Page 82 of An Unexpected Everything
Chapter Nineteen
WESTON
“Welcometo another Cage family dinner, this time in stereo.”
I raised a brow at Dorian’s words and shook my head from my spot on the couch.
In the month since our world had shifted, some things remained the same while other things were vastly different.
Now I sat in Aston and Blakely’s home down in Denver, my booted leg on a pillowed ottoman, with the woman I loved sitting at my side.
When I slept, I could still hear Bella scream for me, could still feel the impact of the car against my leg.
We all had been damn lucky that William had slowed down around the curve in the rain and the only thing I had broken was my leg. It could have been anything else, including my neck. But I did my best not to think too hard on that. When I had finally woken up from the first impact, I had crawled my way toward William’s voice. I would never be able to get the sight of Bella tied to a tree and fighting for her life out of my mind. Though, I knew that she had similar nightmares. For all that work we had done against her panic attacks in Cage Lake, we were right back to where we started and yet completely different. Because William was behind bars and would be for a hell of a long time.Now it was two counts of attempted murder in addition to his stalking charges and breaking his parole. There would be no more William in our lives, and for that I could be grateful.
However, I just truly wished none of that had happened.
“Are we taking a photo for the lawyer?” Emily asked as she walked into the large living room, a platter in her hand. Phoebe and Ford were right behind her, more platters in their hands.
We had a full house today, and I was still surprised that everybody could fit inside these walls.
“Yes, everyone move in closer for the photo,” Dorian ordered, holding up his phone.
“Do you think if all of us are in this one, it can count for like two or three dinners?” Flynn asked as he pushed James and Theo into the room.
“I’m pretty sure the will doesn’t work that way, but I can ask,” Bella said from my side, and I leaned over to kiss her temple.
“I honestly don’t mind coming to dinner because people cook for me. I’m lazy like that.”
The woman I loved rolled her eyes. “Yes, because we totally need more food with the number of casseroles we have at home in Cage Lake.”
My heart swelled at that comment because she said home.
We didn’t have everything worked out yet, but we were working on it. Because Bella would be working remotely full-time. She would go down into the city if she needed to for certain things, but now she would be the full-time forensic accountant for Cage Enterprises because she would be able to do things from our home or in an office that she could have on Main Street if she needed space. And she was also the go-between for the businesses in town and Cage Enterprises.
All in all, it was working out, and I still couldn’t quite believe our luck. Not that being run over by a car and attacked by a psychopath was lucky, but I was doing my best not to thinktoo hard about certain things. It only made the stress of nearly losing her too much.
“Everybody say cheese!” Dorian said as he snapped the photo, and I leaned into Bella. “I’ll send this over to the lawyer, and then we can actually eat and not have to deal with this crap.”
“Tell me how you really feel, brother of mine,” Sophia said as she kissed his cheek, and then went to sit on her husband’s lap. They had come back from their honeymoon early, everybody worried about Bella and me. And somehow in a matter of moments, we were all closer than ever.
The twins had been distraught, and Lance was still having issues leaving town. He wanted to keep an eye on us, however, we were all doing okay. Or at least as okay as we could be while dealing with everything that had happened.
“So what are we having for dinner?” Dorian asked, grinning.
“Italian. Tons of different kinds of Italian because I think we’re past the point of having just one lasagna,” Bella said at my side.
“And I did not help because apparently when I’m in the kitchen, even though I’m allowed to put some weight on my boot, I get yelled at,” I said with a laugh.
“Damn straight you get yelled at,” Bella said as she pinched my thigh gently.
“You’re the one who had stitches in your arm. Don’t get me started.”
I swallowed hard, remembering the sight of all that blood, and kissed her gently on the mouth.
“You two are disgustingly sweet. We get it, you both love each other. But will you please stop making out in public?”
“I think it’s sweet,” Amy said as she wrapped her arms around Dorian’s waist. “You don’t want to make out with me in public?” she asked, fluttering her eyelashes.
