Chapter 261: 261
Chapter 261
~Octavia~
Cousin? I wasn’t aware there was a cousin. I always thought it was just Frederick and Franklin.
The heavy silence inside the car was deafening. Through the reinforced security glass, I kept my eyes fixed on the young man stepping down the stairs. He didn’t look like a threat, nor did he carry himself like the corporate sharks we had spent months fighting. Instead, he moved with a slow, completely relaxed, and arrogant grace.
He looks a bit like Franklin. There were similar traits I could see in them. Just that Franklin was more built than him.
Franklin’s eyes were set on the stranger. He looked rather annoyed and I was trying to make out why.
The stranger stopped just outside the driver’s side door. The dangerous, sharp smirk on his face quickly shifted into a bright, goofy grin that completely caught me off guard. He casually tilted his head, peering through the glass directly at me, completely ignoring the fact that my husband looked ready to snap his neck.
Franklin rolled the window down just an inch, his voice dropping into a lethal, low rumble. "Get away from the car, Flynn."
"Oh, come on, don’t be like that, cuzzo! That is not how to talk to your favourite cousin. I am pretty sure you miss me." Flynn chuckled, his voice bursting with a vibrant, mischievous energy. He took a step back, raising his hands in a playful mock surrender, but his eyes danced with pure fun. He bypassed Franklin’s death glare entirely, leaning down slightly to look across the console at me. "You must be Octavia, this dickhead’s wife. I’ve heard so much about you, well that would be a lie. I have not. But let’s make it look like I have. I’m Flynn."
I looked at him skeptically, my mind racing as I tried to process his sudden appearance. He had a magnetic, wildly unpredictable aura about him. He was handsome, dressed in an expensive tailored coat, but his goofy demeanor made it impossible to figure out what his real angle was. "Hello, Flynn," I replied, keeping my tone cool, guarded, and polite as I instinctively adjusted the blanket over baby Lael.
"We are going inside," Franklin commanded, his jaw clenched so tightly the bone looked sharp. He didn’t say a single word about how surprised he actually was to see his cousin standing on our porch, but I could feel the rigid shock and coldness vibrating through his body.
Franklin quickly stepped out of the SUV, effortlessly rounding the vehicle to open my door. He shielded me and Lael with his massive body, guiding us quickly up the stairs and into the grand foyer of our new mansion, treating the entire situation like a tactical extraction.
Flynn simply tagged along behind us, casually whistling and swinging his vintage bottle of wine like he was a guest at a casual backyard barbecue while also carrying his bag.
He looked like a mystery.
The front doors swung open, and we stepped into the house.
Grandfather Fredrick was already standing near the grand staircase, as he waited to welcome us back from the hospital. He had moved here so he wouldn’t be the only one at the estate. He also has his own wing.
But the moment Grandpa’s sharp, aristocratic eyes drifted past Franklin’s shoulder and landed on the young man trailing behind us, his regal face instantly froze.
A look of pure, wide-eyed shock and utter disbelief fractured Grandfather’s usually untouchable expression. "Flynn?" Grandfather breathed, his grip tightening significantly on the handle of his walking stick. "Is that you? What on earth..."
"Grandpa Fredrick!" Flynn chirped happily, completely unfazed by the elder’s intense shock. He casually tossed his leather duffel bag onto the flawless marble floor, the heavy thud echoing through the high ceilings. He walked right up to Grandfather and gave him a quick, one-armed hug, ignoring the stiff posture of the patriarch. "Missed me? I know, I know. I’m a sight for sore eyes. I missed you too."
Franklin stood beside me, his arms crossed over his broad chest as he maintained a silent, murderous glare that would have made an international assassin run for cover.
Suddenly, Flynn’s eyes widened dramatically as he looked down at the infant carrier in Franklin’s hand. He let out a loud, theatrical gasp, clapping his hands together. "Wait a minute... is that a baby? Since when did you two have a newborn?! She looks so neww. Oh, man, I didn’t know about a baby! If I did, I would have come bearing gifts, like a tiny, miniature sports car or something! Something to spoil the pretty little princess."
He leaned over the carrier, cooing playfully at baby Lael, who didn’t even wake up from his loud antics. He looked up at me with a genuinely goofy, apologetic expression. "I am so sorry, Octavia. I totally ruined the uncle-cousin first impression. But I promise I’ll make up for it. I’ll buy her something ridiculous tomorrow. She will know me as the best uncle. Uncle Flynn."
"What’s her name?" He asked me directly. I looked at him and answered.
"It’s Lael." I answered while still trying to figure him out.
"Oh a sweet name for a sweet little princess." He said excitedly, like a child.
"Flynn," Franklin’s voice boomed through the foyer like a crack of thunder, instantly cutting through the playful chatter. The temperature in the room seemed to drop to absolute zero. Franklin stepped forward, his towering frame completely casting a shadow over his cousin. "I am going to ask you exactly once. What the hell are you doing here?"
Flynn just chuckled, completely relaxed as he draped a playful, careless arm over Franklin’s incredibly stiff, rigid shoulder. He flashed a brilliant, highly mischievous smirk that told us he knew exactly how much he was pushing his cousin’s buttons.
"What do you expect, cuzzo?" Flynn said cheerfully, tossing his head back with absolute, arrogant ease. "I’m here to stay with you! Forever!"
No, never. Absolutely not.
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