Chapter 6
Chapter Six
SOPHIA
When my father died, it felt like the world had ended.
Only it hadn’t ended the way that perhaps one would’ve wanted.
He had never been a truly caring and helpful man in my life.
He had focused on himself when it came to his work and personal life and had barely been around.
But when he had been there, he had, most of the time, focused on his children.
Perhaps not in the way that some people would want, but he had been a good man. Sometimes.
At least that’s what I had thought at one point. Because in the end, he hadn’t been anything of the sort. It was as if he had decided to write how much he hated his children in personal letters over time.
His lawyer, the lackey that I could not stand and had thought he’d have more power than he truly held in the end, didn’t supply each of the twelve Cage children with letters at the same time. No, he had decided to do it in small spurts, waiting for the perfect moment.
It seemed only obvious that a man who would help hide so many indiscretions would be as calculated as my father’s lawyer.
And so now I looked at the envelope sitting on my desk and wondered if I should just burn it.
He had delivered it to me personally over a year ago, and I hadn’t bothered to open it.
What was the point. The man hated me. Maybe not the lawyer, but for sure my father.
And I wasn’t sure I could stand him either.
From what Isabella and Blakely had explained to me, the letters sent to Aston and Isabella herself had been cruel and demanding. A clawed hand reaching even beyond death.
Only here I was, staring at this letter, wondering if I should just open it and get it over with. Because burning it would haunt me. Letting it sit here on my desk for so long gave it far more importance than it earned.
With a sigh, I took the letter opener that Isabella had given me one year and sliced open the seal. Part of me would’ve much rather have torn it open with my teeth, and then burned it, but I was trying for subtlety.
The man had typed the damned thing. Hadn’t even bothered to hand write letters to his children, knowing that he was going to hate them in the end.
Sophia—
You were always our beauty. The one that brought praise and highlighted our family in all its glory.
And then you gave up.
All you do is give up.
You were supposed to be the touchstone for our family. To show your brother that there was such thing as art of grace, and not of filth and debauchery. Instead, you walked away at the height of your career, shaming this family.
Perhaps it was because you were not good enough. I would understand that. You were never as slender as some of the other dancers. Never as flexible. There was always something off with you, and perhaps you finally realized it.
And then you walked away.
I will never forgive you for shaming this family. It’s no wonder that you were alone for so long. Because nobody will want you. You were just like your mother—second rate, second best.
Do what is good for this family, and find a way not to disgrace us. Not to ruin our honor. Do not shame this family. And be better than your mother.
Signed, Loren Cage.
He had actually signed it with a pen, and the angry scrawl looked as if blood had dripped onto the page. Of course, that was only me, putting symbolism on something that wasn’t there.
This man was purely evil, and I still couldn’t believe that he was my father.
I rolled my eyes, annoyed.
Of all the things he could have done to try to dig into me, calling me graceless or not good enough in dance wasn’t it. Because before everything had changed, I had been one of the top dancers in the country, if not the world.
Isabella, Kyler, Phoebe, and Emily had taught me that I was allowed to be prideful when it came to my talent. I was allowed to show everyone that I was good at what I did.
I was one of the best. I could have gone to other cities.
I had been invited to New York and DC. Even to Paris for a summer.
But I had stayed with my family because they had needed me.
I thought my mother had needed me, but in the end, she had dealt with her own issues.
It was only after having the twins, and having to learn to be a single mother, that I realized my mother would always live with her mistakes, but she was trying.
I was not my mother, nor was I my father.
And as I looked down at the hatred in his words, I realized that yes, I was better off alone.
He had never even met Cale. Hadn’t seen the mistake for what it was.
Part of me wondered if he would’ve seen the cruelty beneath. And if he had, would he have done anything? No. I didn’t think so.
And that sickened me like nothing else.
Again, I was better off alone.
Of course, as soon as I thought that, a certain kiss filled my mind.
Had I ever been kissed like that? With such possession, such need? I swallowed hard, wondering what the hell was wrong with me.
I shouldn’t have let him kiss me, and yet how could I have said no? Because part of me had wanted that, had thought about it, and then it was a reality.
But as soon as I had put my hands on his chest and pushed, as soon as I had said no, he had stepped away.
Just the act of a man listening to me, it nearly broke me.
