Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
ASTON
Rule #4: Cage First. Always.
For the second monthly dinner, we were once again at my place. We would begin to alternate locations, as well as perhaps even go to restaurants in the future. But for now, my home had the most room.
“I’m not quite sure I enjoy the fact that we have a spreadsheet for meals,” Dorian grumped, as he poured himself a drink.
I shrugged, and looked over at Sophia and James who were looking over the cheese board, and figuring out what was what. “If we don’t, we’ll miss something.”
“And what, we have to check in with the lawyer once a month with a selfie or something?”
“It’s what they want. At least he doesn’t have to come to these dinners with us.”
“Thank God,” Kyler said as he came out from the bathroom, drying his hands on his jeans. “Your towels are really fancy, and I didn’t want to ruin them,” he said with a laugh.
And I shook my head. “Please ruin them. Those are gifts from Mother, because apparently hand towels for Christmas were exactly what I needed.”
“And so you put them out so that way when she came over and saw them, you were in the clear.”
I nodded, a smile playing on my face. “You got it in one.”
Kyler shrugged. “I think Mom got me towels one year for Christmas, but it was because I was moving out and didn’t own anything of my own really.”
I sighed. “She got them for me this year. So please, use them, abuse them, and then I can toss them into the rag pile for cleaning.”
“What’s wrong with the towels?” Sophia asked, her brows raised. “Do they have embroidery on them or something with little flowers?”
“Yep,” Kyler and I said at the same time, and the other man, my younger brother, just winked at me.
“Little pink flowers with monogrammed initials,” he said with a drawl.
“Oh.” Sophia pressed her lips together, and I knew she was holding back a laugh.
“You didn’t say the best part,” James put in, before tossing a cracker and some form of cheese in his mouth.
“What?” Sophia asked, and I sighed, lowering my head. I really didn’t want to get into this part, but thankfully Dorian answered for me .
“It’s not just his initials.”
“What do you mean?” Sophia asked, and everyone stared at me.
“My mother sent me embroidered towels with not only my initials, but my former fiancée’s initials. After we broke up. After the wedding was firmly canceled.”
James and Dorian just laughed, as Kyler and Sophia looked at me as if they couldn’t quite believe it.
“You were engaged?” Kyler asked.
“Yes. I’m no longer engaged. However, I don’t believe that Mother really believes that.”
“Does Blakely know?” Sophia asked, and my gaze shot to her.
“Yes. We’ve discussed it.” I tilted my head. “So you’re friends with her as well?”
“Yes. She’s come over to dinner sometimes when I’m there with Isabella, and we’ve had girls’ nights. So yes, we’re friends. I am just glad that she knows.”
“Why would it matter?” Dorian asked, and I gave him a look. He ignored me of course.
“Because secrets are bad.” Sophia looked at all of us, eyes wide. “We’re all in this room together because of a major secret.”
“Okay, you got us there,” James said. “But those two have been dating what, a month? When do you lay out all of your past relationships?”
Sophia looked around the room and shook her head. “You know, family conversations were a lot easier when I wasn’t outnumbered.”
Kyler just beamed. “You see? This is how I felt my entire life. Surrounded by women.” He tilted his beer up at us and nodded. “Thank you for letting the pendulum swing our way.”
“I don’t know if I like this very much,” Sophia said primly, before letting out a soft laugh. “But yes, after a month I would like to know if the man I’m currently seeing and most likely sleeping with has had a past serious relationship. I mean, you were going to get married, that seems pretty serious.”
“Seeing as I told Blakely, it’s not really a problem. And Meredith isn’t a problem.”
“Except for the whole embroidered towels thing,” Dorian said dryly.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Please, throw them in mud or something. Mother’s already seen them, so I guess I don’t even need them in there.”
“It’s okay, I’ll most likely spill something later, and use them to clean it up,” Kyler said, a grin on his face so similar to Dorian’s it was a little shocking.
“So, there’s five of us here,” James said, pointing to all of us. “Three from one side of the family, two from the other. I guess we should what, check in with the lawyer so that way we can say that we did it?”
