Lahat ng Kabanata ng Meet My Overprotective Brothers : Kabanata 171 - Kabanata 180

The party wound down around midnight. Guests began leaving in clusters, thanking Alexander for the lovely evening and congratulating Cora again on her recovery. She smiled and nodded and said all the right things while her mind spun with thoughts about her uncle.She needed to tell someone. Needed to share her suspicions before they ate her alive.Ryan. She would tell Ryan.He would know what to do. Would help her figure out if her instincts were right or if trauma was making her see threats where none existed.Cora scanned the remaining guests but still did not see him. Had he been at the party at all? She could not remember seeing him even once during the entire evening.The last guests departed. The catering staff began cleaning up. Alexander kissed Cora goodnight and headed to his study, exhausted but happy. Ethan and Caleb went to their respective wings of the mansion.Cora climbed the stairs to the second floor. Her ribs were aching again. The long evening of standing and social

They kissed against the hallway wall. Ryan's hands in her hair. Cora's fingers gripping his shirt. All the restraint and distance he had been trying to maintain dissolving with every touch.This was why he had to leave. This right here. The complete inability to control himself when she was near.Ryan's mouth moved from her lips to her neck. Cora gasped, her head falling back against the wall. Her hands were pulling him closer, eliminating any space between their bodies."Ryan," she whispered. "Do not leave. Stay."The words cut through the haze of desire. Brought reality crashing back.Ryan froze. His lips still against her skin. His hands still tangled in her hair. But his mind was clearing. Remembering why this was wrong. Why he could not do this."I have to go," he said. But he did not pull away. Not yet."You do not," Cora argued. Her hands were moving now. Sliding under his shirt. "You are choosing to go. That is different."Ryan finally stepped back. Put physical distance betwe

Cora felt something snap inside her. All the pain and anger and frustration of the past hour came pouring out in words she could not control."I am not a child," she said. Her voice was sharp. Cutting. "I am twenty-nine years old, Ethan. I do not need you or anyone else telling me who I can or cannot have feelings for.""Cora—" Ethan started."No," she interrupted. "You do not get to lecture me about this. You do not get to make decisions about my life like I am some helpless victim who cannot think for herself.""That is not what I am doing," Ethan protested. "I am trying to help you see—""See what?" Cora demanded. "See that loving Ryan is wrong? See that I should just ignore my feelings because you and society say so?""See that this cannot end well," Ethan said. "For either of you.""Maybe I do not care how it ends," Cora shot back. "Maybe I am tired of being careful. Tired of following rules that do not make sense. Tired of letting other people control my choices.""This is diffe

Ethan did not sleep that night. Could not sleep. The necklace sat on his desk like an accusation. A piece of evidence that could destroy his family or save it, depending on what the investigation revealed.He made calls. Quiet calls to people who owed him favors. A private investigator he had used before on sensitive corporate cases. A forensic analyst who specialized in cold cases. And, because this was potentially criminal on a massive scale, a contact at the FBI.Special Agent Victoria Ross answered on the third ring despite the late hour. "Ethan. This better be important.""It is," Ethan said. "I need your help. Off the books. At least initially.""Off the books how?" Ross was immediately cautious."I have evidence that might connect to a cold kidnapping case from twenty-five years ago," Ethan explained. "And possibly to a recent attempted murder. But the suspect is family. My uncle. And I need to know if the evidence is solid before I blow up my father's world."There was a pause

Ethan found Cora in the library where he had left her the night before. She was pacing. Anxious. The moment she saw him, she rushed over."Did you find anything?" she asked. "What did the investigators say?""Sit down," Ethan said. His face was drawn. Exhausted. "We need to talk."They sat. Ethan pulled out his phone and showed her the reports. All of them. The financial records connecting James to offshore accounts. The travel history showing unexplained trips to South America. The phone logs proving contact with Celine. The fingerprint analysis on the necklace.Cora read through everything with growing horror. "It was him. My uncle was the one who orchestrated my kidnapping.""Yes," Ethan confirmed. "And the recent car accident. The evidence is overwhelming.""Where is he now?" Cora asked. "Did you arrest him?""Father and I confronted him this morning," Ethan said. "At his house. We showed him the evidence. Demanded answers.""And?" Cora prompted when Ethan paused."He denied every