It was a Friday evening and dinner was hosted by Paulson's at their house.
Everyone was there except for Craig of course. Cassie had brought along Jon, Bran was by himself as usual and Raye and Brienna were there together.
Everything was fine among the household at the time, dinner ran smoothly, the occupants of the dining room seemed comfortable while engaging in quality conversation.
Once in awhile, Raye would look across the table and lock eyes with Cassie only for her to give her to slip a look that was strange and that left her somewhat perplexed. It wasn't that of hatred but perhaps fear and she understood why after contemplating the events of the last week or so. She now knew where her brother was and why he was under the protection of the mob but it was obvious she wasn't pleased with the situation and not just on Raye's side but her brother's as well.
All the other occupants at the table were oblivious to the circumstances that lingered very near.
When dinner was over and Brie had finally broken away from her arm after being attached to her hips like a koala bear on a tree, Raye and Cassie stood off to a little corner of the sitting room, glancing around not evening hold eye contact.
"Is he okay?"
"Craig's fine, he asked about you and I told him he should give you a call soon, there's nothing wrong in that."
"Thank you,"
Raye ignored her kind words simply because she didn't feel as if she deserved to hear them, she didn't fix the issue yet she was just hiding Craig away from the danger.
"Have your parents been asking about him?"
"Yeah, they both did when I was here earlier helping with dinner. I told them he'd come around soon."
"He should. I think he could visit but not on his own, I'll have to be there."
"Please do that because even our parents are starting to worry about Craig."
Raye then spotted Brienna making her way over to them and she paused the conversation abruptly to put on a smile as the girl neared.
"What are you two talking about, how to overthrow the government?"
"Oh, much more than just that." Raye grinned. "She's telling me about Jon and I'm still trying to convince her that pussy doesn't bite," Raye added and Brie was startled, covering her mouth to keep it shut. With her eyes wide and searching back and forth between her sister and her girlfriend, she started chuckling uncontrollably.
"Did she say that to you for real?"
Cassie played along and nodded, "I told her if the right girl comes along I may not be as fearful as I was to try it."
"Stop!" Brienna covered her ears, staring at her girl.
"I can't believe you," she smacked her arm causing Raye to chuckle.
"What, I'm joking babe. Cassie and I are just talking about work that's all."
"Don't encourage her," Brie said to Cassie and her sister laughed, moving away eventually so they'd get some time of their own. She found Jon and Bran having a conversation about action movies and fitted herself nicely in between.
"Dinner tonight with the family was lovely,"
"Yeah, I just wished that Craig was here too."
"I'm sure he'll come around eventually baby," Raye said, pulling her close to her by the waist, looking down into her grey eyes.
"You know," Brie struck up and she observed as Raye arched a brow.
"I was wondering and I know I told you that I didn't want you to intervene, but I've made up my mind and I want you to help find him, for the family's sake."
