Page 21 of Cage

“Thank you,” I murmur.

Rowena grins and looks between me and Cage. “I’ve never seen my brother look at anyone the way he looks at you, by the way.”

Herwhat?

“Brother?” I squeak out.

She giggles. “Yes. They’re all my brothers. What did you think… Oh, ew. That’s gross.” Rowena scrunches her face like she’s about to vomit, and all I can do is stare at her in shock.

They aren’t together. She is hissister.

And what the heck does she mean by the way he looks at me?

“You’re not his girlfriend?”

Rowena looks at me and bursts out laughing. “No. Definitely not. I think he likes you.”

Shaking my head, I peer at him from under my lashes. “Not possible. I’m pretty sure it’s the opposite, actually. Ever since he snatched me out of my father’s car, he’s been being nothing but a bossy, growly, controlling bear.”

The smaller woman’s smile widens. “Believe it or not, Cage is only like that when he likes someone.”

She skips away, leaving me staring at her in shocked silence because there’s no way Cage Black feels anything for me other than annoyance.

8

CAGE

I’m not sure what Rowie said to Ember earlier, but Ember hasn’t stopped glancing at me since.

Almost as soon as Rowie greeted me, it was like Ember shut down. The light in her eyes dimmed. I didn’t understand it, and I didn’t like it one bit.

“What do you know about your father’s business dealings?”

Ember startles and whirls around to look at me. Her hands are full of clothes. I’m pleased she’s unpacking and not planning to live out of her bag. That would have driven me up the wall. I would have probably found myself in her room at some point unpacking her clothes, which she would likely think was crossing a boundary, but I don’t give a fuck. I like order.

A glimmer of purple catches my eye on the bed. I look down at the stuffed dragon lying on the comforter right behind her. A toy. Cute. Ember’s gaze follows mine, and as soon as it falls on the stuffie, she gasps and drops a armful of clothes on top of it.

“It’s okay to have a stuffed toy, firefly. Lots of people have them.”

She raises an eyebrow, her cheeks turning pink. “Do you?”

I chuckle and step into the room. “No. But you do, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of it.”

When I sit on the edge of the bed and uncover the dragon, she snatches it up before I can and pushes it into her bag, her entire face flushed.

“I’m not ashamed,” she says quietly, a hint of sadness there.

“Then why are you hiding it?”

Her head is lowered. Shoulders slumped. I don’t like it.

“Ember, tell me.”

She shifts uncomfortably as I wait in silence for an answer. I’ll sit here all day until she tells me. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to like whatever her reasoning is, but I still want to know.

“I used to get made fun of at school for having one. Some of the girls stole a stuffed toy that my mom gave me a few months before she died.”

Jolting off the bed, I let out a string of curse words.

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