and the wind moving through the leaves.

Only when we rounded another corner did Raphael glance over his shoulder.

The gardens behind us were empty, no guards, no family.

His hand suddenly found my neck before I could even blink, he guided me backward. My shoulders met the warm stone wall beside the pathway.

A startled laugh barely escaped me before he leaned down. His mouth found mine. The kiss was quick and deep, but it stole every coherent thought from my head.