Chapter 36
COLE
“Hey,” E said, coming up to me as I banged my hammer against the catio I was making in the backyard.
I glanced at him. “What do you want?”
“We’ve been trying to reach you.”
I grunted and finished hammering in my last nail. “Why?”
He sighed. “Cole, you need to come home.”
“Again, why?” I muttered. “I am home.”
“I’m not going to beat around the bush with you. Rosalie is at our place with Enzo. The guys left her there so she could talk to you.”
I frowned, my heart jumping in my chest. “What? Why?”
“Cole.” He blew out a breath. “Fuck, man.”
His eyes misted over, and that only made my heart pound harder.
“E? What the fuck is going on? Is something wrong with Rosebud?”
“No, man.” E wiped at his eyes. “She needs to talk to you.”
“No.” I shook my head. “No. I fucked that up. I’m not going to put her through any more pain. She’s married. She has new guys—”
“Cole, she has a daughter.”
I dropped my hammer. I couldn’t have heard him right.
“What?” I choked out.
“She’s your daughter. She’s at the house right now. We’ve been trying to reach you. Rosalie wants to talk to you.”
“I-I have a daughter?” I rasped, gripping the edge of the catio so I wouldn’t fall over.
How the fuck….?
E nodded. “You do. She’s beautiful, man.”
“I-I have a daughter? Rosebud and I… s-she had my baby?”
E nodded again.
I gripped his shoulders tightly and gave him a shake.
“You’re fucking with me. Don’t fuck with me, E. Please.” My bottom lip trembled. “Are you serious? Tell me everything.”
“She’s at the house. Enzo arranged it so she’d be there for a few days, so you can meet her if you want. I assume it happened the night you were with her in that club. If you don’t want to—”
I remembered that night. I’d fought with Klaus. I was so fucked in my head then. I wanted her and had lost myself in that bathroom with her.
I sprinted and went into the house. E followed. I raced upstairs, him on my heels.
“What are you doing?” he called out as I went into my old bedroom. I had some clothes there yet.
“I-I need to shower. To see her. I can’t go like this.” I dashed into the bathroom and stripped naked as E leaned against the doorframe. Quickly, I got beneath the warm spray and washed as fast as I could.
“Tell me everything about her,” I said as I tried to hurry.
“Uh, well, she looks just like you. She’s a ballerina—”
I poked my head out. “She dances?”
E nodded. “Apparently, she’s a little prodigy, but I wouldn’t expect anything less coming from you and Rosalie.”
My throat tightened at his words. I quickly finished, got out, toweled off, and put on some clothes before adding a dash of cologne and trying to get my hair to cooperate.
“Fuck it,” I muttered, leaving the room. I shoved my feet into some shoes and left, E behind me again.
We went out to his Range Rover, and I got into the front.
“Where’s Riot?” I asked.
“With Ann. I dropped him off with her after school. Figured if I couldn’t find you, I’d drive all over town.”
I said nothing as E drove us back to the high-rise.
“Stop here,” I said suddenly.
E pulled over, and I jumped out. I rushed into a flower shop and bought a dozen red roses before coming out.
“Nice,” E said, smiling as I clutched the flowers.
“Do you think she’ll like them? I-I don’t know what to get her. Fuck. Should I get her something else?”
“Cole, I think you just being there will be all she needs.”
“You’ve met my daughter?” I whispered. “Like, full on talked to her?”
“I have.” E nodded. “She’s perfect, man. You’re going to love her. She’s very outgoing. Smart. Silly. She will probably want to teach you ballet, even.”
I tightened my hold on the flowers as we drove.
I had a daughter. My little girl. My sweet princess.
Rosalie… fuck, why didn’t she tell me? God, my heart…
I couldn’t dwell on it. I had to get my head into the game. This was real. My dreams were coming true.
I breathed out as we pulled up in front of our building. I stared up at it, terror in my chest.
“Ready?” E asked gently.
“No,” I rasped.
“It’ll be OK,” he said. “Really. Don’t worry. You’re going to do great.”
“What if she doesn’t like me? What if she hates me because I wasn’t there—”
“She won’t. She asked me to tell you to come to her. She wants her dad, man.”
“Really?” I looked hopefully at him. “Don’t just be saying shit to calm me.”
“I’m not. She really did.”
I breathed in and out, an attempt to steady my body.
“Will you stay with me? When I meet her?”
“If it’s what you want,” he murmured.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Yeah, I-I need you guys.” I stared at the building again. “Is Rosalie pissed at me?”
“I honestly don’t know. I don’t think so if she’s here,” he said softly.
We sat in silence for a moment.
