Down Fall (Fallen Duet 2)

I locked her door behind me and headed straight to the office. I called the guys and told them to meet me there, and I didn’t think twice about walking into Aaron’s office to wait until he came in. I was determined, more than I ever had been. If they wouldn’t be behind me and my plan, then I’d go it alone. I trusted these four guys more than I trusted anyone else.

Jord arrived first, sitting down on the couch along the back wall and spreading his legs out. He didn’t say a word to me, just nodded in greeting. Ryan wasn’t far behind him, and then Kyle. I looked at the time on the clock on the wall and figured we had around ten minutes until Aaron got here.

“First thing I’m gonna say is that if you want out of what I’m about to say, I understand.”

“We’re in,” Jord said, sitting forward. “You don’t even have to ask, you know we’re in.”

“What he said.” Kyle pointed at Jord. “We know what you want to do, and we’re behind you.”

I raised my brows at each of them and stopped on Ryan. He was the one I wasn’t sure of. But when he said, “I’m in,” I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

“As you know, Lola is pregnant,” I told them. “And it’s mine.”

“Of course it’s yours.” Jord rolled his eyes, an action that didn’t suit him one bit. “Who else’s would it be?”

“I…” I shook my head. “Shut up.”

“Is that why you’re doing this?” Ryan asked. “Because you knocked her up?”

“No.” I stood and paced the length of the office. “I was going to do this anyway, but the baby makes it all the more solidified in my mind.”

“So…” Kyle leaned back on the sofa. “When’s the wedding?”

Jord punched him in the arm. “His divorce isn’t even final yet. You got wedding fever, man?”

“Can’t help it.” Kyle shrugged, a grin pulling at his lips. “Weddings always have the best women.”

I chuckled, not expecting anything less from him. He was a ladies’ man through and through. “One of these days, you’re gonna meet a woman who knocks the breath from you, and you’ll realize that none of your other lays were worth a percentage of what she’s worth.”

“That how you feel, Brody?” he asked.

I rubbed my chest, the image of Lola sleeping peacefully in her bed springing into my mind. “Yeah, I do.”

“You do what?” a new voice asked, and I straightened. “Wanna tell me why the four of you are in my office at”—he looked down at his wrist—“six a.m.?”

“Sir.” I tracked Aaron’s movements as he walked to his desk and placed his briefcase on it. “We need to talk about Lola.”

“Who?” he asked, clicking the buttons on the side of it.

“The girl we brought in—”

“Oh. The one who killed Emerson Hutton?” He raised a brow and pulled a folder out of his briefcase. “Girl deserves a medal.”

I didn’t think she’d see it that way. She cared too much about the people who hurt her the most, myself included. “Yeah, her.” I pushed my hand through my hair and glanced over at the guys. They said they were with me, but once I said this, there was no going back. “She can’t go down for it. I…I love her, and she’s having my baby, and—”

“Already handled,” Aaron said, undoing the button on his suit jacket as he sat down.

“I—what?” I frowned, not understanding what he was saying.

“Way I see it, the girl did us all a favor. He’s not around anymore, and from what I gathered watching the tapes of your interview, it was self-defense.”

“You…watched the tape?” Jord asked, glancing over at Ryan. “I thought you’d turned it off—”

“Boys.” Aaron held his hand up. “You should know better than that. When has something happened around here that I don’t know about?”

“He has a point,” I remarked.

“You can all get out of my office now,” Aaron said, dismissing us with a wave of his hand.