Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Phoebe
F ord left soon after our decision to try to formulate a plan and deal with our emotions. Shortly after he left, my sister Isabella called, asking me to come to her house.
“We’re going to have to meet with the lawyer and the other Cages later, but please come tonight?”
“Of course. I was going to call you.”
“We were all hit with a shock, and I’m glad you went out of there.” She laughed, even while I winced. “If you hadn’t, then I would have, and I have to be the stone-cold bitch.”
“You don’t, you know.”
She was silent for so long that I was afraid I had said something wrong.
“I think right now I might have to be. But we’ll discuss it later. Or at least tonight. You can bring Kane if you want.”
I looked over at Kane, who was frowning at his phone.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Are you talking to me?” Isabella asked.
“No, sorry. One moment.”
“I have to head into the office. One of the agents working on the case with Tim Sherman wants to meet with me. I can try to postpone him?”
I shook my head. “No. You go. I’ll be at Isabella’s with the rest. But you’re invited, you know. You’re welcome.”
He kissed me, and Isabella sighed dramatically into the phone. I was grateful for her levity, because I knew tonight was going to be difficult. There wasn’t going to be another way.
I shortly found myself at my sister’s house, a glass of sparkling water in my hand, as I watched my siblings try to come to terms with our new reality that didn’t seem all too real.
Kyler had a beer, but he wasn’t drinking. He just played with the label, slowly picking at it until maybe something would make sense to him. As he set down the bottle, his fingers started to beat against the kitchen counter beside him, and I realized he was playing a melody that only he could hear.
I always knew that my brother wrote music depending on his feelings and emotions. But now I realized that anything he wrote right now might be something I may never want to hear.
Because he was the only one who really got along with Dad, he was the only one of us that I thought might have known him.
Or perhaps that was just what I wanted to see.
Sophia stood looking out the window, not saying anything. Her beautiful dancer’s legs were stiff as she went to her tiptoes and backed down again. She didn’t go on point as she was barefoot, but she kept doing the motion, her hands folded over her chest as she stared into the nothingness.
Emily didn’t say anything either. She just sat on the couch, her legs folded up to her chest with her eyes closed, tears streaking down her cheeks.
Isabella came out with a veggie tray and a pitcher of margaritas.
“Can you get the glasses?” she asked me, and I stood up quickly, glad to finally be able to do something. She had been in the kitchen when we all arrived and hadn’t let us help. The fact that she had cut up veggies and made a ranch dip from scratch as well as margaritas without letting us enter the kitchen meant that she was focusing.
“So,” Isabella said after I set the glasses down and we all moved like robots trying to pour our drinks and crunch on vegetables.
“So,” Kyler repeated, his eyes darkening.
“I have a spinach and chicken white sauce lasagna in the oven.”
I blinked as I looked up my sister. “How did you make that so quickly?”
“I bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco and I slapped something together. It’s probably not going to turn out great, but I don’t care. It’s fine.”
“I’m sure it’ll be wonderful,” Sophia said, as she squeezed Isabella’s shoulder. “You should have asked us for help.”
Isabella just shook her head. “No. I needed to do something with my hands.”
Kyler munched on a carrot stick and nodded. “Same. Thanks for dinner though. I won’t stay long, I need to go, you know?”
I squeezed my brother’s hand and let out a choppy breath.
“So, when are we going to talk about the giant pink elephant in the room? Because I think if we just break through that barrier, maybe we can freak out now rather than later. Because I already did the panic attack in public.” Emily looked at me, her eyes full of anger even though her lips twitched.
Because that was my sister, she cried all the time, but it wasn’t because she was using those tears as a weapon. She cried at commercials, she cried when she was happy, she cried when she was sad, and she cried when she was angry. No matter what she did, how hard she tried to hold them back, if she couldn’t yell or fight back, she would cry, and that meant she was about to “cut a bitch,” in her words.
Considering I had already cried myself out, I understood.
“I followed right along in your path. We made a great impression on the Cage brothers today sobbing in front of them.”
