4. Enzo
FOUR
ENZO
I was exhausted.
Sitting in uncomfortable hospital chairs and watching friends crumble wasn’t what I called a good time.
But we stayed because that’s what friends do for each other. Vincent and Levin were falling apart. So was the girl with them.
Stella.
They ignored her for the most part, which I found odd considering how inconsolable she’d been when we’d arrived.
I assumed she meant something to them. I’d seen her clinging to Vincent, her arms wrapped tightly around him as they both cried.
Levin had joined them, making me wonder what the hell was going on with it all.
Maybe she was the girl they’d started seeing, but I highly doubted it.
I settled on her just being Bianca’s friend. A Jamie and Rosalie situation.
“I’ll take her back,” Fox said, glancing at her as she wiped her eyes again. “She has to be exhausted.”
“Thanks,” Vincent muttered, rubbing his eyes. “She’s hard to shake, though. Be careful.”
“I can handle her.” Fox stood and glanced at her again.
“Update me when you get to Rosalie,” I said. “I want updates the entire way to her. When you drop off Stella. When you get home. I want it all.”
“Of course,” Fox muttered, his eyes on Stella. He wasn’t often alone with other women these days. He said it was to be respectful to Rosalie, but I knew it was also because of his status and how shitty people could be. He didn’t want a scandal that could harm his football career.
“Be careful,” Cole said, looking to where Stella sat. “Beautiful women are a bitch, man.”
“I got it.” Fox went to Stella and spoke to her, his words soft. Whatever he said seemed to light a fire beneath her because she’d sworn earlier she wasn’t ever leaving. He escorted her out, his hand on her elbow.
I glanced to see E sitting with his eyes closed.
He was just as exhausted as I was. I knew he was struggling to stay awake so he didn’t have a damn nightmare in front of anyone.
I wanted him to go home but decided he’d be better here because we didn’t need him freaking out on Rosalie if he had an episode.
“Is she… yours?” I asked, looking at Levin.
He scoffed. “She wishes.”
“We used to mess around with her before B. She was fucking the lords, too,” Vincent explained. “It was never anything serious with us.”
“And now?” Cole asked.
Vincent shook his head. “No. Never since B has been with us. She’s just been helping us with Dom. He-he tried to get her to kill him. She wouldn’t do it. Shit got ugly over it.”
I winced at the information, wishing they’d have reached out to us. I wasn’t sure what we could have done to help, but I knew we’d have tried.
Cole engaged the guys in more conversation. Matteo. Dom. Plans for things. If they needed anything. I tuned them out and looked down at my phone to see Fox checking in with the Stella delivery. I watched his dot on the tracking map and saw he was on the way home again.
I rubbed my eyes before I thumbed out a message to Anson.
Enzo: Everything good?
Anson’s reply came quickly.
Anson: Yes.
I stared at his message, knowing he was working hard to get me information on Bianca.
I had a feeling something was up. I knew we’d seen the body, but it had been plaguing me since.
I’d never noticed a dark streak in Bianca’s hair before, but the corpse had one. It was enough for me to question shit.
I hadn’t told Fox and Ethan the deal I’d made with Anson.
Cole losing his fucking mind was enough to make me avoid it, but I knew Fox would likely accept it.
E would probably follow since he tended to pick his battles.
I’d not like it, but I’d accept it for a time if it came down to it.
I’d work to remedy it because his joining us would cause more harm than good.
Cole would never be able to accept it. Hell, I’d never accept it in the long term.
I hated that I was such a jealous, possessive prick, but it’s who I was when it came to her. The thought of her falling in love with someone else killed me inside. I didn’t want that. Ever. She was meant to be a horseman’s girl. Knowing Fox had let Anson in to watch… fuck, it tore me up.
Enzo: Any more information for me?
Anson: I’m working on it.
Enzo: Work faster.
I switched over to Rosalie.
Enzo: Are you well?
Her answer didn’t come as quickly as Anson’s. I scrubbed my hand down my face and switched to our security cameras. I left the bathrooms and bedrooms unwatched, but there were cameras all over the outside perimeter and the downstairs areas.
I pulled up the living room camera to find it empty. I moved to the kitchen to see her mixing a bowl of batter, her red hair in a tight ponytail. Anson sat on the stool across from her, texting someone. I kept the volume muted and continued to watch her.
She looked sad and just as tired as I felt.
This wasn’t easy on her. I hated that it wasn’t.
All I wanted to do was get this shit sorted so we could all go home to her. Anson shouldn’t be sitting in our kitchen, keeping her company. It was only pushing her closer to him.
