Page 109 of When Kings Fall

“Yeah? You seem so together, so focused.”

He leaned in and whispered, “It’s mostly fake. But all I can see is the spectacular end result through all these details and all this strategizing too.”

“Maybe focusing on it for right now is best to get it out of our systems, so we’ll be able to focus up once we’re out in the field and initiating the strike against the depraved demon.”

“Solid approach, baby.” He smiled down at me. “You see why I didn’t want to tell you that he was alive until I had something on him, some way to track him?

“Yeah. Yeah, I do. Everything you’ve done has been what you believed was best for me. The lengths you went to, the sheer effort… it means so much to me.”

“Why you love me so much, hmm?”

I slapped his chest playfully. “Arrogant shit.”

“When it comes to you and how we all feel about one another, absolutely.”

A throat cleared and Levi and I eased apart as my dad came to stand before us. “It’s sorted. Got the guys mobilizing now.”

“Perfect, Dad.”

“Nice work, Curt.”

“So, what’s the deal here?” he asked, gesturing between me and Levi.

“Deal?” Levi asked.

“Roman told me how possessive and protective you are over my daughter, yet then I see one of your friends touching her in full view of you and you didn’t do a thing, didn’t react one little bit?”

Uh oh.

“I’m not that way with Colt and Mason. I trust them implicitly,” Levi said, thinking on his feet as usual, as he tried so hard to cover for me.

No.

I couldn’t allow it.

Our foursome relationship was the best thing that had happened to me.

It wasn’t something to be concealed or buried.

It deserved celebrating.

They deserved to be celebrated as the loves of my life.

“We’re all together,” I blurted out, the sentiment of it all taking me over.

To my astonishment, my dad burst out laughing.

“What?” I asked. “What’s happening? Are you having a break from the shock of it?”

“Ha, no. It was the look on your face.” He stroked my hair for a moment. “Well done for telling me. Proud of you. Hell, I’m proud of you for a lot of things. Especially you coming into your own, all this strength coming off you.”

“You already knew,” Levi surmised.

“Roman thought it would be a good idea to prepare me. He told me a few days after that meet-up we had.”

Mason and Colt gravitated over, the two of them along with Levi basically flanking me in a sweet and bolstering way.

“It was a lot to take in at first, so Roman made the right call giving me a heads-up. But it didn’t take me that long to realize that this is a real good thing.”

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