Chapter 20 Cole
TWENTY
COLE
The entire building was coming down.
I shot so many cocksuckers my finger ached. And I still couldn’t find my Rosebud.
“We have to fucking go!” I shouted at Enzo.
Fuck. His parents were dead. He was a fucking mess. Finding him clutching his mother’s hand and sobbing her name wasn’t on my fucking bingo card for the day, but here we were.
And we couldn’t find Rosalie.
I knew Fox. He likely got her out. I repeated it to myself as we continued to shoot anyone in a black ski mask.
“Rosalie,” Enzo choked out. “We can’t go without her. We need to find her. And E. He was right fucking here! Where is he?” Enzo’s voice shook as he killed another person in a black mask. “Ethan! E!”
“He’s OK. E is probably with Fox,” I said, my voice shaking. “They probably have Rosalie.”
“I’m not leaving until I have them,” Enzo said, jerking his arm away from me as I tried to pull him to the exit. “Fuck off, Scott! I promised! I fucking promised to protect them!”
He was right. I was living in a land of make-believe, hoping they got out. I knew better. This place was a fucking tomb.
Movement caught my attention, and I stared as Anson came through the smoke, his guns blazing as he killed anyone left with a pulse and in a black mask.
I’d never really seen him in action before, unless one counted when he was punching me in the face.
He swooped in, dressed in black, the very fucking epitome of what they referred to as the Archangel. If I didn’t know the asshole, I’d probably have been terrified seeing him storm through fire and smoke with his guns out and that look in his eyes.
What the fuck was he even doing here?
I tapped Enzo on the arm as we ducked behind a table.
“Anson,” I shouted. “He’s here.”
Before Enzo could say anything, Anson slid in next to us, bullets whizzing past.
“Rosalie,” Enzo started.
“I got her out,” Anson replied, a grim expression on his face. “She was shot. Ryder took her to the hospital.”
I swear my blood drained from my body at his words.
I reached out and grabbed him, shaking him violently.
“Tell me. Was she talking? Was she OK?” My heart pounded so hard I thought I’d pass the fuck out.
Anson visibly swallowed. “No, man. She wasn’t. She’s bad. We need to get the fuck out of here.”
“My parents. Fox. E…” Enzo said as gunfire continued to erupt.
“We need to go,” Anson repeated, his voice shaking in the commotion. “We can’t hold them off. The police are coming. We need to leave. I looked. I didn’t see Fox or E. Rosalie needs us.”
“We can’t leave Fox and E,” I said, my chest tight.
“If they’re here, they’re already dead,” Anson snarled back at me. “If we fucking stay, we’ll join them.”
I glared at him, hating his words. My heart was shattering, but he was right. I knew he was.
“Enzo, come on,” I said, grabbing his arm, but he tugged away from me.
I watched in horror as he crawled across the bloody ballroom floor to his mother’s dead body and pressed his lips to her forehead.
“Fuck,” Anson growled, popping his head out to take out a guy headed for Enzo.
I took the opportunity to go to Enzo.
He fought me as I dragged him away from his mom, the gunfire whizzing past us as Anson and I shot, Enzo struggling in my hold.
If ever was a time to shoot fucking Ass Hat in the face and blame it on someone else, now was that time.
I focused on getting us out of there, though.
When we reached the back door, I kicked it open and hauled Enzo out. He’d lost his fight and was now just shell-shocked, like he’d completely fucking checked out on us.
I tossed his keys to the Escalade to Anson, who rushed over to it and got inside. Moments later, he pulled up next to us as I shot two masked men coming out of the back door.
I managed to pile Enzo into the backseat with me before Anson squealed out of the parking lot.
“My parents are dead,” Enzo said, his voice shaking. “My parents…”
I winced. “Enzo. Man…”
“They’re dead,” he whispered, tears rolling down his face. “And my Sunshine. Fox. E. Fuck. Fuck.” He rocked in his seat before he tugged at his hair. “I promised to keep them safe. I failed. I don’t understand. I did everything…”
I caught Anson checking on him in the rearview mirror. I hated that the prick was here for this meltdown. Enzo never fucking swayed, but here he was, my best friend fucking breaking to pieces.
I was barely holding it together.
“Was Rosalie with Jamie?” I called out to Ass Hat.
“I found Rosalie in a puddle of her blood in the middle of the floor. Alone.”
I swallowed hard at his harsh words, my guts twisting.
“Fuck you, man,” I snapped at him. “Not now.”
He glared at me through the rearview mirror before pulling the Escalade into the emergency room lot. He took the keys out and threw them at me before vacating, leaving me alone with Enzo.
I watched Anson run across the parking lot and into the hospital.
I really fucking hated him and regretted not shooting him when I had the chance.
“Rosalie,” Enzo whispered, opening the door. “I have to… my girl.”
I helped him out, my arm around his waist as I tried to steer him into the hospital.
“You’re bleeding. You’re fucking shot, Enzo.”
“I-I know. My leg. My-My arm. It’s fine. Just a graze.”
I helped him inside, knowing it was a bit more than a graze. There was too much fucking blood for a graze.
“I need help,” I shouted. “He’s shot.”
A nurse rushed forward with a wheelchair, and I helped settle Enzo in. They wheeled him away from me before I could tell him goodbye.
My heart pounding, I went to the nurses’ station and gave them his information.
“I’m looking for Rosalie Bishop,” I said when I was done. “Please. She’s my girlfriend. She was brought in not long ago. She was shot too…”
“She was taken into surgery. Take a seat in the waiting room, and we’ll update you. I suggest calling family,” the nurse said, looking past me as the doors to the ambulance bay opened and EMS poured in with more patients from the party.
I stepped away, my heart aching, and saw Anson standing with Ryder and Trent.
He glared at me but didn’t try to approach.
I sank into my chair and sobbed softly, my head in my hands. I was alone.
I’d never been so fucking alone in my life.
Please, God, if you’re listening, save my family. Fuck. Save my family…