12. Rosalie #2
He snorted as we reached the lobby. “No. I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
I chuckled at him. He reminded me a lot of Klaus.
We made it out to his blacked-out sports car, and he opened the door for me. I slid onto the leather passenger seat, and he closed me in before getting behind the wheel.
“Did you tell anyone where you were going?” I asked as we pulled onto the street.
“Did you?” he countered.
“No.”
“We’re two peas in a pod.”
“Won’t they look for you?”
He looked over at me. “Rosalie. Won’t they look for you?”
I chewed my bottom lip nervously. “Yeah. I-I left a note on the counter in the kitchen.”
“Why didn’t you just tell them you wanted to see Church?”
“They’d have gone with me. I want to do this alone.”
“Does Church know you’re coming? Or are you just planning on showing up and waking his ass?”
“Dante is a night owl. I doubt he’s asleep,” I murmured.
Levin sighed. “Think he’ll shoot me?”
“No. Stab you, maybe.” I grinned at him, and he rolled his eyes but kept driving.
We reached Church’s estate, and the guards let us pass without question when they realized it was me.
Levin parked the car in front of the massive mansion and let out a low whistle.
“And I thought our place was huge,” he murmured.
“It’s a kingdom of sin and tears,” I replied softly, opening the door and getting out. Levin followed.
“You don’t have to. You can go—”
“I’m here for the long haul. If my old man finds out I did this, we’re likely both dead. I’ll just stay so it looks good when I plead my case,” he muttered.
I chuckled. “Klaus won’t be mad at you. I won’t let him be.”
“Where were you fifteen years ago?” He sighed, but continued to follow me to the door.
I pushed the doorbell and waited. I had no idea how Dante would react to me on his step after midnight, but I really hoped he was willing to let me do what I had to do.
I rang the bell again, and a few moments later, the door was opened by one of his guards.
“Miss Bishop.” The man moved aside so I could come in, Levin still following.
“Wait in there.” He nodded to a sitting room near the front door.
I wandered in, Levin at my side, and took a seat in a chair I knew cost over thirty thousand dollars because Asylum got into trouble with Dante for jumping on it one time when I was on a video call with him.
“This place is fucking scary,” Levin muttered, looking around.
I followed his gaze. It was a pretty house, but it definitely had a Gothic feel to it.
I knew they all helped decorate the place because Dante had been irritated when Asylum tried to make an ice cream room, complete with ice cream-shaped chairs.
Dante had vetoed the idea, but I knew Asylum still had the chairs.
“Rosalie.” Dante swept into the room wearing all black, blood on his hands and face.
Levin winced as he took him in.
“Sister, are you well?” Dante immediately reached for me, but I backed away.
“Um, wash your hands.” My stomach twisted, and he looked down at his hands and shook his head.
“I’m sorry. I was working,” he said, his green eyes moving from me to Levin, then back again. “Are you well?”
“I’m fine. I just… um, wanted to talk.”
Dante looked at Levin again. “A king. What a surprise.”
Levin said nothing as he held Dante’s gaze.
“I would like to have a chat with Dominic,” Dante said. “Soon. Would you relay the message to him?”
“Yes,” Levin said stiffly. “I will tell him. Of course, you can tell me what you need, and I can give you the informal fuck you he’d likely give you.”
Dante chuckled. “Tell him thank you for helping my sister. She would not come stay here, so his stepping in hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
Levin nodded. “I will tell him.”
Dante looked back at me. “What do you want to talk about?”
“I want you to let Cole and Enzo go.”
He stared at me, no emotion on his face. “No.”
“Dante—”
“Rosalie, the hardest lessons in life are taught through experience. They have yet to finish that experience.”
“OK, how about this, you stubborn little asshole. Release them, or I’ll kick your fucking ass.”
Levin looked uneasily at us as we faced off.
Dante stepped into my space and smirked down at me.
“Oh, sister, you want to get rough with me?”
“You’re damn right I do. And you know I will.”
He snapped his bloody hand out quickly, wrapped it around my throat, and gave it a squeeze.
“Do not threaten me with a good time,” he said in that soft, dangerous voice I knew would scare the hat off an average man.
I reached out and slapped his face.
Levin sucked in a sharp breath as Dante’s head snapped sideways.
“Sister, you’re playful tonight,” Dante snarled.
“And you’re being a little shit. I never ask you for anything. Give me this.”
He dragged me close to him and ran his lips along my jaw before he got to my ear.
“What do I get?” he whispered into my ear as I rested my hands against his chest.
“My respect. My love,” I answered back softly.
“Tell me,” he murmured.
“I love you, Dante. Please. Let them go.”
“And then what? You did not want them.”
