Chapter 16 Enzo
ENZO
“Hey, I brought you some coffee,” Jade said, coming into my office. She put the hot cup in front of me and backed away.
“You should have left hours ago,” I muttered. “Why are you still here?”
“Because you’re still here. I’m your assistant. I can’t assist if I’m not here to assist.”
I glanced at her.
Jade was beautiful. Long, silky blonde hair. Big hazel eyes. Plump lips. A sexy hip flare she liked to show off with her body-hugging outfits.
“There’s nothing I need,” I said, pushing the cup of coffee away.
She was quiet. “Enzo. I know you’re sad.”
I frowned at her as she sat on the edge of my desk next to me.
“You’re lonely. Why do you spend all your time here? Why not go out and live your life?”
“This is my life,” I mumbled.
She rolled her eyes. “This is a distraction, not your life.”
I said nothing. She likely wasn’t wrong. I hated being alone because all I did was think. I was sick of thinking. On the other hand, if I went home, I’d be around Cole, and I knew he was dying from missing Rosalie. It just made shit worse.
“I don’t have a life outside of work,” I admitted. I’d only hired Jade a year ago, but she’d worked her ass off and proved to be better than anyone else I’d tried out in the position.
“Then maybe you need a better distraction,” she whispered, resting her hand on mine.
I looked at her hand on mine and frowned.
It took me a moment to realize she was coming onto me. This was new.
In the grand scheme of things, she made sense. Beautiful. Smart. Ambitious. All the things I liked in a woman.
I turned my hand over and twined my fingers with hers for a second, staring down at our hands together.
It seemed so strange. Her nails were perfectly manicured.
Rosalie rarely did her nails. In fact, as long as I’d known her, until Matteo had given her a manicure, she never painted her nails.
They were always perfect, with a shiny, clear gloss over them.
That was it. But Jade’s nails were a pale pink with white French tips.
Tiny pearls and sparkly gold added a design.
She had the hands of a woman I should be with.
I had money. Power. Fame. Jade would fit nicely at my side.
The thought sickened me, but maybe I needed to prove it to myself.
I released her hand and swallowed. It didn’t feel right. Or maybe that was my guilt talking.
“You should go home,” I said thickly. “Don’t let me distract you.”
“I like it when you distract me,” she murmured.
I closed my eyes and breathed out.
“I need to get this contract done. I have a lot to do yet tonight. Go home, Jade. If I need you, I’ll call you.”
She hesitated for a moment before she slid off my desk. I watched her ass sway as she went to my door.
Jade was a sure thing. I knew she was. I’d likely not have to put much effort into her, but I suppose, like other women, she liked my bank account more than me.
But honestly, fuck it. I had only ever loved one woman and knew I’d never love another again. Any woman I hooked up with would just be for marriage and children. Someone to have on my arm at events. I needed an heir.
I pushed the thought out of my head as she left the room, hating myself just a little bit more.
I sat alone in my dark office overlooking the city later that night, Rosalie’s livestream playing on my computer.
Try as I might, I couldn’t focus on the fucking contract. All I kept thinking about was how odd my hand looked with Jade’s and how Rosalie’s hand fit better in mine.
I was an idiot.
I hadn’t planned on watching the stream, but I somehow found myself staring raptly at her while she sang, looking more beautiful than I remembered her.
Her lyrics twisted my heart and smashed it to pieces. It was clear that we’d had a hand in a lot of them. It broke my damn heart to know the pain I’d caused her.
She’d definitely had a song directed at both Cole and E. I was sure they weren’t happy about it, but it was what it was. The song for me made me mute it. I didn’t need a reminder of my sins.
I knew watching the show with Cole would make shit worse, so I stayed away. He was pissed, and I understood why. I wasn’t exactly being nice, but fuck, he was like a damn dog with a bone when it came to her.
I’d been dealing with it for years. At some point, I had to admit that none of this was working with him. He was hurting. I was hurting. E, well, he’d come a long way and was focused on working and Riot, so it didn’t leave a lot of time for him to feel what Cole felt. Or what I felt.
In fact, E was probably the strongest out of all of us. Time and having a kid changed him completely.
He was darker. More twisted and violent, but he had something to prove. To save. So he buckled down and did it.
