Chapter 10 Anson
ANSON
“Why am I forced to talk to a fucking peon about getting into the goddamn room I’m supposed to sleep in?” Dante demanded as he stepped into the hotel suite, looking like a damn storm cloud.
“Where’s Ryder?” I asked.
“Downstairs, dealing with the assholes trying to get a sneak peek at my sister,” he said, stomping past us with three large pizzas in his hands.
“I’m not a fucking delivery driver. The next time I can’t get in to see my sister and niece, I’m going to tear the door off its fucking hinges. Understand?”
“I think that would be a bad idea,” I said. “All of this is for her safety. Just relax.”
He scowled at me as he placed the pizzas on the table. We’d had some macaroni and cheese with chicken tenders brought up for Ellis before she went to bed. She nibbled on a bit of it before falling asleep.
“It took long enough for you to get the pizza. Where’d you go? New York?” Klaus asked, eyeing the boxes. “It’s been hours. I had to eat your sister to keep from starving.”
Dante gave him the finger.
“No, I didn’t fucking go to New York. I was trying to find a place that wasn’t a shithole. I thought I might have to go to New York, though,” Church muttered.
The door to the suite opened, and Ryder came in, tucking his keycard back into his jacket.
“There are probably a hundred photographers outside the hotel,” he said, opening a box of pizza and taking out a slice. “I have Ryan and Ben dealing with it right now. Might need to call the cops. Told the hotel staff we’re good with that if they want them gone.”
“Yeah, it disrupts hotel guests and the damn sidewalk,” I said, taking a piece of pizza.
“When is her interview?” Church asked, sitting on the couch with some pizza.
“Tomorrow morning,” I replied, moving to sit on the sofa across from him, Ryder sitting beside me. Klaus took a leather chair, leaving Church alone on one of the couches.
“Where is Rosalie?” Church asked, looking around with a frown on his face.
“With Evan,” I said, grabbing a bottle of water to wash the pizza down with.
He frowned and looked to the closed door where Evan was very likely buried deep inside Rosalie. As if on cue, there was a soft noise from the room.
Ryder grinned at me and chuckled before taking another bite of his pizza. He knew what was happening. He was often the one guarding Rosalie’s dressing room before shows, just so I could cradle her face and tell her how much I loved her.
Church scowled.
“Don’t act like you and your men don’t get off on one woman,” Klaus said. “Your sister is a grown woman with men who love her as you love your woman.”
Church glared at him, but he didn’t say anything. He opted to eat his pizza instead, his leg bouncing.
“What are the plans for tomorrow?” Church asked after a moment of silence while we all ate.
“I will be accompanying Rosalie to the interview she has. Ryder and Anson will join us. I believe we also have Max and Garrett with us while we leave a few behind to watch over the suite,” Klaus said, looking at me. “Yes?”
“Correct,” I said. “A few extra hands. The interview shouldn’t take long. It’s just a thing for YouTube. The creator is this big name in the music biz and a huge fan.”
“Those are the ones we need to worry about,” Church said, finishing his pizza. “I’ll be going with you as well.”
“I know,” I said, giving him a slight nod.
There wasn’t a fiber in my body that believed he’d stay behind.
When he was with Rosalie, he was practically attached to her.
I figured it had something to do with their mom, who died many years ago.
Rosalie was all he had left of her, and from what I gathered, he’d been extremely close to their mother and had been the one to kill her as a means to get her out of the underground since she was abused and miserable.
The guy had balls of steel, I’d give him that.
And no remorse, or at least none that I’d ever seen.
He still scared me, and I didn’t scare easily, but I knew he loved Rosalie and she’d be safe as long as he was involved.
He was not only dangerous, but he meant business.
If he said someone was going to die, best believe they were. Long, slow, and painful, too.
“We leave early in the morning,” I said.
“The interview is at ten A.M, but I feel like we should be out of here by seven. If we’re out early, we can hopefully avoid the press.
The staff here offered us a side door, so we do have that going for us.
Ryder can pull up and meet us there. Should be really easy. ”
“Hopefully,” Ryder muttered. “One of those squirrelly fucks tried to hit me with his camera tonight. He almost had a new hat. It’s hard for me not to pummel these assholes.”
“I know.” I sighed. “I appreciate that you don’t.”
“Maybe we should call Trent in and have him help out,” Ryder said after a moment.
I winced. “Uh, I don’t know. He’s got so much going on right now.”
Church snorted. “Don’t I fucking know it.”
