Chapter 17 #2
“Why do you want it? It’s a piece of shit. And it nearly killed me and Wellesley.” I’d rather burn it to the ground than step foot in that place again.
“I know it’s a piece of shit, but I just have an idea. I’ll buy it from you over market price. But I don’t want it out of the family.”
That was it. My brother had officially lost his damn mind. “I don’t know if it was technically really part of something that we want our family legacy to be.”
“No, not that. I just like the real estate.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Are you fucking with me?”
“It’s between two of our lots, I don’t want a stranger there. Just let me have my way. For once. Just let me.”
Considering Hudson never asked for things, yes he sometimes demanded things like privacy, but he was usually the guy who just did things on his own and didn’t ask for help.
So if he wanted this, it was for a reason. Maybe it was privacy, maybe it was something I was never going to understand. “I’ll sell it to you for five dollars. How’s that?”
My brother blinked at me, jaw dropping. “Is this how you do business down in Denver with all of your companies?”
“No, he knows if he sells it for more than that, I’ll get grumpy.”
My entire body warmed as I looked over at Wellesley. I knew she had to deal with a few things at the bakery, and had been downright mean to me when I had said I would stay with her. I hadn’t wanted her out of my sight, but I had finally given in.
Because I loved her, and frankly, she could kick my ass. And I would probably deserve it.
“Baby,” I said, my spine softening.
She wrapped her arms around me, as I did the same to her. We were both still healing, and while she was not allowed to lift anything heavy, she still liked to spend a couple of hours a day in the bakery.
I had almost lost the love of my life, and I was never going to let myself forget that.
“Hi. Sorry I’m late. Scarlett dropped me off, so I didn’t walk anywhere. I promise. Now, sell the place to him like you said you were for five dollars. And if Hudson fights you on it, I’ll sick Scarlett on him.”
“That’s mean,” my brother growled, but I just threw my head back and laughed.
“I love you so fucking much,” I said softly.
“I love you too. And I know I’m the luckiest girl in the world. Just saying.”
I leaned forward and captured her lips with mine, ignoring the hoots and hollers in the room.
My entire family was watching at this point, and I could not care less.
All that mattered was I had Harper Wellesley in my arms. Our life wasn’t perfect.
And we weren’t going to be okay and happy every day.
We had suffered losses that seemed insurmountable, but we would survive.
There was truly no other option. She was my everything.
The one person I would protect no matter what. The person I loved more than anyone.
Hudson sighed. “Fine, five dollars. But don’t you dare sick Scarlett on me.” Hudson growled a bit more and stomped off to the kitchen, ignoring everybody who told him to just sit down and relax. None of us seemed like relaxing tonight.
I wrapped my arms a little tighter around Harper, knowing that we were both still a little sore.
Sore enough that it had been far too long since I’d felt her around me, the heat of her, the need of her. And from the way that her eyes darkened, I knew she was feeling the same thing.
“Six more days,” she whispered.
I groaned and captured her lips with mine. Somebody threw a folded up napkin at me, and I ignored it, holding Harper closer.
This was our new home. Maybe not underneath this roof, but my other house on the opposite end of the lake. I could work remotely, and we could go down to the city when needed. Hell, if Wellesley let me, we’d be opening another Rising Cage in Denver. We could always use another bakery in the family.
We would find a way to make our jobs work in both places, so that way we wouldn’t have to choose.
I pressed my lips to her temple as we made our way to the large dining table that my brother had expanded to fit everybody. And even with extra chairs, it was a tight fit.
“I never would’ve guessed I would have to find another damn table to make all of us fit in this house,” Aston said with a laugh.
“I know a guy, I’ll figure it out,” Hudson said with a shrug of his shoulders, but he didn’t elaborate.
I didn’t know what I knew a guy meant, but I had a feeling that by the time we did a dinner like this again with the whole lot of us, we’d have space to fit.
Because that was my brother, all of them. They got shit done, confused you, and made sure you remembered exactly what our family was about.
“Maybe we can stretch it to only five days,” Wellesley whispered into my ear, and I groaned.
“Woman,” I growled.
She threw her head back and laughed, looking like a dream I had never allowed myself to believe in.
I would do anything to have Joshua back, to have the man who was like a brother to me, my best friend. But that couldn’t happen. And there were no second chances when it came to some of the most important things in life.
But he had given me a gift. Part of his heart.
My Wellesley.
And I would do everything in my power to make sure the world knew I was worthy of her. As I looked around this family of mine, some by blood, some by circumstance, I knew I was damn lucky. I had almost given in to the darkness, almost given up. But in the end I was here. My family was here.
And Wellesley was mine. No ifs. No goodbyes.
Just everything. This time, I didn’t mind calling myself a Cage.
Because this was the family we had made, not the ones our parents had tried to destroy.
One day Wellesley would be one too. If that didn’t bring a smile to my face, and a roll to Joshua’s eyes, I didn’t know what would.
I had given in and fallen in love with my best friend’s little sister.
And it was the best decision I would ever make.