Chapter 110 Enzo
ONE HUNDRED TEN
ENZO
SIX MONTHS LATER
“You hate me!” Celeste shrieked, throwing a plate at me. “You never touch me! You never kiss me! You never tell me you love me!”
I dodged the plate as it shattered against the wall. In the distance, the baby cried.
My son.
My nameless son.
She wanted to name him after her father. I vetoed it because fuck that asshole. I said we should name him after my father.
She screamed and called my father every name but a human.
I’d gotten pissed and shoved her.
She came back with a damn plate and threw it at me. Every fucking day since the baby was born had been miserable.
“Jake,” I said into my phone as she continued to shriek and scream obscenities at me.
“Boss,” he answered wearily.
“I need you to watch Celeste. Bring in Elijah and Christian, too. I have to get the fuck out of here before I lose it. I can’t deal with her shit.”
“On it.” He sighed and hung up.
I went to the baby’s room and lifted him into my arms as he whimpered. He was such a handsome boy. Dark hair. Blue eyes. He looked like E. Even Cole said he did. It was the only way I could get Cole over to the house. Tempt him with the baby, and he was putty in my hands.
E hadn’t seen the baby. Said he didn’t want to.
I understood it completely and didn’t push him on it. The night Celeste went into labor, Cole said E cried all night.
Celeste still raged in the kitchen, more shattering glass sounding out.
“It’ll be OK,” I said, kissing the baby’s head. “Daddy is here.”
His little eyelids fluttered before he drifted off.
“Boss?” Christian came into the room as I placed the baby back into his crib.
“Stay in this room. Don’t let her in here. She’s losing her damn mind,” I said.
“What if she tries to come in?”
“If she can break down that door, then shoot her in the fucking head,” I said.
He glanced to the sleeping baby but nodded.
“Lock the door. Everything you need to care for him is in here. I’ll be back soon.”
He moved to the rocking chair and took a seat, his eyes on the crib. Christian was good with the baby. It was why I asked for him. Elijah was good at calming people, so he was here in the hopes he’d get Celeste relaxed.
And Jake would shoot her because he hated her, too.
“Where are you going, you piece of shit?” Celeste screamed at me. “Huh? Off to fuck that red-headed whore?”
“Take your meds,” I snapped at her. “You fucking psycho.”
I slammed the door as I left the house and got into my Escalade. Memphis was already behind the wheel with Dmitri in the front seat.
“You should divorce her,” Dmitri said. “She’s losing her mind.”
“She never had one to begin with,” I muttered.
“Where to?” Memphis asked.
“Cole and E’s place.”
We pulled out of my estate and drove into the city. I stared down at the card in my hand. Sylar had given it to me months ago. He said he could help me.
The last thing I wanted to do was deal with a De Santis, but if he burned the underground down, then perhaps it was time to make the call.
I put his number into my phone and hit send.
“Lorenzo. I was wondering when you’d brighten my day,” Sylar’s deep voice met my ear.
“I need some help.”
“A fire perhaps?”
“How much would something like that cost?”
“Let me ask Torch what he thinks. I’ll be in touch.” The line disconnected. I stared out the window, knowing I needed to make her death look like a tragic accident.
We rode in silence for a long time before we pulled up to the high-rise. I got out and went upstairs to find Cole and E sitting in the living room, staring at the TV.
“Hey,” Cole said as I walked in. “Bitch driving you nuts again?”
“It’s time,” I said flatly.
Cole turned the TV off, and E sat forward.
“She’s losing it. I can’t even leave her with the baby without having the guys there. I don’t trust her.”
“Fuck her then,” Cole said. “That’s all she wants. You stopped playing the part when the baby was born. Now she’s pissed. She’s going to fucking kill you if you don’t kill her. You know she will. Bitch is nuts.”
I grunted. It was definitely something I considered. I slept on the floor of the baby’s room and locked it at night because I didn’t trust her ass. She accused me of loving the baby more than her.
She wasn’t wrong.
My phone rang, Sylar’s name on the screen.
“One million for our services,” Sylar’s deep voice met my ear. “And we want Splice, the club you just acquired, as well as Tate Riley and Mikhail Ivanov if you’re able to snag them first.”
“That’s a lot of fucking money for a dumb bitch,” I said. Splice was going to be huge. The area was perfect. After Matteo’s death, I acquired it from Dominic for pennies on the dollar. A gift to me, he called it. A way to solidify our alliance in the city since he was the new king in town.
“Then have a bonfire on your own.” He hung up on me, making me let out a hiss of irritation.
“How much?” Cole asked.
“A mill, Splice, and they want Tate and Mikhail if we grab them first.”