I continued to watch her scoop the batter, no, dough, into rounded mounds on a baking pan, her mouth moving. She wasn’t talking, though. I turned the volume up and stepped away to hear her.
She was singing softly.
I took in the scene, listening to her voice rise and fall with the notes. Anson put his phone down, completely mesmerized by her.
I swallowed thickly as he joined in, his voice matching hers. They sang together for a few moments. It was a song I’d never heard, but of course I hadn’t. I wasn’t around enough to listen to her songs anymore.
The song was good. Incredible, even.
“Sunshine,” I murmured, watching as she gave Anson her pretty smile before she looked at her phone. She noticed my text, and her return message greeted me a second later.
Rosalie: I’m OK. How is everyone? Any news?
I minimized the surveillance video and sent her a message back.
Enzo: He’s still out. The doctors have him drugged. We’re going to stay again tonight. Fox is headed home now, though.
Rosalie: I miss you, but I’m glad the kings have you to help them through this.
I smiled at her message.
Enzo: I miss you, too, Sunshine. We’ll be home soon. Maybe you could sing for me.
Rosalie: I love you. So much. Be safe. You know I worry.
Come home when things are taken care of.
I don’t want you to think you need to abandon the kings for me.
They’re going through a lot and need friends right now.
I’m fine here at home with Ani. We’re making cookies.
I can have Fox take some to the hospital tomorrow so you guys can have some.
Enzo: I’d love that, baby. Be good, OK?
Rosalie: I will.
Enzo: I love you. See you soon, my ray of Sunshine.
She sent me back a kissy face before her messages stopped.
I watched her on the feed for another moment as she continued to dole out cookies to the pan before she went to the oven and slipped them inside.
Sitting next to Anson, she pushed a notebook at him, and he scribbled in it.
I zoomed in on the image to see that they were writing more music.
I used to write music with her. My heart clenched at the memory of better days.
I vowed to write some with her when I had some free time.
Sighing, I cut the feed and looked at Vincent and Levin. They sat beside one another and talked softly, their body language suggesting their relationship was very close. Cole had even picked up on it the last time we saw them. It was none of my business, so I didn’t ask.
“Everything good at home?” Cole asked, coming to stand with me.
I glanced to E to see his head lolling on his shoulder. He’d fallen asleep. We’d have to stick close in case he had a bad dream. Knowing how hard these damn chairs were, I highly doubted he’d get deep enough sleep to have a bad dream.
“It’s fine. She’s baking cookies.”
“I miss eating her cookies.” Cole rubbed his stomach. “I’m fucking starving, man. This hospital food is crap. Dom needs to wake his ass up and get better. This shit sucks dick, and not in a way that makes you want to call a chick back.”
I nodded grimly.
“Have you found anything out on Bianca?” Cole asked, his voice lowering.
“Nothing yet. But I feel like she’s still out there.”
“And Drake?”
“Hasn’t answered me. He’s in hiding, though. Who fucking knows if he even has a place to charge his phone.”
Cole nodded glumly. “I only want to go home, man. This shit is depressing. I know they’re our friends or whatever, but fuck. I miss Rosebud.”
“We’ll get it sorted.” I clapped him on the shoulder and looked to where Vincent and Levin were sleeping against one another.
Cole followed my gaze, and a tiny smirk cut his lips upward. “They’re fucking.”
I scoffed at him.
“I’m serious. They’re close. Good for them.” He looked back at me and raised his brows.
“What?” I frowned at him.
“I don’t know why we all don’t do that shit.”
“Here we go,” I muttered. “Rosalie will handle that for you. She had you squirming.”
“Hell yeah, she did.” His smile grew sad. “Fuck, I want to go home. Can I go home next? Let Fox stay? I haven’t seen her nearly enough lately. It’s driving me insane. I had to jerk off in the shitter today.”
“Really? You were jerking off in the bathroom in a hospital?”
He nodded. “Not like I can do anything else. You’re not exactly willing to get on your knees and suck my dick. Right?” He raised his brows at me.
“I’m not so hard up that I need to suck your cock, Cole.”
“That’s not a no.” He winked at me, making me chuckle and shake my head.
“You’re too wild. You can go home next if you promise to stop jerking it in the hospital bathroom.”
“Fucking deal.” He walked back to his seat and settled in next to E. I watched him gently shift E’s head so it rested comfortably against Cole’s shoulder. I smiled at the gesture.
We’d be home soon.
I was counting down the days.