At that abrupt change of topic, I glared at James. We had been having a good time, and now everyone looked a little edgy. “Yes, we can check in with the lawyer. However, I did put out some food for everybody, so we should still fucking eat.” I hadn’t meant for the words to snap, but I was already tired of being put in this situation, and I didn’t want to deal with my brother’s attitude on top of that.
“Hey, I don’t mind good food. I’m just surprised that I was actually in town for this,” Kyler said as he strolled over to the food spread and popped a grape into his mouth. “And I do love cheese boards. Actually, I just love any food.”
“Well that hasn’t changed since you were a kid,” Sophia said with a laugh. “I don’t know how this is all going to work. However, can’t we just think about this as a family dinner without the fact that we’re forced into it?” Sophia asked. The pleading in her tone hit me.
I gave a tight nod. “I get it. The whole reason that I even said I’d have them at my house to begin with was that I want to make sure that I get to know the people that my father hid from us for so long. And apparently that makes me far more sentimental than I thought.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised it’s you saying it out of everyone,” Dorian said, and I flipped him off.
The others laughed thankfully.
“I don’t know how this is going to work for three damn years,” Kyler said, before he strolled into a nearby chair.
“Well you’re out of town more than all of us.” I paused. “Other than Hudson.”
Kyler raised a brow. “Because Hudson lives in this mysterious town that we own.”
“We only own parts of it.”
“Well, I guess I’m going to have to visit sometime,” Kyler said, though I wasn’t quite sure if he was serious or not. I couldn’t get a beat on Kyler. But then again, I didn’t always understand the brothers I had grown up with either.
“Come on, let’s go sit down and get comfortable,” I said, as I gestured for everybody to take a seat in the room large enough for us. We each leaned down to grab a few bites to eat, though everything felt awkward as hell.
“So how is this going to work in the future?” Sophia asked as she perched on the edge of a chair. She played with a grape between her fingers and winced. “I’m not being confrontational. And I know we have a spreadsheet about who can go where for the next couple of months, but is it only family? Or can we invite friends. Or should we do a dinner with all of us at one point? I mean, it’s vague and yet specific at the same time, and I don’t know if I like it.”
“I sure as hell know I don’t like it,” Kyler mumbled. “And this is all because you want to invite Cale?” Kyler asked, fluttering his eyelashes at his sister.
The prim and proper Sophia flipped him off, and Dorian barked out a laugh, while James and I grinned at each other.
“I’ve met this Cale, he seems like a nice guy,” I put in.
“I liked him,” Dorian added.
Kyler sat up and frowned. “Wait, they’ve met him, and I haven’t?”
Sophia rolled her eyes. “They were in town. You’re never here, little brother.”
Kyler glared. “I really wish you would stop calling me that. ”
“I can’t help it. I now have too many big brothers, so I have to make sure you know that you’re still younger than me.”
“You know you’re going to hate that when you start to reach monumental ages,” Kyler snapped back. “And then I’ll lord it over you.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” I said dryly. “Mostly because I’m pretty sure all of our sisters could probably kick your ass once you start making fun of their ages.”
Kyler tilted his head, studying me. “You’re sure free and easy with the ‘our siblings’ part.”
“Is that a problem? I figure that the more I try at least, the less I feel like I’m going to want to find Dad’s grave, dig him up, and beat the shit out of him.”
“That was very violent,” Dorian said, as he finally broke the awkward silence that had filled the room. “And graphic.”
“What? You’ve thought it.”
“I was more thinking about lighting it on fire, but sure, we can beat up the bones or something,” James added before sipping his drink.
Kyler and Sophia looked at us like we were crazy, before they both shrugged in unison. It was quite funny to see.
My newest brother turned toward the window, staring off into the distance. “I haven’t really thought of the man often. Mostly because I don’t want to. I could give two shits about him.”
I let out a breath. “I don’t want to continue to do this for that man . I want to do it for us. For our legacy. ”
Dorian studied me. “Really? You really think that we have a legacy anymore?”