“You make a million every five minutes.” Cole rolled his eyes. “Fucking give it to them and be free of the bitch. I’m tired of waiting around for shit to change. Every damn day you don’t act, Rosalie gets further away from us.”
“Two thousand seventeen miles away,” E murmured. “Give or take.”
Cole scowled at him and turned back to me. “Do it, man. We can get more clubs. Dom will understand. He hates that cunt too. Plus, with the Ghosts having the Russians, you know Dom and the guys would love to have a place to fuck their lives up. I don’t see a downside.”
I blew out a breath and called Sylar back.
“Deal,” I said.
“Perfect. Cash only. Draw up the paperwork. We’ll collect on receipt.”
“Which is when?” I asked.
“Mm, let’s see. She’s going to lose it in about forty-eight hours officially, so anytime you make the call. We need about an hour, so factor that in.”
“Got it,” I said.
“Oh, and Lorenzo?”
“Yes?”
“It won’t kill him, but he will suffer. It’s a necessary evil.”
I frowned. “What?”
“Talk soon. Toodles.” The line clicked off again.
I sighed and shook my head. The guy was certifiably insane.
“So?” Cole asked.
“It’s done.”
E got to his feet, looking like he was going to be sick.
“Are you OK?” I asked.
“I-I need a minute.” He left the room, his door closing softly behind him.
“He’s probably glad it’s over with.” Cole shook his head. “God knows I’ll be glad.” He paused. “What are you going to do once she’s dead?”
“I don’t know. Buy us a house, probably.”
“What about Rosalie?”
“I don’t know,” I repeated. “I think we need to sort the baby stuff and E first, then we can talk about it.”
Cole frowned but nodded. He’d been on my ass almost every day, asking when we would bring her home. And every day, I gave him a different excuse.
The truth was, I wasn’t that guy anymore. I still loved her endlessly, but I knew I could never forgive myself for my role in her heartbreak. I’d never forgive myself for shit when it came to her.
In my mind, I deserved to suffer without her. It seemed a fitting punishment.
I wasn’t sure when I’d make the call to Sylar to set things in motion. I sipped at my whiskey in my office, tired out of my mind. Christian was with the baby, and Celeste was asleep.
We’d fought earlier in the evening when I wouldn’t fuck her. She’d stormed into the bedroom and locked herself in. I didn’t give a shit.
I groaned, stretching, before I opened my laptop and typed in Rosalie’s name. I pulled up her social media. It hadn’t been updated in months, but it didn’t stop me from looking at it.
Sighing, I checked Anson’s. Same deal. Nothing.
I’d sent guys out to California to check on her, but everything came up blank. She seemed to have disappeared. I’d only seen Anson once since he’d left with her. It was when Matteo died. He’d come into town with Trent for the services.
We didn’t speak. We’d only looked at one another from across the street since I wasn’t about to go into the service. Rosalie wasn’t with him.
I’d only gone there to see if she was. Another way to punish myself, I suppose.
Sighing, I closed the laptop and sat back in my seat. Dante Church was cleaning up a lot of shit in this city. His underground was up and running.
He really was judge and jury.
The Ghosts of the Underground.
I rubbed my eyes, doing all I could to stay off their fucking list. Luckily, he’d only knocked on my door once to remind me he was still watching my ass and that I’d treaded too close to his territory. I promised to move my warehouse so as not to piss him off.
It had been silent since.
I was about to fall asleep in my chair when my phone rang. I answered it to Cole’s voice.
“I’m bored,” he said. “Want to come over and jerk off with me?”
I laughed at that. “No. I’m going to bed.”
The baby let out an ear-shattering scream. Immediately, I was on my feet.
“What’s happening?” Cole demanded, clearly hearing the baby’s cries. “Enzo?”
“Get here.” I hung up, my guts churning because the baby never cried like that, and raced to his room to find Christian knocked out and Celeste holding a knife to the baby’s throat. He was bleeding.
Fuck. He was bleeding everywhere.
“Put the knife down,” I said, holding my hands out to her. “Please. Give me the baby.”
“You love him more than me. I married you because you said you loved me! I made this baby for you to love me!” she shrieked, her knife catching the baby again.His cries grew more intense.
“Please, Celeste. Don’t. Don’t fucking hurt him.” My throat was tight. I didn’t even have my fucking gun on me. If I knocked her down, the baby would be hurt too.
“If he dies, you’ll have more time for me.” Her eyes were wild as she moved closer to me.
“I have time for you now,” I choked out. “I’m sorry. Let me fix things—”
“I’m fixing things,” she snarled as the baby continued to shriek in her arms.
