Page 78 of The Forever Rule

“I don’t know if he’s madeallof them,” I muttered.

Isabella laughed, her shoulders shaking.

Sophia’s eyes widened as she spotted us. “Hi. This is nice.”

“Hello Sophia,” I said, an unfamiliar awkwardness settling in again.

Isabella moved forward to hug her sister. “We were just having lunch.”

“And no blood was shed?” Sophia said, and I tilted my head.

“Not yet anyway.” I looked over at Cale and realized that this man was touching my baby sister. Well then, that was a new feeling of protectiveness that I hadn’t been expecting.

Isabella looked at me, and her eyes filled with laughter.

“This is Cale.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” the other man said as he held out his hand, and I shook it firmly. I didn’t squeeze too hard, because I didn’t think it was my place to really protect Sophia. But maybe it should be.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“We were just heading to a place that I know a couple blocks from here for a drink. Do you want to join?” he asked, and I tilted my head, and looked around the block to figure out exactly where we were.

“Are you going to The Gilded Cage?” I asked, curious.

Cale’s eyes widened. “Yes. I love that place.”

Sophia and Isabella both burst out laughing, and then Cale blinked before he shook his head.

“I didn’t even think about the name. Do you own it?”

“No, though our brother Dorian owns the building.”

“The whole building?” Sophia asked. “I still rent my small section.”

“It’s what he wanted to do. And then he runs thebar of course. We should go see him. I know he’s working today.” I looked at Isabella. “Are you okay with that?”

“Well, it seems that we have to celebrate things, and I need to put in my two weeks’ notice.”

Sophia’s eyes widen. “Are you serious?”

Isabella rolled her shoulders back and I wasn’t sure if she was trying to protect herself from the oncoming questions or the job itself. “Yes. It seems that I’ll be working with the big brothers.”

Sophia clapped her hands. “Oh this is amazing. I hate your job.”

“It sounds like we do have a lot to celebrate,” Cale said, as he gestured down the block. “Lead the way.”

“And I get to see another brother. This sounds like a plan.” Sophia laughed, and wrapped her arms around Cale’s waist, and we all walked our way toward The Gilded Cage.

It was a high-class bar that had a VIP section for high clientele, and other stations for people who walked in off the street. Of course, we were family, so we could go wherever we wanted.

Dorian met us at the door, and looked between us, confusion settling on his face for just an instant, before he put on his lazy smile.

“Well, this is an interesting family reunion.” He looked over at Cale, and narrowed his eyes in the same way that I had a feeling I had earlier.

“But you’re new.”

“Hi, I’m Cale. I’m with Sophia.”

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