Chapter 27 Anson
ANSON
Idisconnected the call from Enzo and looked at Trent.
“Harsh, brother,” he said, shaking his head.
“Fuck him.” I raked my fingers through my hair. Everything was a damn mess. I’d worked my ass off over the years to keep Rosalie protected from things just like this. I was pissed the horsemen had been so damn careless. They should have just deleted all the videos and images they had of Rosalie.
Fucking assholes.
“So what’s the plan now?” Ryder wandered into the room on the tour bus and closed the door behind him.
“Release statements. Have Dante see what he finds out. Klaus is digging too. That’s all we can do.”
Trent nodded. “Solid. Just keep watch over her. Only a few shows left, then this shit is over.”
I nodded. “Thank fuck. I don’t think I’ve ever needed a break like I need one now.”
“What about this E situation?” Ryder asked.
I sighed.
“Come on, man. You can’t be good with her talking to him. I know you’d give her the world, but do you really want to give her back to the world you fought to break her free from?” Ryder continued.
I sank onto the mattress and buried my face in my hands. I had so many thoughts and emotions. I was trying to sort through them all.
“I… E is a good guy,” I finally said.
“E isn’t Ellis’s dad,” Trent said gently.
“Fuck, man. I know,” I groaned. “I just… I know how much Rosalie loved E. Hell, she loved them all.”
“So you’d just try to join them again?” Ryder raised his brows.
I shook my head. “No. I’ve been talking to Evan and Klaus.
Klaus is more of a fuck them attitude, while Evan is a bit more open, but I get why he would be.
Mostly. It’s just that he wanted out of that life so fucking much, and now he’s not hating the idea of seeing the guys and letting Cole back in for Ellis.
And honestly? I wish we didn’t have to. I-I wish I were Ellis’s real dad.
I love that little girl so damn much.” I stared down at my feet, my elbows on my knees.
“Maybe I’m scared I’ll lose LeeLee back to them. ”
Trent scoffed. “Yeah, fucking right. She loves you. She’s willing to marry you in some fucked up island affair so it’s legally binding. She’s not ever leaving you, man.”
“I agree,” Ryder said. “Plus, when the fuck did you become insecure?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I love her more than anything. We have a family. Careers. We worked hard for all this. We’ve been through a lot of shit. I don’t want it to go away. I worry.”
“Then why don’t you tell her how you feel?” Ryder asked.
“Because.” I blew out a breath. “I love her and want her happiness. And I love Ellis. She deserves to know Cole, even if he is a cocksucker.”
“She doesn’t need to talk to E, though.” Trent nudged me as he sat next to me.
“I like E,” I admitted. “He really is a good guy. Maybe he’d join us.
I’d be OK with him. He tried to get me in with them when Rosalie was their girl.
I’d do the same for him. Dante likes him, too, so I wouldn’t have to deal with his bitching too much.
Plus, I like the idea of taking another one from the horsemen. Cole and Enzo can fuck one another.”
Ryder laughed at that.
“I think you should talk to Rosalie,” Trent pressed.
“I’m seriously OK with E. I welcome him as long as he’s not using anymore.”
“Then talk to her about what it would mean for Cole to be in your lives again. He’s a fucking menace, man. Completely insane. At least he was. I doubt he’s gotten better,” Ryder said.
I nodded. He wasn’t wrong.
“I’ll talk to her,” I said. “I have to get this statement written first and release it.”
“I’ll go sit with her. See if she’s done talking to Evan and Klaus,” Ryder said, going to the door. He opened and closed it, disappearing and leaving Trent with me.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” he finally said as I dug out my laptop.
I looked at him to see the worry on his face.
“Me too, man. Me too.”
“Hey, baby,” I said as Rosalie crawled in next to me in bed later that night.
I’d been buried in all the statement shit and dealing with the label and phone calls.
I almost thought I might need an assistant and considered asking Trent to step in for me since I knew he was insanely organized, more than I, and that was saying something.
“Hey,” she said softly.
I closed my laptop and reached out to cradle her face. “You OK?”
A tear trickled down her cheek, and my heart lurched.
“Oh, baby,” I murmured. “Don’t cry, LeeLee.”
“I’m sorry. I-I just don’t know what else to do. Dante said the watchers questioned the guys today, and it got violent. He was really upset, but he promised me he’d not retaliate unless he found they were lying.”
“I don’t think they’re lying.” I wiped her tears away. “I spoke to Enzo today.”
She blinked at me. “You did?”
I nodded and wiped away more of her tears. “Yeah. He said Cole’s drives were stolen. He said he’d say whatever we needed him to say. He agreed he’d make a statement and say it was from years ago when you were engaged. It’ll be OK.”
She buried her face in my neck, her small body shaking as she cried.
I held her, hating that she was going through this. I didn’t give a shit if people talked about me. I cared about her.
“I wasn’t all that nice to him when we spoke,” I said, smoothing her wild curls. “I tried to be, but man, they just have a way of pissing me off.”
“I know.”
“I wanted to tell you that I’m worried about this Cole stuff with Ellis.”
She pulled away and stared at me. “What?”
“I don’t know if it’s the best idea. It worries me.”
“But you said to talk to E and find out—”
“I know. I know I did. But damn, baby. I don’t want to lose you to them,” I admitted softly.
She cradled my face with both hands and forced me to look at her.
“Ani?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you. Nothing is going to change that.”
“I love you, too, baby. I know what you had with them, though—”
“And I know what I have with you now.” She brushed her lips against mine. “And what I want to keep.”
“Fuck, LeeLee, when you say things like that to me, it makes me want to pin you down and fuck you until you can’t scream anymore.”
