38. Ethan
THIRTY-EIGHT
ETHAN
I sat on the couch while Fox paced the room, his phone pressed to his ear as he called Rosalie for what had to be the hundredth time this morning. Enzo was doing the same but trying to reach Cole instead.
Neither had responded.
I’d woken with Enzo to find Rosalie gone. Cole’s car was gone, too. Fox said he hadn’t heard anything. I’d expected Fox to run off with her into the night, not Cole.
The very real fear of something being wrong was eating at me.
It wasn’t like Cole to not reach out to us.
Enzo left the room after redialing Cole, and I sat looking at my phone to see if I’d missed any calls or texts.
Nothing.
Moments later, Enzo came back into the room and tossed two phones onto the coffee table.
Fox moved his phone away from his ear.
“They left their phones. She’s not wearing her jewelry. Nothing. I have no fucking way to find them,” Enzo’s voice trembled. “The men said they were instructed to stand down by Cole yesterday morning. We’ve got nothing.”
I looked to Fox, my heart in my throat.
“Cole is smart. He’s tough. I’m sure he’s fine,” Fox said thickly.
“Maybe Anson has heard from them,” I said, really hoping he had. I knew he wasn’t talking to Rosalie, but he was all over. I doubted he hadn’t been keeping tabs on her even in his absence.
Not waiting for an answer, I hit call on Anson’s name. It rang several times before going to voicemail. Frustrated, I called twice more before sending him a text I hoped he’d read.
Ethan: Rosalie and Cole are missing. They’ve been gone since yesterday. Have you heard anything?
“Maybe he’ll answer,” Fox murmured, visibly swallowing as Enzo sank onto a chair. Fox took a spot on the loveseat.
Within moments, my phone was ringing, Anson’s name on the screen. I glanced at the guys before answering.
“Hey—” I started, but Anson cut me off.
“I haven’t heard from Rosalie in ages. What happened?” Anson demanded, his voice shaking.
“We had a fight. When we woke, she was gone. So was Cole. Neither have their phones, and she’s not wearing her tracking jewelry. We don’t know where they are.”
Anson swore softly. “What can I do?”
“You’ve not heard anything?” I ventured.
“Had I, you’d already know it,” he said. “I’ll come over.”
“You don’t need to?—”
“I’ll be there in a minute.” The line disconnected. I looked to the guys.
“He’s on his way over. He hasn’t heard anything.”
Enzo scrubbed his hand down his face and said nothing while Fox gave me a nod. We sat in silence for what felt like forever, with no sense of where to go from here. Enzo had sent men out to look, but so far, no one had seen or heard from them.
It wasn’t like either of them to do this. I was nearing my breaking point.
If something happened to either of them…
“E, it’s going to be OK,” Fox called out, pulling me out of my morbid thoughts. “Cole would die to keep her safe.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I whispered thickly.
The doorbell rang, and Fox gave me a quick look before he went to answer it. Several long seconds later, he reappeared with Anson.
If I thought I was worried, it was nothing compared to the look on Anson’s face.
“Tell me everything,” he said.
I looked at Enzo, who finally pulled his hand away from his face. Fox took a seat on the loveseat, and Anson sat on the couch with me.
“We fucked up,” Enzo said. “She was upset.”
“What did you do?” Anson asked.
Enzo cleared his throat. “We met with Vander Veer. E wasn’t comfortable. Vander Veer brought women out. It got messy. I had to deal with Celeste, and Fox took E home.”
“I was messed up,” I said. “I couldn’t deal and took some sugar. I was blitzed out of my mind.” The sickness about how weak I was churned my guts.
“So you were out there entertaining other women, fucking around while Ethan was struggling, and she found out?” Anson shook his head, his words clipped with venom. “Nice fucking job.”
“It’s not like that,” Enzo snapped. “It wasn’t supposed to be.”
“Well, now you’ve lost your right-hand man and your fiancée.”
