Chapter 34 Enzo
THIRTY-FOUR
ENZO
My pulse raced as we made our way to Everett’s underground. I was well aware that it stretched across the city, but the hub was under Everett’s mansion.
We’d been in the middle of beating the shit out of another of Ivanov’s men when Anson’s call came in.
I was too busy jamming my knife into the prick to answer, but Cole did.
And now we were racing to the underground, my men at my back. I had no idea what we were going to walk in on, and honestly, I didn’t care. I was going to kill all of them.
“Hey, Colten,” Cole said into his phone as I drove. “Get Rosalie.”
I listened as Cole put his phone on speaker. I caught the tremble in both his hands and his voice. He’d been my fucking rock through all of this. I was losing my mind, but Cole was solid.
“Cole?” Rosalie’s soft, exhausted voice came on the line. The sound only made me tighten my hands on the steering wheel, determined to get Fox and E back in one piece.
“B-Baby, hey,” he said thickly. “Uh, we’re headed to the underground. We got word Everett Church has Fox and E.”
“What?” Her voice shook.
“We have men with us. I’m calling in case…” His voice trailed off.
“In case you leave me too,” she finished, her soft cries coming through the phone.
“I love you,” Cole said. “Forever, OK?”
“I love you,” she choked out. “Enzo?”
I ground my teeth. I hadn’t said two words to her in what felt like forever. It was easier that way. I couldn’t even look at her. The guilt was a disease that was eating at me.
All I knew was that I didn’t deserve her or any of the guys.
“We’ll call when we know something,” I said gruffly. “Until then, eat something.”
“I love you, Enzo,” she said, crying softly. “Please… tell me you love me too.”
“We’ll talk later.” I ground my teeth, hating hearing her soft sobs.
“Enzo loves you,” Cole said gently, his voice shaking. “We’ll see you tonight, OK? I’ll be in touch.”
“Please be careful. Please. Bring Foxy and E home. I want my family together.”
“I will, Rosebud. Go on. Take a bubble bath and wait for Foxy, OK? He’ll be with you soon.”
“OK,” she choked out before the line went dead.
“What the fuck is your problem?” Cole demanded in a deadly snarl. “She’s hurting too. She needs you—”
“The last fucking thing she needs is me,” I said, the words killing me. I wanted Rosalie like I wanted my next breath. Like I wanted Fox and E back. But this shit… I couldn’t get past it. There was no way.
“She loves you. Don’t you love her?” Cole stared at me, his eyes glassy.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I muttered. “Keep your head in the game right now. That’s what matters. Everything else we can talk about later.”
Cole grunted but didn’t say a word.
Moments later, I was whipping the Escalade into Everett’s drive and storming out with my men.
I kicked in his front door and moved forward, the sounds of gunfire coming from below.
I barked out commands to my men and surged forward, my guns out.
“Everett Church is to be captured alive!” I shouted. “I want that motherfucker. I want his fucking son too.”
And that was that. We descended to the lower levels, noting that the place seemed like it had already been fucked. Blood was on the walls. Bodies littered the hallways.
Clearly, Anson must have gotten here first, but I hadn’t seen his car in the drive.
I prayed he was here. For the first time, I had a surge of needing him.
Every room Cole and I cleared had already been handled, so we continued to make our way lower and lower into the nightmare of the underground.
I’d only ever heard stories about this place, but from all I witnessed, from the chains hanging from ceilings and different torture contraptions, it was plain to see the punishments here were the real deal.
My heart rate kicked up the deeper we went, shooting strays along the way. Fear continued to bubble up within me as we made our way lower.
“I’ll check this floor. You go lower with some men.” I nodded to some of the men behind us. Elijah and his saints stuck close. I admired they’re loyalty. They truly were ride or die, but I knew why. They wanted their girl back, and being under my protection would likely ensure it.
Cole paused for a moment, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“Enzo, man, be careful. It’s too quiet here,” he said.
“Find Fox and E. I’ll look on this level. Call me if you find them. I’ll do the same.”
He nodded, his eyes locked on mine.
“I love you,” he said thickly.
“I love you, too,” I answered.
He hesitated for another moment before gathering men to go with him.
I continued, checking more rooms and freeing whatever prisoners were inside them. I had no idea who the monsters were in those rooms. They could have been innocents. They could have been demons. I simply didn’t know or care. I had one goal in mind. Get the guys. That was it. Fuck everything else.
I kicked open another door at the end of the hall and stopped dead in my tracks.
Fox lay on the floor, shirtless, covered in blood.
I rushed forward and went to my knees beside him, letting out a choked sob.
He was beaten to piss. His arm was clearly broken. His feet were wrapped in dirty, bloody bandages, and the broken arm was in a metal cuff, screwed into the floor.
Smoke began to fill the room, making me cough.
“Fox. Fox!” I shouted, cradling his face. His lips had a blue tint to them. “Fuck! FOX!”
Nothing.
His face was so severely beaten that I could barely recognize him.
With quaking fingers, I reached out and checked for a pulse to find him cool to the touch.
“No. NO!” I screamed, my men behind me. I felt Elijah drop to my side. He reached out and checked Fox’s pulse.
“NO! Fox, man, please. NO!”
