Page 100 of Fall Before Her Throne

Leona looked up at me, but I just kissed her forehead. “I’ll change your bandage, too. You guys, good?”

The rest of the guys nodded.

Wynn looked at Ciel. “Let’s get ready for bed. We can do more tomorrow.”

Ciel agreed before Ryu clapped me on the shoulder and gave Leona a quick kiss. “You’re beautiful. I call dibs on eating you out in front of everyone next.”

She laughed. “Great.”

Max pulled himself up by the edge of the couch and stood. He swallowed while he watched me holding her, a sheepish look on his face. When I didn’t lash out—likely how he expected—he gazed softly at her.

“Go change,” I said. “Too much excitement for one night.”

I took her to her room and set her gently on the bed before I turned on the shower. She needed to get clean so she could sleep better, and then, when it was light out, we could get back to work. Maybe after this, I’d ask the guys if they wanted to set up another big bed in the living room…

“Cas?” Leona called from the bedroom. Her voice turned up sharply at the end of my name.

Cue the freaking out.

“Yeah, baby?” Her head hung between her shoulders while she stared at the ground with her legs pressed together. “Is everything all right?”

Her head peeked up, and her cheeks were pink. “What did I just do?”

I smirked. “You let Max eat you out while we all watched.”

“And nobody stabbed him.”

“Nope.”

“And everyone is alive and well.”

I pulled my shirt over my shoulders before I crouched down in front of her. “Looks that way, yeah.”

Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Why isn’t anyone mad? Are you mad?”

I shook my head slowly. “No, princess. I’m not mad. Actually, I’m pretty happy right now.”

“Why?”

My hands found her knees. I exhaled slowly, trying to find the right words. “I guess I can only speak for myself, but I know what you both mean to each other. I know what you both mean to me. If you can find a way to forgive him, to accept him, and he can finally be honest about his feelings and how he fucked up, then I don’t see a problem here.”

“You don’t think…I care for him more than you?” Her voice came out as quiet as a whisper.

In the past, I had been incredibly jealous. Jealous of Max. Jealous of the relationship she was developing with the guys. But once I learned that jealousy was about my own insecurities and had nothing to do with her, I left it in the past.

What we had together wasn’t going to change at all. Ride or die, baby.

“No.” I cupped her cheek. “I know how much you love me. I love you just the same. And I know that your heart has room for all of us.” My heart twisted when her cheek pressed into my palm, and she closed her eyes. “It’s okay for you to forgive him, and for him to forgive himself. The more he opens up, God knows I’m forgiving him, and I never thought that could be possible.”

“You’re forgiving him?”

I nodded, but I hesitated on a bigger explanation. He still needed to tell her about his father’s journals, how long he’d tried to protect us, how Luciano had tried to manipulate Max’s feelings for her. It wasn’t my place to share it, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t change the way I looked at everything.

“What he’s told me…it doesn’t fix the hurt he left in his path, but it helped. I believe he was trying to protect us, in his own fucked up way.”

Her eyebrows knitted together. “You’re still keeping his secrets?”

“He needs to share those things with you.”