Klaus let out a soft chuckle. “Are wedding bells in the future?”
“I hope so. I get driven nuts. He actually called me right before I left to see if he could come with. I told him I’d defer that to you.” Church looked at me. “So know that he’s eager.”
“He’s been calling,” I muttered. “I just didn’t want to disturb him by asking.”
Church waved me off. “I think he likes being disturbed. If he didn’t want to be disturbed, he’d not have called.”
He did have a point. Sighing, I pulled out my phone and texted my brother.
He had a good life going for himself. Klaus had him working some security for some high-level people in Detroit.
He had a girlfriend. He’d even told me he thought she might be the one.
The fact that she was also Sirena’s sister made it a little more real.
And scary.
I’d asked him before if he was sure he wanted to get involved with that family, but he’d only looked at me and said I did, so why couldn’t he?
He had a point.
“Klaus? You good with him coming here?” I asked.
Klaus nodded. “Our girl over clients. No arguments from me.”
That’s all I needed to hear.
Anson: Hey, feel like a visit?
His answer was fast.
Trent: Fuck yes. Rosalie?
Anson: Yeah, man. We could use more security.
Trent: I’ll be there in the morning. I’ll send Cady and Jameson to Sirena.
Anson: Perfect. I’ll get the plane ticket taken care of. Be safe.
Trent: Fuck safe. Let’s kick some ass!
I chuckled at that and sent him the emoji for a salute before looking at everyone who was staring back at me.
“He’ll be here. I have to get his ticket sorted. Dante, looks like Cady will be visiting Sirena.”
Church rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything as he grabbed another slice of pizza.
“So, how was Chicago?” I asked, looking over at Klaus. We hadn’t had any time to just talk since he arrived. We’d barely spoken since he’d been there. Rosalie wanted him to have time to spend with his family, and I was good with that. We texted here and there, but that was all.
“Windy.” He smirked at me, blue eyes glinting.
I snorted at him. “Smart ass.”
“It was good. Saw my boys. Had good food. Had dinner with Alessio. Missed Rosalie.” He glanced at Church. “Had a meeting with the watchers.”
I raised my brows at that and looked at Church. “Really? You both failed to mention that.”
“You’re not on my need-to-know list,” Church replied. The guy was a prick and drove me nuts.
“Well, Klaus is my family,” I said.
“It’s fine, Archangel,” Klaus said, pulling my attention back to him. “I simply was greeting our other family.”
I grunted. I’d let it go, but fuck, I wish Church was easier to deal with.
“Since I know you’re going to ask, the horsemen are doing just fine,” Church said, finishing his slice of pizza and wiping his mouth.
“Lorenzo has been no trouble at all. He has delivered each thing I ask for without question and does as he’s told.
If I didn’t know he was a mafia don, I’d say he’s the perfect neighbor, aside from all the murdering and drugs he does. ”
We rarely spoke about the horsemen. In fact, it had been ages since I’d asked anything about them. From time to time, I’d see Enzo in the news. Women fawned over him, but from all I understood, he was single and never spotted with any of them.
I knew from a long time ago that he and the horsemen didn’t want me with Rosalie.
They didn’t know she was mine the moment I took her out of that damn city, and they were a big determining factor on why she hadn’t been back to do a show there yet.
Alex from Trackmaster Records had been riding my ass for three years about getting her into Chicago again.
He said it was her roots. I pointed out that Detroit was her roots, and we had already played Little Caesars Arena twice, with both shows sold out.
He wanted Chicago, though.
I couldn’t fight him off any longer, so Chicago it would be. When I’d told Rosalie, she’d looked sick, but she held her head up and said she’d get through it.
I didn’t anticipate any issues since Church was all over it like flies on shit.
Two nights. Two shows. Then we’d leave it behind and hopefully skip it again on the next tour we did, when she dropped her third album.
That was the plan anyway, and part of my deal with Alex about it.
He was typically good when it came to his word, so I kept the hope alive that we’d be in and out without having to look back. Although it was Carter George who made the ultimate call, since he technically owned Trackmaster.
“That’s good to hear,” I muttered, catching the side-eye Ryder gave me.
“It is.” Church nodded. He was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “Does Rosalie ask about them?”
“No. Not really. Of course, she likely thinks about Cole, considering Ellis, but out of all of them, I think E is the one she thinks about the most. I caught her looking at his social media a few weeks ago. She said she was just wondering what he was up to.” I swallowed, remembering how red her cheeks got.