Chapter 74 Cole
SEVENTY-FOUR
COLE
Iwaited in a dark spot outside Enzo’s house on his wedding night.
The estate was huge and surrounded by trees, so he’d have a long jog to get to me.
He’d told me he wasn’t going to fuck her, but I wasn’t an idiot.
I knew how the fuck these games were played.
To keep the ball rolling, he was just going to do what he had to do.
It was fucking disgusting, but it was what it was.
It put me in a shit mood because the bitch had the tits to approach me at the wedding when Enzo was being congratulated. She’d asked if I wanted to join her tonight with Enzo.
I did my best not to punch her in the fucking face.
Instead, I said I was going to fuck her bridesmaid instead, which only made her huff and puff before rushing off to find whatever bitch she thought I wanted.
None of them.
I didn’t want a single one of them.
I pulled Rosalie’s necklace from my pocket and stared down at it. I kept it on me. I guess it was a way for me to feel close to her. Swallowing, I put it around my neck and fastened it.
I’d been itching for this night to end forever now.
Elijah texted me to say Ethan had an OK night and was now in bed. Said he only cried twice and mentioned dying once.
I called that fucking progress.
I stared down at the time.
Two in the fucking morning.
I lay back in my seat, hoping to fuck Enzo would hurry up so we could get to the actual good part of the night.
My phone buzzed, and I looked to see a message from Enzo. It was just a picture of Celeste in bed, clearly naked beneath the sheets. I grimaced and darkened the screen.
Enzo: Bitch is out. I’m on the way.
There was a knock on the passenger window a moment later, and I unlocked the door. Enzo got in, dressed in black, looking like he’d run all the way to me.
“She is as good a lay as she is a bitch?” I asked sourly.
“Sloppiest bitch I’ve never had my cock in,” he replied. “So no, she makes a better bitch.”
“How’d you get off? Thinking about me?”
He shot me a sour look. “No. I didn’t get off. Dick. I faked it. Drugged her ass.”
“I got off. You know who I was thinking about.”
Our Rosalie.
“Let’s go,” Enzo said tightly.
I started the car, and we drove off into the night.
I had to hand it to Enzo, the guy knew what he was doing as we quietly entered Vander Veer’s house through the back door. He used a device to override the security codes, allowing us entry. He’d rerouted the security videos to loop.
If nothing else, he had a promising career as a burglar.
We walked silently through the house all the way to Vander Veer’s bedroom. I’d figured it out on my last visit here. I said I needed to use the bathroom and had learned the layout of this place.
I cracked the door open, and we went inside. I stood over his bed, all dressed in black with my gloves in place.
He was clearly a light sleeper because he woke with a shout when I placed my hands on his ugly ass pajamas.
His eyes snapped open, and he opened his mouth to scream, so I pushed the barrel of my gun into it.
“Hey, good morning,” I said, smiling at him. “Got a minute to talk?”
He stared back at me with wide, fearful eyes.
“Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to pull my gun out of your mouth, and you’re not going to scream. Then we’re going to talk like adults. Sound good? If you fuck up, I’m just going to shoot you.”
He gave me the tiniest nod.
I pulled the gun from his mouth and smiled.
“Come.” I nodded to the chair near his fireplace in the room. He shuffled quietly out of bed and sat where I gestured.
“Cole? What is going on?” Vander Veer demanded. “Is Celeste OK?”
“She’s fine,” Enzo said, stepping out of the shadows. “For now.”
“What?” He crinkled his brows in confusion at him. “I don’t understand.”
Enzo moved the second chair so it was directly in front of Vander Veer. He sat in it and faced him.
“So, I got some really concerning news recently. Can you imagine what I heard?” Enzo asked.
I stood at Enzo’s side, eager to get this show on the road. This fucker wasn’t going to know what hit him.
Vander Veer visibly swallowed. “I don’t know. What did you hear?”
“Oh, come now,” Enzo said easily. “Think really hard.”
Vander Veer visibly shook.
“I think the lightbulb just went on,” I said, laughing softly.
“Care to tell me?” Enzo pressed.
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said gruffly.
“OK. Fine. You were conveniently missing from my engagement party to Rosalie,” Enzo said. “I kept thinking, thank god, because you’re such a fucking cunt and my girl hated your ass. But then everything happened, and it really started to eat at me about where you were.”
“I-I was feeling under the weather—”
“Yeah. Convenient. I heard you were out drinking and fucking bitches at some club in town,” Enzo continued. “Snorting sugar off hookers. But maybe my guys are lying.”
Vander Veer shook again, not speaking.
“You know I’m connected,” Enzo lowered his voice. “Very fucking well-connected.”