I swallowed hard, annoyed with myself. The girls were at a play date, something that had taken all of my will to allow happen.
I hated letting them out of my sight, even with the nanny or my mother.
But they had wanted to be with their friends, and I had given them a couple of hours.
A small sliver of me had wanted to stay at the other house, but I knew that being a helicopter parent wouldn’t help anybody.
So the girls were two blocks away, and I would pick them up soon. And now I was at home, working on household chores, and completely out of my depth.
My phone buzzed, and I groaned.
Of course, the first time that I kissed a man that wasn’t my ex-husband, the first time that I had nearly come just leaning against a wall with a man’s hand on my thigh, my brother had witnessed far too much.
It didn’t help that I had so many brothers that it was hard to stay away from them, but now Dorian knew.
And he had told everybody.
I could have been annoyed, and was, but the other part was grateful that somebody cared.
Somebody had noticed. I had hidden so much of my relationship with Cale as I had been blind to what he’d been doing until it was too late.
Now my family kept their eyes on me to the point that it was nearly stifling.
I turned over my phone and looked at my sister group chat.
As with any large family, we had numerous group chats. One with all siblings, some with the siblings we grew up with, and other variations. They had organically happened, and honestly, I was grateful. We were doing the exact opposite thing of what our father had wanted. We had become a family.
And now that family was catching up to me. This time though, it was the women of the Cages. My sisters, and those women who had married into the family.
Isabella:
What is this I hear that you were accosted in the new club?
Harper:
They were kissing in a hallway, and Dorian witnessed the aftermath. That brother of yours is so nosy.
Emily:
You’re the one who married him, Harper. I don’t know what you were thinking.
Phoebe:
I agree with Emily on this one. But we do need to hear about all this kissing. I’ve seen Carson before. He’s hot.
Blakely:
Very hot. And hell, I had just talked to him at the office right before he went to the club, and he was all broody and growly. Tell us more, Sophia.
Greer:
Wait, is there a photo of this man? I feel so out of the loop these days.
Scarlett:
*inserts photo of Carson.*
I rolled my eyes.
Me:
Where did you get that photo of him? And stop it. All of you. It was just a kiss.
Blakely:
!!!!
Scarlett:
Mm-mmm.
Emily:
A kiss? Was it good?
Phoebe:
Of course it was good. That’s why Dorian went all big brother.
Harper:
It looked good from where I was standing. She was all flushed and swoony.
Me:
Please stop. It was just a kiss.
Isabella:
How did it happen? I didn’t even know you two knew each other that well.
Me:
It just happened. And it’ll never happen again.
Isabella:
I’ll kill him.
I sighed, as that thought reminded me of exactly what Carson had promised. Danger radiated off that man, and even though I knew he most likely hadn’t ever killed somebody in truth, he had threatened Cale enough to make it happen. And the rage, well, part of me liked that.
Me:
We’ll talk about it at girls’ night. It’s nothing to worry about. It was just a nice kiss.
Nice had nothing to do with it, but I didn’t mention that.
Isabella:
Oh, we will be talking.
Blakely:
Leave off. Let her live. She deserves it.
My heart ached, and I ran my hand over my chest.
Me:
I love you all, and now I’m getting back to paperwork. Go bother one of the boys.
Harper:
I’m going to go bother Dorian. Because this is all his fault.
My lips twitched as they all agreed, piling on Dorian, and I set my phone down. I loved my family, all of them. But with so many of us, not only did it get confusing, it got to be a little too much sometimes.
When my phone rang, I didn’t bother looking at it. Of course it would be Isabella. My big sister needed to be protective, no matter that I had it on my own.
“I’m fine. Stop worrying about me.”
“Oh, really? That’s not what I hear.”
That sickly-sweet voice filled my ear, and my entire spine went rigid. My hands shook, bile coating my tongue.
“You’re not supposed to call me,” I told my ex-husband, hoping that the fear wasn’t evident in my voice. From the way that Cale chuckled, I had a feeling I hadn’t been able to hide it.
“I’m not supposed to be near you because of some judge. So interesting. But I’m not calling to hear about you. Or why you think you’re fine. I get to see them, Sophia. You know that. The law is on my side.”
“Is it? Who did you pay off to make that happen?”