"Have you spoken to Maisy about this?" Harley asks as we sit in his study in the attic.

This is his favourite room in the house, and you can usually find Harley sleeping on one of the large sofas, or working on the computer he has up here. The dome-shaped room has one wall full of bookcases, filled with new and ancient books Harley likes to read. There isn’t much more up here other than the old wooden box Harley uses as a coffee table for the sofas. There are two filing cabinets in here with a lot of important paperwork in them. We always talk about important things up here, it’s just how it’s always been.

"No, not yet. She is so close to giving birth to my son. I don't want her worrying about anything," I tell Harley as I sit on one of the sofas. Harley takes the seat behind his desk as he talks.

"Well, I believe this is a responsible decision, becoming a partner of the gym with me," he says with a nod as he folds his hands.

"Yes, and my money for the expansion and more advertising should bring us more business," I say, and he grins at me.

"We will wait until the baby is born before we do the expansion, and I will teach you everything you need to know," he says, like he can’t wait.

I think he seriously can’t wait to teach me all about his business; well, soon to be ours. I haven’t been to any of my classes since I was meant to start a few months ago. Finding out about Maisy and the baby made me actually think about what I want with my life.

"Thanks. I don't think I've ever told you how much I owe you," I say, resisting the urge to look away from Harley as he frowns at me.

Harley had always been there, and now he is giving me a great chance to have half a business with him. It means Maisy can go to university or college and do what she always wanted. I never knew what I wanted to do, but she always did. She is too smart to be a stay at home mum, but if that's what she wants, she can because I will have a good job that can support us both.

"You don't owe me anything, brother," Harley says eventually, and I go to tell him I do, but Luke interrupts.

"Guys, you up here?" Luke shouts from the attic stairs.

"Up here," I shout back. Luke and Blake come into the room and drop onto the other sofa.

"How’s Izzy? I haven't seen her for a few days," Harley asks Blake. She has been staying over more and more at Blake’s now. I think Harley is missing her, but he won't say that.

"She is good. She is stuck on some massive art project and getting back to my place late so she can't drive back. I will get her home tomorrow," Blake says to Harley, who nods. His face still lights up when he thinks of my sister, and I wonder if mine does the same when I think of Maisy.

We sit, chatting about random things for a while before I drop into the conversation.

"I'm going to propose to Maisy on Christmas Day, can I get you guys to watch the baby?” I ask.

Harley replies, “Where are you thinking of taking her? I will help out with your baby.”

“I’m going to take her to our lake. I will set it up with her favourite roses and candles. I might need a little help from Izzy on this one," I say, and everyone goes silent.

"You sure, man? I mean, I know you’re serious about her, but you shouldn't rush into a marriage at your age," Luke says into the silence, and I look around as everyone waits for my answer.

"I know you don't understand this, but she is it for me. She always has been. I can't live without her, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her," I say, and Luke looks away. I can’t explain it to him because I don’t think he would understand yet, maybe when he meets someone important to him.

"I understand. It's the same for me, but I agree, on some level, that maybe we are a bit young," Blake says, and I nod at him. It’s different for him because he and Izzy haven’t been together as long as I have been with Maisy.

"It's a great idea. I watched you become a shell of the person you are when she wasn't here, and I finally have my brother back. She is a sister to us, anyway, and you have my full support," Harley says with a slight glare in Luke’s direction. I grin at him before pulling the small box out of my pocket.

"I bought this before she left; it was always my plan to ask her," I tell him, and I see Luke’s shocked face. Something changes while he thinks because he nods at me with some kind of understanding of my love for Maisy. I hope Luke finally finds someone. Hell, I hope all of my brothers do. 

"Let's see it then." Luke grins, and Blake leans over too.

I open the box to a tear-shaped diamond in a white-gold band. It's simple, but the diamond is quite big and was very expensive. Maisy only deserves the best with everything I have put her though. Plus, you can’t miss it on her finger. Hopefully, that will keep any other men away.

Blake whistles. "Damn, when Izzy sees that I'm going have to look everywhere for a better ring," he mutters, and I laugh.

"I had it designed and made. I’ll give you the store name in New York, and you can make her one," I tell him, happy to hear his long-term plans with my sister haven’t changed.

"I'm going to have to when she sees how amazing that is." He points at the ring, making us all laugh. Luke takes the box out of my hands and looks at it.

"Dude, that's a big diamond, but it's a good ring." He smirks and hands it to Harley.

"I like it," Harley says simply, with a smile. It must be strange to see your younger brother getting married and having a child before you. I wish he would date or find someone, but he isn't interested. I've seen him take random girls home, but I can't remember the last time he had a girlfriend. 

