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Relieved, Miles answered “Hey,” he said, a little aardly He and Alexander didn’t know each other all that well Alexander had been invited to dinner at their house when he’d been in London last sue Miles’s family was, they had barely talked to each other “Thanks for co to pick me up I’m at Terminal—”

“Actually,” Alexander cut him off “I’m really sorry, but I can’t pick you up You have no idea how sorry I am, but you won’t be able to stay at our place either”

Miles blinked, at a loss “Oh That’s—” That’s fine, he wanted to say, but it wasn’t really fine He was in an unfamiliar city, in a different country, with no money, no credit card, and no passport

“My fiancé’s parents got into a serious accident in Brazil yesterday,” Alexander said, his voice apologetic but distracted “We’re already in Rio We should have left you a key, but we left in such a hurry, your arrival slipped my mind”

“Oh,” Miles said, frowning “Are they okay?”

“Not really,” Alexander replied, his voice griht now, and it’s been…” He sighed “Anyway, look, I’m really sorry for this I already asked our friends to pick you up and host you until our return—”

“You didn’t have to,” Miles said, wincing a little It was one thing to stay at the place of a relative of a family friend—Alexander’s cousin, Jared, was an old family friend—but it was coers he didn’t know at all “I don’t want to be a bother”

“You won’t be,” Alexander said “You’ll stay at Rutledge Manor It has thirty bedrooms Your presence there won’t make a difference, kid”

“I’m not a kid,” Miles said without much heat

“The Rutledges will send soht” Alexander sounded distracted again “Okay, I have to go Call ht? I promised Jared I would keep an eye on you, and he’ll havehappens to you”

Miles shook his head with a crooked smile He knew Jared was protective of him, too—most of Zach’s old friends were—but he hadn’t expected that Jared would personally ask his cousin to keep an eye on him