“We should make our own.” I paused. “I don’t want Dad to fuck up our lives any more than he already has.”
Kyler growled something under his breath, but I couldn’t quite understand what he said.
“I do like the fact that we’re trying. I don’t want the money.” Sophia paused as we all looked at her. “I don’t. I did well enough when I was a dancer. I saved everything that I could. And my studio is in the black, thank God.” She knocked on the wooden seat.
I smiled. “That’s always good. And I bet it helps that your sister’s an accountant.”
“Always.”
“I’m sure you’re great at business, and this is being completely patronizing, but if you’d like us to ever look at anything for you, we do this for a living,” James put in.
Kyler just shook his head, a smile playing on his face, and Sophia beamed. “Totally not patronizing at all. Because one day if I do want to expand, or change things up, I would love somebody who actually knows what they’re doing. I really just lucked into this career of mine.”
“So says the woman who tortured her body and broke toes and spent far too long learning dance and making connections in order for it to happen. You know enough,” Kyler mumbled.
Sophia melted. “You know, sometimes you are nice.”
“Only sometimes,” Kyler joked.
“Whenever you’re ready to expand, or franchise or do whatever you want, we’re here,” I said. “And frankly, I get it not being about the money. I just don’t want him to have any say in our business. I don’t want him to have the power to break our enterprise in a thousand pieces just because he can. And do it from the grave.” My hand tightened around my glass, and I forced myself to calm down. “Well he does like control, even when he said he walked away from the business.”
“How did that work anyway?” Sophia asked.
“What do you mean?” I leaned forward, drink in hand.
“So I understand all of the positions you, James, and Flynn have in the company, but Dad just walked away?”
“Not exactly,” James said with a sneer. “He said he would, but he ended up trying to handle things a little backhanded.”
“Much like he did with the will,” Dorian said as he drained his drink and went to pour another one. Kyler gave him a look, and Dorian nodded. I assumed that meant that Dorian would be getting him a drink. I was amused at the fact that the two didn’t have to speak. Maybe we were getting something out of these mandatory dinners.
“I honestly feel like we had two different dads,” Sophia said, and I frowned.
“I’m pretty sure the whole reason that we’re here is because we had the same dad,” James added.
She bit her lip, thinking. “I meant the way he treated us. I have no idea how he even made the logistics of two families work. ”
“See that’s what I’ve been trying to figure out,” I said, shaking my head.
Sophia leaned forward. “When we were younger, he was constantly traveling for work.”
“Same with us and we believed because Mother decided to lie for him,” I added.
“It’s just weird that we knew our dad as one thing. A traveling salesman of sorts, who was home sometimes, but then we thought that Mom and Dad were just going through marriage problems,” Sophia said.
Kyler didn’t say anything, but his face darkened.
Sophia continued. “We were told that they needed time apart and were separating, and they would come back together.”
“When in fact he was probably with our mom,” James said with a sigh.
“Either way he’s a damn liar,” Dorian growled. I nodded and drained my drink. When Dorian raised a brow, I shook my head. He may be the resident bartender of the family, but I didn’t want to drink. Not now.
“But how do we not know he was The Cage ,” Sophia asked, exasperation in her voice.
“That I don’t know. But it’s not like he was in the news or anything. He was big in his business circles, but he wasn’t famous famous.”
“And he shunned the media,” James said slowly. “Which I always thought was odd for the ego on that man.”
“It turns out it was for a reason,” I said with a snarl. “Because the face of the company was grandfather, then me. Father always found a way out of it. And spent far too much time at Cage Lake.” I paused. “Or at least he said he did.”
“When I was younger, I thought it was because Dad wanted to do better for the company, to focus on what we were doing, but I was wrong,” James said, his voice low.
“He didn’t shun the limelight for too long,” Kyler blurted, and then he looked at all of us, the anguish on his face surprising me.
And that’s when it clicked. The reason I couldn’t get a beat on Kyler.
“You knew,” I whispered, as everyone went silent. “When did you find out?” I wasn’t angry, I couldn’t be angry, not with the look on Kyler’s face. But what the hell.
