Page 6 of The Forever Rule

I rolled my eyes. “Of course you do. But you added one more you shouldn’t have.”

Flynn cursed under his breath. “Apparently I was tired.”

“Apparently I have to clean up your messes.”

“It’s a chat. We’ll delete it. Breathe.”

I rolled my eyes at the fact that it was Flynn telling me to calm down now. That was rich. “You were the one panicking before. Because now this person has our numbers, our names, and where we’ll be on Friday.”

“Yes. Because she could be a sniper. We’ve just alerted our own demise where we’ll be. It’ll make it easy for them. But hopefully I’ll have wine beforehand.”

“I hate when you get all quick-witted after you’re done panicking because you know I’ll handle it.”

“It’s like you know me. Got to go. Meeting’s starting.”

I sighed, then gestured for James to come in as he walked across my office and set down a stack of papers. He raised a brow, and I sighed, gesturing toward the phone.

“I’ll handle it.”

“It’s not anything to handle. But I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah. You will.”

I liked the fact that James and Flynn worked with me. I didn’t feel like I was constantly searching to find my large family. I had way too many brothers to count. Okay, I had six brothers. With Flynn and Hudson as twins, Ford was the youngest, and I was the oldest. And yet Ford was the one who was married and happy and settling in his life. The rest of us were figuring out what we wanted. That was fine though, it wasn’t as if my end of days were here. But I was busy with work, far too busy to deal with something like a relationship. Flynn and James worked hours just as long as I did.

And I knew Theo as a chef and a restaurant owner worked off hours, to the point that we rarely got to see him. Dorian was on the same hours as Theo since he owned a bar and grill that went for high class clientele even though the place was called The Cage of all things. I rolled my eyes at that.

Hudson and Ford were the only two that really didn’t work for the company anymore. With Ford working for a security company that he owned with his spouse and his spouse’s family, and Hudson painting for a living. It was odd to think that there was even an artist in our family, since it wasn’t something that our father had really subscribed to. But Hudson had always gone his own way. After all, he had done his stint in the Army, spending far too many years overseas where we couldn’t get ahold of him.

But now we were all here, doing something as casual as family dinner.

And apparently had just invited this stranger.

Me:

We’re sorry for bothering you. You can just remove yourself from the group chat by hitting the information button.

Unknown number:

Hmph. I should have thought of that. Sorry it’s been a long day. But you guys sound hilarious. Brothers I take it?

I frowned, wondering why this person wanted the information, and why I wanted to answer.

Me:

Yes. Should I ask your name since you know mine?

Unknown number:

You say that as if I could figure out who was who from the texts. There were a lot of them.

My lips curled into a smile.

Me:

Hazard a guess.

Unknown:

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