“I-I do. I want them. Cole is Ellis’s dad. I-I was confused and hurting. I felt… betrayed. I needed time…”
“Mm.” He inhaled me deeply. “Time is a dangerous monster, sister.”
“Dante, please,” I whispered.
“How about I let you speak to the one who doesn’t know?”
“Enzo,” I murmured.
“Mhm,” Dante said, his lips skimming my ear as he continued to speak low. “And you tell him about Evan. Depending on his reaction, I will decide his fate.”
“What reaction do you want?”
“Surprise me.” He released me and backed away. “Come. Seeley, you wait here.”
“No—” Levin started, taking a step forward.
“I’ll be fine,” I said.
“Fuck, Rosalie. I don’t know if I will.” He looked around uneasily as Asylum came into the room in a pink robe and rabbit slippers. He was wearing a mud mask and had his hands in moisturizing gloves.
“For fuck’s sake.” Levin let out a groan as Asylum plopped down onto a chair and smirked at Levin. “Rosalie, hurry. This fuck creeps me out.”
“I’m creepy? You’re the one with giant feet. What the hell size do you wear? Seventeens?”
“Sixteens,” Levin muttered.
“Oh, do you like slippers?”
I didn’t get to hear Levin’s response because I’d followed Dante out to the elevator that led to the underground.
“How is Sirena?” I asked as we began to descend.
“Hormonal,” Dante muttered. “But beautiful. So I can’t complain.”
“Evan said you started working on the baby’s room.”
A smile touched Church’s lips. “We did.”
“What theme are you going with?”
“Uh, knives. Blood red room. Stitches made a knife mobile over the crib. Sin is working on getting the baby its own snake.”
I wrinkled my nose. “What? Are you serious?”
He chuckled. “Bears, Rosalie. Teddy bears. Ellis asked us to do bears, and Sirena loved the idea. The theme is pretty much bears, but I think it’s more forest-related because there are also bunnies, raccoons, and deer.”
“It sounds cute,” I said.
“Well, it’s all shades of black, so it has my approval.”
“Are you serious this time…?”
He smirked. “What do you think?”
“God, I have no idea,” I muttered as the elevator stopped on the floor Enzo was on.
He didn’t elaborate. He led me down the hall to a room near the end and pulled a card from his pocket. He swiped it, and the door swung open.
“Arnold is here. He will open the door when you’re done. I will give you privacy.”
“Thank you,” I murmured as Dante backed away from me. I watched him leave, and I stepped into the small room to find Enzo asleep on his bed, his shirt off and tattoos on display in the dim light.
The guard closed the door behind me.
Enzo sat up and looked around, his black hair disheveled.
It took him a moment to realize I was standing there.
“Rosalie?” he called out softly.
“Hey,” I replied, my throat tight.
He sat up, put his feet on the floor, and stared at me.
“What are you doing here?” I could hear the panic in his voice as he got to his feet. He approached and stared down at me, making me feel all the old butterflies pound to life in my chest.
“You’re bleeding,” he said thickly, reaching out to touch my face.
I shook my head. “No. It’s Dante. He-He was working. He had blood on him. I-It’s not mine.”
He said nothing as he stared down at me, letting his hand fall back to his side.
“Why are you here? You’re not being forced here, are you?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I-I came to talk to you.”
He stared at me for a moment before he reached out and hit the light switch. It turned the lights brighter. He moved back to the bed and sat as I stood nervously in front of him, twisting my fingers together.
“What time is it? What day?”
“Uh, it’s just after midnight. You’ve been here almost two weeks.”
He nodded, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “What do you want to talk about?”
“I-I’m sorry. About this.” I gestured around.
He let out a soft, sad laugh. “I’m being punished for my sins against you. You shouldn’t be sorry. This is what I deserve. I accept that.”
“I-I don’t know that you deserve it.”
“It was your decision,” he muttered, looking at the floor. “I accept it.”
I went to my knees in front of him. He lifted his head and stared at me, his dark eyes red from exhaustion and sadness.
“Enzo, is that all true? What you did? Everything with Ethan and Cole? With-With Celeste?”
“Yes,” he whispered.
“You never cheated on me?”
“No. You are the last woman I have been with.”
I swallowed at his words.
“But you cheated on me,” he whispered, his voice cracking.
“I deserved it. I pulled away from you. I was going through hell, and I-I fucked up. I wanted to fulfill what Fox wanted. I knew he was right before he died, and I definitely knew it after he did. I had to let you go. It killed me to do it, but I knew it needed to be done. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for the pain I caused you.
All of my actions. My ugly words. All of it. I’m sorry.”
“You never apologize,” I said thickly.