My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 699

Chapter 699

They all looked at me as though the answer had been sitting in front of me my whole life and I was simply refusing to see it.

Maybe they were right.

Maybe they weren’t.

That was the problem.

No one seemed willing to accept that I was the only person who had actually lived those years.

“I may not have all the right answers for you but I know what Hazel told me,” his voice was gentle, “I know what she was afraid of.”

“My mother isn’t here anymore,” the words left my mouth before I realized how cold they sounded, “She can’t explain what she meant.”

“Hazel spent years trying to get you away from him,” Salvatore said quietly, “She gave up everything to keep you safe. And now you’re walking back to the very man she spent years protecting you from. You’re choosing him, Gianna. You’re choosing him over the family that has stood beside you. Over the people who love you. Over us. And he hasn’t done a single thing to deserve that choice.”

My chest tightened, everyone seems to think that I was choosing Dad over them. If only it were that simple.

Maybe they thought they were protecting me and they really were but none of them lived inside my mind.

None of them knew what it felt like to carry the same questions year after year until they became part of you.

Questions that refused to stay buried.

Questions that followed you into every room.

Questions that whispered to you every time you failed.

Every time you hesitated.

Every time you looked at yourself and wondered whether you could have been… different.

Some promises refused to die, no matter how old they became. Some questions refused to stop asking for answers. I had spent years trying to silence them.

They always came back.

“You think this is about loyalty,” I spoke quietly, “You think this is about choosing one family over another.”

“It isn’t?”

“No,” my fingers laced together, “It’s about finishing something that was never finished.”

He looked at me for a long time, “And if finishing it costs you… us?”

The question landed harder than I expected, so I looked toward the front of the cabin again. Raphael still hadn’t looked at me. A dull ache settled in my chest.

I loved him.

With everything I had

Enough to let him hate me if it meant reaching the end of this road.

Raphael

Our convoy rolled through the old iron gates one car at a time before stopping in front of a sprawling Sicilian estate built centuries ago.

The mansion sat high above the cliffs, carved from pale stone that had weathered hundreds of years of storms without ever bowing to them.

Olive trees stretched across the hills. Ancient cypress trees lined the long drive. Beyond them, the Mediterranean crashed against the rocks below.

Exactly the sort of place where men decided who would keep breathing.

I stepped out of the car, the sea breeze carried the scent of salt and old earth.

Men in dark suits stood every few meters, their eyes hidden behind sunglasses despite the fading afternoon sun.

Every person here already understood the rules.

No weapons inside.

No blood spilled on Sicilian ground.

No matter how much hatred existed between families.

Until the Council reached its decision.

Vincenzo stepped out beside me, adjusting the front of his black jacket. Behind us came Adriano, Luca, Dante and. Silvio.

Claire helped Aurelia from the car while Vincenzo lifted Killian into his arms. Maddie climbed out carrying little Nero against her shoulder. Jules stayed close beside Claire, unusually quiet for once.