Chapter 38 Klaus
KLAUS
One week without my hummingbird.
I was dying inside.
I missed her. I missed Ellis. I missed Evan being himself. I missed Anson.
Fuck, I missed my life.
I stared up at my ceiling, unable to sleep despite being so exhausted.
Evan and Anson had gone to bed in the other bedroom, and Ryder was still staying in the third bedroom.
He kept getting headaches, and the docs said it was normal for now, but he did have to go in next week for a check-up.
He spent most of his time on his laptop, researching.
I had to hand it to him. He was taking this seriously, and honestly, I’d noticed little changes in him over the last few weeks.
I wanted to address it with Anson, but I wasn’t sure if now was the right time.
I grabbed my phone off my nightstand and opened my photos. I smiled as I stared at the images of Rosalie and me together. She was smiling in all of them.
“Hummingbird,” I murmured, looking into her pretty green eyes. “Come home, baby. We miss you.”
I kissed her image gently before hugging the phone to my chest. I had so many regrets in my life, but I’d worked my ass off to try to right what I could.
But if we didn’t find her, I’d never be able to right the regret that was tearing me apart inside.
The one where I was scared and didn’t ask to marry her sooner. Now I may never get the chance. It was making me sick to think about.
Typically, when I was missing her, I’d pull up one of the hidden images of her I had. She’d posed for me in them, nude. I’d jerk my cock until I came, but there was no fucking way I could get off right now.
I sat up and went to the floor-to-ceiling windows in my bedroom and stared out at the dark city below.
She was out there. Somewhere. I knew she was.
I backed away, grabbed some clothes, and put them on quickly.
No rest for the wicked, and I was definitely wicked.
“Thanks for coming out,” I said as Levin slid into my front seat later that night.
“Well, beats listening to Fallon snoring,” he muttered. “What’s the plan?”
“I want to follow up on a lead we had. An Ivanov lackey.”
“Perfect. I still hate those cunts.”
I pulled the car onto the street and drove to the club I’d heard the lead named Kyle hung around.
“How’s the search for Rosalie going?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing. Dead ends, mostly.”
“We haven’t heard anything either, or I’d have called. Dom has guys out right now checking things out.”
I nodded. I appreciated that.
“Enzo said E has been spending time with you guys. How’s that going?”
I shrugged. “He’s OK.”
“He’s a good guy. Been through a lot. Don’t give him a hard time. He really has his shit together these days.”
“I know,” I murmured.
Levin was quiet for a moment. “You guys going to let him join you?”
“Have to find our woman first,” I muttered.
“You know,” Levin said as I pulled up in front of the club. I figured this shit head was in there.
I put the car in park and looked over at him. “What?”
“E has a kid.”
“I’m aware. He and the horsemen—”
“No, Dad. He has a fucking kid.”
I frowned at this information. “What?”
He sighed. “Look, he’s never come out and said it, but Lazarus isn’t Enzo’s. He’s E’s. Spitting image of him. Enzo claims up and down he’s his son, but I’m not an idiot. That kid is E’s.”
“That would mean that E was with someone while he was with Rosalie.”
Levin nodded. “Yep. Sure would.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense…”
“Sure doesn’t.” Levin sighed. “I think it’s why they all broke apart. Enzo knew and was protecting E. Enzo was the fall guy. Makes sense. He struggled with Fox’s death. They all did, but Enzo has said a lot over the years that he blames himself for Fox.”
I shook my head. What the fuck? If this were true, it would devastate Rosalie once she learned the truth. A truth I damn well wouldn’t hide from her once we got her back.
“These are things I will discuss with the guys once we bring Rosalie home,” I said. “For now, she needs to be our focus.”
“OK. I only wanted you to know.”
“I appreciate it, son. Truly.” I clapped him on the shoulder. “Now let’s go kill some motherfuckers.”
“I sure love bonding with you,” Levin muttered, getting out of the car.
I smiled as he closed the door.
I’d prefer if we were on a beach somewhere, drinking Rosalie’s fruity drinks and laughing, but this would have to do.
“I don’t know shit,” Kyle shouted desperately at us later that night. We’d taken him to one of Dom’s warehouses and had his ass tied to a chair.
“Then why did you go around running your mouth about pulling off this job?” I demanded.
“I-I was paid to,” he said.
I raised my brows at that as Levin shot me a look.
“Who paid you?” Levin asked.
He shook his head. “I-I don’t know his name. I didn’t see his face. He had it covered. Told me to say I did it. Gave me ten large for it. I needed the cash.”
“Ten large won’t even cover the cost of your funeral,” Levin said. “I mean, if they ever find your body.”
Kyle paled, his body shaking more.
“I swear to you, I didn’t do anything. I-I don’t even listen to her music. I mean, I did a few times, but I was dating a girl who loved her. I swear to you. I never touched her, and I don’t know who did.”
“What information do you have that makes you worth saving?” I asked, squatting in front of him so we were eye to eye.
“I-I don’t. I-I…” He looked around wildly. “Please. I have a daughter. She’s only four. Please, man. I don’t know anything. I’ll do anything.”
Fucking hell.
Five years ago, if he’d have told me he had a kid, I’d have shot him twice to save the kid the burden of knowing him, but now I had Ellis, and I couldn’t imagine the pain she’d be in if she lost one of us.
“If I let you go, you will come to me with any information you have,” I said in a low voice. “On anything. On everything. I want to know if any of the big guys in this city take a shit. You got it?”
He nodded, his eyes wide. “I will. Anything you need.”
“Well, you’ll need to take a beating to remind you of what happens when you fail me,” I said.
He cried softly, but he nodded.
I rose to my feet and struck him hard across the face before Levin joined in on his beating.
When we were done, we loaded his unconscious ass into the trunk before dropping him back off in a side alley inside old Ivanov territory.
He looked like he was coming to, so I expected I’d be hearing from him soon.
“Anyone ever tell you that you’ve gotten soft?” Levin asked as we got back into my car.
“No.”
“Well, old man, you’re soft as shit,” Levin said as we settled in.
I smirked at him as I started the engine.
“No, son, I’ve just learned that to catch flies, sometimes you have to use shit, and Kyle is shit.”
Levin huffed out a laugh as we drove off.
I really did enjoy bonding with him.