Chapter 18 - Rosalie
EIGHTEEN
ROSALIE
“Where’s Enzo?” I asked Cole as I stopped in front of him. I’d spent the last hour dancing with Jamie and trying to forget about all the stuffy jerks around us.
“He went to talk to his parents.” Cole’s blue eyes skirted over my cleavage.
I gave him a bashful smile, making him smirk back at me.
“I like this dress,” he said. “I’m going to fuck you in it later.”
“Shh.” I looked around quickly, hoping no one heard him.
“White looks good on you, Rosebud. It would look better on my bedroom floor, though.”
“Cole,” I reprimanded, my face heating.
He chuckled again before he rested his hand on my lower back, his lips at my ear.
“No? Bathroom floor? I can lock the door. There’s one right down the hall. All I can think about is fucking my best friend’s girl—”
“Easy there, Casanova,” Fox said, clapping Cole on the shoulder. “I can see your hard-on through your pants.”
“Good.” Cole grinned at him. “Biggest one in the room.”
Fox snorted at him. “You wish, Scott.”
“Wanna sword fight, Foxy? Winner gets to fuck my a—”
I didn’t get to hear the rest of what he said because Fox dragged me to the dance floor.
“He’s a menace,” Fox said, laughing softly.
“He is, but I love him.”
“Me too.” Fox breathed out. “You look beautiful, Rosie. I can’t take my eyes off you. You’re the most beautiful woman in this place. Maybe Cole is onto something.” Fox slowly danced me to a darkened corner of the room near a ficus tree.
“What are we doing?” I whispered.
“Canoodling,” he replied, brushing his lips against my cheek. I knew the show was supposed to be that I belonged only to Enzo here, but I liked Fox doing this with me.
“We can’t canoodle,” I said, smiling up at him. “Later. When this is over.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” He kissed me sweetly again before releasing me. “I need to find Enzo anyway so we can get this dinner portion over with. Try to keep Cole at bay. I’ll tell E to protect you.”
I grinned at him as he released my hands and left me in the quiet corner of the room. I drew in a deep breath, needing the calm. Today had been a good day so far. Everything was going to plan, and we were nearly done.
I wandered to the bathroom and freshened up a little bit before coming back out to see everyone still dancing and mingling, the quartet still playing a sweet tune.
I wish my mom and dad were there. This was something I always dreamed of sharing with them. Now, though, I didn’t even know what to wish for because my mom wasn’t my mom.
But she still was.
I needed to call her and tell her I loved her. It didn’t matter to me that she wasn’t my real mom. She was the only real thing I knew, and she raised me. I didn’t want her to hurt like I was hurting, so I vowed to call her tomorrow.
But, damn it, I also wish I could talk to my real mom. I wanted to know her. I wanted to know what she looked like. Hear the way she sounded. To know if she would have loved me…
And I needed to tell the guys. I just needed time to deal with it myself before I shared it with them.
I wiped quickly at my eyes, forcing all the emotions down. It took me a few minutes to get myself under control, but when I did, I felt loads better.
I turned around to find myself face-to-face with Cole.
“Cole.” I laughed as he wrapped his arms around me.
“Rosebud,” Cole said, laughing. “Mm, I love you, baby.”
“I love you, too,” I said, deciding to hell with it. I went in for the kiss, capturing his lips with mine. I caught Jamie heading across the room toward us.
Cole released me and swayed us to the music.
“I knew you wanted me. I could tell from across the room.”
“You really are a menace,” I said with a soft chuckle.
“I’m your menace, baby. Don’t you forget it.” He swept his lips quickly along mine again.
Jamie had reached us and was recording the interaction, a grin on her face.
“Rosalie, Fox is looking for you,” she said.
“Are you recording us?” I laughed, grateful I had her. She’d only been here a few days, and already I felt more human than I had in weeks.
I moved away from Cole, but he dragged me right back to him and kissed me again.
“You know it,” she said as I tried to untangle myself amid Cole’s soft laughter. “I’m making a video scrapbook.”
Cole buried his face in my neck and breathed in deeply. He was so damn feral.
Fox approached and reached for me.
“Cole, seriously, I’m taking her,” Fox said, smoothing his dark suit down. I loved the way the guys looked in suits. It almost made me forget all my problems.
Fox tore me away from Cole, who grumbled his discontentment.
“Rosie, I need to borrow you for a moment,” Fox said.
I raised my brows at him.
“You aren’t borrowing shit if I don’t get to come,” Cole said, smirking at us.
I bit back a laugh. Cole was… something. I glanced at Jamie to see that she was still recording the interaction, a smile on her face. I bet we were amusing. She always asked me how I dealt with the four of them.
“Really? Here? Right now?” Jamie asked, shaking her head at Cole, who only grinned back at her.
“No.” Fox laughed. “Mrs. De Luca needs her. I promised I’d bring her back to her.”
“Mm, so my horsemen don’t want me?” I teased, trying to keep my mind off all my heartbreak.
“Baby, you know we do,” Fox murmured, leaning in to kiss along my jaw.
He lowered his voice, his lips at my ear. “I’m going to love every inch of you once we’re out of here. I promise you that.”
Cole moved to sandwich me between him and Fox. Cole’s lips brushed against the shell of my ear.
“Don’t listen to him, Rosebud. I’m the one who is going to wreck you later.” Cole nipped at my ear.
Jamie shot me a knowing look before leaving us alone.
“Mm, I love you both,” I said. “But I need to find Marissa and see what Enzo is up to. You keep me back here like this, people are going to start talking.”