“What kind of impression do we need to make?” Kyler asked, grumbling. “They’re all rich, and they looked like they walked out of a GQ catalog. They’re probably snotty assholes, wondering why the low-rung part of the family dared to be in the same room with them.”
I scowled at my brother. “Hey. I know Ford and I like him. He’s not like that. And in a weird twist of fate, I’ve actually met two of his brothers. Our brothers.”
“Let’s not give them labels yet,” Isabella said. “We don’t know if it’s true.”
I looked at her aghast. “You saw the way Mom was. And look, you saw their eyes. They have Kyler’s eyes.”
“Fuck that,” Kyler grumbled.
“She’s right though,” Sophia put in. “There’s no denying the genetics when Kyler is in the room with them. Although it’s a little weird that you didn’t notice before.”
“A lot of guys have dark hair and light eyes,” I said, defending myself. “It wasn’t until they were standing next to each other that it all clicked. And what was I supposed to do? Ask the man who works with Kane who his father is and who his family is and why he looks like my brother? That wouldn’t make any sense.”
“No, and while you couldn’t have given us a heads-up because you didn’t know, it is a little weird that you have a connection to them.”
I shook my head. “You obviously don’t know the Montgomery family tree,” I grumbled.
“What do the Montgomerys have to do with this?” Isabella asked, her voice steely.
She was scared. And hurting, and that’s why she lashed out. When she finally let herself break, she would do it behind closed doors, and she wouldn’t let us help.
Because that was my big sister.
It occurred to me that our mother wasn’t there. I wondered if she’d even been invited. Probably, but I am sure she hadn’t wanted to face us as a unit.
That was my mother.
So helpful.
“Ford is engaged to Noah Montgomery, who is Kane’s cousin, and they all own Montgomery Security together. And the Montgomerys are a large family. They have a lot of friends, and a lot of spouses,” I explained.
“So this Ford Cage owns a company with the guy you’re dating?” Kyler asked.
“Yes. And Ford’s a good person. I like him.”
“And? What about him? Is he nice? What about his brothers? Did they know about us?” Emily asked, her words tumbling over each other.
“Yes, he’s great. He’s a little quiet, and I really only met him a few times, when I went to a couple of functions.” I didn’t mention that I had just seen him, because I needed a moment to think through that, and how I was going to explain to them that Ford and I were going to try to at least have the families meet halfway. Or at least meet at all at this point.
“And he didn’t know?” Sophia asked, her voice soft.
“No. You saw how they all reacted. I think the moms knew though. That means we need to sit them down and figure out what the hell they were thinking.”
“Well, I’m just glad that I’m on birth control,” Sophia put in, and I blinked at the sudden change of subject and out of character statement from my sister.
“What?” Kyler asked, nearly spilling his beer.
“Dear old dad had twelve kids. I feel like that could be a genetic fertility thing. I mean, the fact that Mom had five of us, and that other lady had seven kids? That’s a lot of children. A lot of child support. No wonder dear old dad never married Mom.”
“First off, ew,” Kyler said. “Second, I think that would be bigamy.”
“Hence why we didn’t get dear old dad’s last name.”
“Yet he’s labeled us anyway,” Isabella added. “So, we’re all Cages in some way. One big happy Cage family.”
“I’m pretty sure the metaphor of us being lumped together couldn’t be clearer,” Emily grumbled, and I winced.
“When is the next meeting?” I paused. “With the lawyer, I mean.”
“We have to set it, but I asked Aston,” she said, her voice brittle when she spoke Ford’s oldest brother’s name. Or perhaps that was our oldest brother. This all was going to take a while to get used to. “Aston said we could work together to find a time that works. But it has to be before the funeral. Thankfully we cremated Dad so he’s not sitting on a slab rotting.”
I blanched as Emily ran out of the room covering her mouth.
Kyler scowled at Isabella before he went after Emily, and Sophia just shook her head.
“Isabella,” I whispered.
Then Isabella stood and wiped her face. I hadn’t even realized she had begun to cry. “I have no idea why I said that. That’s the rudest fucking thing ever. Our dad is gone. He’s dead. And somehow we’re supposed to mourn him and we didn’t even know him. I’m going to go apologize. I shouldn’t have said that. You know me, I get into the analytical side of things and I have to worry about timing and now I’m just fucking things up. We’re going to figure this out.”
