Chapter 63 Cole
SIXTY-THREE
COLE
“Where did she go?” I demanded as I stormed into the house to find Colten sitting on the couch. I assumed that since it was so late, Jamie was asleep. Or hell, maybe she went with Rosalie.
“I had to take her away,” Colten said.
“Where? Why? She’s supposed to stay here. Did you take her to that prick she stayed with’s place? What’s the address? I’ll go there now—”
“I found her in Fox’s bedroom with a gun in her mouth,” Colten said softly.
My heart fucking stopped.
“W-What?” I choked out.
“If I’d have been another thirty seconds late looking for her, we’d be having a very different conversation,” he said, staring me down.
I sank onto the loveseat, stunned. I expected anger. Tears. And yeah, hatred, but this?
I never fucking expected this.
“Is she OK?” I whispered.
“I don’t know. I took her to her friend Anson’s.”
I twisted my hands into fists. “Why the fuck would you take her there? He’s been trying to take her away from us—”
“There is no us, Cole. You guys cut her loose in a really fucked up way. She’s free to go wherever she wants to go. When I asked who she wanted, she said Fox, then Anson. Since Fox isn’t an option, that’s where I took her.”
I said nothing, hating everything about this. I didn’t want to let her go. I’d have died at her side if it came down to it. When she told me she’d kissed some other dude, yeah, I was fucking pissed. Hurt. Broken.
But I loved her so fucking much it trumped it all.
I’d promised Enzo I was in, and honestly, I trusted him even if this shit terrified me.
It wasn’t worth losing her forever, though. If she tried that shit again and Anson failed, then what?
Panic attacks weren’t my thing, but I was really feeling some kind of way.
“I-I have to go to her,” I said, getting to my feet.
“What good will that do? You know as well as I do that if you drive to his house, you’ll lose it. Then what? I know you, Cole. You’ll just keep hurting her. Let her go. The hard part is over.”
I glared at my brother.
“Let her go,” he said gently. “Bring E home in a few days. Give her time to get sorted. She’ll come get her things. Then you guys can find your next girl—”
“There is no next girl,” I snapped. I sat again and held my head in my hands. “There will never be a next girl. She’s it, Colten. I love her.”
“Then why did you break it off? Because Enzo fucked up and got some bitch pregnant? Are you two attached at the dick? Just because he left didn’t mean you all had to.”
I said nothing. Colten wouldn’t understand. He made it a point to stay out of this lifestyle. He had his own shit to deal with and didn’t need mine.
“I made a mistake,” I finally said softly. “I want her back.”
“Let her go,” he repeated gently. “I think this is the best thing for you guys. You all have some growing up to do. Cheating on your girl? What the fuck, man? And during all this shit? I’m pissed at Enzo.”
Again, I said nothing.
“I have too much shit happening in my life to deal with this. I’m leaving in the morning.” Colten got up. “I expect Jamie will leave, too. I suggest you leave Rosalie alone unless you want to bury her next.”
And with those words, he left me to sit on the couch, feeling like I’d just been punched in the guts.
Colten was gone before I woke, so I sat on the couch alone, waiting for Jamie to come down.
I opened my phone’s messages to see that Enzo had texted. Sighing, I called him.
“Hey,” he answered. “What happened last night?”
“You didn’t check in through the cameras and hear it all?”
“No.”
I rubbed my eyes, still sick to my stomach.
“Colten caught Rosalie in Fox’s room with a loaded gun in her mouth. She was going to kill herself. He was almost too late.”
The line was silent for so long that I thought the call had disconnected. I pulled the phone away and checked.
“Is she OK?” Enzo finally said, his voice strained.
“Colten said he left her with Anson. That Anson promised to look after her.” I was quiet for a moment. “Enzo, I can’t do this. I-I want to go to her and bring her home, man.”
“We can’t—”
“Fuck you! I can! I don’t fucking need you to do this! I’ll go to her, marry her, put babies in her, and fucking love her if I want to! You don’t get to tell me what to do!” My chest heaved as I yelled into the phone.
