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."

much his big brother and Mitch meant to

brother in

beamed, unconsciously tugging out a handful of

dog just wagged

a man watched Charles's happy expression, and his eyes

and walked back to his study, calling for the

was in Country Z, you're sure

days, and the kid was already acting like

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

his biggest fear was that someone would take advantage of Charles's mental scars and steer

Charles had always been solid. Loyal to the Chester family,

to lend his two dogs to anyone-not even

he was ready to give them to a woman he'd just met. The

just an ordinary girl from a regular family in the capital Used to 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

was the family's

sweat from his forehead. "But I don't think it's that

always calling him-well, the Chester family's dog,

rubbed his

up from an underground fighting ring-no parents, just a kid covered in scars. If he hadn't poured the

kids weren't allowed to be kids.