“Lorenzo, I assure you, I had nothing to do with what happened at your party—”
“No?” Enzo handed him an envelope. “Open it.”
With shaking hands, Vander Veer opened the envelope and stared down at the photos.
He paled as he realized we knew precisely what he’d done.
“I-I can explain. It-It’s just a misunderstanding.”
“Truly? I’m listening,” Enzo said easily. “Tell me why you’re seen with Everett Church and Ivanov in these photos.”
“I-I was simply entertaining their weapons request.”
“Sure. I believe that. But what about this?” Enzo looked to me.
I pulled a recorder from my jacket and pressed play. Vander Veer’s voice sounded out.
“I want my daughter married to Ethan Masters. She loves him.”
“Let’s negotiate,” Everett said, laughing at the request.
“Whatever you want. However much money you want,” Vander Veer’s voice sounded out. “She wants him. Break him. Make him give her the baby she wants. The wedding she desires.”
“There’s a problem with that. I want Luca Stepanov. The sugar daddy,” Everett said darkly. “I was granted a week of collecting, but it has to be worth it. Give me the sugar daddy, and I’ll give you a wedding to a stronger man. Lorenzo De Luca. You know how powerful he is becoming.”
Vander Veer was quiet. “Deal.”
“Perfect. Sergio, what do you require?” Everett asked.
“Fox Evans. Dead. Rosalie Bishop is my dead sister’s daughter. I want him dead. I want her to suffer. Then… I’ll collect her myself.”
“T-That seems such a travesty. Fox is a shining star on the football field and of no consequence—”
“It will be easier to break the horsemen if we have Fox Evans. I’ve watched them for a very long time,” Everett said.
“Since before Carmine De Santis asked me to have Amy Evans taken care of. Granted, I used a piece of shit drunken novice to do it, but the job was handled, regardless.” Everett paused.
“Fox is fucking my dearly departed wife’s daughter’s toy.
She isn’t allowed happiness, so I think Fox is a reasonable request. He is connected to Sergio as well.
It makes sense. Plus, he is a De Santis heir.
The true heir. Trust me when I say you do not want that cockroach coming back to life. ”
“I-I see.” Vander Veer paused. “You killed Sergio’s sister, though.”
“She was a whore who didn’t know better,” Sergio replied without any emotion in his voice. “She was promised to Everett and decided to get knocked up by some low-life piece of trash.”
“So I-I give up the sugar daddy, and Celeste will get the leader? She’ll get Lorenzo?” Vander Veer asked.
“Yes. And we get Fox Evans,” Everett said.
“He will help me break your sugar daddy in. It’ll be fun for me.
I’ll even throw in your pick of one woman in the underground—any one of them you want.
Yours to do with what you will in exchange for what I’ve asked…
plus a million in cash. You give me the million, of course. ”
“How can you guarantee Lorenzo will agree to a marriage?”
“Because he will. It’s been seen,” Everett said, his voice soft.
“The weird boy with the blue eyes?”
“That’s the one. He’s never wrong.”
“He is a De Santis. You hate the De Santis family,” Vander Veer said.
“Not all of them. This one is my sweet, special boy, and he loves me like I’m his own daddy. He is loyal to me and does my bidding, moving the pieces around the board for me. He is very good at what he does.”
The recording was quiet for a minute before Vander Veer spoke. “Deal. I-I agree.”
“Excellent, let’s go over the details,” Everett said with a wicked laugh.
I clicked off the recording. Vander Veer was visibly sweating.
“We don’t need to play the rest,” Enzo said. “You know what you did.”
“I-I didn’t mean—”
I pointed my gun at him, making him cower. He held his hands up in defense, like they could stop one of my bullets.
“Ask me where I got the recording,” Enzo said.
“W-where?”
“I was torturing one of you Russian pricks, and he said something that made me think. He said something like, My friends are my enemies. That’s not the sort of thing one says to someone. So, I dug. Really fucking deep. Connections. All over. Do you know a David D’Angelou, by chance?”
“I-I do. He works with Sergio. He was with us that night. Sergio trusts him with many things.”
“Did work with Sergio. He works for me now. I promised to help him with something. He was easily swayed.”
“W-What? He’s the one… he got this… he’s the snake?”
“The fucking biggest,” I said. “We kind of like him. He’s been useful. They usually are when they know they’re going to die and have been supporting the wrong side.”
“I am a rational man,” Enzo continued. “What I want to know is who the blue-eyed De Santis boy is. Is it Anson?”
Vander Veer frowned. “Who?”
“The Archangel,” I snarled. “Is that who the blue-eyed De Santis prick is who is moving the pieces?”
“N-No. T-The Archangel… no. He is a De Santis?” He genuinely seemed confused by the information.
“Then who else is there? I want a name,” Enzo said.