Charles was supposed to meet up with ra today, but he''d been calling her since early morning and she still hadn''t picked up. Not once.
Thest call finally connected, but it wasn''t ra on the other end-it was some guy.
Ryan was already at his limit. Whoever kept spamming ra''s phone had been at it all day; her poor battery probably couldn''t take much more.
But before Ryan could snap at him, the stranger spoke first.
"Hey, sis, I''m at Palm Bay but there''s literally no one here. Where are you? Which way am I supposed to go?"
Charles''s helicopter was parked right there on the Palm Baywn, bold as anything. As he''dnded, he could almost feel the unfriendly vibes-like a hundred eyes were following him. Now, he was just standing in front of his shiny chopper, bored out of his mind.
Hearing someone call ra "sis" made Ryan bolt upright. "Who the hell are you?"
Charles seemed just as confused, running his fingers through his hair. "Who are you? You don''t sound like Dn. Did my sister trade up for someone new? Is she cheating on Dn or what?"
That didn''t make sense. She''d looked perfectly happy thest time she walked off with Dn.
Ryan took a deep breath, rattled off the address, and told Charles toe over.
When Charles showed up, what he saw was ra sprawled out on the bed,pletely passed out.
He rushed over and scooped her up, panic written all over his face. "Sis, what''s wrong? Are you okay?"
Ryan saw how rough he was being and stormed over, prying Charles''s hands off ra.
"Hey! What do you think you''re doing? Put her down!"
Charles finally nced over, squinting at Ryan. "And you are?"
Ryan''s face was red with anger. "I should be the one asking! The Bradford family doesn''t have any random brothers popping out of nowhere. What kind of brother are you supposed to be? And let ra go-she''s not hurt. She woke up a few hours ago, she''s just sleeping now."
Honestly, when she woke up earlier, ra hadn''t seemed all there. She''d fumbled for her phone, sent a half-asleep text, and immediately passed out again.
Ryan had snuck a look at her contacts. Just two words: "My Husband."
Damn it, Dn! What the hell did you do to get ra to call you ''husband''?
Ever sincest night, Ryan''s world had flipped upside down-again. Losing his dad, Johnny, had already changed everything, butst night had taken things to a whole new level. It honestly felt like he''d stumbled into some wild movie.
Charles settled beside the bed, ncing at ra for a few seconds, then at Ryan.
"Are you two really siblings? You don''t even look alike."
That stung, but Ryan just remembered how ra had risked her life for him. His chest burned with a weird mix of pride and gratitude.
"There''s no point talking to you."
Charles might act like a kid, but he could tell when someone meant well or not. He crossed his arms. “Fine.
wait till my sister wakes up.
we''ll sort this out."
Right then, Charles''s phone rang. It was his older brother.
The family party was about to start, and everyone was already heading to the
Fergusons'' estate. His brother clearly wanted to know what Charles was up to this time.
"Mitch, where are you?"
Charles scratched his head. "Big bro,
are you guys at the Fergusons''
already? I''m with my sister. She''s
still
Il asleep. I''ll take her out for some
fun once she wakes up."
His brother, multitasking at hisptop, nced out at the growing line of fancy cars outside. He sighed.
"I''m staying in the Capital for three days. You''re staying with me. No running off and causing trouble."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it."
Charles hung up and looked at Ryan. "So, why didn''t you get invited to Walter''s birthday bash?"
Ryan took a deep breath, deciding not to bother answering.
Seriously-where did this clowne from, acting like he and ra were old
pals?
Once ra woke up, Ryan was determined to get rid of every single one of these weirdos.