Chapter 18 Ethan
ETHAN
“What’s this?” Cole asked coming into the room a few days after Rosalie’s concert. He’d spent most of his time at the hospital working, doing things for Enzo, or just being holed up in his room, so to see him come out was nice.
“Uh, Jade and I went over to the old house today with a realtor to get some pictures done so I can list it,” Enzo said.
I stiffened at his words. He hadn’t mentioned selling the house we’d lived in with Fox and Rosalie.
Cole glared at him.
“What?” Enzo asked.
“Why the fuck are you selling our house?”
“Cole, we don’t live there anymore. It’s just sitting there. If I sell it, another family can enjoy it—”
“How much?” Cole demanded.
“How much for what?” Enzo asked.
“For the fucking house, Enzo. What’s the listing price?” Cole snapped. “What price are you putting on our memories and life?”
Enzo sighed and shot me a look. I wasn’t against selling the house. It held just as many good memories as bad ones. It basically just canceled everything out and made me feel numb. Saying goodbye to it might not be a bad thing.
“Uh, three mil and some change,” Enzo said.
Cole let out a snarl and stormed out of the room.
“I was going to tell you guys today.” Enzo glanced at me. “You pissed at me too?”
“No.” I looked down at the photos of the house. “You’re right. It’s just sitting there empty. There’s no point in keeping it.”
“That’s what Jade said too,” Enzo replied.
I nodded. I didn’t like Jade. I worried that she would try something with Enzo and fuck up his career, since she struck me as the type.
But I’d grown paranoid over the years, so I assumed everyone was out to get us.
But Enzo had an empire, and it was no secret women constantly threw themselves at him.
Much to his credit, he’d never taken the bait.
At least as far as I knew he hadn’t. I assumed he’d tell us if he did.
“Well, I’m OK with you listing it. We don’t use it. There’s no point in keeping it. Plus, the last memories aren’t great,” I said.
Enzo nodded. “Exactly my sentiments. We’ll have to go back and clean it out. Fox’s and Rosalie’s stuff is all there yet. Maybe we can send it to Church and he can handle it from there. I’m sure Rosalie would like it all back—”
“Here, motherfucker,” Cole said, coming into the room and slapping a check down over the pictures Enzo had spread across the table.
“What’s this?” Enzo asked.
“You want to list the house for sale. I want to buy it. Accept my offer or I’ll kick your fucking ass,” Cole said.
I looked from Cole to Enzo.
“Cole, man, come on. What could you possibly do with the house? Huh? You going to move into it?” Enzo asked.
“Maybe,” Cole said defensively. “I’ve always hated the fucking basement. I’ll remodel it and put in a fucking cat rescue or some shit. Who knows. Doesn’t matter since it’ll be my house and I can do whatever the piss I want to it.”
Enzo sighed. “Fine. You want it? It’s yours.” Enzo pocketed the check. “I’ll get the paperwork set up and you can sign. It’s yours.”
“Fuck yeah.”
I watched Cole pull his phone out. I chanced a look over his shoulder to see him looking for contractors. It would appear he might actually put a cat rescue center into the basement.
I raised my brows at Enzo, who only shook his head.
If building a cat rescue in the basement of our old house kept Cole from losing his mind, so be it. I’d bring him the first cat.
Two weeks after Cole’s meltdown over seeing Rosalie kissing Riley Parker on stage, he seemed normal again.
Almost happy.
He’d been looking at things for the house, which Enzo had officially signed over to him.
We didn’t really think he’d move into it, but he definitely had a remodel going on and said we weren’t allowed to see it until it was done, so we didn’t push the subject.
I did know he’d been in touch with shelters around the area, though, so I was sure the cat thing was coming into fruition.
It was like I was looking at the man I knew from five years ago. He was smiling. He was moving around our place like everything in the world was going perfectly, and he wasn’t mourning the love of his life.
In fact, he was happy even as we hung out at Fox’s grave earlier that morning. He recounted in great detail how great Rosalie was doing and how Fox would be proud of her. Enzo had shot me a quick look, concern on his face at Cole’s sudden shift.
We agreed to let it happen. That maybe he was letting go and moving on, especially if he were OK with remodeling the house.
But that shift ended abruptly as we walked down the street after Enzo left us for a meeting, Laz between us.
We’d gone out to Twisty Cone to get Laz some ice cream after seeing a new Ninja Turtle movie. Cole had a day off from the hospital, so we were in no rush. I was well ahead of schedule with my sugar, so today worked out perfectly for turtles and ice cream.
