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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Angel Lawson
Read between
July 8 - July 11, 2024
“Maybe an ambulance can’t,” he agrees, whipping out his phone. “But nothing can stop Lex from getting to you.”
Wick turns away to hiss into the phone. “Lex, where are you? They’re talking about slugs and gross stuff, and this isn't my area of expertise! I’m just supposed to be the soothing, calm guy. Listen to my voice, Lex. Do I fucking sound calm?”
😂😂😂
From across the room, Remy jerks his chin. “Excuse me—nine frat boys and an uncle.” He grins at Kaz. “I’m going to be an uncle.”
So damn cute!!!!!
I emerge to find Wicker clutching my hand, his blue eyes wide and unwavering. “You’re fucking amazing, you know that?”
Wicker reaches up to swipe a tear away. “James,” he says, cupping my cheek. “Like Stella St. James. So she can still be here with you.”
“I love you,” I tell Wicker, and his shoulders sag suddenly, forehead dipping to rest against mine. “I love you too, Red.” His voice is quiet and ragged, like he’s giving away something much scarier than words. I don’t need to wonder how many times he’s said that to someone who wasn’t one of his brothers.
Thankfully, Knight’s little goon crew is too busy with the PNZ procession that met me at the barricade to notice my piss-poor impression of Spiderman. Even halfway up to the roof, I can still hear Tommy out front, ranting, “This is a witchhunt! Do you know who my father is? Do you know what he’ll do when he finds out what you’ve done?”
THEY’RE WORKING TOGETHER UGH 😫
“Lex, I was so scared to do this without you.” “I’ve got you now,”
“That’s right, Red,” he murmurs. “You’ve got this. You’re stronger than any of us are, that’s for fucking sure.”
There’s a flurry of motion that I’m too distracted to see the progression of, but by the time I look up, Pauly’s got Agent Knight pushed up against the wall, his tattooed forearm pushing hard against his throat. “Do not,” he growls, teeth bared, “fucking touch him.”
👀👀👀
“Come on, little guy. Let’s see it.” Suddenly, he begins squirming. “When he hears your voice, he squirms around, like he’s turning, searching…”
On one side of the street is a long row of handcuffed DKS. On the other is a line of PNZ. As soon as the gurney emerges through the doors, all of them turn to look our way, a sea of hopeful, nervous faces. But then Justice releases another one of those squawking, raspy cries, and the crowd erupts as one. DKS cheers while PNZ claps, and we make our march to the ambulance with congratulatory shouts of, “‘Atta girl, Princess!” and, “To the Victor, Ver!”
😭😭😭😭
But when I look down at his tiny, writhing body, I freeze, a chill running through me at the thought of pushing the needle into him. At causing him pain. It twists in my stomach like sickness, the memory of all the times Father’s whip lashed my back with hot, stinging slashes.
Wick struts in. He’s in a clean shirt that he must have gotten from the gift shop, because emblazoned on the front in chunky collegiate letters is the word ‘DAD’. Clutched in one hand is a box of cigars, and in the other, a nondescript paper bag. I guess someone is finally embracing his role.
But then Justice’s eyes flutter open, blue meeting blue, and Wicker looks gutted. “So, you’re what all the fuss is about, huh?” His whisper is light but strained with emotion, and when he ducks down to gently brush his lips over Justice’s forehead, Verity, Pace, and I share a long look, understanding the gravity of the moment. Wicker, the person most afraid of loving something, has been captured, hook, line, and sinker.
“He’s made of you and Wick—two people I love the most. Nothing has ever felt more mine than this.” He looks up at me, eyes both curious and wrecked. “Is it like that for you?” My chest throbs. “Yeah,” I admit, taking Verity’s hand in mine. “That’s exactly what it’s like.” Maybe Wick can’t understand it yet, how something they made together can feel so inexplicably linked to us. Maybe someday he will.
He thrusts out his arm and pulls back his sleeve, revealing a clear bandage. Nestled against his other ink, a small crown is visible beneath the translucent bandage. In a looping script, the initials J.J. interlock. “For my nephew.”
“Vinny, look,” he says, flashing her an excited grin. “Have you ever seen a brighter white than this?”
😫😫🥹🥹🥹
I’m thinking of Verity. She’s finally asleep. I’ve got Justice bundled up in my arms, and it strikes me hard how amazing his mother is. In a single day, she’s had the Queen of South Side delivering her food. The Queen of West End—born and raised North—giggling on her couch. Even Maddox and his young fiancée sent a bouquet of flowers and a card. Kings and Dukes, East End soldiers, PNZ members… people from every corner of this city. They weren’t drawn here because of a Royal birth. It was her. Justice isn’t just a baby. He’s our baby. A Prince who is going to need a hell of a long time to be
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QUEEN OF FORSYTHHH
that I realize this is the first time in months that he hasn’t taken his hair down for me. Maybe all that talk about wanting to fill me up again when he could was just that—talk. Maybe their attraction to me was just about the creation of it all, and now that the baby is here, they’re not interested.
Fair cause I would be melodramatic as fuck too especially w all the hormones reorganizing themselves but girl BFFR
Hearing me play puts him right to sleep.”
The stretchmarks and chapped nipples… it’s all just the story of our family written on your body. Just like Pace’s tattoos and Lex’s scars.”
“If you think I’m going to go looking for someone else, you don’t get me, but that’s fair. I haven’t always put myself out there. Vulnerability isn’t my forte.” He tugs at my hair, letting it fall over my shoulders. “I love you, Verity—every part of you—because you made me see that I could be so much more than an object to be sold and traded.” His cheek presses against mine and it’s wet from his own tears. “You made me into a man, and then you gave me the chance to be a father, something I never even thought I wanted, but somehow, you knew I was worth it.”