“It doesn’t have to be us against them, you know,” I said, my voice low, feeling for my sister.
Isabella shook her head. “I don’t know if we’re going to have much of a choice. I have a bad feeling about his will.”
So did I, but I wasn’t sure what to say. I watched my sister go as the buzzer went off for the lasagna and Sophia went to take it from the oven.
I wasn’t sure how our family was going to fix this, or even if we could. But I knew we had to try.
Not for my dad, but for us.
It was late by the time we were done with dinner, and I texted Kane when I was done.
Kane: I’m still finishing up at the office. Do you want me to meet you at your place?
Me: Do you mind if I meet you at the office instead? I don’t think I want to go home yet. Claire’s at the house, working on a big project.
Kane: I’ll be here. Drive safe. I love you.
I smiled softly as I looked down at the phone.
Me: I love you too.
“Heading to Kane’s?” Kyler asked, his voice soft.
I looked at my brother and nodded. “Yes. Well, his office. I don’t know whose house we’re spending the night at.”
“I’m glad. He’s a good guy. I’m also glad I don’t have to kick his ass, but I am going to have to kick yours.”
I scowled. “Why? What did I do?”
“When were you going to tell us that you had a stalker?” he asked, his voice low.
I froze, looking at him. “How did you hear about that?”
“Ford mentioned it when we were in the parking lot. The others don’t know, but you should have told them.”
I pressed my lips together and shook my head.
“He hasn’t contacted me in weeks. Kane’s figuring it out.”
“He’d better. Be safe. I love you, little sister. And I have a feeling that we’re going to need all of our wits to deal with what’s coming.”
I nodded tightly and squeezed his hand.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“I sure hope so,” he said softly. “Because we’re family.”
“Yes, we are.”
I hugged him tightly and then headed to the office, grateful that I wasn’t going to be alone. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be for a long while. But I had Kane now. And we were finally trusting each other enough to lean on one another. I never wanted to be alone again.
He was waiting for me in the parking lot underneath the lights when I pulled in, an odd familiar feeling settling in. Thankfully he wasn’t alone, Kingston and Ford were there.
I looked between them, frowning.
“Is something wrong?”
Kingston shook his head. “No, but I didn’t like that this felt like déjà vu, so I didn’t let him walk outside alone, and then Ford didn’t let us walk outside alone so here we are. Your welcome party.”
I laughed, though I was grateful that Kane hadn’t been out in the parking lot by himself, and I didn’t have to be either. The love of my life came forward and wrapped his arms around me and kissed me softly.
“How was dinner?” he asked.
“Complicated.”
Ford cleared his throat. “Yes. Well, our dinner was complicated too,” he said dryly.
I looked over at the man who was apparently my half-brother and shook my head. “Do you know what we’re going to do?”
“No clue. But we’re still friends, right? No matter what happens?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Good, because I would hate to have to kick your ass,” Kane added, and Kingston snorted.
“Oh, the wild webs we weave. And I thought our family was complicated.”
“Oh, yours still is, but then I’m marrying into your family. So now it’s your problem too.”
Kingston rolled his eyes and my lips twitched.
“I have no idea what my brothers are going to do, or your siblings, or what’s going to happen in the future. But no matter what, we’re going to figure it out. Nothing has to happen when it comes to those two sides. But considering you are currently dating my business partner, we’re stuck in each other’s lives no matter what.”
I laughed, even though it was slightly hollow.
“It looks like it.”
“And we’re going to find your stalker.” He paused as I froze. “Because no one hurts family.”
I smiled then, giving an awkward laugh. “That is so weird.”
“I know. Right?” Ford said, and the four of us headed into the office.
I felt like this was a new beginning.
At least I hoped it was.
I didn’t know what was coming with my family, but we would weather it together.
Once we got through the trauma of learning that everything we had known was a lie.
I had my truth beside me.
In the end, maybe that was all that mattered.
At least I hoped.