33. Rosalie
ROSALIE
Ilooked up from my booth to see Enzo staring at me.
Confused, I got to my feet and stumbled out, my heart in my throat. My initial thought was that something happened to Cole.
“Cole?” I called out, fear drenching me.
“Cole is fine,” Enzo said as I stopped in front of him and stared into his dark eyes.
“What’s wrong? Why are you here if he’s OK?” I knew he’d gotten a lap dance. I knew he’d… cheated. He had completely stopped speaking to me a few days ago. Before, he’d at least give me half-assed answers.
“I came to talk to you.”
I frowned. “OK.”
“Can we sit?”
I nodded and led him over to my couch. We sat, and I turned to face him.
“Rosalie, I fucked up,” he started.
I said nothing as I waited for him to continue.
“I’m the reason Cole isn’t speaking to you.”
“OK,” I murmured.
“He came home after he was here. He was so happy. I hadn’t seen him that way in a long time. In fact, it had been so long that I wasn’t even sure if his happiness ever existed before you and Ellis.”
I swallowed but didn’t interrupt him.
“We had a few drinks, and he started talking about what it was like to be with you again. How he was with you and Anson. The three of you.”
My cheeks heated at his words, and I looked at my hands folded together in my lap.
“I got jealous,” he mumbled. “It was wrong of me because all I want in this world is for my brothers to be happy, but I guess I didn’t realize it would affect me the way it did.
I drank too much. Stormed away. Later that night, I went to his bedroom.
He was asleep. I took his phone and saw he’d fallen asleep talking to you.
He’d gotten a lot of baby clothes online too.
I realized he was going to leave us for you.
I wanted that. I want you to know that I want that.
I believe he does belong with you and Ellis.
But I had a moment, and that moment hurt a lot of people. ”
“What happened?” I asked, looking at him. My heart beat uncomfortably in my chest.
He shook his head and didn’t meet my eyes.
“He told me he kissed Anson in the heat of the three of you. I guess it pissed me off. That was our thing. You, me, and Cole. We’d get so wrapped up in one another that I’d kiss him, or he’d kiss me, and we’d be with you. I felt bitter and replaced.”
I said nothing in response to his words, but they floored me.
“So I was stupid.” He shook his head. “I pulled his boxers off, and I-I sucked him off.”
I blinked rapidly at the information.
“He woke up. He wanted it. Then he didn’t.
I was wasted. I kept going. He tried to pull away, but it was too late.
He came. He freaked the fuck out. In my wasted haze, I realized what the fuck I’d done.
He said he’d cheated on you. He was heartbroken.
I fucked it up for him. He hasn’t spoken much to me since.
In his hatred, he went to the club and paid for a lap dance as a way to punish himself more.
I don’t honestly know what he was thinking, but he barely got through it, then he threw up on E’s shoes. ” He blew out a breath.
We were both quiet for a moment.
“So… he cheated with… you?” I finally whispered. “Not another girl?”
“It was a one-time thing. I’m not even into guys.
I was just fucked in my head and angry and ten million other things.
It’s completely my fault. It was all me.
He’s beating the shit out of himself over this.
I came here today to talk to the guys, but also to you.
We have a situation happening back home, and I think he’s trying to save you by completely cutting you out. ”
“Wait. What situation?”
He hesitated for a moment before telling me everything. I sat in my seat, not moving or speaking as he finished.
“Say something,” he said softly.
“What do you want me to say? I escaped a life that never escaped me. I’m at risk, and so is my baby. My family. Everything.” I met his gaze, tears threatening my lashes. “What do you want me to do? You’re here for an answer to an unspoken question. So just tell me what you want from me.”
“Come home,” he said thickly, his voice soft. “Come to Chicago. Let me… Let me protect you. I owe this to you. Please. Let me.”
“What else?”
He stared at me for a moment as a tear slid past my lashes. He reached out and thumbed it away. The gesture seemed foreign coming from him, considering he’d told me not long ago that he hated me and that I’d been mediocre during our relationship.
“Come back with me to Chicago tonight. Please. Come home to Cole. He needs you. I have to make this right. He loves you. I know you love him. I will protect you. I’ll call Church and set everything up if you don’t want to stay with us.
Even Dom. If you want to stay with him, his place is a fortress.
I’ll do whatever you want me to do. Just please… Cole needs you. I’m scared for him.”
He continued to cradle my face. “Please, Sunshine. Come home.”
I felt like his words held more than one meaning, but I didn’t push what they could mean. Instead, I nodded, knowing I needed to do it. The guys might not be happy, but I knew I’d be safe in Chicago. I had Dante. And I was sure I had the kings and now Enzo.
And Cole needed me.
“Bring Evan and the guys. Ellis, too. Your nanny. Your band. I’ll buy you a house. I just need you back in Chicago where I can keep you safe.”
“Where you can?” I asked.
He licked his lips and leaned in, both his hands on my face now. My breath caught as he rested his forehead against mine.
“I owe you this, Rosalie. Please. Let me repay you. We get the stalker. We end this so you can be safe. So your babies can be. Ellis and her little sibling. I want to do this for you, Cole, and your family. Please. Do you want me on my knees, begging you? I will if you tell me to.”
He wasn’t the same angry, fuck you mob boss he’d been. It was almost like he was the old Enzo.
“I’ll go,” I whispered. “But if you fail me—”
“I would die before I failed you again,” he said thickly, his forehead still against mine. “Before I failed my brother.”
“I believe you.”
He breathed out, his warm breath feathering across my lips, but he didn’t let me go.
We stayed that way for a long time before he finally released me, his dark eyes shimmering. He looked away before the first tear fell, and that was all it took for me to give him a little bit of grace.
I just hoped it didn’t come back to bite me in the ass.