Chapter 4
ANSON
“Can’t sleep?” I asked as I stepped into the living room later that night to find Ryder sitting on the couch in the dark. I noted his bags were packed by the door.
“Counting down until I’m out of here,” he muttered.
I sighed and went to him.
“I don’t want you to go,” I said.
He grunted.
He wasn’t himself. I knew he’d gotten hurt and that he blamed himself for Rosalie, but I didn’t like that he was beating himself up over shit he couldn’t control.
“Ryder, you’re worrying me. You’re not yourself—”
“Doc said it’s the brain injury,” he muttered. “The concussion. That I’m probably a little fucked yet.”
I swallowed. “Then stay until you’re better.”
He shook his head. “I’m out, man. I’m sorry about Rosalie. I-I’m sorry.” His voice cracked.
He was breaking my damn heart.
“Take care of her when you find her. I just… I gotta get out of here. I-I can’t.”
I said nothing, watching as he wiped quickly at his eyes. In the entire time I’d known him, I’d never seen him cry. I’d never seen him down in the dumps. Ryder was always upbeat and happy despite all the shit that had been thrown his way in life.
This… this wasn’t right.
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, man. You’ve done enough for me. You gave me a life. A purpose. Adventure. I’ll forever be grateful. God knows I’d have never seen Japan or Italy without you.” He wiped at his eyes again.
“If you want to talk—”
“I don’t,” he said, his voice rough. “I just want to fucking leave, and I want you to go to bed. You need sleep. You’ve barely been doing it.”
“I’ll hang out with you,” I murmured, settling back on the couch next to him.
He grunted, but didn’t object past that.
We sat in silence for a long time before I cleared my throat.
“So… Klaus said he got you an apartment in New York. I bet it’s nice.”
“Yeah,” he mumbled.
“I’m not sure who this Trevor guy is that he has you set up with—”
“Porn.”
“Huh?” I frowned.
“He’s a porn star, man. I’m guarding a porn star.”
“Oh. Well, shouldn’t be a shortage of pussy,” I said, knowing how much Ryder enjoyed women. “You might even get to start a new career.”
“Yeah. Maybe,” he mumbled. “It’s pussy, right? I fuck anything that moves. Might be fun to fuck a pro.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. He was definitely acting weird.
“I’m only joking. I know you wouldn’t fuck a porn star,” I said.
He said nothing, opting to stare at the wall.
Fuck, I wish I knew what was going on with him. I couldn’t stand to see him this way. This simply wasn’t the Ryder I knew.
“Ry, I’ll listen if you want to talk,” I said gently. “I know you’re upset about Rosalie. It wasn’t your fault. None of us blame you—”
“You should.” He stared at me. “You fucking should. I-I almost…” He let out a frustrated sigh.
“Talk to me,” I urged. “I’m worried about you. What did you almost do?”
He shook his head and closed his eyes. “Nothing. I’m going to head to the airport. My flight is out in a few hours. Lines and shit,” he muttered.
He stood, and I followed him.
“I’ll drive you—”
“I’ll take a cab,” he said, pushing his feet into his shoes.
“Ryder—”
“You are my best friend in this entire world,” he said, turning to me. “If I stay, I’ll fuck it all up. I can’t do that to us.”
I frowned at his words. “How would you staying fuck anything up? You’ve been amazing over the years. I couldn’t have done half the shit I’ve done without you. When Rosalie comes home—”
“Take care of her, OK? She’s a good girl.”
What the fuck?
He reached out and hugged me. I squeezed him tight.
“Stay, man,” I whispered.
“I need to go. I’ll call you when I get there.” He pulled away and opened the door, his suitcase and backpack already in his hands. I knew he’d never let me follow him, so I watched him leave, my heart broken.
I wanted more than anything to help him, but I couldn’t help if I didn’t know what the hell was the matter. Maybe the time away would be good for him.
At least that’s what I told myself.
I knew we were tired of going out and beating the piss out of people without getting any answers. I think it’s what was most frustrating. We put in all this effort, followed any tiny lead we had, but kept coming up empty-handed.
E had taken a few days away to work on the horsemen end of things, which was fine. He and Evan didn’t seem to get along anyway, which was odd to me since Fox and E had been pretty close.
If I had to guess, E was protective of Rosalie and viewed Evan as a threat after seeing him in action.
If he only knew…
I’d been heading off the media and doing damage control. Writing statements. Trying to update and let everyone know that Rosalie was fine and just needed some time off. The police said it was the best way to go about it, and the label definitely liked that idea.
So I updated her social media with an image of her and me that we’d taken together a few weeks ago. I captioned it Spending time with my love. I figured it was good enough, and she’d definitely say that if she were the one uploading it.
In the picture, I was holding her against me, her back to my front, and she’d taken a selfie of us together in a hotel bathroom while we’d been getting ready to go out.
Since I had all her login information, it was easy to just get on and upload to her account. Within minutes, the image had thousands of likes and comments.
I hated lying like this, but the police thought maybe it would draw out her stalker. That he’d do something stupid and get himself caught as a means to prove he had her.
I didn’t want that to fucking happen, but if it meant we brought her home…
“Hey,” I said as Klaus came into the room. “Anything?”
“No,” he replied.
I sighed. “That’s what Evan said when he got back a few minutes ago. He ran up to grab a shower.”
Klaus sank onto the couch. “I’m worried.”
“Me too,” I looked over at him from my seat on the leather chair. “It’s killing me.”
He nodded grimly. “I fear—”
“Don’t say it,” I warned softly.
He said nothing, a tight expression on his face.
“What did Church say when you were there today?” he asked.
“Said he’s baffled. He’s clearly pissed off. He’s sent out so many men. Malachi said that Church has barely been sleeping and keeps going out in the middle of the night to look for her.”
