Chapter 35 Anson
ANSON
Nothing.
Not a fucking thing.
We’d been looking for Rosalie for almost a week now.
The band had returned to L.A. There was no point in them hanging out here, even though they seemed intent on helping out.
I’d told them they’d be helping more by going home and keeping Trix company, since Dante was taking on Ellis duties now.
Trix lived in our big mansion with Cotton. She had to be bored.
So they’d left, and we still had no leads with dead ends all around.
I was sick. So fucking sick.
The best we had was Cole losing his shit on a reporter and beating the piss out of him in front of all the cameras. It put Enzo in the spotlight even more, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Enzo had already paid off the prick who provoked Cole.
I barely slept. I’d made statements to the press, saying that Rosalie was home and needed rest. The label thought it was better this way, but it was killing me inside to know she was still out there.
The cops were next to useless. Klaus threatened Henderson enough that I hadn’t even made it to the precinct before they pulled over and undid my cuffs.
They’d left me on a damn sidewalk, and Klaus and Evan had picked me up.
Now, Henderson was sitting in an unemployment line somewhere because Klaus kept his promise.
I hadn’t seen E yet, but I knew Klaus had been working closely with him. It was odd to see him doing it, considering I knew he wasn’t a horsemen fan, but I was grateful anyway.
While Klaus and E scoured the city, Evan and I worked on our part.
I’d contacted Dom, and he’d sent his men for me, which I was grateful for.
I knew he and Rosalie had a friendship at one point, and whenever we’d spoken over the years, he’d ask how she was doing, which meant he still gave a damn about her.
I lay in bed next to Evan that night. He’d been so sick and exhausted that I forced him to take some sleeping pills to get some rest. He’d refused at first, and I almost had to fight him, but finally he relented when I told him if we weren’t strong, we wouldn’t be able to fight for Rosalie.
That seemed to do the trick because he’d swallowed them down and fallen asleep almost immediately.
I should have taken my own advice, but I couldn’t shake this shit. I blamed myself for all of it. I never should have gone out that night to see the new band. I should have had more security on. I should have cut the night out early and gone to her. It was killing me inside.
I knew Ryder was dealing with the guilt, too.
He’d been released from the hospital and was staying with us at Klaus’s penthouse.
He still had more resting and recovering to do, so he held down the place while we went out.
But I’d heard him crying in his room last night, and when I’d gone in to check on him, he’d stared at me with so much turmoil on his face that I broke down too.
“I’m sorry, Anson. Man, I fucked up. The guy came out of nowhere.
I-I tried. Fuck. I tried. He had the upper hand.
I’m so fucking sorry, brother. Please. Don’t hate me.
I hate myself enough already. I was in my feelings that night and not paying attention.
I don’t know what the fuck is the matter with me. I’m sorry,” he choked out.
I hugged him to me, and we both cried.
“I don’t blame you. I don’t,” I whispered. “I love you, man. I know you. I know you’d have died to protect her. We’ll get her back. I know we will.”
He sobbed softly as he clung to me. “I miss her. Ellis misses her. You guys… our-our family. You’re all I have, and I fucked it up.”
I held him tighter. “It’ll be OK.”
I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock. It was after midnight. Deciding I wasn’t going to be able to sleep, I got up and checked on Ryder to see that he was out, his TV still on in his bedroom. I left his room and went to the kitchen to grab a drink.
A knock on the door had me placing my water on the granite countertop and looking out the peephole to see Ethan standing outside it, dressed in solid black like the night, blood on his face.
I pulled the door open.
“What’s wrong?” I stepped aside, and he came in. “Where’s Klaus?”
“We split up. He told me to meet him here,” he said.
“Everything is OK?”
“No,” he muttered. “But no one else is missing or hurt, so I suppose we’re golden in that respect.”
I breathed out. “You have blood on your face.”
E wiped at it quickly and scowled. “Un-fucking-believable how much blood comes out of a guy when you beat him with a rock.”
I winced at his words.
“Where is the bathroom?” he asked.
“Uh, there’s one down that hall,” I said, pointing to the hall near the kitchen. “Second door on the left.”
He grunted and headed in that direction.
I cast a quick look in the direction of the stairs, knowing Evan was sleeping upstairs.
The last thing I wanted was for E to find out Evan was here.
Evan said he didn’t give a shit at this point, but I knew it was his anger and grief talking.
He’d made it clear that he wasn’t ruling Enzo out of Rosalie’s disappearance, despite Church confirming the horsemen definitely did not have her since he and his men put him through his paces for questioning, and he hadn’t broken for them.
