Page 44 of Fall

“Tilly,” I hear whispered gently, and I blink my eyes open to see Harley lying next to me on the bed, our faces inches apart. Harley doesn’t look any better this morning, his eye is still swollen shut, and his face is a muted colour of bruises. His lip has a long cut on the left side, but the swelling has gone down a little.

“Harley?” I ask in a little bit of a daze.

“Shh, baby girl is still sleeping,” Harley says, putting his finger to my lips. I look over my shoulder to see it’s still dark outside, and I can see my baby sleeping in her cot.

“How are you feeling?” I ask Harley quietly, placing my hand on his chest.

“Better, although I’m not accepting drinks from Luke anymore. I should have known he would do that,” he says, and I smile.

“I kind of like that he did, you needed your rest,” I say, and he grins.

“Any news on Maisy and Isabelle?” I ask him, and he pulls his phone out of his jean pocket. I wait as he unlocks it and then shows me photos of Maisy and Sebastian holding a little baby with black hair. I look closer and see she looks just like Maisy and Jake. Jake and Isabelle have the same black hair. Above the photo is a message saying ‘she has my green eyes,’ and I know she is going to be the image of her brother.

“They look so happy,” I say as I hand him his phone back, and he puts it in his jeans.

“They do,” he says. I pause when he leans closer, our mouths only inches away from each other, and he reaches over, tucking some of my hair behind my ear.

“Tilly, I want a date on Friday. Five days away. I’ve been planning it for a while,” he says, and I love that he has been planning a date for us. For the future we can now have.

“We go on dates already,” I whisper back, and he chuckles.

“Nothing like this one. This one is the start of us, Tilly. You’d best be ready,” he teases me.

“So should you, Mr. King,” I whisper back and brush my lips against his.

He responds by kissing me again harder, an almost desperate kiss as he rolls himself over me. The sound of the baby crying only moments later makes us break apart. “Friday, Tilly,” Harley says, getting off of me and standing up and walking over to my baby. He picks her up, and she instantly stops crying.

“I can sort her, you only just had that fight and I know you must be sore,” I comment, but he kisses her forehead and rests her in his arms.

“Let me, please. Everyone in this room is what I survived for,” he tells me, and I nod, emotion filling me. “I’m going to feed her some milk while you wake up.”

“Trust me, every part of me is awake,” I mutter, and he grins at me before walking out.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Harley

“What did you say?” I repeat to the doctor, trying to sit up, but Elliot puts a hand on my chest, making me lie back down.

The strong smell of medicine and the ticking of the heart monitor are annoying me as I try to process what he is telling me. Every part of my body hurts as I try to sit up, my voice croaks from my dry throat.

“You just woke from a coma, a three-day fucking coma. Please rest,” Elliot begs me, and I look at my fourteen-year- old brother and nod. I dread to know what our father has been putting him through in the last few days, but the bruises on his face tell me enough. I hate being away from them, not there to take the hits and divert my father’s attention.

“You cannot have children, Mr. King. The operation we had to do . . .” he keeps talking, but I don’t hear anything else he says.

I knew it was bad when the man I was fighting pulled that knife out and stabbed me, right under my cock. I knew when I punched him and he passed out that my brothers would get me to the hospital, that the damage would be severe. But I never expected this.

“Mr. King, are you listening to me?” the doctor asks, and I ignore him as the door opens.

Luke and Sebastian walk in, bruises on their faces, and I know that I might never be able to have children, but my brothers need my protection now. There are worse things that can happen in life, and I could always adopt a child who has shitty parents like mine one day.

“I heard you and I understand. Now leave, I want to talk to my brothers,” I tell the doctor, who gives me a worried look but walks out.

“Harley–” Elliot starts to say, and I shake my head at him. I don’t want anyone else to know. As far as I’m concerned, I already have a family who needs me.

“Impressive.” Luke whistles when I walk into the kitchen in my tuxedo.

“Do I look all right?” I ask him, worrying about my hair, which I’ve spent ages on, braiding the sides back. The tuxedo is tight but made to fit, so I have to think it looks good.

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