Page 120 of The Forever Rule

You know my rules. I pounded them into you far before you even tried to take my mantle. A mantle you will never have.

But the rules I had kept our lives separate. It kept the secrets that needed to be.

Do not let your brothers ruin this company. Do not let theother Cages in. And while the will is forcing you to become acquainted, remember that you are The Cage. Perhaps not The Cage I wanted, but The Cage.

I was the small-town dad when I needed to be, and the elite father when you were around. And that’s how it should have stayed.

But, with time comes reflection. And if you had been a better son, I wouldn’t have had to try to make so many. I wouldn’t have had to try with another woman. But you are my greatest failure. Well, my first failure.

So just know that genes run true, and if I could fail, me with all of my talent and all of my power could fail…

You will too.

So keep to the rules, and when you inevitably screw up, remember that the rules could have saved you.

Loren.

“Are you kidding me?” Flynn asked. “That is the ramblings of a delusional man. You don’t actually believe that do you?” he asked, and I shrugged, my jaw tightening.

“I need to go,” Dorian said, as he pushed past me, not saying another word. James looked between us, cursed, and followed Dorian out. Because while those words in that letter were terrible, and perhaps true, it was nothing to what my father had done to Dorian.

Theo pressed his lips together and didn’t say a thing. And I wasn’t sure there was anything else to say.

“Do not believe this. He’s just a ranting old man who’s dead. And yes, we’re playing his little game by getting to know our siblings, but I want to. I want to fucking knowthem. Don’t let Dad ruin this. Don’t let him in your head.”

“He’s already there. Do you know how much work I’ve had to deal with the company and dealing with the fallout of his mistakes? And when I fuck this up with Blakely, because I will, it’s going to fuck things up with Isabella too. So no matter what I do, I’m going to hurt this family.”

“You’re not making any sense,” Theo whispered. “Just don’t screw up things with Blakely. I see with the way you two are. You love that woman.”

“How do we even know what love is? We’re Cages.”

“You don’t believe that, look at Ford.”

“Ford was the one who got out. Maybe he was the smartest one of us all.”

Before they could fight with me any longer, the back door opened, and Blakely and Hudson walked in. The tension in the room was palpable, and I knew that everyone could feel it. But when Blakely looked at me, I didn’t have any words to say. There was nothing.

“I should head home,” she said, her voice oddly shallow.

What had she heard? What was she thinking? I hated that I couldn’t read her mind. Nor did I know what the hell I was doing.

“I’ll walk you to your car.”

She stared at me, her eyes pleading, but my brothers didn’t say a damn thing. At least not until she went to get her purse. Then they said their goodbyes, although wedidn’t explain why Dorian and James weren’t in the room.

As I walked her to her car, I knew I needed to say something. To fix this. But maybe there wasn’t any fixing. Maybe if I fixed things the way they should be now, it wouldn’t hurt later.

I leaned down and kissed her temple, and she stared up at me, confusion in her gaze. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re lying. Something happened before dinner with my parents, and something just happened when I was out on the porch. What’s going on, Aston?”

My throat tightened and it took effort to grind the words out. “It’s a family thing.”

She nodded, swallowing hard. “I get that. But you can talk to me you know. We’ve been together for how long? I thought you trusted me enough to talk to me. Or at least talk to your brothers. Don’t push me away.”

I slid my hands into my pockets and stared off into the distance, my father’s word’s reverberating within my mind. “Maybe I need some space.”

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