Page 5 of My Italian Stepbrother

So, you want a show then?I catch myself thinking. I climb out of the water and make my way to one of the lounge chairs, looking up at him while I move. His eyes never leave me. I drop the back of one of the chairs and lie down on my stomach, momentarily on my hands and knees, pinning him with a half-lidded gaze. I might be too far away, but I could swear I saw him lick his lips.

Why the hell did I just do that? It’s like I can’t control myself around him. I like feeling his eyes on me, and it’s so wrong.

I look back one more time, and he still hasn’t looked away. Is he some sort of stalker or something? What the hell? While part of me doesn’t think he’ll try and harm me, another part is getting a little paranoid. I searched him online before we picked him up outside of the prison, but the results didn’t yield much. At the time, I kind of thought it was because it wasn’t a huge deal. But after hearing the reporter yesterday mention a bribe, I’m starting to wonder if there’s some cover-up.

Enio has the money to buy out reports if he needed to.

Looking back over my shoulder, I realize he’s gone from the windowsill. A wave of relief takes over my body, and I roll over onto my back. What’s one more search going to hurt?

I type “Benito Bareli bribe” into my search bar and await the results. All I find are a few articles about his release, and how he gave no comment when confronted by a reporter about the bribe. I can’t even find what people think the bribe is.

Maybe it’s all just tabloid news, just junk the reporters are writing to get the most views so they get a nice holiday bonus this year.

I’m probably just being paranoid. Besides, no bribe gets someone out of prison for murder after they’ve only served four years.

Taking a deep breath and rubbing some sunblock on my skin as soon as it starts to feel too warm, I stiffen when the back door slides open, and I look up to see a man I don’t recognize walking toward me. He’s tall and wearing long black pants and a black shirt. His arms are covered in tattoos, and he looks like he’s balding, with a brown goatee speckled with gray.

One of the downfalls of living at Enio’s is the company he keeps.

“Hey there,” he calls to me. He has a thick accent that tells me he’s from New York or New Jersey, and he continues to saunter toward me.

I instinctively grab my towel and wrap it around my shoulders to try and cover myself. I didn’t realize anyone was over, or I wouldn’t have been out here.

“Hi,” I responded hesitantly. My eyes dart towards the door.

“Where has Enio been hiding you?” he asks with a smile that makes me deeply uncomfortable. I feel so exposed and vulnerable in his presence.

“What do you mean?” I reply halfheartedly, knowing exactly what’s happening.

All I can think is how reckless this man is being by talking to me. Enio isn’t my dad, but I’m sure he doesn’t like to hear that one of his lackeys has been hitting on his stepdaughter.

“I mean, I knew he got married, but I wasn’t expecting his new daughter to be such a looker,” he adds quickly, an attempt to charm me as if he’s expecting me to swoon at his feet.

I laugh uncomfortably and lift my knees to try and hide as much of myself from him as I can.

“I’m just–” I start to say before I’m interrupted.

“Carlo, what are you doing?” Benito bellows from the door.

He approaches us, and I can see from the way he’s walking that he’s upset. I feel relieved seeing him. I didn’t know what I would say to get out of that situation, and I’m glad he came to my rescue.

“We’re just having a little chat,” the man I now know is named Carlo responds with a guilty face. He may be tall, but Benito towers over him.

Benito looks at me, and I say nothing in response. He walks to me and grabs my arm, pulling me up from the chair. My towel falls off my shoulder, and he bends over and picks it up to hand to me.

“Go to your room, Brie,” he says in a low voice, and I nod my head.

I walk into the living room where a few other men are sitting and chatting with each other. They stop when I walk in and smile at me. I feel disgusted by all of them and dart into my room and close the door tightly behind me.

5

BENITO

“I’m gonna ask this one more time.” Speaking in a menacingly low voice, I stare straight into Carlo’s beady eyes. “What are you doing?”

As soon as I noticed Brie was in the pool during the meeting with my father, I suspected something like this might happen. She’s a gorgeous girl, who would certainly capture the attention of at least one of these assholes. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about what could have happened had I not been there. These aren’t the kind of men you want hanging around your girl.

“I saw her out here alone, and she looked like she could use some company,” Carlo responds with a laugh.

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