Chapter 57 Cole
FIFTY-SEVEN
COLE
“What do you want?” I asked as I sank onto the couch in the office later that evening.
I’d walked the grounds for hours, it seemed, but nothing would soothe my fucking brain. So, I’d gotten high as fuck and lay in the garden until my phone buzzed with Enzo’s text, telling me he needed to see me.
All I kept seeing on repeat in my head was some motherfuckers lips on my girl. His hands on her body as he made her feel again.
It was driving me insane.
“We need to talk.” Enzo sat in his chair and stared me down. “Why were you lying in the garden in the rain?”
“Needed a bath,” I muttered.
“OK. Why are you high as fuck right now?”
“Needed a break.”
Enzo studied me. “Cole, I’m not stupid. Talk to me.”
“I asked Rosalie to marry me,” I mumbled. “Today. I asked her.”
“What did she say?” His voice was soft.
I let out a soft, bitter laugh. “She said she kissed another guy. Made out with him. Went to his apartment.”
Enzo was silent as a grave. I looked at him.
“I love her,” I said fiercely. “It doesn’t change anything. She said it was a meaningless kiss. That she was hurting and drunk.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment before he sighed. “I spoke to Colten. He has photos of me.”
“What?” I frowned. “What photos?”
Enzo pulled his phone out and handed it to me. I stared in both horror and confusion at the images in front of me. Enzo and Celeste. Together. Kissing.
“What the fuck is this?” I glared at him. “What did you do?”
Enzo downed his glass of alcohol. “I’m marrying her. I will meet with her father in two days. Everything will be set up. She will be my wife.”
“How? Why? I don’t understand,” I sputtered. “What about Rosalie?”
“I’ll set her up. A place of her own. She’ll still have security. I’ll ensure that money is deposited into her bank account every month. She can continue at Mayfair. She will be provided for.”
“P-Provided for? What the fuck? She’s our girl, asshole! What are you doing? Are you trying to fucking ruin everything?” I shouted.
This wasn’t fucking happening. I’d gone to bed last night and woke in my own personal hell.
Again.
“I’m ending things,” Enzo said. “I-I have to. I need to save her. We need to save her, Cole. Fox was right. She’s not made for this shit. Not right now. Not the way things are. Don’t you want her safe?”
“You know I do—”
“Then I’m asking you to trust me,” he murmured. “Please. You said you were in. Did you change your mind?”
I stared at him, my heart in my throat. “Why are you cheating on Rosalie?”
“Answer me, Cole.”
“Fuck you! Answer me first, dick!”
Enzo sighed and shook his head. “I hate Celeste. She’s a fucking cunt that I plan on planting six feet under. But she’s pregnant with E’s kid. So until that baby is born, she’s mine. I’m going to save the baby. We can’t let E’s kid be raised by her. You know we can’t.”
I swallowed at his words. He was right.
“In that time, Rosalie will be able to heal. We’ll come back for her.
I promise we will. But right now, to save her, we need to save E, and we need to save E’s kid.
It was my father’s dying wish that I do this.
I now understand why. It also fulfills what Fox wanted and my promise to him.
He wanted her freedom, and I promised a kingdom. We’ll both win once I’m done.”
I shook, my heart pounding hard.
“So, are you in? Are you with me on this, brother?” he asked.
“Do you promise we’ll come back for her?”
“I swear we will. I love her just as much as you do. I promise I do. This will also give E the time he needs. I think this is the push in the direction she needs to sign her contract and pursue her dreams. Fox would want that for her. We want that for her, right?”
My bottom lip trembled. “Yes.”
Enzo moved to sit next to me on the couch. “I love you, Cole. I love E. I loved Fox. And you know I love Rosalie. But we have to do this. Everything we’ve fought for will be in vain if we don’t. We can’t let that happen. To the top.”
“To the top,” I whispered as he gripped my face and placed a kiss on my forehead. “What about this guy she kissed?”
“It breaks my heart, brother. I’m dying inside,” he whispered, pulling away from me. “It hurts, but I know what I’m doing will hurt her too, but she won’t ever leave unless I do it. I hate that I have to, but she promised me forever. I intend on collecting.”
“You’re cheating on her,” I murmured.
“I am,” he said solemnly. “But it’ll ensure everything falls into place in the end. I only feel hatred for Celeste. It’s not love. It’s a necessary evil to save our world.”
“What if she won’t come back?” I shook my head at him. “This will devastate her. I-I can’t do that to her. I love her—”
“I love her, too. You know we have to do this. Let her go. For now, we let her go. We’re hurting her the way things are.
She’ll continue to endure. You know our girl.
You know how strong she is. She loves us like we love her.
It’s just a really fucked up world we’re in.
I made too many mistakes, but I won’t continue to make them.
I’m finishing this. When we’re done, we’ll bring her home. ”
“What about Anson? What if she fucks him?”
“She won’t. Besides, the kings might kill him if he keeps it up with Bianca. We can have hope for that.”
I wiped at my eyes. “He wants her, Enzo. If he knows she’s available, he’ll go to her. He will claim her.”
“She won’t,” he said gently. “She will still love us. I know she will. She will remember the promise she made. Rosalie keeps her promises. We are meant for forever.”
“And if you’re wrong?”
“Then I’ll do whatever I have to do to bring her back home. I swear on my life, we will have her in the end. Trust me?”
I studied him for a long time, my heart cracking apart.
“I-I’m scared. I want to trust you, but what if she’s with other men—”
“Then that’s what we get,” he said softly, his voice rough. “It’s a fitting punishment for what we’re about to do. But in the end, we will bring her home to us. I vow it.” He held his hand out to me.
I closed my eyes and slid my palm against his. “I’m in. This is going to fucking kill me.”
“The end is worth it. Promise.”
I sure fucking hoped it was.
Now I was going to have to do some really bad things.