Page 90 of When We Fall: Part One

I looked to Fox. “You still in, brother?”

“You fucking know I am. Until the last breath leaves my lungs,” he said softly.

“No takebacks.” I settled back in my seat and exhaled. “We’re good. Everything is still good.”

The room was quiet for a moment before Cole finally spoke. “So, who is going to suck my dick tonight?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” E threw a pillow at him, making Cole laugh loudly and throw it back. The two proceeded to chuck pillows at each other.

I gave Fox a slight incline of my head, letting him know everything was good. It was fine. We’d make it through whatever shit came our way with this. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to him or any of the guys. I’d do whatever I had to in order to prevent it.

He gave me a sad smile in return before he biffed Cole in the face with the pillow he caught from E.

I laughed and joined in.

And when it was time for bed, I excused myself and went to the office and picked up my phone.

It rang three times before my father’s voice came on the line.

“Dad, I really need your help,” I choked out into the phone.

“What happened?”

So I launched into telling him what I knew.

Deep down, I knew it was the start of something I wouldn’t be able to handle on my own. So this was me trying to fix it.

I kept the faith that I wouldn’t make it worse.

THIRTY-ONE

ROSALIE

“Ah!” I shrieked as Enzo swept me off my feet weeks after Fox told him his secret about his father. Things had been going well with all of us. Anson hadn’t returned to classes, but I overheard one of the professors talking about how he’d made arrangements to turn everything in online and was coming in to do practical parts during office hours.

It hurt my heart that he was avoiding me, but I understood it, even if it did suck.

“How’s my future wife?”

“Good, now that you’re home,” I said, kissing him gently. He took it to another level for a moment before breaking away and leaving me breathless.

“I want to talk to you.” He put me back on my feet and held my hand. I let him lead me to the island, where we both sat.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He kissed my knuckles. “My parents are coming in a few weeks.”

“Really?” I raised my brows in surprise, relaxing. They’d planned to visit us for weeks after leaving their safe house.

“Yeah. We’re going to have dinner. Here at home because I still don’t feel it’s safe for them to be out in the open likethat. Plus, I don’t feel comfortable being in the same place with them.”

I cringed at his words. They didn’t sit well with me and only served as a reminder of what sort of life I was heading into.

“I was thinking we could browse catering for dinner. I don’t want you to have to cook for them. They’ll stay in the guest room. Mom is excited to do wedding stuff with you, bringing me to my next point. Your mom. I thought maybe you could reach out to her and see if she’d like to come for a long weekend and do wedding stuff with you and my mom. Jamie, too.”

The prospect excited me for all of a moment before my heart deflated. Jamie would be amazing to have, and I knew she’d come in a heartbeat if she weren’t busy, and we’d have an amazing time. I already knew she would be tough. We’d spoken not long ago. My mom was a different story. She was so withdrawn the last time she’d come, and I knew it resulted from my dad making everything tense because he didn’t want me to marry Enzo. I was sure she felt the same way.

“Sunshine? Do you want to do that?” Enzo asked, pulling me away from my morose thoughts.