E came back out, the blood off his face. This was the first time I was seeing him in the light in nearly five years.
He took a seat at the kitchen island and looked around.
“Nice place,” he said.
“Yeah, Klaus owns the building.”
“Must make bank with it. These are expensive apartments.”
I nodded. That they were.
“Do you want something to drink?” I asked.
“Coffee, if you have it,” he replied.
I nodded and put a pot on since I could use some too.
“Food?” I asked.
He shook his head.
I wandered over and sat in the seat next to him at the island.
“So nothing tonight?”
“Couple dead people. Nothing past that,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. “Talk of the Virelli family.”
I raised my brows at that. “They’ve been out of the city for years. What’s going on with that?”
He shrugged. “No idea. We’ve been dealing with them off and on for about three years now. They’ve been pushing heroin and coke pretty hard.”
“You don’t think they had anything to do with Rosalie, do you?”
He shrugged. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. It’s a delicate situation. With Ivanov out, someone else was bound to come back in, but we don’t want to start any turf wars with the Virelli family if they’re innocent. And Roberto Virelli isn’t a nice man.”
I nodded. It made sense.
“So we can’t exactly go around and question them.
Roberto has declined to meet with us, so we’re just keeping our ears to the ground at this point.
It would make sense if he’s involved. He hates Enzo, and Enzo hates him.
Old beef with his dad and all that,” E explained.
“When news of Enzo and Rosalie’s video came out, Roberto started trying us a bit more. So who fucking knows.”
“Fuck, what a mess,” I muttered. “I knew we shouldn’t have come here. I fucking told the label no, but they wouldn’t listen to me.”
E sighed. “We’ll find her.”
“I hope so,” I murmured.
We were both quiet for a long time before I spoke.
“How was your visit with her?”
“Good.” He shot me a quick smile. “Really good. Kind of bittersweet, I suppose.”
“Makes sense,” I said.
“And for your next question, yeah, I kissed her.”
“I wasn’t going to ask,” I muttered.
“You wanted to know, and I know Rosalie. She wouldn’t have kept it from you.”
He was right on that one. I knew she’d come home and tell us.
“Klaus knows. I guess all that’s left is Evan,” he said. “Speaking of Evan, is he here?”
I nodded. “He is. He’s asleep, but I don’t think he’s interested in chatting anytime soon. He’s not the chatty sort.”
“Rosalie said as much. Said he likes being alone.”
“He does. He’s the artsy sort. Tortured writer type,” I said. “Always lost in his own world.”
“Kind of like Fox,” E mused, a sad smile on his face.
I swallowed hard. “Yeah, man, kind of like Fox.”
“Is he a good guy?” E ventured. “To Rosalie? Is he good for her? She only deserves the best.”
“He is the best,” I said softly. “Loves her endlessly. He’s her whole world. He’s a better man than I am, that’s for sure.”
“I doubt that. You’re a good guy. Honestly, I was sad that you never joined us.” His green eyes raked over my face. “Always thought you’d make a great addition to our group.”
I chuckled at that. “Yeah, well, it worked out for the best. Now it’s my group.”
“Touché.” He gave me a genuine smile. “How is Ellisandra? Is she OK with all of this? I didn’t want to ask Klaus since he seems to be so focused on just killing people. Figured talk about kids might pull him out of the zone.”
“She’s OK. She’s staying with family. She’s happy. She’s used to Rosalie being away, so this isn’t new for her. She is wondering why she’s not calling her, though.”
A sad look swept across E’s face.
“But hey, heard you horsemen have a kid. Congrats.”
“We do. A son,” he said, pulling his phone out. He thumbed through it before showing me a photo of the cutest little boy with dark hair and bright green eyes.
He looked just like Ethan.
I looked from the picture to E.
“Enzo’s boy, huh?”
“Yeah,” E mumbled. “Lazarus. We call him Riot. He can be wild sometimes. I-I think he’s really starting to calm down as he gets older, though. At least I hope he is.” He winced and stared down at his phone again.
“E,” I started, not even knowing how to talk to him about what I thought, but I knew that kid wasn’t Enzo’s. There was no fucking way.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” E whispered. “Please. He’s Enzo’s son.”
I nodded. “OK.”
The front door opened, and Klaus came in, ending our conversation. But I knew…
That boy was Ethan’s. I’d bet my life on it. And because I knew he was his, and was about the same age as Ellis, that meant the horsemen had a lot of fucking skeletons in their closet.
They’d better just hope no one started opening doors.