Restrained (Sterling Family Book 3) by N. Brown

Author:N. Brown [Brown, N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2025-02-10T00:00:00+00:00

23

HAYDEN

The doorbell rings through my house and I glance at the clock, seeing it’s ten o’clock at night. I’m not expecting anyone, and I'm certain it’s not about business. My lips quirk into a sly smile as I make my way from my office toward the front door, hoping it’s Lola.

I don’t bother to tug on a shirt, having been about to go to bed and wearing only black sweats. I smirk, seeing Lola through the glass, standing on the other side of my front door and pull it open. “I thought we said tomorrow.” She’s still dressed in the same skirt and blouse she had on earlier. My eyes trail from her heels up to her face. “But I'm definitely okay with this too.”

Her hair is down, and her eyes are desperately searching mine with an expression that sends chills through me. She seems almost breathless, her lips parted as she stares.

“Lola? What’s wrong?”

“You.”

I swallow the bile that rises in my throat. “What?”

Her gaze stays glued to my face. “You’re Penelope’s brother? Or at least related to her?”

Shit. No. “Lola . . .” I start and see the anger and hurt in her eyes. I reach for her hand, but she instantly jerks away.

“Answer me.”

“Come inside.” I want to touch her, to calm her down, to plead with her to understand.

She folds her arms, staying put on the stoop outside my house. “No. Answer me, Hayden.” She closes her eyes briefly, and then they flutter open, landing on mine. “Are you related to Penelope?”

No more lies. “Yes.”

She looks like she’s going to be sick, and I want to hold her, but I don’t touch her. “Who are you?”

I look in her eyes, begging for forgiveness for keeping this from her. “I’m her brother.”

I think she’s going to slap me. I’d deserve it. But what I didn’t expect from the tiny, ultra-refined blond was for her fist to ball up and sock me right in the eye. Hard. I’ve been hit by a lot of men, and she packs a punch.

My hand flies over my eyes, but other than that I don’t move while she remains in place, furious. Her breathing is rapid as she shakes her right hand that has to be on fire. “How could you not tell me that?” She grits her teeth. “How?”

I drop my hand to the side, my eye already swelling. My jaw ticks with anger. Not necessarily at Lola, but at the whole fucked-up situation.

Thank you, life, for fucking me once again.

“I didn’t fucking know you. What was I supposed to say, Lola?”

“How about when we first met at the coffee shop instead of the line of bullshit you fed me? You could have said, ‘I know Penelope. We share DNA.’”

I growl, thinking about that day, being taken by Lola and her throwing off my plan of getting to know my sister. “I wanted to know who she was first.”

She shakes her head. “That’s why you hired us? It was all a scheme.”

“No.”

“Bullshit, Hayden.

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