“Maybe that’s what I want you to do.”
“You’re teasing me,” I murmured, kissing her again. “If I fuck you, the entire bus will hear it. You prepared for that?”
“I want you,” she said softly against my lips. “My Ani.”
Fuck, how could I tell her no?
I put her on her back, and she stared up at me with those mesmerizing green eyes, her plump lips parted. I was already hard. I pulled her panties off before pulling out my cock. I stroked myself from root to tip as I stared at her.
She let her legs fall open for me, and that was it.
I surged forward and filled her with a low groan. Her breath caught at my intrusion. I kissed her hard and deep, making her whimper softly.
“You feel so good,” I husked out as I rutted into her.
“Ani,” she whimpered.
“What, baby? Tell me what you want.”
“More.”
I gave her more, faster, deeper. She jutted her hips up to meet my dick. I loved it when she did that for me.
Within moments, I had her quivering around me, her pussy trembling as it gripped my cock tightly.
A loud knock on the door sounded out.
“Fuck,” I snarled. “What?”
“Hey, Anson, man? You might want to come out here,” Ryder called out.
“What?” I frowned, not sure I heard him correctly.
The door cracked open, and Ryder poked his head in.
Immediately, I covered Rosalie with my body.
“Sorry, man. We need you out here. Uh, sorry, Rosalie.” He left, making me let out a huff of frustration. We’d stopped the bus to grab some sleep because Leo, our driver, said we were well ahead of schedule.
“Fuck.” I kissed her hard and deep. “We’ll finish this later.”
I pulled out, definitely not wanting to stop, and grabbed my pants. Rosalie watched me dress, her eyes on my cock.
After pulling up my sweatpants, I leaned in and took her by the jaw and kissed her.
“Dirty girl.” I nipped her bottom lip before pulling away. Knowing she was so into me really got me going.
I left the room and went out to the bus’s main area.
“Hey, man. Sorry about that,” Ryder said immediately. “You know I’m not a cock block, but Cas, tell him.”
I looked to Cas, who was sitting quietly on the couch.
“Cas?” I frowned at him. He was usually upbeat, but he seemed shaken.
“Uh.” Cas shook his head, his blue hair falling across his forehead. Bane sat next to him, his head in his hands, while Hex and Vic were sitting on the couch across.
I looked around and noticed Dante and Trent were gone.
“What’s going on?” I demanded.
“Just tell him,” Bane muttered.
Cas raked his fingers through his hair. “I wasn’t snooping.
I swear it.” He stared up at me. “Anson, man.” He handed me a folded piece of paper.
“I found that in Rosalie’s jacket. It’s chilly out, and her coat was lying there on the edge of the chair, so I grabbed it to get a smoke, you know?
I put my hand in the pocket and found the note. ”
I opened the note and stared down at the scrawl.
Sweet Bishop,
I was close enough to touch you. Next time, I will.
Yours
-X
“Dante and Trent are outside, looking around. We don’t think he’s here, but he had to have been close. When did Rosalie wear the jacket last?” Ryder asked.
I shook my head. “I-I don’t know.”
“What’s going on?” Rosalie asked, coming into the room, her pretty face twisted in worry. She came to my side and stared down at the note.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Cas wore your jacket. He found this in your pocket,” I said, my voice hoarse. “Baby, when was the last time you wore it?”
She blinked her eyes quickly. “I-I wore it yesterday. Last night at the diner.”
I nodded. Made sense.
“I didn’t recognize anyone at the diner,” Ryder said, frowning. “There weren’t a lot of people there. Did anyone bump into you, Rosalie?”
She shook her head, frowning. “No.”
I pulled out my phone and called the detective who was working on her case.
“Hey, it’s Anson,” I said as Detective Hanson answered the phone. “Someone left Rosalie a note in her jacket pocket.”
I launched into telling him everything as I stuck the note into a small plastic baggie.
“We’ll catch up,” Detective Hanson said. “Keep that note. We might be able to get prints off it, but I highly doubt it. I’m sure whoever this is has covered their tracks in that respect. Keep your eyes open, Anson. We’ll get this sorted.”
“Thanks,” I said before we said our goodbyes.
Dante and Trent came back inside, and I looked to them.
“Anything?”
“Nothing, but I don’t think we should stick around,” Dante said, his eyes on Rosalie. “Sister, are you well?”
“I’m scared,” Rosalie whispered, her voice trembling.
“Let’s cancel the tour, baby,” I said for what felt like the millionth time as I turned to her. “It’s only a couple of shows—”
“No.” She shook her head, her curls bouncing. “Things are bad right now. The stalker, the-the sex tape. If I back out, it looks like I’m falling apart. I can’t do that. I-I’ll finish out this tour.”
“LeeLee, come on,” I urged. “I’m worried—”
“I’m going to go lie down,” she mumbled, moving back to the room. I sighed as she closed the door behind her.
“I admire her bravery,” Trent said.
“She’s so damn stubborn,” I muttered. “We need to get back on the road. Leo is tired and sleeping. I’ll drive.”
“I’ll keep you company,” Ryder said.
I nodded. “Everyone else, get some sleep if you can. I don’t think it’s safe sitting here.”
I watched as Dante said nothing and went to the room Rosalie was in instead of his bunk. He caught my eye as he closed the door behind him.
“He’s going to sleep in there with her,” Trent murmured.
I nodded tightly. I knew he was.
“Come on, man.” Ryder clapped me on the shoulder. “The show must go on.”
He was right, so I turned and went to the driver’s seat and settled in.
The more distance we put between us and this nightmare, the better.