Chapter 30 Cole
THIRTY
COLE
Sometime between the engagement party and last Wednesday, I’d finally lost my mind.
I knew this because I’d killed more people in that amount of time than I’d had sex in my life. That was saying something.
The butt of my gun collided with the prick’s face in front of me, my chest heaving.
“Fuck you,” he spat, his face busted to hell as he glared up at me from his chair where he was restrained. “Piece of shit!”
“Tell me who crashed our fucking party,” I snarled at him. “Or you’ll think these last few hours were just child’s play.”
He let out a bark of laughter. “You know what’s so fucking funny about all of this? Hm?”
“Do tell.” I glared down at him as Enzo stood somewhere in the background.
“Your enemies are your fucking friends. You’re just too fucking stupid to realize it.
” He let out a loud cackle. “You think you’re top of the food chain.
You’re wrong. You’re so fucking wrong. You’re just a light snack for the real ones in power.
” He laughed loudly again. “Guns and glory, am I right?”
I shot a look over to Enzo, who took a step forward.
He kneeled in front of the Russian fuckwit in front of us and pulled out his knife. The man instantly fell silent, fear flashing in his dark eyes. Enzo’s reputation with his knife was rapidly growing.
“You’re going to tell me what we want to know,” Enzo said in a dark, terrifying tone. “Or I’m going to make an example out of you. A fucking big one. Do you understand?”
I guess I wasn’t the only one who’d lost his mind. We were both fucked. I had no way to ground myself either.
I’d only seen Rosalie while she slept lately. Colten and Jamie kept her company.
Or Dominic De Santis did.
I’d be lying if I said that didn’t put me on edge, but Enzo said it was fine and didn’t bat an eyelash at it.
I, however, had reservations. I knew Dom loved Bianca, but I also knew Dom was a ladies’ man and too damn pretty.
I knew he had texted Rosalie, and the pair were bonding.
While I appreciated that he was helping her through this and was also letting his guys help us in our search, I was still apprehensive.
It was more to do with me being a jealous, possessive prick than anything to do with Rosalie.
That and the fact that Bianca was gone, and Dom was lonely. Rosalie was lonely.
Shit happened when people got lonely.
At least it did in my head.
It was making me more insane. The thought of her sweet smile and soft words given to someone else was making me batshit crazy.
I was making up wild scenarios in my head. I blamed it on the stress I was under. We had no fucking clue where Fox and E were. None. Every rock we overturned had nothing beneath. Even the underground was silent from what we could glean.
It wasn’t looking good. Each day, not finding them made us just a little worse. I was scared at some point that everything would go to hell.
“I don’t know where your men are,” the guy said, trembling as Enzo twirled his knife.
“Don’t lie to me.” Enzo jammed his knife into the man’s leg, making him howl wildly. I watched as he twisted it, the blood oozing out amid the man’s screams. Enzo had become a lot darker and twisted over the last few weeks. He wasn’t himself. He was withdrawing from everything, me included.
And Rosalie.
He wouldn’t even check on her at night anymore. He’d become obsessed with finding Fox and E. With killing anyone who breathed too close to Ivanov’s men.
“I don’t fucking know where your cunts are,” the man moaned out. “Fuck you, De Luca! Did your daddy scream when the bullet hit his heart? Huh?”
Enzo snarled and removed the knife, his chest heaving.
“Or was it your whore of a mother begging to live? I heard she was fucked and then killed. I bet her pussy was so fucking tight. You think her pussy was tight? I bet it was almost as tight as your pretty little Rose’s—” His words were cut short as Enzo slammed his knife deep into his throat.
The man writhed and garbled in his seat. Enzo’s face twisted in madness, his teeth showing, as he forcefully began to cut the man down his center.
It was too gruesome. I had to look away.
That didn’t help because the man’s blood pooled at my feet.
If I thought Enzo would stop, I was wrong.
When minutes passed with continued awful tearing and gushing sounds, I finally turned around to find he’d practically dismantled the man.
“Hey,” I said, swallowing thickly as I took in Enzo staggering back, his fingers twisted in the man’s hair. The issue was that the head was no longer attached to the body, and bits of him were scattered about.
“Enzo, hey,” I said, my pulse roaring in my ears. I’d never seen him lose it like this before.
I reached for him and dragged him into my arms. The head he was holding fell to the floor with a sickening splat before it rolled against my foot. I shuddered and kicked it away like fucking head soccer before I wrapped my arms around him.
He shook as he clung to me, completely covered in blood. It looked like he’d fucking bathed in it.
“I don’t know what to do,” he choked out. “Cole… Help me.”
“I got you, brother. It’s OK,” I murmured, looking over his shoulder at the few men we had in the room. I gave a quick gesture for them to clean this shit up. Elijah and his men scurried forward, and I managed to lead Enzo away.
“You need sleep,” I continued softly. “We both do. You never sleep.”
“Because I have to find them. If I don’t…” His voice shook as he stared at me. Bits of the man’s flesh clung to him amid all the splatters of blood.
“We’ll find them—”
“When do we decide it’s been long enough? When do we just… give up and accept—”
“Never,” I cut him off. “We never give up. Fox and E are counting on us. Rosalie is counting on us. We will save them. Don’t give up hope.”
“They’re dead,” Enzo whispered. “Fox… he told me this would happen. I didn’t listen. Fuck, man, why didn’t I listen? Rosalie…” He wept softly, his body shaking.
“She’s waiting for us at home. Let’s go see her—”
“No. I-I can’t even look at her. Not until I fix this. I-I can’t. I have to make this right.”
“Enzo, she needs us too.”
He shook his head and wiped his eyes. “It-It’s over. I have to finish this.” He turned abruptly as if his entire breakdown had never happened and began barking orders to bring him the next man.
And me?
I pulled my phone out and stared down at the image of my Rosebud on my lockscreen. In it, I was kissing her cheek, and she was smiling.
She didn’t smile anymore.
Maybe Enzo was right.
It was over.
I wiped hastily at the tears pooling in my eyes before drawing in a deep breath and pulling my gun out.
This would be another long night without my Rosebud. It felt like something I should get used to.