Chapter 4 #2
“He’s suing for custody again. He’s not going to get it.
We’re not going to let him. Sophia is finally letting us use the family name to try to keep that asshole away from them, but he’s pissed off that the courts let her change the kids’ names to Cage.
And the man wanted money to begin with, and he’s not stepping back.
He might be able to get additional weekends, however, because the laws like reunification more than they like keeping kids safe, but then again, I’m in a piss poor mood and not thinking about when things actually work.
Instead it’s just about the paperwork of keeping that asshole in power. ”
“Why isn’t that asshole in jail? I know what Flynn and I walked in on. He would’ve killed her. Killed her and taken those kids and found a way to make it all about him in which he ended up the poor widower or some shit.”
“He knows people. And the courts don’t listen to women.”
“They had my testimony. I’m a fucking man. Why didn’t they listen to me?” I shook my head. “They should have listened to her. I should say that first.”
“I know what you meant.” James’s lips tilted into a smile, though it didn’t reach his eyes.
“They gave him anger management, and I don’t know who the fuck is signing off on it, because passive aggressiveness is even worse.
Now he’s spewing all over socials and in the community about her dance studio, and I think he hired a PR team to work its way to Kyler’s socials too. ”
I frowned. “What the fuck do you mean?”
James ran his hand through his hair as we made our way to the locker room. “Just stupid bots that are saying crap about the family and tagging Kyler’s socials. I know for a fact that my brother doesn’t run them, but Emily sees them.”
“Emily’s your youngest sister, right?” I knew each of the names of the Cages of course, and had met them all, but it still wasn’t easy to keep them all in my head.
“One of them. And she’s the one most connected to social media and things like that. We’re trying to keep it away from Sophia, because she doesn’t need any more issues.”
I shook my head as I stripped off my shorts and gloves and got into the shower.
“Keeping secrets from your sister is just going to backfire. She deserves to know everything that man is doing or could be doing. And are you sure it’s Cale hiring that firm for the bots and shit?
Kyler is a celebrity that speaks out against issues and is damn popular.
People are going to want to tear him down.
Let alone the connection to your family. ”
“Company’s looking into it.”
“I can do the same if you want.” It wasn’t an offer I made lightly.
The Cages had their connections, including a cybersecurity business within the family.
But I knew shadier people, and my company could find most things.
And since we hadn’t found all the secrets of the Cages the first go around, we were even more hard-pressed to dig deep when it came to people who could hurt my family.
“I can’t ask you to do that,” James put in.
“You’re not asking. I am offering. I don’t like when weak-willed men take advantage. And he didn’t get enough pain from what I can see.”
“I should have killed him right alongside you,” Flynn said as he came forward, towel wrapped around his waist.
I turned off the water and reached for my own towel.
“We could have figured out where to hide the body,” I said with a shrug.
James looked between us and sighed. “Sometimes I don’t know if you two are being serious or not.”
“I’m not joking,” I said simultaneously with Flynn. We met each other’s gazes, and Flynn grinned, looking like the happier man that I had once met.
James was right, something was going on with his brother, and while part of me wanted to dig in and figure out what it was, I didn’t think doing so would be good.
Whatever was going on with Flynn didn’t have to do with the company, or his connection to my family. So I let him have his privacy. For now.
“You two need to take it down a notch. Cale isn’t going to get custody, and he’s not going to get money.
If anything, he’s going to get another restraining order and find someone else to prey on.
” James sighed. “Which makes me sound like a terrible person, but I just want Sophia and those kids to be safe.”
“Ford was at the studio yesterday, adding additional security, so there’s at least that.”
“Ford’s the best at what he does, that’s good.”
I’d even let Ford and his company run the security in my house, and that was saying something.
They were also working on my sister’s condo and would build an entire system for her house with her future wife, once they settled on the down payment.
Cora didn’t exactly know that was happening, but it was a wedding present, and she would just have to deal with my overprotectiveness.
“Okay, we have to head back to the office, but you’ll be there later?” Flynn asked, as if we hadn’t just discussed killing a man.
“I’ll be there. I want to make sure we get this deal set, because I have a few more ideas.”
“No wonder Aston loves you,” James said, a full smile on his face now. “I should warn you though, Blakely and Isabella might want to set you up with someone next time you come to dinner.”
I froze, turning slightly as I looked at the other man.
“What?”
Flynn held up both hands. “They have a friend, and they promised not to set up any of their siblings with anyone, but you’re seemingly fair game.”
“I’m not fair game,” I said stiffly, images of Sophia filling my mind. Which was ludicrous because she wasn’t mine, and I didn’t want her.
Liar.
“I’ll let them know, but they do have a friend, and apparently, they think you two would fit. They wouldn’t force a setup, but they might test the waters.”
“They sound like my sister,” I said dryly.
“Your sister’s wedding’s coming up, right?” Flynn asked as we finished getting dressed.
“Yes, and I’m walking her down the aisle.” My jaw tensed and I tried to force myself to relax slightly. It didn’t work.
Flynn grimaced. “Your parents are still assholes then I take it,” he said simply.
The two of them as well as most of the Cages who worked with Cage Enterprises knew that my parents were evil incarnate.
Their business ran alongside the Cages’, and as soon as the Cages figured out exactly how terrible my parents were, they cut business ties with them.
It hadn’t made my father happy, but I had taken that place. While I hadn’t meant to steal all of my father’s contracts, it was a benefit of not being a bigoted asshole.
“It’ll be good that they’re not there though, without that dark cloud,” James added. “Your sister is a nice person, at least for the two seconds that I saw her that one time. She deserves a happy wedding.”
“Yeah, she does,” I said after a moment, and tried to find solace in the fact that I would at least be there. It didn’t sound like much.
We finished getting ready, and said our goodbyes, and I headed towards a local cafe to pick up lunch.
I wasn’t in the mood for a salad or whatever else my assistant would have for me, and frankly, taking as much time as I had in the middle of the day wasn’t like me.
But I had needed the push, and so had the Cages.
I walked into the small cafe, the gleaming sage green walls soothing, and immediately stiffened at the sound of a familiar voice.
“Okay girls, what do you say?”
“Thank you,” little voices sing-songed together, and I couldn’t help the smile on my face.
I did not understand children, and I wasn’t even sure I liked them, but those little girls were adorable as all get out.
Sophia looked up from the counter, as she moved towards the closest booth, and nearly tripped over her feet.
“Carson.”
“Sophia.”
She’d pulled her hair back from her face again, a simple bun that I knew she wore mostly when she danced, but part of me wanted to let her hair fall loose and see it brush her shoulders.
I was ridiculous.
Instead of saying anything along those lines though, I looked down at the mini replicas of Sophia at her side and knelt in front of them.
“Hello girls.”