“What if—”
“Cole, get out of the fucking car,” E said. “Seriously. We could sit here all day and go over the what-ifs. They’re pointless when the answer is just right there.” He pointed to our building. He was right.
Fuck it.
I opened the door and got out, my legs shaking.
E walked beside me as we went in and got into the elevator. I breathed in and out slowly as we continued to climb higher and higher.
I replayed scenarios over and over in my head. What I’d say. What I’d do.
Hi. I’m Cole. I’m your dad.
Hi. I’m your dad. Do you like cake?
My name is… Dad. Daddy. I’m your old man. Fuck. No. My name is Cole, and I made you.
Fuck.
The elevator dinged at the top, and we stepped out and went to the front door.
“Ready?” E asked.
“No,” I whispered. “I’m terrified.”
“You’re going to be the best fucking dad,” E said softly. “Get in there and meet your daughter. Your entire world is just beyond this door.”
He was right.
I reached out, opened the door, and stepped inside.
And there she was. Sitting on the couch next to Rosalie. They were silent as Enzo sat in his chair.
Rosalie’s gaze fell on me as I slowly came into the room.
“What’s her name?” I choked out as I looked from Rosalie to the beautiful little female version of myself.
“Elissandra,” Rosalie whispered. “We call her Ellis.”
She’d named her the name I wanted. Fuck, my heart.
Ellis’s blue eyes met mine, and she stood. I went to my knees as she approached.
Long, curly blonde hair. Big blue eyes. The prettiest pink dress and little dress shoes.
Pearls. She needs a pearl necklace and a cute little bag. Maybe some white gloves and a small dog…
I said nothing as she stopped in front of me.
Gently, she reached out and placed her little hand on my face. I closed my eyes at her soft touch, a tear leaking down my cheek. My throat tightened. I opened my eyes and stared at her.
“You have hair like mine,” she said, her eyes raking over my hair. “And you have eyes like me.”
I swallowed hard.
“Are you first daddy?” she asked, so much hope in her eyes.
“Yes,” I sputtered out. “I’m first daddy.”
She threw her arms around my neck, and I held her back, sobbing softly.
“Mommy said you would come,” she said, her voice so soft and sweet. “Mommy is always right.”
“She is,” I agreed as she released me. I didn’t want the hug to end. I wiped quickly at my eyes. “Um, I-I got you some flowers.”
“Ooh, other daddies get me flowers when I dance in ballet! They smell so good!”
I smiled, grateful Rosalie’s guys treated her well. It still hurt to know I’d missed out on so damn much.
She took the flowers and sniffed them, giggled, and ran to show Rosalie.
I watched as Rosalie smiled at her, tears on her cheeks.
I looked to Enzo, who was looking right back at me. He gave me a slight nod of his head, got to his feet, and walked to his office without a word.
E clapped me on the back and went to Rosalie.
She greeted him with a gentle smile. He knelt next to her and said something to Ellis, which made her giggle.
“Mr. Ethan,” Ellis said, her voice loud. “Is Lizard coming here? Mommy said she will bake my favorite cookies. I know he will like them.”
“No, darlin’, he’s not here. He really did like the ones you made for him, though. I am sure he would love the originals.”
“Mommy, can we make Lizard some cookies before Mr. Ethan leaves?”
“Uh, baby, we don’t have all the stuff for that,” she said.
“I’ll get it. Whatever you need,” I said immediately, trying to rack my brain on what Rosalie used to use for making cookies. “I-I can’t remember everything, but you need flour, right? Butter? Sugar. Um, vanilla? Those little chocolate candies and butterscotch chips. Right?”
Rosalie gave me a sad smile. “Right.”
I whipped out my phone and texted Memphis to grab everything and then some. Ice cream, too. We’d make sundaes. She probably liked sundaes.
I moved to sit on the couch next to Rosalie, Ellis between us.
Ellis immediately slid onto my lap. I held her tightly as E got to his feet. He left without a word and went to the office with Enzo.
“Tell me about yourself, Ellis,” I murmured as I pushed one of her curls away from her face.
“I am four years old,” she said, her eyes wide as she held up her fingers.
“Four, huh? You don’t look a day over three.”
She grinned at me before laughing.
She thought I was funny. My daughter was laughing at my lame jokes.
“What do you do for fun?” I asked.
“I dance. I’m a ballerina. Do you want to see?”
“Absolutely,” I murmured.
She slid off my lap and did some ballet moves. I had no idea what they were called. They were perfect, though.
“That’s awesome,” I said, taking in her perfect little spins.
“Come on, Daddy! I’ll teach you,” she called out amid a little giggle.
Fuck. Daddy. She called me Daddy.
I stumbled to my feet and went to her. She took my hand, and that was it.
This little girl would be my reason for every breath I took from that moment onward.