I wept over him, trying desperately to get him unbound from the metal cuff. Elijah tried to help me, both of us working. He even shot it, but the bullet didn’t do shit to it.
The room was filling with more smoke. If we didn’t leave, we’d die down here, too.
“Fuck. FUCK! FOX!” I wept harder, just cradling his body to mine, his blood on my shirt. “Brother. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. Please… don’t go. Don’t fucking leave us. I need you. I fucking need you! Rosalie… Rosalie needs you. I’m begging you to please wake up. Please, Fox. Fucking please!”
I was sobbing as I held his dead body, knowing I had to leave. I was gutted. I was broken.
I was spiraling.
I’d never had a fucking panic attack in my life, but I couldn’t breathe, and it was because of more than the smoke.
Rosalie. Rosalie. ROSALIE.
“Lorenzo, please,” Christian shouted as more smoke filtered in. “We have to go.”
“I-I can’t leave him. I can’t leave him. I can’t… I can’t…”
“You have to. We can’t bring him. Come on! This whole place might go up with us in it! We need to find Cole. There’s nothing else you can do. Come on!”
I fought against him as he tried to tear me away from Fox. I stared at Fox’s barely open hand and saw the coin he’d played with before. I snatched it, vowing to kill every motherfucker who hurt my family.
“Come on!” Dmitri yelled, grabbing me with Christian and Elijah as Memphis let out a cough and tried to wave away the thick smoke. “Lorenzo! We have to go!”
“I love you. I’ll kill them. I’ll fucking kill them all!” I shouted as I was torn away from Fox, whose body fell back to the floor, blood oozing from the thousands of wounds on his battered skin.
The sounds of his chains clinking filled my ears, making it that much fucking worse.
We made it to the hall with Jake and Randy dragging me with them. My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I could barely see to reach for it through all the smoke.
“H-Hello?”
“I have E. I fucking have him,” Cole shouted. “This place is on fire or something. I can’t fucking breathe. We have to get out. Did you find Fox?”
“Yes,” I choked out, not having the heart to tell him. “I’m coming to you.”
“I’m already on the top floor, man. Headed to the door. Get your asses up here before this motherfucker goes up in flames.” The call disconnected, and we continued rushing upward.
When we made it outside, I fell to my knees next to Cole, who was cradling a badly beaten E in his arms on the ground.
Anson kneeled next to him, looking like he might have had a hand in bringing E up since he had dark smudges on his face and blood on his hands.
“Where’s Fox?” Cole demanded, looking at me fearfully.
I shook my head. “Gone.”
“What the fuck do you mean he’s gone?” Cole asked, his voice shaking. “Don’t… don’t fucking tell me.”
I swallowed hard. “He ’s-He’s dead. Chained. I couldn’t break him free to bring his body.”
Anson visibly stiffened before he got to his feet.
Cole cried softly as he continued to hold E, who was clearly unconscious. E’s chest moved in and out, but it was barely. He needed help. More than what we were capable of giving to him.
“He needs a doctor. We have to get him to the hospital,” I managed to choke out. “He’ll die if we don’t.”
“Let me help.” Memphis reached down and scooped E into his arms and helped carry him to my Escalade.
Christian helped steady me as I stood.
“Where are you going?” I called out to Anson.
“Fox,” was all he said before he disappeared inside the building. I couldn’t let him die, but there wasn’t fuck all I could do about it either. E needed us. Anson would handle himself. He knew that place better than we did.
We got E loaded into the Escalade, and I sat in the back with E’s head in my lap as Cole attempted to wrap some of his wounds.
“E,” I whispered thickly. “Hey, buddy.”
He didn’t stir.
“I’m so sorry,” I continued. “I’m sorry. Please. Wake up and tell me…” I didn’t even know what he could tell me. I knew anything he had to say wouldn’t be good, and once he knew about Fox.
Fuck. Fox.
FUCK. FUCK. FUCK.
Rosalie.
I was going to throw up.
Christian wheeled us into the emergency room parking lot at the hospital. Dmitri jumped out and ran inside while Cole helped me move E to the door.
Dmitri returned with several medical personnel, and before long, they all had E on a stretcher and were moving at breakneck speeds to get him into the hospital.
The moment he was out of sight, I went to my knees in the parking lot and threw up.
Cole went down beside me, rubbing my back and crying softly.
“H-He’s gone. He’s dead,” I choked out, vomiting again.
“Are you sure? It was a lot of chaos—”
“I checked. Elijah checked. I-I didn’t feel a pulse. He wasn’t warm like you and I. His lips… his face… I think they burned even his feet.” Another round of vomiting.
I collapsed on my ass, and water was thrust into my hand. I looked up to see Elijah in front of me.
“What do you want us to do, boss?”
“R-Rosalie. Make sure she’s OK. Don’t… don’t tell her. We’ll tell her. Bring her to us.”
Elijah gave me a nod and gestured for Dmitri, Christian, and Memphis to follow him.
I swished the water in my mouth before spitting it out. Cole helped me to stand.
“Come on,” he murmured, his voice wobbly. I knew Cole was strong, but I never knew just how much.
He wowed me, truly. I knew he was breaking apart inside, but the fact that he kept his head up made me feel like I could, too.
For now.