Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
SOPHIA
Sometimes a girl just needed her family. And with the number of family members I had, I’d take any assortment of them at this point.
“Since when were we making this a girls’ day?” Kyler asked as he pulled another beer out of the fridge and gestured towards me with it. “You want one?”
“I’m good with my Diet Coke,” I said softly. “You know my addiction.”
He raised a brow, his eyes brightening. “Ah, yes. The white woman’s addiction to Diet Coke. It must be studied.”
“Excuse me, if you add a Caesar salad and French fries, it is the perfect lunch.”
“You know, I had that before. Add some steak on top, perfection.”
Kyler opened his beer, then moved into the room to slink gracefully onto the armchair.
He had one leg resting over the arm, and he slouched as if he had practiced it.
Considering I had grown up with the man who was now a world-famous rockstar, I knew for a fact he had practiced.
He’d even practiced that little smirk that he did in the mirror when he was a child.
That was what happened when you were the only boy out of five siblings and was the middle child on top of it.
“There is nothing wrong with a girls’ night, or a Diet Coke,” Emily said as she strode into the living room with us, a glass of sparkling wine in hand.
“I see you’re not the one drinking a soda,” Kyler commented.
Emily shrugged and took a seat on the couch, with Isabella following her.
Phoebe had a family dinner with Ford’s family, as the Montgomerys met just as often as the Cages did, so we weren’t quite a full family of five, but close enough.
“Do you think you would be so good at dealing with women and sisters if you hadn’t grown up with us girls?” Isabella asked, and I held back a smile. It surprised me that I could even do so, considering I hadn’t smiled at all in the past two days.
It broke me ever so slightly to know that we were meeting as a family to yes, be close to one another, but they were here because I was in pain, and they loved me.
The fact that we were at Kyler’s place was kismet. As he was rarely in town these days, it was nice that we were able to get together at all.
“If you mean that I’m used to having to deal with all of you up in my business? Of course being the sole brother of the five of us growing up helped with that.” Kyler winked and took another sip of his beer, as I sipped my soda.
Of course, Isabella immediately answered Kyler, pushing at him in the lovable way that the eldest daughter did, and I met Emily’s gaze.
She rolled her eyes, yet gave me a concerned look at the same time.
Because we were here for numerous reasons. The fact that Kyler was back in town, the concept that our families actually liked being with one another, and because they were all worried about me.
When I had texted the girl group chat that I needed them, they had all shown up in full force.
The girls had run to me, talking a mile a minute, and I had held back my tears and pain until they had gone down for their naps. And then I had fallen into Isabella’s arms and confessed it all.
My being with Carson, the promise that we would never want each other for more than we had.
The idea that I had failed so wholeheartedly that I had fallen in love with a man who could never love me back.
He had said so. It wasn’t like he had ever lied to me. And that was the hardest part. Because no, he didn’t love me. He never would, and I needed to be okay with that.
It was on me that I wanted more, and these feelings were my problem. Not his.
I wasn’t allowed to hate him for my own failures. Of course, explaining that to Isabella was impossible. Because she had merely glared at me and promised to cut Carson’s balls off.
That was a big sister for you.
And while I knew Kyler visited, I had a feeling that one, if not all of my sisters and sisters-in-law had contacted Kyler to tell him that I needed him.
Of all of my siblings, sometimes I felt like Kyler and I were the closest. It wasn’t always the case. He had a special connection with each one of us, just like I did with my sisters—and now the brothers I had never known about before the will reading.
None of them were here today, but it wasn’t because we didn’t want them here. It just so happened that this family meeting had been this group.
All of our brothers had been invited, but each had had plans, or had promised to try to show up later.
Because we were a family, and we loved each other.
Something my father would’ve hated. That made me smile, and perhaps I was a terrible person in thinking that, but I didn’t care.
Just like Cale, my father had tried to break me.
And maybe he succeeded in some ways, but like Kyler, I had found my own future and ways to breathe.
Kyler and I were artists—something that had always pained me to even say.
I didn’t like the concept of being an artist at first because I had my father’s voice in my head.
But my mother had been the one to push us, to prove to us that we could do anything—even if we hadn’t known why she had been so sad sometimes.
And now here I was, a teacher rather than an artist, and my brother had sold-out shows all over the world with people clamoring to be part of his life.
I was pretty sure our father would’ve hated every bit of this. Perhaps that’s why I liked it so much. Call me petty.
My phone buzzed and I looked down at the read-outs, realizing that the childcare video app had alerted me, and my girls were up from their nap.
“Oh, I’ll be right back,” I said, and each one of my siblings gave me a worried look. “The girls are up.”
“Here, let me help.” Kyler set down his beer, ran his hands over his jeans, and followed me down the hall to the nursery.
A nursery that he had put in the moment I had told him I was pregnant, because he wanted to be the best uncle there was.
Of course, he had to fight for that title with the rest of our brothers, but he was doing a decent job of it.
Each one of my siblings had space in their homes—however large their homes may be—in order to have space for the next generation.
I walked into the small nursery and looked at the tiny beds that were set up on one side, and the cribs on the other.
“You know, one day you may run out of space with the way the Cages procreate,” I teased.
