Chapter 15 #2
I smiled as others laughed, Scarlett squeezing my hand.
“So let’s read the next phase.”
He opened the envelope as Blakely wrapped her arm around his waist.
Aston cleared his throat and began, the legal jargon going over my head in some cases, but some things made sense.
Loren Cage was truly a maniacal asshole.
“So, the dinners are done,” Aston said after a moment.
“We have a few charity and committee options that we need to perform in order to keep the town and company intact, but we no longer need monthly dinners where a ratio is important.” Aston met each one of our gazes in turn, and I cleared my throat before raising my beer in a toast.
“To figuring out a dinner plan on our own. Because I have a feeling you guys are never going to let me leave the group chat. Or these family dinners.”
And with that, the tension that had risen broke ever so slightly, and people laughed, standing up to hug, and continued the conversation.
Because there was no way we’d be ending these family dinners.
Maybe we wouldn’t have to focus on how many of each family line was there, but we weren’t cutting ties anytime soon.
Hell, my brothers were right. I had brought Scarlett to this, and that meant things were changing.
Only I wasn’t sure exactly what would happen next.
By the time we had dinner and made plans for the next family dinner that would be in Denver, I was exhausted, and I knew Scarlett was beyond tired. She might not have needed stitches, but she was still in pain.
We made our way back to my house, driving up the winding road past her smaller place.
“So are you going to be on a charity committee?” Scarlett asked, her voice fatigued but still teasing.
“If they know what’s good for the family, they won’t. Isabella and Blakely will probably have fun organizing it. They like their spreadsheets.”
“Spreadsheets save lives. I’ll help them too if you want.” She paused. “If that’s not stepping on toes. I mean, I’m not family. And well, you and I are… You know what, I’m too tired for this conversation.”
I reached out and gripped her hand, squeezing. “I’m sure they’d love the help. And you’re right, we’re both a little too tired for this conversation.”
“I suppose we should have it at some point.”
I let out a breath. “Yes. Just not after a Cage family dinner with one hundred and ten people invited.”
“That is true.”
As I took the turn to pull into my house, I frowned, realizing there was an SUV already there.
“What the hell?”
“Who’s here? All of your family was at Aston’s.”
“Stay in the car,” I ordered, knowing exactly who it was.
I frowned, trying to figure out why the hell they would be here, and then the date clicked.
Shit. Grief slammed into me like a two-ton semi, as I slid out of the truck and ignored Scarlett’s questions.
Michelle’s mother got out of the SUV, her face ragged, her eyes red. Then Michelle’s brother got out of the driver’s side.
“How could you forget? How could you do this to her?”
In two quick steps, Michelle’s mother was there, her palm swiping across my face as she slapped out.
I didn’t move, and I let her have that one hit. After all, I deserved it.
“Shirley. Robert.”
“You should have saved her. You knew what was happening to her and you did nothing. How could you?”
Then she began to scream, and I could barely understand the words. Scarlett got out of the truck, and I nearly closed my eyes in resignation. She hadn’t known the whole story, had only known parts of it, but not all of it.
And now she would finally realize what kind of monster I was and walk away. Maybe that was for the best.
“You forgot her birthday,” Robert snapped as he moved forward and took his mother into his arms. “How could you?”
“I’d say I’m sorry, but you’ve never believed me when I said it before.” The lack of emotion in my voice echoed throughout the area, but I ignored it. Scarlett stood behind me, and as Shirley locked eyes on her, her gaze narrowed.
“You’ve moved on? Just like that. With her?”
I took a step to the right to somewhat block Scarlett. “You both need to go. I’m sorry that it’s Michelle’s birthday. I’m sorry about everything. But it was a long time ago, and there’s nothing we can do now. You coming here in the pain that you are is not going to help you grieve.”
“What do you know about grief? You let our baby die.”
“You knew what he was doing to her, and you left her there,” Robert added.
Each word was like a blow to the chest, but when Scarlett put her hand on the small of my back, bile rose in my throat. I didn’t deserve her trust. Her comfort.
“I thought she was safe,” I said after a moment, not knowing what else there was.
“She wasn’t. And you let her die.” And with that, Robert forced his mother back into the SUV, as he spun out of the parking area.
I stood there, not realizing my hands were shaking until Scarlett wrapped her arms around me.
And that was why I had never deserved Michelle. Or Scarlett. Or a future.
I had been too late before. Hadn’t seen the signs.
And the woman that I had once loved was dead, and her family would never heal.
I’d almost lost Scarlett, just like I had lost Michelle.
I’d nearly been too late.
And I knew there was nothing left, as I wasn’t the man Scarlett needed.
Just like I wasn’t the man I had needed to be for Michelle.