Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run

His little sister was kind of clueless-there was no way she'd ever make the first move and call him.

He thought it over. That left only two other people, but both of them were trouble, not the type to reach out unless they absolutely had to.

He sighed, slumped back onto the couch, and waved his brother off. "Seriously, big bro, don't worry about me. Go do your thing. I'm perfectly fine on my own."

He barely finished the sentence when his phone buzzed.

Charles shot up so fast he was a blur.

There was this super secret number only his big brother and Mitch knew about. Usually, when that phone rang, it meant he was getting sent out on a mission.

But there hadn't been any jobs lately. If anyone was calling now, it had to be his little sister.

He grinned, excitement lighting up his face, and gave the old shepherd dog next to him a pat on the head before answering.

"Hey, sis!"

Clara felt a wave of warmth at his voice. "Hey, are you busy?"

"Nope, not at all! When I'm not working, I'm just waiting for you to call. Why don't you ever text me first? Is that husband of yours not treating you right? I told you, you should've picked Big Bro or Mitch instead. At least then, nobody would dare mess with you."

genuinely touched. She knew how much his big brother and Mitch

brother

a handful of fur from the

The dog just

a man watched Charles's happy expression,

walked back to his study, calling for the

Country Z, you're sure that woman wasn't some plant?" he

already acting like this. Unless someone was behind it, it didn't

while, he'd even been used as a test subject-the same experimental

fear was that someone would take advantage of Charles's mental scars and steer him down

Charles had always been solid. Loyal

had never been willing to lend his two dogs

to a woman he'd just met.

chase after some guy, then somehow caught Dylan's eye pretty lucky, honestly. Maybe that's why she got dragged into someone's scheme and ended up with the mind of a child. She's not really special, except maybe she looks a

Clara was the family's darling, their

sweat from his forehead. "But

him-well, the Chester

man rubbed

ring-no parents, just a kid covered in scars. If he hadn't poured the Chester family's resources into the boy, his face would never

to be kids. Women weren't really women,