Kyler rolled his eyes. “You say that, but I feel like there’s a slight break. I don’t plan on having kids anytime soon, and I think the rest of the newlyweds are taking their time. That gives me more space to spoil your baby girls, as well as Stone and Micah.”
I leaned into my brother, hugged him tight, and he gripped me so hard I was afraid he might bruise me for an instant, but then he kissed the top of my head, and I shook it off.
Kyler had his own demons, he always had.
There was a reason there was so much emotion and guttural rage and pain in some of his music.
We all had our own paths and burdens, and mine happened to be my choice in men.
Cale hadn’t called me or contacted our lawyers since that last time, and I was forever grateful. Maybe he had given up wanting a weekend with the girls, and that would be just fine with me. I didn’t want to deal with him, or his needs. I was done dealing with the man at all.
“Hey there, my little rock stars,” Kyler said with a wide grin, and sidled up to my girls. They jumped up and down on the bed, and even as I frowned at them, they didn’t care.
“Uncle Kyler!” Violet squealed, and Hazel jumped without fear, and her uncle caught her.
Kyler picked up Violet as well, hung them both on his hips, and began to spin in circles.
Both girls giggled with glee, Kyler laughed, and I pulled out my phone to take a photo.
Then of course, I had to record the whole thing, grinning at this side of my brother that he hid from the rest of the world.
When he gave me a look, I rolled my eyes. “I was planning on selling this to one of those terrible news organizations. What do you think?”
“You’d make big bucks. I’m pretty.”
“So pretty.” Hazel reached up and patted his bearded cheek, and my little brother blushed, before he scowled and ran out of the room, leaving me behind.
I smiled softly, my heart aching as I watched him walk towards the living room with my girls on his hips.
Each one of my brothers—whether I had grown up with them or not—were unique and special in the way that they were uncles.
My children did not have a grandfather, nor did they have a father.
I refused to call Cale their father any longer.
If the world were perfect, he would never have access to them again.
And because I wasn’t reacting the way that he wanted, he hadn’t come for them.
They were his leverage against me and whatever I could give him, and I would be stronger than whatever he tossed at me.
But the men in my life—the ones who had married into the family or were Cages by blood—were showing my little girls what it meant to be a protective and strong male figure.
And they would grow up with their cousins, and hopefully never feel the lack.
I ran my hand over my chest, once again feeling a connection to my mother even though she wasn’t here today.
Maybe we would invite her for dinner later and reiterate that she was welcome.
She hadn’t wanted to intrude on sibling time, and she didn’t know about me and Carson.
But perhaps it was time for me to open up to her.
To tell her she wasn’t alone in her not-so-great scope of choosing men.
Not that Carson was in any way like Loren Cage or Cale.
No, he was a man who knew what he wanted and was honest about it.
Yes, the way he had practically tossed me out of the house was cruel, but it had been the wake-up call that I needed.
And I would find a way to survive knowing that I loved him. Just like I had found a way to do so when I didn’t love Cale.
I walked back into the living room, as my babies played with my siblings, and leaned against the doorway, wondering what I was supposed to do next.
“Is Mr. Carson coming?” Violet asked out of the blue, and it was like a kick to the chest. Isabella gave me a look, and I ignored her.
I hadn’t introduced Carson as anyone other than a friend, and he would still be in our lives as part of a connection to the family business. So we would find a way to make this new phase of our lives work.
“No, but I hear we’re having pasta.”
“And pasta for me?”
I smiled at my daughter’s question and went to sit on the floor and play.
When the doorbell rang, Kyler frowned, looked at his phone, then went to answer.
“Who is it?” Isabella asked.
Like all of our homes, Kyler’s had security. It was also in a gated community, considering his celebrity status.
“It’s Flynn.”
“Oh. I’m glad he’s here,” Emily said with a smile. “He’s been so grumpy lately. We’ll feed him the carbs and make him happy.”
“Grumpy grumpy,” Violet teased, and my lips twitched. Oh yes, Uncle Flynn would love that.
But as Flynn walked into the room, his face ashen, an equally worried Kyler right behind him, my entire body froze.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, visions of Cale coming at my family screaming in my head.
With that look on Flynn’s face, I couldn’t help but worry.
Flynn glanced at the girls, and then Emily was there, picking them up and carrying them to the back room, mumbling something about secrets and treats, and I knew I would pay attention to that later. For now, I stood up on wobbly legs and moved towards Flynn.
“What is it?”
“It’s Carson. We just landed after getting back from Seattle.
” He held up his hand, waving me off. “Please, you can yell at me later for getting in Carson’s face about what happened.
I’m your big brother, and sometimes I’m an asshole.
But this isn’t it. We took different planes because Carson has an entire team. And they had a private plane. Sophia—”
Flynn had gone to confront Carson? Yes, he was right, we would deal with that later, but for now I put my hand on his wrist and held on tight.
“What is it?”
“I just got word from a buddy of mine, there was a plane crash. They can’t get ahold of the plane itself, and there isn’t any other news. But there’re rumblings, Sophia, and they’re saying there are no survivors. I’m so fucking sorry.”
As a tear slid down Flynn’s cheek, my knees gave out, and then Isabella was behind me, Kyler beside me, and I broke.
I had done the one thing I hadn’t done before, and I shattered.