“And porn doesn’t cut it for me anymore. Not when I’ve got the sexiest woman in the world in my bed.
Why is that romantic asf 💕🤣
Pace likes to walk him around the palace, through hallways and rooms, and sometimes even outside. When I watch Pace with Justice, I see a father who wants to show him the world as much as protect him from it.
If I wake up, disoriented and alarmed, a calm always rushes through me when I hear Wicker’s cello reverberating down the halls. When I do, I know he has him. When I watch Wicker with Justice, I see a father who wants to show him his heart.
More than once, I’ve walked in on him, discovering his glasses askew as he sleeps, Justice fast asleep against him. When I watch Lex with Justice, I see a father who wants to show that time is precious, and he’s eager to spend it doting on his child.
“You’ll wash my hair?” I ask, the excitement leaking into my voice. He chuckles. “Dying to.” “And my back?” He presses a kiss to my shoulder, guiding me into the bubbles. “Every glorious inch of you.”
I used to daydream about it against my face.” It’s a quiet, bashful confession that makes me grin.
“I love you,” he says, easing off the kisses and grabbing the body wash. “And you make me feel safe in a way no one has before.”
let me take care of you the way you take care of us and Justice, okay?”
I start for the door, but he grabs my hand and pulls me back, hand wrapping around my neck. His skin is still damp against my nose when I nestle it into the center of his chest, and for a long moment, we just stand there in the fading steam, enjoying the closeness. And then, voice rough, he whispers, “Fuck, I can’t wait to put another baby in you.”
Not telling him how proud I was to have his last name.” There’s a long pause, and then Mama’s gentle, “Would you like it?” My heart stutters, squeezing painfully inside my chest. Lex cocks his head. “Would I like what?” “Sinclaire,” Mama clarifies. Since Lex has his back to me, I can’t see his reaction, but Mama suddenly rushes out, “I’m sorry if that’s presumptuous of me. It’s just… Verity is Sinclaire, and so is little J.J. here. I don’t know what carrying the Ashby name around does for you, Wicker, and Pace. Maybe it gets you places and it’s worth keeping. But,” she hedges, “if the three of
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but he grabs my arm and stops me, whispering in my ear, “Seriously, Verity. The three of us are going to be walking into enemy territory distracted by how fucking gorgeous you are. It’s going to be a very long night.”
Curling my fingers in Wick’s hair, I pull him back, gazing down into lust-drunk eyes. “Go back to your seat.” He blinks, looking hilariously cowed as he jolts back, clumsily getting back in his seat. “What did I—”
Mommy kink 😭
Wicker releases a long, pitiful sound. “Fucking hell, Red,” he gasps,
Pace husks, “I’ve got some idea,” and I feel intoxicated by the sound that claws from Wicker’s throat, so desperate and strained. “Don’t keep it from her,” Lex says, pulling my hair back to watch as I slide my mouth up the shaft, sucking. “You want his cum, baby?” Eagerly, I nod, my tongue laving the head of his cock, and Wicker whimpers. Like, legitimately fucking whimpers.
God that’s mf hot
After telling his brothers to go pick up our son, Lex carries me up the stairs. I laugh breathlessly when he swoops me up, my shoe falling, and I watch with amusement as it clatters down the stairs behind us.
Cinderella moment
“You want me to make you feel good, baby?”
“You’re going to let these fill up for me again,” he demands, and all I can do is nod, already feeling the ache. “Until then, you’re going to let me take care of you.”
I didn’t fight Pace when he wanted to have you first, because you do this thing to me, Verity.” His tongue traces the crease of my mouth. “This thing where I completely lose control.”
He trembles when my fingertips glide over the slashes, memorizing their texture in slow, soothing, curious circuits. I meant what I said before. This is beauty.
“Tell me you want it,”
Anything for Dr. Daddy 🫡
“I love you,” he raggedly whispers, letting his cock stretch me wide. “You are my life. You know that, don’t you?”
“Put your baby in me, Lagan.” His mouth opens on a shocked gasp, my hole fluttering around the first strong pulse of his cock. He holds my gaze when he comes, poised above me in a tense shudder. “Fuck,” he growls, heat spreading through me with each surge. “Jesus, you’ve got us on a fucking hair-trigger.”
My men love me—want me, need me—despite the changes in my body and our lives. We’re different now. We’re not just Princes and a Princess. Not even just lovers. We’re more. We’re partners. We’re creators. And I can’t wait to see what we create next.
There’s nothing more soothing than walking him around the palace, watching him explore how big the world is. Some nights, when he’s fussy, I’ll walk for hours, showing him the place where Effie first got out of her cage, or the sitting room we used to play Iceberg in, or the huge oak out front where I used to take my laptop during our weekends home. I try to show him the good memories.
“But he wasn’t always,” she says, the words slow and full of significance. “Not before I conceived Verity.” I do a double take at the glint in her eyes, realization dawning on me. “You mean…” “The night he raped me, I got my revenge.”
HOLY SHIT MAMA B
YOU GO!!!
“And she did eventually get pregnant, but here’s the kicker. The baby didn’t belong to him.” Dipping her chin, she pins me with a significant look. “They didn’t belong to him.” My tongue sticks in my mouth. “They?” A pain, like the tip of a dagger, pierces my heart. “She had twins,” I realize. She had dungeon twins.
“She had something much better than him. Me.” Raising her glass, she says, “And a reigning Princess.”