“Let them,” Cole said, but he moved away so I could free myself from the pair.
“I’ll be back,” I said, moving away from them. Both watched me back away.
“Marissa was in the hallway,” Fox said, giving me his sweet smile.
“I’ll be back. Hold all those dirty thoughts for me,” I said.
“Fuck, Rosebud, I’ll be holding my dick along with those thoughts,” Cole said thickly.
I chuckled at him and walked away, honestly wanting this party to be over so we could go home. Now that we were doing this and I’d experienced such an event, I should have taken Enzo up on his offer to elope.
I made my way to the hall and found Marissa coming out of the bathroom, looking beautiful in her blue gown.
“Hey,” I greeted her, slowing as I took in the unease on her face. “What’s wrong? Where’s Enzo?”
“I’m not sure. He-He said he needed air. We haven’t seen him. Fox said he hadn’t either. Have you…?”
“No.” I shook my head, my pulse kicking up a notch. Fear raced over my skin. “What happened?”
“Ah, just some family stuff—”
The sounds of gunfire cut off her voice.
“Oh my god,” she choked out, gripping my arm tightly. “Anthony. Emilio. Find Enzo!” She released me and raced away as I stood frozen for another moment, as more gunfire rang out.
My guys. Jamie.
The screams were deafening as I rushed back to the room to find it filled with smoke. Everything was a thick haze. My head felt fuller and stranger with each lungful of air I dragged in.
“Enzo! Enzo!” I screamed into the mayhem. “Fox! Foxy! Cole! E-Ethan!” I let out a choked cough as more gunfire sounded out.
There was no way anyone would hear me over the screams and gunfire. I caught a glimpse of men in white masks, dressed in black.
Then, more men, but in black ski masks.
I was shoved aside and fell over as guests continued to scream and stampede.
Enzo’s men were firing into the crowd.
Mayhem.
Chaos.
Hell.
This was hell.
I got to my feet and pushed through the crowd before finally spotting Fox, his gun out, his blue eyes wild as he shot at the intruders.
His eyes caught mine, and he raced toward me, pure terror on his face.
But it was too late.
A burning ache blistered its way through my body. I stood in the center of the room, madness around me, everything happening in slow motion.
I looked down at my stomach to see my blood blossoming over my white dress. Carefully, I placed a shaky hand over the mess before I looked at all the red on my hand. My pulse roared in my ears.
“No! NO!” Fox shouted, reaching me and taking me to the ground as the gunfire continued to erupt around us. “Rosie! No! Baby, please,” he wept as he pressed his hand to my stomach.
“Foxy?” I choked out, tears leaking from my eyes as I rapidly tried to blink them away.
“Rosie,” he rasped. “No. Please.”
“It hurts,” I whispered. “I-I hurt. I-I’m s-sorry.”
“It’s OK. It’s OK.” Tears streaked down his face as he stared into my eyes. “You’re going to be OK. Breathe, OK? Don’t stop. Fuck, Rosie. Please. Don’t stop. I-I can’t lose you. I-I can’t. Please, baby.”
My bottom lip trembled as the pain increased.
I reached out and cradled his face as he sobbed softly, his hand still on my wound.
“Go,” I choked out, the burning so intense in my stomach I thought I might vomit. “Don’t stay for me. I-I need you to go. Please, Foxy. Run.”
“No,” he said fiercely, his lips trembling. “I go where you go. If it’s to heaven, baby, so be it. I’ll meet you on the mountaintop where the sky kisses the peak.”
“Foxy. I-I love you. I always have. Always will. I want you to-to know that. I-In case…”
More tears streamed down his face, and for a moment, the world was silent around us.
And then he was torn away from me, his blue eyes wild. I cried out, trying to reach for him, but a ski-masked man raised his gun and pulled the trigger.
Fox jerked back, and I knew.
Another gunshot rang out, and Fox went to his knees, his chest heaving.
I watched, horrified, as his gun fell from his hand. Two more men grabbed him before he slumped forward.
“Foxy! Fox!” I rasped, my voice barely audible in the commotion of the room. “FOX!”
But he didn’t answer me.
“Fox! Please! Fox!”
Nothing.
The men dragged him away, the smoke filling in where he used to be.
My heart shattered as I rolled onto my stomach and tried to crawl, my blood trailing behind me.
I wasn’t going to make it. I would fight heaven and hell to get him back, though. I couldn’t lose him, like he couldn’t lose me.
Please, god, no. Please, don’t take him from me. Please… I’ll do anything. Anything!
I let out a cry as someone tripped over me. Then I was stepped on, pushing me to the ground as guests rushed through the smoke to get away.
In the distance, I saw Marissa on the floor, her eyes fixed in place, her body lifeless. My heart shattered further.
No, please…
Enzo. Cole. Ethan. FOX. PLEASE!
There were so many bodies. So much blood.
I cried out as fingers twisted in my hair and tugged me to my knees.
“Look what I found,” a man snarled through his mask. “Cousin.”
I was too weak to fight him off and had no idea what he was talking about.
“Too bad you’re dying. I’d have loved to fuck you at least once.
” He dropped me to the floor before landing a solid kick into my side, which curled me up into a tight ball.
He did it again and again until I really thought it was the end.
He landed a fierce kick to my face, making the blood gush freely.
I stopped moving; the pain was too intense.
He disappeared into the smoke as I choked out my guys’ names softly, my blood pooling slowly around me.