My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 636

Chapter 636

“I’m being a responsible eleven years old!” she laughed.

That made me laugh properly too, only for a second, only a tiny one but it was enough. The sound seemed so strange inside this room that both of us looked toward Mom at the same time.

She was still asleep.

A soft knock came from the doorway. I turned to see Salvatore standing there and I paled. His eyes moved to Mom first, then to Jules and finally… to me.

“Gianna,” he gave me a nod, “Can I borrow you for a few minutes?”

I looked at Jules.

She nodded, “I’ll stay with Mom.”

I brushed a kiss across the top of her head before standing, “I’ll be right back.”

Salvatore led me into the sitting room next door, the door clicked shut behind us. Bookshelves lined one wall, the fireplace

hadn’t been lit.

He gestured toward the sofa, “Sit.”

I obeyed.

A second later, he sat beside me. He rubbed both hands together once before resting his elbows on his knees, “I owe you an apology.”

I looked at him.

“The other night…” his eyes stayed on the floor, “I was angry.”

I remembered every word.

Every single one.

“I shouldn’t have spoken to you the way I did. I wanted to protect Hazel. But… I wasn’t wrong.”

He looked toward the wall that separated us from Mom’s room. His voice had grown quieter.

“If you were anyone else’s daughter… or if Raphael were anyone else’s son… this conversation would’ve been very different but life rarely gives us the easy version of anything

He rubbed his hands all over his face, staring up at the ceiling and then back at me, “And maybe that makes me old-fashioned. Maybe it makes me stubborn but if I stopped feeling that way… I wouldn’t be the man your mother married.”

A long silence settled between us because I didn’t know what to say, how to react to it. Everything was too much for me.

“If I sounded cruel that night…” his shoulders dropped slightly, “It was because fear has an ugly way of choosing our words for us. I’m losing my wife, the woman I loved more than I have ever loved anyone and the thought of losing the daughter I’ve spent years helping raise…” he stopped, “I don’t think I could survive that too. So whether you agree with me or not, please don’t mistake my fear for a lack of love. I’ve never stopped thinking of you as my daughter.”

Salvatore sat quietly for a long moment. His eyes settled on the floor before lifting back to mine.

“When your mother is gone… I want you to move out of our home.”

I frowned, “What?”

“The apartment. The one I bought you for your birthday. I want you to live there. Away from this house. Away from Raphael.”