Page 107 of The Fallen Ones

A smile touched my lips.

Love.

I’d never said it to a girl before, but I fully intended on telling Lily the moment the mask came off. I’d do anything for that girl.

She would learn soon enough what my brand of love was like.

“What?”Damien snarled as I told him and Caleb about what I’d heard Brandon and Vince talking about. “Let’s kill him.”

“What? We’re not killing anyone,” Caleb said, shaking his head. “The guy is a dick, but you don’t kill people for that reason.”

“You meanyoudon’t kill people for that reason.Ihave no problem doing it,” Damien shot back.

To be fair, I didn’t have issues killing the guy either. There wasn’t a court that would convict me if they knew half the shit I knew about Brandon Rogers. I’d be doing society a favor. Since I knew Lily wouldn’t stop if told to, there had to be another way for us to stop her going. She’d go just to defy me because I secretly thought she might harbor anger against me for not being as understanding as I should have been with her.

Plus, I never told her my mother was involved with Damien’s dad and was the reason for her mother’s death. I assumed that wouldn’t sit well once it came out.

It made me sick thinking about what I’d do if we unmasked and she rejected me because with that unmasking, I’d have to tell her the truth. I already told Damien it needed done. Surprisingly, he agreed with me and said he wanted no secrets once this was put out there.

“Listen, murder aside, I think we unmask. Claim her that way. If she wants us, she won’t go to him. I think it’s our best option.” I looked at the guys.

“I say we fuck her one last time masked and then we tell her,” Damien said. “Give her one more time with us before she finds out the truth. Let her sit on it a few days and then come out with it.”

I nodded. “I’m in.”

Caleb was quiet for a moment before sitting forward. “I’m in too.”

“Well, now that we have that sorted, let’s talk aftermath.” Damien stared at each of us in turn. “What do we do if she tells us to go fuck ourselves?”

I looked down at my feet as I sat on the old couch.

“I just really hope she doesn’t,” Caleb said softly. “Not going to lie, I’d be devastated.”

I nodded. “Me too, but if she says no, there’s nothing we can do but accept it. I think we stick to the plan for tonight. Give her time to think. Hope she holds off with Brandon while she contemplates it. We arrange for a time to unmask for her and then…” I swallowed hard and looked to each of the guys. “We pray.”

“Christmas,” Caleb murmured.

“What?” Damien looked at him.

“Christmas is hard for Lily. She doesn’t have family and likes to spend it alone. I know she cries because she’s lonely. I say we unmask on Christmas for her. That could be our gift. It’s only a week away. It makes sense to do it then. If she accepts everything, it’ll be the best gift we could give her.”

“We should still bring her something,” I said. “Besides our dicks.”

Damien smirked. “I’d like to think my cock is a gift that keeps on giving.”

I snorted at him before looking back to Caleb. “I like it. Let’s go with that plan. Damien?”

“I’m in,” he said easily. “I just want her any way I can have her. If I have to share her and become besties with you fucks, I’ll do it.”

I smiled at him, having missed his crazy ass after all these years. He winked back at me, letting me know the air was starting to clear with us. Once Lily was ours, everything would be perfect.

“OK. Well, let’s do this,” Caleb said in a soft voice. “She goes to bed around ten.”

“And I can pick a lock like a motherfucker,” Damien said. “We sneak in and give her a nice little surprise wake-up call.”

I grinned, liking this idea.

It was settled. We were going to get our girl.

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