Chapter 10
KLAUS
“How is New York?” I asked Ryder. I’d called in to check on things with him since it had been a few days, and he’d been radio silent.
“Busy. Loud,” he replied in a monotone.
“So you’ve settled in?”
“Enough.”
I sighed. “Have you spoken to Anson?”
I knew he hadn’t, but I was really trying to make this work. Ryder was one of my best men, but I wasn’t a fool. He’d be good for Rosalie. Plus, I liked having one more on our team in the event we had to face down some angry horsemen.
“No.”
“Are you going to—”
“No, man. I’m not. I went out and got laid twice this week, so clearly all is going well for me,” Ryder said dryly.
I pursed my lips and sat back in my chair in my office. I decided to play the game with him.
“Yeah? How was it?” I asked.
“Good. Wet. Hot. Easy.”
“Don’t get anyone pregnant. Ask Frank how that shit goes.”
He snorted. “Noted.”
“How are you getting along with Trevor?”
“Fine. He’s easy to deal with. It’s these weird fucking fans that are an issue.”
“Well, he’s got a big social media following and does his sex talk show on YouTube. He’s accumulated a lot of good people and crazy people.”
“Truth,” he muttered. “I got hit with a fucking dildo yesterday.”
“Interesting workday.”
“It had shit on it, Klaus. Fucking shit.”
I chuckled softly at that. “Well, you’re welcome to return here—”
“And who would I be protecting? Huh? Rosalie is gone. You guys can handle yourselves just fine.”
“When Rosalie returns, she’s going to want her bodyguard back.”
“Not… Not interested.” His voice shook. “I’m done. I’m more suited for shit dicks and porn stars with giant egos.”
I nodded. “He has a giant dick too.”
“I’m aware. He had me check him for a fucking itch he’s gotten.”
I chuckled at that.
“You should talk to Anson. Let him know how you feel,” I said gently after a moment of silence.
“I’m not going to do that, man. I love Anson.
He’d be fucking disappointed in me. And what’s the point?
I come back, and Rosalie is, by some miracle, found, and I pour my heart out to her?
Then she tells me to fuck off because why would she want a man who can’t even protect her alone in a hotel room?
Nah. I’m good. Talking about feelings and shit is just a dumb idea.
Shit like this breaks apart friendships.
I value Anson too much for all that. He has trusted me with his girl.
I saw his face five years ago when he learned I’d kissed her at a restaurant to make the horseasses jealous.
” He paused. “Rosalie has never even given me the slightest inkling she’s interested in me.
” His voice shook again. “So please. Stop. I’m not coming back. ”
“OK,” I said softly. “It’s your choice. Just know there is work here for you.”
“I appreciate it and you, Klaus, but I’m good here.”
“Well, if all is well, I’ll check in again next week.”
“Sounds good. Take care. Let… Let me know if she’s found.”
“Of course.”
“Thanks. Bye, man.” He disconnected the call, and I sighed.
I really did think Rosalie liked him right back. I’d seen her watching him from time to time. She even did sweet things for him, like bake him cakes on his birthday and buy him “just because” gifts.
But perhaps she had the same thoughts as Ryder did.
Anson.
Neither wanted to hurt him nor make him question anything.
I understood, but I was at a point in my life where I knew regrets were a bitch, and I didn’t want people I cared for to have them.
There was a knock on my door, and Evan poked his head in.
“Hey,” I greeted him, gesturing for him to come in.
He did and slid into a chair in front of my desk.
“Do you have a minute to talk?” he asked.
“Of course. Is this a normal talk, or do we need something to drink?”
“I could go for a drink.”
I nodded and went to the bar in my room. I got us both glasses of ice and returned with them, along with a bottle of my best whiskey. I poured us two glasses and waited for him to speak.
“Anson left to meet with E.”
I nodded. “He told me.”
“I loved E. So why the fuck do I hate him right now? It’s like, I don’t know, I can’t stand him.”
“I think it’s because you’re Evan now. Not Fox.
He loved Fox. He’s angry and takes Fox’s death out on you personally.
Hates you for being a replacement when he deemed Fox such a worthy man of Rosalie’s love.
You could be the best thing that’s ever happened to her, and he would not like you because you’re not Fox. ”
Evan nodded glumly. “I miss me sometimes.”
“I know,” I said gently. “But you’re still you, Evan. You are.”
He drank and was quiet. I studied him, my heart aching. He was a good guy. I wanted only the best things in the world for him.
“Do you think the guys… the horsemen… would, I don’t know, want me to come home if they knew I was alive?”
“I do,” I answered. “The question is, do you want to go home?”
“Sometimes,” he whispered. “It feels like a whole other life now. I just… I feel like Fox died and I missed it, you know? I just woke up in this whole new life that I guess I wasn’t prepared for.” He swirled his glass. “Can you… Would you go to my grave with me?”
I blinked at his request.
“Uh, yes. Yes, I would do that with you if you think it would help.”
“I do.” He looked at me. I couldn’t see his eyes because of his sunglasses, but I knew he was likely misty-eyed. “Can we go now?”
“Of course.” I got to my feet, him following.
He pulled his gaiter onto his face and followed me out to my car. We rode to the cemetery where he was supposedly laid to rest, neither of us speaking.
He even asked to stop at a flower shop along the way, so I did, waiting for him to come out. He returned with a single white rose, and we continued on.
My phone rang, and I answered it.
“Hello?”
“Hey, just finished meeting with E. He was just giving an update on what the private detective found. Mostly just a lot of nothing. Stuff we already knew. I’m going to swing into Church’s. Hang out with Ellis and Trent.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “Evan and I are just driving around. He wants to go to his grave.”
Anson was quiet for a moment. “Really?”
“Yeah.” I glanced at Evan, who was staring down at his rose.
“Uh, OK, I guess. Call me if you need me.”
“I will. Stay safe, brother.”
“I will. Keep Evan sane, man. I worry.”
“Will do,” I replied before bidding him goodbye. I turned my attention back to Evan. “He said E didn’t have any new news from the detective Enzo hired.”
“Figures,” Evan muttered.
“Eventually, something has to give,” I said. “Rosalie is too smart a girl to let this go on for long. She’s strong. We made her stronger. Have faith, brother.”
“I do,” he murmured. “It’s what’s keeping me going.”
Fuck. Me too.
I stayed in my car per his request as Evan walked across the cemetery to his grave. I watched him stare down at it for a long time before he placed the rose on it and bowed his head.
Praying.
He was praying.
I looked away to give him privacy and went back to my emails.
I replied to a few and took a phone call from a client before I looked up and saw Evan wasn’t alone anymore.
E was there.