Silence greeted me for a moment.
“We need to do this right,” he said softly. “If we do it now, it’ll ruin everything. E and Fox both deserve to be avenged. This is how we do it. We aren’t letting her go forever, Cole.”
“How will we get her back?” I sniffled.
He sighed. “When the time is right, I’ll let you go get her. Wherever she is. Whoever she’s with. You can go to her and bring her back to us.”
“Promise?” I asked, wiping my eyes.
“Promise,” he said. “Just hang on a little bit more. Can you do that? Let her go for now. So she can get better. So we can create a safe world for her. Please, brother. We need to do this for her. Someday, we will tell her everything. Now is the time to fight. Are you willing to fight?”
“Yes, but Enzo, she even took the fucking cat. Cotton is gone, too.”
“It’s OK. Come back here. We’ll give her a few days to collect the rest of her things.”
“What if she fucks Anson?” I voiced one of my fears. “What if-if she dies?”
“She won’t. Anson will look after her.”
“That’s what I’m scared of!”
“She won’t, Cole,” he said gently. “He’s all she thinks she has right now. She won’t jeopardize that by adding sex to the equation. Plus, he’s loyal to Bianca. We both know that. We have time.”
I swallowed. As much as I hated Ass Hat, Enzo was right. The prick was a loyal cocksucker.
“OK.” I nodded. “Fine.”
“Good. I’ll see you soon, OK? E is still sleeping, but I don’t know how he’ll be when he wakes. I’d like you to be here, and fucking don’t tell him what Rosalie did. He doesn’t need to hear it.”
“OK,” I agreed before saying goodbye. I lay back against the cushions and cried softly.
I didn’t know how we’d get through this. We’d lost Fox, and now Rosalie was gone.
And with that fucking prick.
“Cole?” Jamie called out.
I wiped hastily at my eyes before sitting up to see her standing there with her suitcase.
“Do you need a ride to the airport?”
“No. I, uh, called a cab.”
I nodded.
“Did Colten leave?” she asked tentatively.
“Yeah. Must have been around five this morning.” I glanced at her to see a muscle working along her jaw. I didn’t want to get into whatever the fuck was going on there. I had enough of my own problems.
She shuffled for a moment.
“Cole?”
“What?”
“It’s really fucked up what you guys did to Rosalie.”
“I know,” I muttered.
“D-Did Enzo really cheat on her, or is he doing this to push her away?”
I swallowed, knowing I had made a promise.
“He cheated,” I confirmed softly. “She’s pregnant. They’re getting married soon. A small ceremony. He bought them a house and they’ll be together.”
Her voice was shaky when she spoke again. “And you? Are you… with them?”
I looked down at my hands, really fucking hating this lie.
“I have the option,” I finally said, really leaning into this shit. “So does E. I-I probably will.”
“Why?” Jamie’s voice was so full of sadness, I couldn’t bear to look at her. “After Fox… why do this to her?”
“I-I don’t know. It’s just better this way. She kissed someone else, too.”
It took her a moment to respond to me, but when she did, her words shredded my heart.
“I’m glad she did. And I hope she fucks so many guys that they fuck the memory of you pricks right out of her heart forever.”
She stormed out of the house, without giving me a chance to scream to her how fucked up that was and how I didn’t want another man looking at her, let alone fucking her.
I was going to vomit.
I jumped to my feet and ran after her and caught her as she was getting into the back of the cab.
“What?” she snapped at me when I grabbed her arm.
I stared at her angry face.
“Jamie… I….”
She said nothing.
“Keep her safe,” I said. “Please. Help her make the right decisions when she calls you. D-Don’t let her meet guys—”
“She is free, Cole,” she said evenly. “You don’t get to make requests anymore. Have a nice life.”
She got into the back and slammed the door on me. I stood there with my heart in my throat as the cab pulled away, taking the last connection to Rosalie I had away.