I did it the best I could, too, but E did it with ease. I struggled. And Cole? He definitely struggled.
I needed to talk to E about it all. I’d been thinking lately that I would speak to Dante Church about renegotiating the terms of our arrangement.
I’d stay away from Rosalie forever, as promised, and would forfeit rights to her, even if she returned to me on her own.
I’d tell E about the deal and see if he was interested in offering himself up so that we could free Cole from the agreement.
Dante Church wanted two bodies in the contract. That could be me and E.
Then…
I’d let Cole go.
He could try to get her back and have the life he wanted.
I hadn’t told him yet. I needed to speak to E about it first before I ran off and made life-altering decisions for any of us, but it was definitely my plan.
Cole loved her. Without a doubt, he was meant to be with her. He deserved to have her and the family he always wanted. I didn’t know if she’d want fuck-all to do with him, but I had to give him that chance.
If she didn’t want him, then at least maybe he’d move on with his life.
I wanted that for him. His happiness in any form I could get it. Same for E.
I had a lot of work to do to make that a reality.
I continued to watch her move like magic across the stage.
I clenched my hands into fists when the singer from Fatal Promise came onstage to sing with her.
I knew they’d done the song together, and the music video was all the rage.
I hadn’t seen it yet, but I’d heard it was good.
It must have been damn good because Cole left for a week and sulked at the bed and breakfast he’d stayed at with Rosalie many years ago after it released.
But it was when this Riley prick wrapped his hand around Rosalie’s throat onstage and put her on her knees that I tightened my hand so hard that my nails dug painfully into my palms. It was bad enough that I’d already watched Fabian-Fucking-Henry, some Hollywood heartthrob, kiss and touch her in the video.
I watched as Riley leaned in and crushed his lips to hers. The crowd erupted in shouts. Security surged forward as the fans tried to run at the stage. I suppose they were all excited for confirmation of the rumors.
It pissed me off to see her live, at this very moment, kissing someone else. In my mind, I’d pushed away those thoughts, but seeing it for real, with someone the tabloids always linked her to, made me physically ill.
“What the fuck?” I snarled, sitting forward. I didn’t like seeing another man touch her like that, and her… she definitely kissed him back.
My phone rang.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen, but I managed to answer and put the device to my ear.
“Enzo?” Cole called out, his voice choked.
“I saw,” I said tightly as the song ended and the arena went black. The roar of the crowd was still blaring over my speakers as people chanted “Bishop! Bishop! Bishop!”
“It’s a performance,” I said. “Just a performance. They’re acting. It’s for press and attention.”
“It’s not. The rumors say she’s with that guy! This confirms it! What the fuck, man?” He sobbed into the phone. “WHAT THE FUCK? I can’t do this shit anymore. It’s killing me. I-I can’t.”
I didn’t know what to say to him to make it better. The truth of the matter was, I knew a long time ago she’d meet someone and fall in love. Maybe this was it. Maybe it wasn’t. All I knew was that Cole was suffering.
And that was killing me.
“I’ll handle him.” E’s voice came over the line. “He’s been drinking and smoking anyway. He’s pretty lit up right now. He likely won’t remember it tomorrow.”
“I’ll be home soon,” I murmured. “We’ll talk when I get there. Put him to bed. Let him sleep it off.”
“I will. Talk soon. Be safe.”
“Always.” I disconnected the call and watched the rest of her performance, which wasn’t much.
She performed two more songs on her own before closing out the show, with Anson joining her on stage with his violin and playing an upbeat tune I was sure they’d likely written together, his voice belting out in perfect pitch with hers.
It got the crowd pumped, and I knew many of them would be leaving with great memories.
She’d debuted a new song with Anson, some new singles, a music video, and she’d kissed the lead singer of Fatal Promise.
Maybe it was a diversion to take the focus off the shit bag following her around, and if it was, it was excellent PR, and seemed exactly like something Anson would orchestrate.
I sighed and rubbed my eyes as I closed my laptop after Rosalie’s show ended.
The only thing that made me happy about watching it was that she was safe. No one hurt her. Now, she’d go to her next show, and hopefully they’d catch the prick who was stalking her.
And if they didn’t, I wouldn’t stop until I did.
I owed her that.