Ryan's gaze sharpened, as though remembering something he wished he could forget. "When my parents died, Ray took up their mantle. Became everything he never wanted to be. He's so protective… sometimes, it's smothering. But he does it because he thinks he has to."
There was a darkness there, one Esme hadn't seen in Ryan before. "You know, for me, it's Jay who's always stood up, who shields me from anything that might hurt me. For Jay, it's Kai who's his protector. And for all of us… it's Ray. He's like the shield none of us asked for but can't imagine living without. If someone wanted to hurt me, they'd have to get through three walls of brothers first. That's the family we've become. Unbreakable, for better or worse."
He laughed, a hollow sound. "Sometimes… sometimes I feel like I stole their sky, trapped them in my world. But other times… I think I did what I had to, for all of us."
