Chapter 27 Matteo
MATTEO
My bedroom door banged open, sending me sitting upright. I’d gone to bed after an irritating night of dealing with Bianca and too much to drink.
I blinked rapidly as Klaus stormed into my room.
Frowning, I looked at my clock.
It was almost five in the morning.
“What’s going on?” I demanded, taking in how disheveled he looked. His blond hair was a damn mess, his eyes were red, his face had cuts and some light bruising, and his knuckles were busted to hell.
“My-My girl,” he choked out. “She’s gone.”
“Gone?” I rubbed my eyes.
“I-I can’t find her.” His voice trembled as he stared back at me. “Teo, something is wrong. She’s not the type to disappear. I’ve been looking all night. I-I can’t find her. I’m worried.”
I nodded and grabbed my phone before pulling up Alessio on speed dial.
“What’s wrong?” he mumbled into the phone.
“Get here,” I said. “Now.”
“I’m here. In my room,” he replied.
“Then meet me downstairs.” I disconnected the call and got out of bed. Quickly, I dressed as Klaus continued to make phone call after phone call, each ending in nothing but angry, frustrated snarls from him.
“Brother, come,” I said. “We can talk downstairs so Alessio knows what’s happening.”
He followed me, his ear pressed to the phone again as he continued to try to reach her.
When we got to my study, Alessio was already seated on the couch, waiting for us.
“Klaus,” I said as he paced, his phone back in his pocket. “Tell us what happened.” I took a seat in my chair and watched him.
“Fuck.” He stopped and fisted his hair for a moment before letting his head fall back. It took me a moment to recognize what was going on.
He was crying.
I cast a quick look at Alessio, who sat forward, a frown on his face.
“Klaus,” I pressed, more concerned than ever.
“I-I went to meet her tonight. I was going to tell her that I wanted us to be… official,” his voice shook.
“It was going well. She’d drunk a little too much.
We were going to go back to my place to talk.
She said she needed to use the bathroom.
I wanted her to have some freedom. She deserves to be free. ” He hung his head.
I crinkled my brows at his words. “Klaus, what is her name?”
He lifted his head and stared at me, his blue eyes wavering, a river of tears trickling down his cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Teo,” he choked out. “I-I’m so sorry. I-I never would have… I didn’t know.”
“What’s her name?” I pressed softly.
His bottom lip quivered for a moment. “Rosalie,” he finally rasped.
I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes as I tried to steady my breathing.
“Rosalie Bishop, John’s daughter, is who you’re seeing?” Alessio asked.
“Yes.”
“Alessandro’s Rosalie? Fox’s Rosalie?”
“Yes.” He sniffled. “Teo… please. Help me. Say something.”
I breathed out and opened my eyes. “You have been fucking the woman my son is in love with?”
His jaw shook. “Yes.”
“Knowingly fucking her when he loves her? When my fucking nephew is downstairs trying to recover and claim his life with her?”
“I didn’t know,” Klaus choked out. “I-I didn’t know about Fox.”
“You knew about Alessandro, though,” I countered.
“She said nothing was happening with them. H-He was marrying Bianca,” his voice was weak, and it told me all I needed to know. He knew, but cared enough to try anyway. I knew Klaus. He wasn’t the type of man to steal a woman away. If he’d done this, it was for one reason only.
He loved her.
And I knew he did because I’d seen how he’d been the last few weeks.
He was lost in everything that was her.
“Please,” he whispered, falling to his knees in front of me. “Brother. Please. Forgive me. She is everything to me. I-I need to find her.”
I loved Klaus. He was one of my best friends. We’d gone through so much together. There was no way in this world that I could hate him for loving someone.
It just irritated me that it was my son’s woman. My nephew’s woman. It certainly fucked things up if Evan decided to whisk her away and not share. I’d been hoping he’d share her with Alessandro, and was quite certain it would happen, but Klaus?
Fuck.
I reached out and cradled his face. “Who did this to you?”
“Cole Scott,” he said softly. “I went to look for her outside the club and encountered him. We fought.”
I nodded and let my hand fall away as Klaus hung his head again. I looked to Alessio, who stared at Klaus, so much turmoil on his face that I was sure it mirrored the situation in my heart.
We hurt for our brother.
I had to put aside my fury about Rosalie and Alessandro and focus on my brother.
“Did you try Alessandro?” I asked.
“No. I searched my apartment. Other clubs. I drove around the city looking for her and calling hotels. I-I came here as a last-ditch effort.”
I nodded. He’d tried, hoping to avoid this entire situation with me.
“Let’s talk to Frederick at the club. Have you done that?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I could not find him. He wasn’t answering.”
“OK. Then we go directly to him and ask him if he or his employees saw anything. I am inclined to think that if Cole Scott were present, he has likely taken her back.”
Klaus nodded miserably. “I think that as well.”
“Well, we shall speak to Frederick, and if he has no information for us, we will see Alessandro. She could be there, but I do not wish to disturb that hornet’s nest until we see what Frederick has to say. If she is not there, you will need to tell Alessandro the situation.”
Klaus nodded again. “I know.”
We were all quiet for a moment, and I nodded at Alessio to try to get Frederick on the phone. While he did that, I reached out and cradled Klaus’s face.
“I’m sorry, brother,” he repeated softly.
“Come to me,” I murmured, dragging him in. Sylar’s words popped into my head about this moment. This was what he had been referring to about someone coming to me and me being calm.
Sylar knew. He always knew. And if he knew, there was a damn good reason for him pushing it this direction.
Klaus collapsed against me as I held him tightly, a hug that I should have given him in the beginning.
“I am not mad,” I said as we held one another. “I am concerned for what this could mean for you. For everyone. Have you considered what John would say once he found out you were with his daughter?”
Klaus said nothing, but I knew him well enough to know the thought of John knowing likely kept him up at night.
“I only want her back. I will let her go if I have to, but I need to make sure she’s safe,” he said.
“OK. We will find her,” I promised. I wanted to ask him if he loved her, but judging by his reaction, I didn’t need to. Everything he felt was plain as day. Perhaps he hadn’t come to terms with it yet, but I had a feeling this would be the wakeup call he needed for it.
My heart ached for my son, though. He would be devastated.
“I spoke to Evan,” Klaus said, pulling away from me. “He said he would share her with me. It was her choice.”
“And you’re willing to share?”
“For her, yes,” he said. “I wanted to tell her everything tonight. About my feelings. Wanting her. Fox…” his voice trailed off.
Sylar.
He’d known this whole time. I only wished he’d have clued me in. I suppose, in a way, he had. I just had to wait for the pieces to fall in place to see it.
Typical.
I sighed. I couldn’t be mad at him. I knew as well as anyone that if we knew the future and spoke of it, new actions could be taken, thus changing it.
He knew it needed to run the course. It’s why he had me keep it from Klaus all this time.
Despite that, we would be having a talk very soon.
“I cannot reach Frederick,” Alessio said, coming back to us. “We should pay him a visit.”
“So we shall,” I said.
Klaus stood, and I followed.
“Prepare for a long day, brothers,” I said as I went to the door in the study. “We do not rest until Rosalie is found. Even if it means we go to war with the horsemen.”
When it came to my family, I would never stop. And Rosalie Bishop was family.