62. Fox
SIXTY-TWO
FOX
T he next few days were quiet. The kings weren’t fighting, for which I was grateful.
We had enough of that shit in our house as it was.
We agreed to let them have time to themselves.
They all had a lot to deal with, and Enzo told us Dom knew his father wasn’t his father.
I had no idea how Enzo got into all this, but some information was dangerous.
I looked at him, but he only sighed and shook his head.
He knew I didn’t want to be involved in this shit.
I didn’t think any of us should get involved in it.
But here we fucking were.
I was still on edge about Rosalie. I meant every fucking word I said. Everything that happened to her only solidified my decision to push the button on the coin Matteo gave me.
“Are you OK?” Rosalie murmured as she slid onto my lap as I stared out my bedroom window. I’d come home from classes, showered, and just sat thinking about everything. Life. Death. Love. Pain. I felt like I was losing myself.
I hugged her to me. “I’m fine, baby.”
“You’ve been so quiet lately,” she murmured. “Do you want to talk?”
I sighed and stared out the window for a long time before I answered her. “I love you, Rosie. So fucking much. I’ve been thinking lately about how much I’ve failed you.”
“You’ve never failed me?—”
I pressed my finger to her soft lips. “I have. Juliet. Ian. The fucking alley. Leaving you all those years ago when we needed one another the most. All of it was fucked. I have all these regrets and don’t want to have more.”
“What can I do?” she whispered. “I’ve never felt like you’ve failed me. Please don’t ever think you did. All that stuff is in the past. It doesn’t matter. What matters now is that we’re together. Right?”
I looked into her pretty green eyes, drinking in how fucking beautiful and perfect she was.
“I’m sad, Rosie. I am,” I admitted softly.
Her lips parted as she stared at me. “Foxy?—”
I took her hand in mine and kissed her knuckles. “I have terrible thoughts that I can’t stop. I-I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“What does that mean?” she whispered, her voice trembling.
“Just between us, baby?”
“Yes,” she agreed, her eyes glassy. I knew she was going to cry on me. Fuck, I didn’t want her to cry, but I needed to tell her. Holding all this shit in was killing me.
“I want to die,” I said, my voice thick. “When we go out, I always hope I finally do.”
“What?” her voice trembled. “Fox?—”
“I just wanted you to know. I don’t do anything stupid because I have you. I fucking have you and don’t want to hurt you. I just wanted you to know that I’m struggling now and needed to talk about it.” I reached out and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I love you, Rosie.”
“You won’t… you won’t…”
I knew what she was asking me. I looked back out the window.
“Foxy, please—” her voice cracked as she cradled my face and forced my attention back on her. “Tell me you won’t hurt yourself.”
“I won’t,” I lied, my voice shaking beneath the weight of it. Was it a lie if it was someone else pulling the trigger?
“Pinky promise.” She sniffled and held a trembling pinky out to me. I stared at it for a moment before hooking mine with hers.
“Remember what I told you,” I whispered. “Do you remember?”
She nodded miserably.
“This world is scary, baby. I want you to be safe above all else. I would do anything to make sure it happens.”
“Just don’t do that,” she choked out. “Please. Don’t.
” She was a blubbering mess. It broke my fucking heart as she buried her face in my neck and clung to me.
“Don’t do that. Please. I’ll die with you if something happens.
You’re my Foxy. My Foxy.” Her tiny body shook against mine as she continued to cling to me.
I raked my fingers through her soft hair.
“I love you. It’s OK. Everything is OK,” I continued softly. I placed a fierce kiss atop her head. “I’m still here, baby. I’m here.”
“Hey, man. Enzo wants us downstairs. Anson is here—” E paused in my doorway before rushing forward and falling to his knees before me as I held Rosalie in my lap. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Nothing,” I said, offering E a reassuring smile as he reached for her. The last damn thing I needed was to set him off.
“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” E’s voice came out pained. He hated to see her sad as much as the rest of us did.
“I’m OK.” She pulled away from me. I wiped at her eyes again. “I-I was just feeling overwhelmed with everything.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in. She was going to lie for me. I should have expected her to do that, especially to E, because he was already a mess. She’d do it to anyone, though, for me. I didn’t have a doubt in my mind about that.
“Oh, my love. Come here,” E coaxed.
She went to him, and he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her quickly off my lap. I watched her wrap her legs around his waist, and he slowly left the room with her.
I stayed in my chair, feeling sick to my stomach.