Fuck, he was hurting. I needed to save him. What do I do?
“I wanted E! I wanted him the most! He loves me! He loves me, and you never let me see him because you know he loves me, and I will leave you for him! You know it’s true! He fucks me! He fucks me so good and deep, and you hate that! You hate knowing we made this baby without you!”
“Celeste, please. I’ll call E right now. He’ll see you. Just put the baby down.”
She stared me down as I pulled my phone out and dialed E.
“I need you,” I said in a shaky voice as he answered. “Celeste has the baby. She’s stabbed him. She won’t put him down until she sees you. Please…Your son needs you right now. Celeste needs you. Please. Come, E.”
He was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “I’m on the way.”
I hung up. “See? He’s coming. He’s on the way. Put the baby down. Please. Give him to me.”
“No.” She swiped the knife at me again as I tried to get close. “I’ll kill it if you take another step closer.”
I held my hands up, sending out a prayer for the shrieking baby in her arms. She was covered in his blood. In her blood. In Christian’s blood. We needed an ambulance.
It felt like an eternity until the front door opened, Cole shouting for me.
“I-In here,” I answered back. “Nursery.”
Cole rushed in, the saints behind him.
And E.
He pushed through everyone, his body trembling.
Celeste’s eyes lit up at the sight of him.
“E, baby,” she called out. “You came! I knew you would!”
“Give me the baby,” he said in a soft voice. “I want my son.”
She jerked the baby back and raised her knife again. She let out a snarl as we all shouted for her to stop. The knife came down, and E dashed forward.
She screamed as she stabbed E, but he managed to get the baby away from her.
She rushed forward, swinging the knife. Cole and I grabbed her and wrestled her to the floor as E held the crying baby in his arms.
“Get Christian,” I said to the saints as Celeste tried to bite me. “Get him out of here.”
“Make the fucking call,” Cole snarled, punching Celeste in the face.
The sound of his knuckles cracking bone sounded out around us.
I hit Sylar’s name. “Now. I need you.”
“Already outside, love bug,” Sylar answered. “We’re coming in.”
How? Just fucking how?
It didn’t matter. They were here, and that’s all that mattered.
The saints carried Christian out, and I stared at E to see that his arm and chest had been what was cut. He was bleeding a lot, but it was the look on his face as he stared down at his son.
“E?” I called out. “He needs help. You have to save him. He’s just a baby.”
E looked at me for a moment before leaving the room. Celeste shrieked his name, begging him to come back.
“E! E! Ethan! I love you! I love you! Put it in the dumpster! We can make another one! A better one! I love you! I LOVE YOU!”
Cole hit her again, making her words falter, but not stop. She choked them out softly on repeat.
“It is not your place to punish the wicked,” Dante’s smooth voice sounded out as he stepped into the room, wearing a white mask and dressed in black.
“Ghosts,” I whispered. “Dante.”
“She wants the girl brought to her at once.”
“No.” I shook my head. “She dies here and now. I have to do it.”
“It will cost you.”
“So be it,” I said fiercely.
He inclined his head at me and stepped back. “So be it.”
The door closed behind him.
“Let me,” Cole choked out. “Let me do it.”
“Together,” I said, my voice trembling, handing him the knife she’d dropped.
He took it and stared down at her as I held her to the ground.
“I have hated you every fucking moment since the first moment,” Cole hissed out, making the first cut.
She screamed as her blood oozed out. “You are the reason I lost my Rosebud.” Another cut.
“The reason E hurts so much.” Another cut.
Another scream. “The reason why Fox is dead.” He stabbed deep into her abdomen, making her scream louder as he twisted the blade. “Fuck you, bitch.”
He released the blade protruding from her guts, and I pulled it out. Her blood rushed from her body as she stared up at me, her eyes filled with fear.
“I never loved you,” I whispered. “I killed your father on our wedding night.”
“D-Daddy,” she rasped.
“And now I’m going to kill you. You were so fucking stupid to think I’d ever want you when I had Rosalie.”
Her eyes wavered as she stared up at me.
“Rest in hell, Celeste. We’ll finish this when I get there.” I plunged the knife deep into her throat, cutting off her words.
Words I didn’t give a fuck to hear.
And then I wept.
Cole pulled me against his body, holding me tightly. “It’s over, Enzo. It’s fucking finished. We’re at the top, brother. We fucking made it. We’re here.”
“We’re here,” I choked out, relief flooding through me. I was free from the nightmare of a marriage I didn’t want. I had it all. Money. Fame. Respect. Fear. Endless power. I had everything except one thing.
My Sunshine.
This world wasn’t safe enough for her, but it would be soon.
I was only getting started.