Kyler just set his drink down, squeezed his sister’s hand, and then walked casually out of the house. The door slammed behind him, and we sat there in silence, feeling as if another blow had just hit, and we were still echoing with the reverberations.
Sophia stood up, her hands shaking. “I should… I should help him.” She looked at all of us, tears in her eyes. “I knew he hated Dad. But I never knew why. I’m sorry.”
I stood then, Dorian and James following me. Without thought, I pulled Sophia into a hug, doing the big brother thing as if we had all along.
“Go help him. We’ll figure it out. Remember, Dad’s the liar. ”
She nodded against me, pulled back, and then wiped her face. “I’m sorry we’re not staying for dinner.”
“Well, if the lawyer asks, you did. After all, we already sent him proof,” James said dryly, and then Sophia fled after Kyler, and I stood there with my brothers, wondering what the hell was going on.
“So, baby brother knew.” Dorian tipped back his drink, before setting the glass down on the side table. “No wonder his music gets a little angstier every once in a while. Dear old Dad sure liked to fuck with all of us.”
“I want to be angry and a little annoyed that he knew and didn’t tell anyone, but then again, what did Dad do to make sure he kept quiet?” James asked, and my gaze shot to him. “I have no idea. But I have a feeling we’re just scraping the surface of Dad’s secrets.”
James sighed and gestured toward the table. “Let’s eat, since you have everything out, and we can discuss business.”
Dorian blinked. “Oh joy. I’m excited.”
“You are welcome to leave,” I said. “Since it seems that our second dinner is going to be a little shorter than the first.”
“No there’s food. I’ll stay and listen. Maybe you’re going to need my expertise.”
James laughed, and Dorian flipped him off, before I took a seat at the table, my brothers following. “You know, you have to head to Cage Lake next week,” James said after a moment, and I sighed, knowing he was right.
“Going to go visit Hudson?” Dorian asked .
“Yes, and I have to meet with the resorts. A few business dealings. I could just go there and back in one day.”
“Or you could take a couple of days off.”
I stared at James as if he’d lost his mind. “Excuse me?”
“Go on a Friday, enjoy the weekend.”
“Why are you telling me to take a vacation? You know we’re busy.”
“It’s just a weekend. And maybe you could take Blakely.”
Dorian choked and slammed his fist against his chest. “That was so subtle. But yes, you should totally take Blakely on a weekend trip.”
“I have no idea why you two think that my relationship, whatever it is, with Blakely has anything to do with the two of you.”
“You’re going to be wrong there,” James added with a sigh. “However, maybe you should just enjoy yourself.”
“Where is this coming from?” I asked, honestly confused.
“Because Dad keeps ruining everything. Look what he did to Kyler. We don’t even know the half of it. You need to go up to the town in order to get work done, and I know something weird is going on in your head about this relationship with Blakely.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, my tone icy.
“You don’t have to lie. You could just stay silent, but we both know you’ve got something in your head about being the leader of this family, and whatnot. ”
“I don’t know what that has to do with me and Blakely.”
“I just don’t want you to fuck things up like Dad did.”
James winced at his words, and Dorian cursed under his breath. I looked between the two of them, wondering if they had been talking about me behind my back. Or if I was just seeing things.
“Well, it’s good to know exactly what we all feel about Dad and what we do with him and his legacy.”
“That’s not what I meant. But there’s something going on in your head. So take this time. You’re allowed to you know.”
“So you want me to take Blakely and show her our small town, and what, make her fall in love with me?” I asked, not liking the tone of my voice.
“Or maybe you could just take that stick out of your ass for once and relax. I wasn’t there the time you met her, but I heard about it. I heard that you smiled more. So just do something. Don’t let Dad ruin everything.”
I looked between the two of them, and I didn’t want to listen. However, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. A whole weekend with Blakely. In the mountains. Just the two of us.
It was a dangerous temptation. One that wasn’t going to end well. Because what we had between the two of us wasn’t serious, it was just beginning.
The Cages didn’t make serious work. I knew that. The family knew that.
But maybe I could take a weekend.