Chapter 233 - Shit!

"Sup? What is going on? What are you doing here?" Tom asked the moment he stopped the car beside Bryan, and he got into the front seat of the car. 

"Are you asking that because you don't know that Sonia broke up with me and came here to be with Lucy?" Bryan asked, barely able to conceal his annoyance and frustration.

"I've been trying to make sense of all that she said but it still doesn't make any sense to me. Does it make sense that she wants us to stay away from each other until everything is resolved? I tell her that I love her, and she is talking about how she cares about my fucking career," Bryan said angrily and Tom listened to him without saying a word.

"I'm here to help them resolve things quickly so that I can go back home with my fiancee," Bryan stated matter of factly as he buckled his seatbelt. 

"Does your agency know that you are here?" Tom asked curiously, and Bryan shook his head.

"No, they don't. They would probably try to stop me if they knew I was coming here after Sonia walked out like that. Not that I care about what they think anyway," Bryan said dismissively. 

If the situation wasn't serious, Tom would have probably teased him or made jokes about how much he had changed since the last time they met, but he understood Bryan. He knew how he had felt just a moment ago when Lucy asked him to stay away from her. That was something he knew that he wouldn't be able to do, so he could understand his brother's action.

"I understand. Have you spoken to mom yet? She has been trying to reach you," Tom said, and Bryan shook his head. 

"I'm not in the mood to talk to her or anyone else. I only turned on my phone to talk to you," Bryan said as he combed his fingers through his hair in frustration. 

This was the thing he hated most about falling in love with someone, having your whole life revolve around them. It was not even up to six hours since she left, yet he had no interest in anything. Nothing seemed to make sense to him since she left. How the fuck did she expect him to live without her until everything was resolved?

After she left him at the game lounge earlier, he had left while Jeff was busy trying to placate the producer who was angry over Sonia's sudden decision to leave at the final stage of the production. Bryan had taken a cab home, and once he walked into his home and saw how empty the whole place was without Sonia and her stuff in his bedroom, he had known that there was no way he could stay away from her as she had asked him to. No fucking way. 

He had immediately ordered a ride that took him to a private airstrip where he hired a private jet that flew him down to Ludus so that his agency would not be able to trace his whereabouts. He knew that the CEO of his agency wouldn't be pleased if he found out that he had left to meet Sonia. 

Seeing how lost Bryan looked, Tom patted his shoulder, "You should take it easy on yourself. Everything will be okay," Tom assured him. 

"Yeah. Sure."

"You want to stay in a hotel or you're coming home with me?" Tom asked as he turned on the car's ignition and reversed the car.

"The apartment beside Lucy's is still yours, right?" Bryan asked hopefully.

"Yeah."

"Then let's go there," Bryan suggested, and Tom spared him a glance only for a moment before giving him a nod. 

"What has Lucy got to do with Sonia's brother?" Bryan asked after a while, wanting to get a clear picture of all that was happening.

Tom took in a deep breath. Although he wasn't sure if it was in his place to tell Bryan about Lucy's past, but seeing all that was happening at the moment and how it was also affecting Bryan's relationship, he felt that Bryan deserved to know since he wasn't a stranger. Having thought it through, Tom went on to tell Bryan all that he knew about Sonia's and Lucy's friendship.

"Damn psychopath!" Bryan muttered under his breath when Tom had finished. He didn't want to imagine how Lucy must have felt seeing the post, "You've made up with Lucy, right?" Bryan asked since Tom was yet to admit to him that Lucy had forgiven him and they were now on good terms. 

Tom didn't see any reason to lie to Bryan anymore so he gave him a nod, "Yeah."

"Good. Is there anyone you suspect might have done this?" Bryan asked thoughtfully.

"My first guess would be Anita," Tom said, and Bryan raised a brow.

"Anita? Your ex? Why would she do something like this? Does she know about your identity already?" Bryan asked thoughtfully, and Tom gave him a one-sided shrug.

"I think so. But I don't have any proof."

"So why is she your first suspect then?" Bryan asked in confusion. 

"Let's just call it a hunch."

"I see. I'm still surprised that you didn't have them take down the post. Why?" Bryan asked since he knew that if he were in Tom's shoes that was the first thing he would have done even before Lucy finds out about it. 

"I wanted to, but Jade said that it would complicate things for Lucy, and suggested that we take it down only after finding the person responsible for the post," Tom explained.

"I see. So what plans have been put in place to find the person?" Bryan asked impatiently.

"Harry already texted me the details," Tom informed him, and Bryan picked up Tom's phone which he knew he always kept in the armrest console of his car while driving. 

Once he saw the name and address which was displayed on the phone's screen he turned to Tom "Why don't we pay this motherfucker a visit?"

"I think we should let Lucy's family handle it, and just throw our weight behind them," Tom said instead. Seeing how Lucy's parents had traveled down to be with her, he figured it was best he gave them the chance to make the final decision on what should be done. 

"It doesn't stop us from visiting this bastard. I don't know about you, but I really want to mess this bastard up," Bryan said with a scowl.

*********************

Since Lucy had just two sofas in her living room, and it couldn't accommodate all of them, after having dinner they all gathered together in Lucy's bedroom to talk about the issue that had brought them together. Sonia sat on the chair in front of the dressing table, while Lucy and her family stayed on the bed. 

"So what is going on, princess? Do you have any idea who is behind this? Maybe you stepped on the wrong toe?" Lucy's dad asked her since it was obvious that whoever had done it was specifically targeting Lucy. 

Lucy's thoughts briefly drifted to Anita, but she shook her head, "I don't know..."

"Surely there must be someone you are suspicious of or is there not?" Her mother cut in, and once again Lucy shook her head.

There was no way she could tell her parents about Anita since she knew them well enough to know that the moment she mentions Anita's name and explains her connection with her, they were going to ask her to end things with Tom immediately as they wouldn't want her to get hurt because of a man.

"Are you certain, Lu? You should talk to us," Lucas urged her.

"Tom has people trying to find the person who started this. Once they are able to find them, we can press charges against them," Lucy said, and her father nodded. 

"I will like to meet him," Tom's father said, and Lucas nodded in agreement.

"Yes, you should invite him over," Lucas added as he glanced at his phone which was ringing yet again with another call from Rachel, "Excuse me for a moment," Lucas said as he stood up to leave the room. 

"I'm so relieved to see that you are handling this very well," Lucy's mother said as she reached out to pat her hair, and Lucy snuggled closer to her. Although she had not wanted them to come over, now that they were here she felt much better. 

"Yeah. She is a big girl now," her father said with a proud smile before turning to look at Sonia who had remained quiet the whole time. 

"Are you okay, pumpkin? You've been so quiet?" He asked curiously when he noticed how she kept staring at her phone like she was waiting for a call.

Sonia flashed him a smile, "I'm fine. I just need to get a glass of water." she said as she picked up her phone and stood up to leave the bedroom.

Her phone started ringing almost immediately and she picked up the call when she saw that it was from Mia, "Hey!" She greeted as she walked out of the bedroom.

"Have you heard from Bryan?" Mia asked in a worried tone.

"No. Why?" Sonia asked in alarm.

"No one has seen him nor heard from him since you left. The CEO is very upset," Mia complained.

"He is not at home?" Sonia asked fearfully.

"No. We've checked everywhere.... Shit!" The rest of Mia's words trailed off and she swore when a news article popped up on the screen of her iPad.