She wouldn’t make it if something happened to me. I guess I hadn’t considered that part. I assumed Anson would make sure she was safe, but what if…
Fuck.
I scrubbed my hand down my face and breathed out. Maybe I needed a plan B.
“Do you want us to stop anything?” Enzo asked as we stood in the basement later that night.
Dom had gone to Enzo and told him they planned on letting Fallon back into their group; to do that, they would beat him in.
That meant Fallon’s ass was going to be kicked, and they wanted us to hold him.
Stefan, Trent, and Drake had joined us. Natalia and Bianca were sleeping, and Anson was still out with Rosalie.
I’d checked their location on the map and saw they were still at the university.
Anson texted and said it would probably be a few more hours because Rosalie had issues.
I knew what those issues were and why she couldn’t focus, and I hated myself for them.
“No, this needs to happen,” Dom said tightly. Fallon sat on a chair in the center of the room with his head bowed. If I had to guess, he was praying they wouldn’t kill him.
“OK.” Enzo clapped Dom on the shoulder and backed away. “I trust you know what you’re doing.”
Dom approached Fallon, who looked up, his eyes red. He bounced his leg.
Vincent and Levin stepped forward to stand on either side of him as everyone circled them.
“Fallon Vasiliev,” Dom said gruffly, staring down at him. “You fucked up.”
Fallon visibly swallowed as he gazed up at the kings.
“You took Bianca from us. You made us believe she was dead. You made her believe we didn’t want her anymore. You endangered her life,” Dom continued. “You endangered mine.”
Fallon’s bottom lip wobbled, but he remained silent. I had to hand it to him. He was brave as hell to be doing this. Knowing Dom and the guys wanted him dead, I’d have been nervous to submit the way he was. I suppose that he was showing his bravery to them, though.
“Do you want to come back as a king?” Dom asked.
“Yes,” Fallon answered, his voice firm.
“Do you want to come back to your family?”
“Yes,” his voice was fierce.
“Do you understand the price is your blood?”
“Yes.”
Dom nodded. “Once we bring you into our circle, if you fuck up, the penalty is death. It doesn’t fucking matter if you love Bianca and the babies or if they love you. Fuck up, and we will end your life. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“So be it.” Dom nodded to Cole and me. We moved in behind Fallon, grabbed each of his arms, moved him to his feet, and held him.
Dom’s fist collided with a loud crack against Fallon’s face, sending him shuffling back. Cole and I adjusted our hold on him as blood gushed from his nose. This wasn’t exactly how I wanted to spend my evening, but here I was. It only made me realize just how shitty this fucking life could be.
Vincent and Levin joined Dom in the beating of Fallon. It was rough, each of their hits colliding with different parts of Fallon’s body with sickening thuds and cracks.
Fallon let out a loud groan as the blood poured from his lips, nose, and other wounds. His eyelids swelled. Levin didn’t hold back as he landed a hit to Fallon’s ribs so hard that Fallon buckled beneath the pain. Cole and I struggled to keep him up, but he collapsed to his knees.
The complete ass-kicking went on for several more minutes. I feared for Fallon’s life as the kings worked him over. His body went limp, and his head lolled on his shoulders.
Dom finally stopped, fell to his knees, and grasped Fallon by the face.
“Look at me,” Dom snarled softly, slightly shaking Fallon. “Never fucking do that shit again. Tell me.”
“I’ll never do it again,” Fallon rasped. “I’m sorry, Dom. I’m so sorry.”
Dom studied him for a moment before resting his forehead against his.
“I love you,” Fallon choked out. “All of you. So fucking much. My-my family.” His body shook as we held him upright.
It was both an ugly and beautiful scene as they held one another.
It made me realize these guys were just like us, although none of us had done such brutal shit.
I knew we would, though, if it meant keeping Rosie safe.
On the other hand, I’d like to think we’d communicate about it, but fuck, what did I know?
I wasn’t exactly a fountain of truth lately.
Dom breathed out. “I love you too. Welcome home.”
“Thank you. Thank you .” Fallon sobbed, clinging to Dom.
My heart grew, and relief flooded through me. The kings would be OK.
We released Fallon, and he collapsed against Dom, who continued to hold him. Vincent and Levin joined in as Cole and I backed away.
“And they lived happily ever after,” Cole muttered.
“Until Drake,” Enzo added so only we could hear him.
I nodded, knowing something was up with that whole mess. Maybe they wouldn’t be OK, but that wasn’t our problem right now.