“She’s not his fiancée. She gave the ring back,” Fox murmured.
Anson froze. “What?”
“She’s pissed,” Enzo said sourly. “Or didn’t you catch that part?”
“It’s just unlike her and Cole to disappear,” I said, not wanting anyone to argue or fight. “We’re worried. It’s been over twenty-four hours.”
Anson got to his feet and paced the room for a moment before he walked back to the front door.
“Where are you going?” Enzo called out.
“To find Rosalie,” was all he said before the front door opened and closed, leaving us alone once more.
“We should go with him,” I said.
“We need to be here in case they come back,” Enzo said. “We’ve already been out half the night.”
I swallowed hard, my fear ramping up. I couldn’t fucking take this shit.
So I said a silent prayer, hoping my family would return home soon.
I dozed off on the couch after Enzo went to his office to make more calls. Fox had simply wandered off, presumably to Cole’s bedroom, to see if he’d left behind a clue to where the hell they’d gone off to. It had been almost two hours since Anson left, and we hadn’t heard from him.
The front door closing had me jerking awake. Cotton twitched on my lap and gave a big stretch before climbing off me to sit on another cushion.
Bleary-eyed, I stared as Cole came into the room with Rosalie.
Stumbling, I launched myself forward and shoved Cole hard in the chest.
“Where the fuck were you?” I demanded. I shoved him again, all this rage I’d been squashing down coming to a head.
“Stop—” Rosalie shouted as she tried to get between us.
I was wild with fury.
Cole moved Rosalie aside and faced me head-on. Not with a hit, but with a hug.
“I’m sorry,” he said, wrapping me in a bear hug. “I should have called. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
I sagged against him, hugging him back.
“You fucking asshole,” I choked out. “I thought something happened to you and Rosalie. Don’t ever do that to us again. I can’t deal with that shit.”
The worst-case scenarios had been running rampant over the last twenty-four hours. I’d even vomited before falling asleep on the couch.
Enzo and Fox came into the room then.
“Where the fuck were you?” Enzo demanded, coming forward. Fox moved quicker and grabbed Rosalie, hauling her into his arms and just rocking her. Cole released me, and I moved to Fox and Rosalie before pulling her away and into my arms.
She hugged me back, softly apologizing the entire time.
“Please. Don’t leave again. I can’t handle you being gone,” I rasped as I held her tightly.
“I’m sorry. Cole forgot to call last night.” Rosalie pulled away and brushed her lips against mine. “I should have made sure, but we fell asleep. We were in such a rush to get back, we didn’t even think about picking up a phone.”
“I’m sorry,” Cole said. “I am. I fucked up. I won’t do it again. I just needed to be with her. I reacted poorly.” He hung his head. I released Rosalie and went to him, pulling him in for a hug again. I was so relieved they were back that I didn’t even care about anything past that.
Enzo stepped over to Rosalie. We all turned to watch the exchange. I held my breath, sending out a silent prayer that she’d not reject him.
“I was scared,” Enzo murmured, looking down at her. He didn’t reach out to touch her. Instead, they stared at one another.
“Maybe you two should talk,” Fox said.
“Rosalie?” Enzo asked, his voice uncertain. “Can we talk?”
“Yeah, we need to.” She didn’t smile or anything at him, sending my fear spiking.
But they were going to talk, and that was something.
Enzo walked toward the hall to go to the office. Rosalie looked to us.
“Please, sweetheart,” I whispered.
She gave me a sad smile and a little nod before heading in Enzo’s direction.
We stood watching them go.
“Do you think we’ll be OK?” I asked when they were gone.
“Yes,” Cole said fiercely.
I looked at Fox. “Fox?”
He sighed. “Nothing good lasts forever, E, but let’s pray we’re the exception.”
He walked away, Cole following him.
I went back to the couch and scooped Cotton up, then cuddled him to me.
“It’ll be OK,” I murmured, really hoping I was right.