“Alone?”
I shook my head. “Doesn’t sound like it. Seems like Malachi goes with him, or Shadow does. I guess whoever is available, but it sounds like it’s mostly Malachi.”
The doorbell rang, and Klaus got up to answer it while I went back to answering emails.
I looked up as E came into the room. He was dressed nicely in a black suit and tie.
“Hey,” I greeted him.
“Hey, man. I was on my way back from Mayfair and thought I’d stop in and see if you guys had any new information.” He sat on the couch. Klaus took a seat on the other chair.
“Nothing,” I said. “Not a damn thing.”
E sighed and looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. “This is so messed up. It reminds me of when Church had her.”
I sighed. He wasn’t wrong, except now Church didn’t have her, and we had fuck-all for leads.
“Enzo has sent out more men. He hired a private detective, too,” E said. “So he’s trying to help.”
“That’s generous of him,” Klaus said.
“Yeah. He’s worried, too,” E murmured. “Cole as well. He’s never home. Spends all his time away.”
Evan came into the room then in his aviators and face gaiter, and E snapped his attention to him, a dark look coming over his face.
Klaus and I exchanged quick looks. We both knew E had it in for Evan, it seemed.
Evan went to the fridge and got out a bottle of water before coming to sit on the couch as far away from E as he could.
“We were just talking about Enzo hiring a private detective,” I said, filling Evan in on the news.
He nodded and didn’t say anything.
“No thank you or anything?” E asked, eyeing Evan. “Nothing?”
Evan glanced at him and let out a soft huff of laughter. I knew Evan. It was disdain.
“Evan is grateful for Enzo pitching in,” I said. “We all are. Just because Evan isn’t vocal about it doesn’t mean he’s not thankful.”
“I’d honestly like to hear him say something. Anything,” E continued. “I get he’s got issues, but his wife is missing. Maybe a little more communication would help find her.”
“Are you saying that because I don’t speak much, it’s why we can’t find my wife?” Evan sat forward.
Klaus and I mimicked the movement because we knew him. He had a short fuse once it was lit.
“I’m saying you could say thank you,” E said. “That’s all.”
“If I remember correctly, Enzo fucked around on my wife and broke her heart. Got the woman pregnant. Left Ro devastated, especially after her boyfriend’s death.
Then Enzo and Cole, well, the story goes that Cole’s brother found Rosalie in her dead boyfriend’s bedroom with a gun in her mouth.
So you’ll have to excuse me for not giving thanks so easily.
” He paused. “Of course, I will thank them both someday for letting her go because she came to me. Destiny and all that.”
A muscle thrummed along E’s jaw. I cast a quick look at Klaus, who was visibly tense.
“Is there anything I should thank you for?” Evan asked softly, his voice that rough, raspy tenor. “Because I’m feeling generous right now.”
“When I find Rosalie, I’m going to tell her you’re not right for her,” E said, his voice steady. “You can thank me for saving her that way since I wasn’t well enough to save her before.”
Evan chuckled. “OK. You do that. We’ll see how it goes.” He stood, and E matched him.
Klaus shook his head slightly at me, wanting me to let this play out. E and Fox had been close, so seeing them like this was odd. Of course, E didn’t know Evan was Fox, but still.
“Don’t,” Evan murmured. “That thought in your head where you think you’re going to challenge me? Don’t.”
“I want you to know that I’d go to war for Rosalie,” E said, his voice still strong. “She was mine before she was yours.”
Evan huffed out a soft laugh. “Sure. If it helps you sleep at night.”
“You think I’m bluffing?” E raised his brows. “Don’t fucking play games with me. I will kill you without hesitating.”
“Funny you say that.” Evan stepped up to E and leaned in. His voice was loud enough for Klaus and me to hear, though. “One thing I’m good at is coming back from the dead, so bring it on, little horsie. I’m OK with being a villain.”
Evan pushed past him and went upstairs without looking back.
“E, man, what are you doing?” I called out to him.
He looked at me. “He’s not good for her.” His hands shook. “She’s my friend. I can’t let this shit go on.”
“Because he didn’t say thank you?” Klaus asked. “Ethan, may I say that’s a little petty and nitpicky? Evan doesn’t do a lot of talking. That’s just his nature. You can hate him if you need to, but don’t pick a fight with him. You won’t win.”
“I don’t fucking lose these days,” E said softly. “Ever.”
“No offense, E, but neither do we,” I replied. “Don’t make us your enemy. Evan is our brother, and he’s Rosalie’s husband. He’s Ellis’s dad—”
“Cole is her dad,” E said.
“Don’t mess this up,” I said, my voice low. “You may be a horseman, and you aren’t scared of shit, but, and I mean this respectfully, our army is bigger than yours.”
“Because of Church?” E asked, laughing softly. “I don’t need the fucking underground, Anson.”
“My son will not fight against me,” Klaus said.
“Not now. Perhaps you need a break. Go home. See your brothers. Make your choices if you think they need to be made, but if you made a promise to Rosalie, I ask that you honor it. She deserves to have promises kept, not broken. She has lived through too many broken promises from the horsemen.”
E visibly swallowed before giving us a nod. “You’re right. Choices do need to be made. I’ll be seeing you.” He went to the door.
“E,” I called out.
He turned back to look at me.
“Make the right choices because you care about Rosalie, not because you think you hate someone you aren’t giving a chance to.”
He stared at me for a moment before pulling the door open and leaving. It clicked closed behind him.
“Do you think we’re going to have trouble?” I asked Klaus as I stared at the closed door.
“Of course,” Klaus said. “Do you think I give a fuck?”
“No.”
“No is the correct answer. Now let’s get back to work.”
I nodded. He was right. We had work to do.