"Thanks." I slip it back into my pocket after Harley hands it back. "How are the new roommates?" I ask Blake, as we haven't seen each other much with everything going on. We will have to go out for a beer soon.

"Allie is great, she is a fantastic cook,” he says, and I grunt at him. The lucky bastard, everyone knows how good of a cook Allie is, but she won’t make food for me.

“The other one is called Emilia, she is nice and quiet. Darren is all right, but he flirted with Izzy the other morning and pissed me off. I might have punched him, and he's moving out now." Blake grins at me.

"If you didn't punch him, I would have, and fuck, I want Allie as a roommate," I grumble.

"You know if you win that bet, you'll get her cooking for you," Luke says with a smirk in my direction.

"What bet?" Blake asks, and I remember that he wasn't there.

"That if Allie and Elliot sleep together within two years, she will cook me cakes for a whole month," I say with a big smile. It's going to happen, and when I'm not too busy, I’ll push them together if I have to. I’m sure Maisy will help me with that.

"What does she get if you lose the bet?" Blake asks with a smile.

"My car, but I'm not worried." I laugh as Blake goes slightly pale. Blake loves my car almost as much as I do, and it would be an insult to the car to see Allie driving it. The girl drives like a maniac.

"It will happen," Luke says, and I nod at him.

"They wind each other up and say they hate each other. Everyone knows there is a fine line between love and hate," I tell them both, and Blake nods.

"He has always wanted that girl, and it's confusing. Elliot usually does go after what he wants," Blake says to me.

“Elliot thinks she knows her father is the one who makes us fight, and that she doesn’t care," I say, and we all go silent.

I don't think she knows because of Izzy. She loves Izzy, and I know she wouldn't do anything to upset her. I will admit, I thought she must know before she became friends with Izzy because she always ignored us all. The more Izzy has told me about Allie, it doesn’t make sense anymore. Maisy always said Allie was a good person, but I couldn’t ask her outright if Allie knew who her father was and what he did.

"She can't know," Blake says, shaking his head.

"I was there. Tristan told Elliot she knew and she didn't care; that we all deserve it because of our father. That's why Elliot was so mean to her and still is," I say, shaking my head.

"It sounds like Tristan was just trying to protect Allie, or maybe even us. I can't think Arthur would be down with Elliot dating his daughter," Harley says, twisting a pen through his fingers in a neat trick.

"I don't know," I say, thinking about what he said. What if all this time Elliot had it wrong? That he was cruel to Allie for years for something she never even knew about.

We all go downstairs and play games on the Xbox for a bit until I go back home to Maisy. She spent the day catching up with Allie and asked for me to leave for a bit, and I'm glad for it. Allie has always been like a sister to her, so they needed time alone. 

"I'm home," I say when I open the door.

I walk into our lounge to see Allie and Maisy asleep on the sofas. I click off the TV, which has some vampire crap on it. I need to remind myself to ask her how they actually found more vampire shows to watch.

I gently shake Allie awake by her shoulder. I put a finger to my lips as she looks up in confusion, and I point at Maisy before she gets up. She walks out of the room with me quietly.

"I wanted to show you something before you go home," I say while she puts on her shoes.

"All right then, if it’s anything to do with your girlfriend’s obsession with vampires, I don’t need to know. The next thing she is going to be telling me is about how she convinced you to wear fangs in bed." She laughs, and I nervously laugh, actually worrying about her telling Maisy that idea.

I pull out the ring to stop this conversation. I swear, Allie is in a world of her own.

She squeals before holding her hand over her mouth while she calms down. 

"Fucking hell, Sebastian King! That’s a beautiful ring. She will say yes, or I’ll make her," Allie whispers loudly while she bends over the ring. When she pulls away, she smiles gently up at me as I put away the ring.

"So, I have your blessing?" I ask, a little nervous she will say no.

"Well, duh." Allie snorts as she whacks me on the shoulder.

"Good, I know she thinks of you like a sister. So, I wanted to see what you thought." She smiles at that, pulling on her coat.

"You can stay in the spare room if you want, it is late," I tell her, looking out at the night sky.

"No, thanks. Tristan and my dad are arguing a lot right now. I need to be there because they go quiet if I am. I think they are both protecting me from something, but I can't figure it out," she says more to herself than to me as she checks her phone.

She gets her keys out of her pocket, and I realize I want to ask her about her dad. I'm certain she doesn't know now, and I have told Elliot. He shouldn't hate her for something she doesn't know.

"All right, but if you ever need me, let me know," I say, walking her out to her car.

She drives through the gate, the gravel puffing into dust as she speeds away. After I've locked up, I pick up my girl from the sofa and take her to bed. Holding my beautiful Maisy in my arms is the most I've ever been at peace.