Chapter 7 Anson #2
“Give me a quarter pound.”
E paused and turned back to me. “Did Enzo sign you on to sell for him, too?”
I scoffed. “No. It’s for me. And Drake. I smoked a bunch of his. He doesn’t want to come and ask for any because he thinks you guys will contain him and call the kings.”
E chuckled. “That’s a very big possibility. Enzo is pissed at him. We all are. We don’t know what the hell he was thinking betraying the kings after everything.”
“Yeah, well, we all do stupid shit for love,” I muttered.
E weighed out a bag before handing it off to me.
“How much?”
“Free.”
“Seriously, E. How fucking much? I’m not taking shit for free. I’ll leave it if that’s the case.”
He sighed. “It’s twenty-five hundred.”
I whistled at the price but dug out my wallet and handed him the cash. He took it and placed it inside a little cash box before turning back to look at me.
“What happened between you and Rosalie?”
“Nothing,” I laughed at the irony of it.
“I know my girl, man. She’s moping around here. What happened between you guys? You’ve been gone. That’s not like you.”
“Do you really think I’m going to walk into your house and tell you I tried to fuck your girl, Masters?” I let out a bitter laugh. “You’re mafia. Dangerous. To be feared. One of the horsemen. Nah. Nothing happened. Nothing worth talking about.”
“Did you try to fuck my girl, Beyers?” E stared at me, his brows crinkling.
I laughed again and shook my head. “I tried. I failed. Now shit is weird. Don’t tell Cole. He might get pissed.”
I turned to leave, but E called out to me.
“I’m pissed.”
I sighed and spun around to face him. “And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it. It was a last-ditch effort to save the world. Guess I’m not a hero. I’m more like a villain in your story. Trying to take your girl and all that.”
“She turned you down?” His voice wobbled. I could tell he was angry about what I’d tried to do. While I knew I’d have his blessing if Rosalie wanted me to join, doing shit behind his back was clearly not something he approved of.
“Yeah. She turned me down.”
“How far did you get?” his voice was soft, his hands balled into tight fists.
“E, man, don’t do this. It doesn’t matter. She told me no.”
“How fucking far did you get?” He glared at me, his voice rising.
“Not far, OK? I-I asked her. She pretty much told me to go fuck myself. She made it abundantly clear to me that you guys are it for her, and there’s no way I’ll ever be part of your group.
She told me to let her go, so I’m doing that.
I’m done. I didn’t get her naked. Didn’t even kiss her.
I told her to kiss me, and then she told me to fuck off.
So off I fucked. And here I am. Still fucked. ”
He stepped closer to me until we were face-to-face.
“I like you a hell of a lot, Anson. I’ve defended you more times than I can count. I even tried to get Enzo and Cole to let you join us. For you to keep trying when you know the answer?” He shook his head at me. “Fucking disappointing. It could get your ass killed.”
I blinked at him. “Are you threatening me?”
“I’m promising you that you’re fucking with the wrong family. Cole is looking for a reason. Don’t give him one.”
I nodded. “I won’t.”
I turned to leave, but he called out to me again.
“Anson?”
I paused and looked over my shoulder at him.
“Even if you are better for her, don’t take her from us. Promise me?”
I swallowed hard. “Promise.”
I left the room and went back upstairs, only to run straight into Rosalie as I rounded a corner.
She cried out and fell back, but I reached out and caught her at the waist, dropping my bag of sugar in the process.
“Ani?” She stared up at me.
“Hey, songbird,” I murmured, my heart pounding hard and fast. Fucking goddamnit. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to run into you.”
“What are you doing here?” She stared up at me as I righted her on her feet. As much as it pained me, I released her and backed away to scoop up my bag of sugar from the floor.
Her lips turned down as she took in what I had in my hands.
“Are you selling for Enzo?”
“No. This is mine.”
“You’re getting high?”
I sighed and tugged at my hair. “Sometimes. Yeah. It’s been a tough couple of weeks. Stress relief and all that.”
“I don’t think you should—”
“Rosalie, not to be a dick or anything, but it’s not any of your business what I do in my spare time,” I said, hating myself as the words poured out of me. As much as I wanted to stop them, I couldn’t. I was fucking hurting and ready to break. I knew I shouldn’t have come here. Fuck me, though.
She visibly swallowed. She looked sad. Exhausted. Her eyes were bloodshot, like she’d been crying, and her nose was red. “You’re right. It’s not. I’m sorry.” She backed away from me.
“Fuck. I’m sorry. It’s just—” I stepped toward her, my arm out to hold her, ready to burn it to the ground again because clearly I was a fucking idiot who didn’t learn. Fuck the promise I’d made to E, not even five minutes prior. Fuck the promise to myself to keep walking.
The front door opened, and Cole came into the room with Enzo and Fox.
“Why the fuck are you here?” Cole demanded, the smile falling off his face. “I don’t recall ordering a piece of shit to be delivered to my house.”
I let my hand drop back to my side.
“I came to pick up some sugar,” I said, stepping away from Rosalie.
“That’s a lot of product,” Enzo commented, nodding to my bag. “You’re not trying to sell, are you? Do you need some money? I can set you up if you want to push for us.”
“No.” I shook my head. “This is for me. And Drake. I smoked his. I owe him, so I came to pick some up from E.”
“Oh.” Enzo frowned. “Drake?”
Fucking hell. I should have just bought another fifth of whiskey and called it a night.
I sighed. “Yeah.”
“You’ve been hanging out with Drake? Come on.” Enzo nodded to his office.