“Dad, look!” Laz squealed, breaking away from us and running to a newspaper stand. He pointed excitedly at a kids’ magazine that had photos of the new Ninja Turtle movie on the cover.
“Can we get it?” he asked.
I smiled, grabbed the magazine, and handed the guy selling them some cash. Laz was doing great at learning to read, so I was in the mindset that this magazine might push him even more.
“What the fuck?” Cole murmured.
I turned to see what had him and stopped in my tracks. He was surrounded by tabloids with images of Rosalie and Anson kissing on the cover.
Cole grabbed one and stared down at the cover as I held Laz’s hand and stared over his shoulder at it.
Bishop Cheats on Riley Parker with Her Manager
Bishop Spotted with Anson Beyers
Longtime Manager of Rock Princess Bishop Seen Smooching the Star
Riley Parker and Bishop Call It Quits After Only Weeks
Cole’s hands shook as he grabbed all the magazines and shoved a fifty at the man with them.
I followed as he walked down the sidewalk to our ride.
I quickly pulled out my phone and texted Enzo to let him know what was going on. He didn’t respond, but I didn’t expect him to. He was in a meeting with the government to build them more weapons.
Memphis drove us back to our place, all of us silent in the vehicle.
I didn’t want to set off a bomb with Laz with us, so I didn’t push it. Instead, I watched as Cole dug through the magazines, trying to read them as we moved through traffic.
I texted Ann to ask her to meet me at the elevator on her floor so she could take Laz to her apartment for a few hours.
Laz adored her, Harold, and their two cats.
She’d been our nanny for years now, so I knew he would be in good hands.
I’d gotten the apartment for her and her husband so they’d be closer to us, and it was honestly perfect.
Our driver dropped us off at the front doors before moving to park in our parking garage. Cole remained silent as he went to the elevator. I pushed the button for Ann’s floor on the twentieth, and we rode up in silence, Laz dancing around me happily.
The elevator stopped on Ann’s floor, and his eyes lit up.
“Annie?”
“Yep. For a few hours,” I said.
“Yippee!” He fist pumped the air, making me chuckle as the doors opened.
Ann was standing there waiting for him, a smile on her face. She held her hand out, and he ran to her.
“I’ll call you in a bit,” I said.
“Of course,” she said knowingly, glancing at Cole.
The door closed and took us to the top floor, and we got out. The moment we were inside our place, Cole exploded.
“She’s with that…that…fucking piece of shit cocksucking motherfucker!” he roared. “She left a perfectly good guy to fuck around with that-that ASS HAT!”
“Cole, you hated Riley last week,” I said carefully.
“I fucking hate all of them, but this?” He stabbed his finger into the stack of magazines he’d dropped on the coffee table. “This fucking shit isn’t going to happen! I won’t let it! FUCK!”
He stomped through the room, fisting his hair tightly, cursing.
I watched him, not really knowing what to do. I came to terms years ago with Anson and Rosalie being together. They’d always made sense in much the same way she and Fox had.
I didn’t hate this for her.
I expected it to have happened years ago, though.
“Cole, it’s just a gossip magazine—”
“It is fucking ten magazines! TEN!” he shouted at me before he pulled out his phone. I watched his thumbs fly over the screen. His face paled further as he slumped onto the couch.
“What?” I went and knelt in front of him.
He thrust his phone at me, and I took it and stared down at the image.
It was a close-up of Rosalie wearing a diamond ring. It was the image of her kissing Anson, but they’d done a small close-up of the ring.
Rumors Fly! Is Bishop Engaged to Anson Beyers?
I rubbed my eyes.
Well, fuck.
That I hadn’t expected.
I scrolled past an image of Rosalie and Anson by a pool at a private hotel. She looked incredible in her bikini, and Anson definitely held her in his arms, his mouth on hers.
It would appear as if they thought they were alone.
And they were in Vegas.
I swallowed hard as I looked at her ring. She had a diamond and a band.
My heart pounded hard at what it meant.
The front door opened, and Enzo stormed in.
“Cole. Hey,” he said, kneeling next to me.
“I need a minute.” Cole got up and stepped around us as we settled on the couch next to one another. We watched Cole go to the bar and pull out a bottle of whiskey. He took a deep drink as I handed the phone to Enzo.
“Shit,” Enzo whispered. “S-She’s…”
“Don’t say it,” I warned, swallowing hard. “Just… don’t.”
He scrolled through the images before he went to another news site. I looked down at everything.
Sources claimed the couple had already married. Others said they married over the weekend in Vegas between shows and would honeymoon once her US tour was over. Still others insisted they were planning the wedding of the century.
But it was when Enzo went straight to Anson’s social media that my heart truly fell.