Never Judge

In the week that Cedric remained at the hospital his family had decided to fly up to stay with him. 

Adrianna and Ayanna also brought along work for him to do.

"It's your shoulder that's injured, not your brain." Ayanna said as Dave and Mae set up a desk on Cedric's hospital bed.

"Miguel told me to rest." Cedric complained as he powered up his laptop and shifted through the documents that Mae had handed to him.

"You are left handed, your injury was on your right arm." Ayanna scolded him. "You can sign a few files."

"Ayanna, maybe we should take it easy on Cedric." Adrianna said with a look of concern on her face. "He almost died."

"Adrianna, I know you love my brother, but you can't go around babying him." Ayanna scolded her sister in law. "You and I are the ones that are suffering because he went out hunting with the boys."

"Honey, is that true?" Cedric asked Adrianna.

"Well between Islands Inc. and the Reyes Group, it was quite hard managing both." Adrianna confessed with a shrug.

"You should have told me immediately Adrianna. I would have gone to work as soon as we killed Aiden." Cedric said as he gave Adrianna a sad look.

"Seriously?!" Ayanna asked her brother angrily. "All my sister-in-law has to do is bat her eyelashes and you go all concerned and worried, while I've been dying at R Tower taking on all of your responsibilities! This is so unfair." Ayanna complained.

"It's kind of your job, Ayanna." Cedric complained as he rolled his eyes at his sister.

"My job is to handle those parts of the business I'm in charge of! Not the whole Reyes Group!" Ayanna complained. "It doesn't help either that you and Ray go away when we have some tech company nipping at our heels!"

"Being VP means taking on the job when I can't Ayanna! You've always known that!" Cedric said, raising his voice at his sister. "Why are you acting like such a brat right now?!"

"Ugh!" Ayanna said as she stormed out of the room.

"I really don't understand my sister." Cedric said with a sigh, shaking his head. "One moment she is this powerful business woman who can take on the world, then some spoiled brat the next."

"She just acts that way with you, my son." Emilio Reyes III said as he placed his grandson down. "She missed you all those years you were away. She watched as all her friends were spoiled by their brothers, while she had to grow up and be responsible."

"Ray spoiled her all those years." Cedric said with a shrug as he returned his attention to the work at hand. 

"She just missed you." Emilio Reyes told his son as he returned to play with his grandson.

"Dad is right, Cedric." Adrianna said, placing a hand on Cedric's. "Ayanna has always been too serious, even when I would see her around school she just acted too mature."

"That's how Ayanna has always been in public." Cedric said, not lifting his head from the work he was doing. "She's always acted like a spoiled brat in private."

"No, she only acts that way around you." Adrianna explained.

Cedric took a deep breath and sighed. He closed his eyes and absorbed what his father and wife had told him about his sister.

"I'll deal with Ayanna later." Cedric said, putting aside the documents.

"You will?" Adrianna asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Yes." Cedric said with a nod. As much as he hated to admit it, his father and wife were probably correct. His sister was just like a child looking for his attention.

"I love you." Adrianna said as she leaned forward and kissed Cedric on the lips. 

With his free hand, Cedric pulled her head and kissed her wantonly. He had missed the sweet taste of his wife's lips. It felt like it had been an eternity since they had kissed this way.

"Cough, cough." Emilio Reyes III said from behind Adrianna.

Cedric watched as his wife blushed after remembering that there were quite a few people in the room with them. It seemed Adrianna had missed him just as much as he missed her.

"Dad, you should just be happy that Adrianna and I are still madly in love." Cedric said with a laugh. "Many couples our age are divorcing before their fifth year anniversary."

"Of course I'm happy." Emilio Reyes told his son. "I'm just warning you not to go too far, especially since there are other people in this room, not to mention a child."

Cedric laughed and nodded at his father, returning his attention back to the work at hand. 

He opened up a report on the laptop and matched it to a document Mae had handed to him. It was showing the investment trend in the past few months.

"Is this the tech company Ayanna was talking about?" Cedric asked Mae and Dave as he pointed at the initials of the company on the screen.

"Yes, it's the same one that Camilla was also handling before she left to deal with Aiden as well." Dave said with a nod. "When Camilla left they suddenly began taking aggressive actions. It seems like they were afraid of Camilla and they had to wait for her to be distracted."

"Keep an eye on that company." Cedric said with a nod. "I want an investigation into them. Everyone will be back at the Capital in two days. I just have a visit to make tomorrow."

"Yes sir." Dave said as he quickly jotted down Cedric's instructions.

Aside from the tech company, there were a few others that seemed to be trying to take advantage of Priscilla Reyes' death. 

They expected Cedric to be distracted, and now was the best time for them to make their move, when his focus was on other things.

"They are really heartless." Adrianna complained as she peeled an apple for Cedric. "Can't they let you mourn?"

"Adrianna, you know how bad it can get, don't pretend to be naive." Cedric teased his wife.

"No one did this to Island's Inc. when my uncles went to jail." Adrianna said with a shrug.

"It's because Island's Inc. wasn't a big enough company, and the Hernandezes weren't an old enough family." Cedric said with a sigh. "The Reyeses have amassed a lot of enemies over the generations."

"You have also made a lot of friends." Ram said as he arrived with Francesca and Selina.

"Ram, why are you here?" Cedric said with a smile. 

"I dragged him along." Francesca said. "I'm here to check on the Rocci men that were injured in the fighting."

"Thank you, Francesca." Cedric said with a soft smile. "If it weren't for the Rocci's the death toll on our end would be much higher."

"I doubt that." Francesca said with a smile. "You were just overkill on this mission."

Cedric grinned back. He had brought more men than necessary, despite that Aiden was still able to slip out and attack him.

"How is Alexi?" Cedric asked, turning to Selina who didn't seem so happy to be there.