I ground my teeth but followed him, Fox and Cole behind us. When we were inside, I took a seat on the sofa and stared at him as he sat in his chair.
“What’s going on with Matteo taking Bianca?” Enzo asked. “We received a call from Dom, who told us that Matteo had bargained for her, and she went. That this entire fold bullshit with Levin was just a fucking farce to get Bianca, and that Drake betrayed the kings. They’re out for blood.”
“I don’t know shit about it,” I said. “Matteo doesn’t tell me anything about the inner workings.”
“Liar.” Cole glared at me. “You’re working with Drake. You just said yourself you’ve been with him enough to smoke through his stash. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I snapped.
Cole pulled his gun out and pointed it at my head. “Speak, motherfucker.”
“Cole, I swear if you don’t put that fucking gun away, I’m going to shove it so far up your ass your fucking grandma will feel it,” I snarled at him.
Cole let out a laugh and stepped in front of me. He pressed the barrel to the center of my forehead and glared down at me.
“Cole, enough,” Fox shouted.
Enzo said nothing, simply watching the scene unfold.
I was over this shit. The misery and ache were too much. I didn’t even fucking care anymore.
“You know what? Fucking do it. Pull the trigger, Cole. I don’t give a fuck anymore!
Do it! You want me dead so fucking much, then don’t be a fucking pussy.
PULL THE FUCKING TRIGGER!” I shouted at him, grabbing his hand around the gun and pressing my head harder against the barrel.
“Kill me. Put me out of my fucking misery. If you don’t, I might be a big fucking problem for you someday. Do it. Fucking do it!”
“I hate you more than I’ve ever hated anyone in my entire life,” Cole snarled at me softly. “I have prayed for your death since the moment you walked into our lives.”
“Then kill me,” I whispered. “Do it already.”
We stared at one another, no one in the room moving an inch. Cole’s hand shook as he continued to hold the gun to my head.
“I hate you,” he choked out, his bottom lip trembling. “I fucking hate you. You deserve to die.”
“So do you,” I whispered. “If I deserve to die, then bring Death to me. Pull the trigger. Make me go away.”
“Cole, put the gun down,” Fox said gently. “This will hurt Rosie. Don’t hurt her. Please. I’m begging you, man. Walk away.”
Cole didn’t move, aside from the shaking in his hand. I closed my eyes and breathed out, waiting for him to make my pain go away.
The door to the office opened.
“Cole?” Rosalie called out, her voice trembling. I heard her rush toward us and opened my eyes. “What are you doing? What’s happening?”
Fox grabbed Rosalie and pulled her away. She fought him, trying to get to us.
Fox let out a groan as Rosalie elbowed him in the gut before driving her heel onto the top of his foot. Enzo finally tried to help, but he wasn’t fast enough.
“Rosalie, NO!” I shouted.
She didn’t hesitate. She rushed forward and tackled Cole. The surprising hit sent him off-kilter. The gun went off, the bullet whizzing just past my head, narrowly missing me.
Cole fell to the ground, Rosalie on top of him. She pummeled him with her fists, screaming obscenities at him as she sobbed.
I stumbled to my feet, my ears ringing. The door to the office banged open, and Enzo’s men rushed in with E, guns raised.
Fox groaned, rubbing his foot as Cole and Rosalie fought on the ground.
“You good?” Enzo asked, taking me by the shoulders and giving me a quick shake. “Anson? You OK?”
I grunted and nodded, shoving him aside to go to Rosalie. Cole’s nose was bleeding, and he was trying to restrain her arms, but she kept freeing herself. The gun lay nearby on the floor.
Matteo and his men had taught her well. If the situation weren’t so fucked, I’d have applauded her.
I managed to untangle her from Cole and hauled her against me.
“It’s OK. Everything is OK,” I said on repeat to her. “Stop. LeeLee. Please. Everything is fine.”
She shook in my arms.
“Rosebud,” Cole called out, sitting up and wiping the blood from his nose. “Fuck. Hey.” He stumbled to his feet and tugged her away from me. “I’m sorry. Hey, look at me.” He tilted her chin up.
Tears were on her cheeks. Fuck, my heart hurt.
“It was a misunderstanding. That’s all. I-I wasn’t going to. I was just upset.”
“You have to stop, Cole. I picked you. I chose you,” she whispered. “Just stop. Please. I’m begging you. I’m fucking begging you!”
“I know, baby. I know. I’m sorry.” Cole hugged her against him as she sobbed. “Fuck, Rosebud. I’m sorry. I love you.”
Fox glanced at me as I grabbed my sugar.
The look on his face told me what I needed to know.
I should go before I made shit worse. I didn’t belong with them.
Cole had been screaming it at me for months, but it took this instance for me to realize Rosalie really was all in with these guys.
She even told Cole she chose him. That was her saying flat out, again, there wasn’t a chance in hell.
Maybe a small part of me was trying to cling to any possibility there was, but I couldn’t keep doing this to myself. It was killing me.
“I’m going to go,” I muttered, backing away from the scene. Rosalie didn’t even look at me. Her attention was on Cole as his nose continued to bleed on her.
At least she’d hit him in the face for me. That offered me some relief since he deserved it for the shit he’d pulled tonight.
“We’ll talk soon,” Enzo said to me, his face stony.
Fucking perfect.
I gave him a curt nod and pushed past E before leaving the house. Once I was back inside my car. I punched the dashboard, screaming out my heartache. My chest heaved as I tried to rake in even breaths.
Fuck, why couldn’t anything ever work out for me?