Chapter 33
EVAN
Iheld Rosalie the entire way back to Klaus’s. She didn’t cry, but I knew her. She was fighting it so Ellis didn’t see. Ryder had stayed back on Klaus’s orders. He’d needed him to check in with a client across the city, so Ryder had left to do that.
He was a mess. It was a whole other issue we needed to deal with at some point. I knew he didn’t want Anson to know, but Anson and Rosalie both needed to know.
Klaus entertained Ellis as Frank drove us, Anson, on Rosalie’s other side, holding her hand. Every now and then, he’d bring her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles.
We arrived at Klaus’s, and I carried Ro upstairs to his place and took her straight to our room. Anson gave me a nod, letting me know he’d give us this time as Klaus placed Ellis at the kitchen island and asked if she wanted to make lunch.
I closed the door behind us and placed Rosalie on the bed before I kissed her soft lips again.
But she stopped me by putting her hand on my chest and pushing me back.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, my heart in my throat.
She shook her head, tears in her eyes.
I tucked her hair behind her ear, worried out of my mind.
And that’s when I noticed the mark on her neck.
A hickey.
“Ro?” I whispered, my voice shaking.
“I’m sorry,” she answered, crying softly.
I closed my eyes. I didn’t know which of the guys she’d slept with, but she’d definitely done it. If I had to guess, fucking Cole got to her.
“Who?” I murmured.
“Cole.”
I nodded. I knew it was him, the fucking asshole.
“Did he force you, baby?”
She shook her head. “No. I-I hurt my ankle.” She launched into telling me everything, from the moment she was taken to the moment before we arrived.
“So it was the wrong drugs he gave you?” I asked.
She nodded miserably. “I-I know it’s bad. The guys will leave. You’ll leave—”
I cradled her face gently.
“I will never leave you, Rosalie,” I whispered, resting my forehead against hers. “Never think I will. Nothing in this world will ever drive me away from you.”
“Really?”
“On my life,” I said softly, kissing my wedding ring on her finger. “It sucks. But I know you. You wouldn’t have done that on your own.”
“You fo-forgive me?”
I wiped her tears. “There is nothing to forgive. It was just a bad fucking thing to happen.”
“Evan, my shot. I was supposed to get it the day after I got back from the tour.”
I swallowed hard at the implications.
“It’ll be OK,” I said softly, hugging her to me. “It’ll be OK. If you’re pregnant, we will raise the baby just like Ellis. We wanted another one anyway.”
She nodded, sniffling.
“Don’t cry, my sweet Ro. I promise it’ll be OK.”
“I have to tell the guys.”
“Rest. I’ll talk to them.”
“It should be me.”
“Let me do this for you,” I murmured. “I want you to rest. We leave tomorrow.”
“What if they walk out—”
“They won’t,” I said fiercely.
“How do you know—”
I kissed her lips to silence her. “Because they love you as I love you.”
I pushed her gently back onto the bed.
“Sleep.”
She breathed out, and I wiped her tears away.
“I love you more than anything in this world, Rosie,” I whispered, kissing her once more.
“You never call me that anymore,” she choked out.
“You are always going to be mine. My Rosie.” I pulled away from her and tucked her in. I could tell she was exhausted. She likely lay awake all night, worrying.
She let her eyelids fall closed, and when her breathing turned deep and even, I left to go to the living room.
Ryder had returned and was giving Klaus the rundown on everything as Ellis practiced her ballet in the living room to music Anson had playing softly from his phone.
“She OK?” Anson asked.
“No.” I looked at Ryder. “Hey, man. I hate to ask, but will you take Ellis out for a bit? I need to talk to the guys.”
“Yeah, man. Absolutely,” he said. “Ellis? You want to go get ice cream?”
“Twisty Cone?” Her eyes lit up as she ran to him.
“Sure. If that’s where you want to go.”
She nodded eagerly, and Ryder held his hand out to her and led her out of the apartment.
“She slept with Cole,” Anson said immediately.
Klaus straightened at the counter, anger washing over him as his big body tensed.
“I saw her neck,” Anson continued.
I sighed and told them what she told me. Klaus cursed in German as he stomped back and forth in the kitchen, tugging at his hair.
“She’s scared we will leave her,” I concluded. “She’s ashamed.”
Anson nodded, but he didn’t say anything as he sat at the island, staring down at his hands.
“Are you going to leave?” I asked softly.
“No.” He shook his head. “I don’t give a shit about her fucking him. If it happened the way she says it did, then it was just a really unfortunate incident. I’m more concerned with the lack of fucking birth control because you know Cole Scott went in bare.”
I nodded grimly, and Klaus cursed again.
“Klaus?” I asked. “Is this a deal breaker for you?”
He stopped his stomp and let his head fall back for a moment before straightening himself.
“No. I love her. This is our family. I am in the mindset Anson is in. If this were malicious on her part, she’d have kept it hidden.
She didn’t. I believe it was an accident and a mix-up.
I’m pissed the fuck off, but I’m not leaving.
I’m in it for the long haul, even if it means we have to let that little fucking asshole join us.
I knew that going into this, and nothing has changed.
I can handle anything thrown my way. I love her.
She’s the endgame. I’m going to ask her to marry me when we get home. ” He visibly swallowed.
“Really?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes. I was going to ask her after her last Chicago show, but that didn’t happen. I-I got the ring and everything.”
Anson smiled at him. “I knew you had it in you, man.”
Klaus chuckled softly. “I just… I will worry now. She did not have her shot, and that little prick seems intent on being in her life, which is clear by the steps he recently took.”
“When Cole wants something, he can get a little crazy. I think we need to assess the situation and see what happens. If he doesn’t reach out before we leave, then we just let it go.
I think Ro is in that same mindset. She told Enzo.
If he’s half the man I think he is, he’s already telling Cole.
We should hear from him before the night is over. ”
“I agree,” Anson said. “I always figured the horsemen would find Rosalie again. This time, though, we are the ones in charge. Our opinions matter.”
“And what is your opinion?” I asked.
“I’m like Klaus. I’m in it for the long haul,” Anson said. “I love her. Endgame. I’m not going anywhere, even if Cole Scott fucking knocked up my girl again.”
“It’s not ideal, but I’m good with this decision. If Rosalie wants Cole to join us, and he hasn’t lost his damn mind completely, then I want it too. He’s a good man when he isn’t losing his shit.” I sighed.
Anson scoffed. “He’s a prick, but maybe he’ll relax.”
“Unlikely,” Klaus muttered. “We can hope, though.”
“Well, brothers, let’s fucking hope,” I said.
Rosalie wanted to be alone for most of the day, so we let her. She hung out with Ellis, and they watched Ellis’s favorite princess movie while we guys sort of just relaxed, the stress of her being missing gone.
“I have so many fucking meetings when we get back,” Anson muttered, rubbing his eyes after he took Ellis to her room. He said Rosalie and her had fallen asleep together.
“Me too. We start casting for the movie,” I said. “I need to be there.”
“Yeah, don’t fuck that up,” Klaus said. “I have onboarding of new clients to deal with. It’s going to be a busy few weeks while I play catch-up.” He looked over to Ryder, who sat on the couch. “What about you? New York?”
Ryder glanced to our bedroom quickly before looking at his hands. “Uh, I don’t know, man. Trevor drove me insane. I-I think I would like to just quit.”
“What? No,” Anson said. “What the fuck, man? And do what?”
“I don’t know. Maybe buy a house in the country. Get a donkey. Anything I want. I’m not hurting for money.”
“Stay,” Anson said. “Fuck the donkey.”
“Don’t fuck the donkey,” Klaus said. “You can get into trouble for that.”
I chuckled, and Klaus winked at me.
“There are better men out there to protect Rosalie. I’m not the one—”
“You are the one. Rosalie loves you,” Anson said. “She’ll be devastated if you bail.”
Ryder looked at his hands. “She doesn’t love me. I’m just your friend. She’s tolerated my ass all these years as a service to you.”
“Shut up.” Anson shook his head. “She loves you.”
“Stop fucking saying that, man,” Ryder snapped.
Anson blinked at him as Ryder got to his feet.
“I-I’m going to go to bed. I have a lot of shit on my mind.” Ryder left us.
“What the hell is his problem?” Anson muttered. “This isn’t like him.”
“Stress,” Klaus said before I could just come out and tell him. “He works too much. I am going to give him a month off, paid. See if it helps.”
“Nice benefits,” Anson said, frowning as he tried to work out Ryder’s issues in his head. The fact that he couldn’t see them spoke volumes about his trust in the guy.
“Uh, so, let’s discuss something else. Ethan Masters,” Klaus said.
“Oh fuck, man.” Anson groaned and looked over at him.
“I assume you’re in the know?” Klaus asked, raising his brows at Anson.
“I am definitely in the know.”
“What the fuck do you guys know?” I demanded. “I’m not in the know.”
Anson and Klaus exchanged looks before Anson spoke.
“I can’t say for certain, but Enzo’s son isn’t his. It’s E’s kid. You know that, man.”
I sighed. I had my suspicions and had said as much to E, but the confirmation kicked my ass.
“He’s the same age as Ellis. Looks exactly like E,” Anson said. “He showed me a picture a few weeks ago too. Seeing the kid in person leaves no doubt.”
I frowned, trying to work out how or when it would even have happened. “That doesn’t… how?”
“I don’t know.” Anson shrugged. “But he basically said the kid was his, and he didn’t want to talk about it, so we didn’t.”
We were all quiet for a moment before I spoke, my voice soft.
“The underground.”
“Most likely,” Anson said sadly.
“I… I need to tell Ro—”
“I thought the same,” Klaus said, “but I have since decided that’s a bad idea. She’s gotten a bit close to him again. This is something that needs to come from him, not us. If Ethan is as good of a man as he seems to be, he will come clean.”
“Or he won’t have to because Dante will agree to the new contract terms.” I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “I need to speak to Dante.” I’d spoken to him today to tell him Rosalie was fine and wanted to rest. He’d fought me for a moment before giving in. I called that progress.
“Let it go. For now. Give him a chance to come clean. You know as well as I do that Rosalie will handle Dante if she needs to.” Klaus gave me a pointed look.
He wasn’t wrong. She did have a hold over him.
“Fine,” I agreed, my heart aching for my old friend. He may hate me right now, but I still gave a damn about him.
If I had to guess, Enzo took the fall on all of it, which is why Rosalie was left behind.
Brotherhood above all else.
And I’d wanted her freedom if things went to hell.
In his own fucked up way, Enzo had honored it all.
That definitely changed things if I was right.