37. Rosalie
ROSALIE
“Rosebud, try this,” Cole called out the morning after I’d had sex with Enzo. He’d taken me twice more after his assistant left. Finally, we’d untangled from one another and finished making dinner before he fucked me on the kitchen counter.
Then, we’d eaten in silence, and he’d gone to bed, looking more troubled than I’d ever seen him.
And now it was the next day, and Cole was trying to get me to eat something he’d brought home. He’d done a shorter shift at the hospital, and Enzo had gone to the office. I hadn’t seen him since last night.
“Cole, no.” I made to move away from him, but he captured my face with his hand.
“Baby, please. Try it. You’ll like it, or I’ll eat my own ass.”
I chuckled and parted my lips, letting him put the candy in my mouth. I winced at how sour it was.
“It’s good, right?” he asked, looking hopeful.
“It’s… so sour.”
“Chew, chew, chew,” he said, smirking at me.
I did as he instructed and swallowed.
“More?”
“Absolutely not.” My phone rang, and I pulled it out to see Evan’s name on the screen. “I need to take this.”
“OK. Want me to get everything out for the spaghetti?”
“Uh, yeah.” I hadn’t heard from E about him not showing up tonight, so I assumed he was coming home with Lazarus.
“Oh, and Cole?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“Eat your ass because that was terrible.”
He grinned at me and unzipped his pants, making me laugh. I answered my phone as I went up the stairs.
“Hey, Ro,” Evan’s deep voice greeted me. “You said we needed to talk?”
“Yeah.” I went into my room and closed the door.
“Is everything OK?”
“I, um, I-I-”
“You and Enzo,” he said immediately.
A breath whooshed out of me. “Yeah.”
He was quiet.
“Are you mad?”
“No,” he said immediately. “We already planned for this. Honestly, the sooner everything gets smoothed out, the better, but baby, you gotta be careful. Is he joining?”
I was quiet for a moment. “I-I don’t know. We didn’t talk about it. We just… had sex.”
Evan was quiet again. “Let me get the guys.”
My stomach twisted. They told me if I was doing this, to just do it, and they didn’t want to know until after it was over, but I had to make sure it was 100%. Clearly, I may have leaped before looking, but damn… Enzo De Luca sure knew how to fuck. That certainly hadn’t changed.
Of course, now guilt was eating at me.
Evan invited me to a video call, and I accepted. He came onto the camera with Klaus and Anson next to him.
“Tell us everything,” Anson said at once.
“I-I did it. With Enzo.” I winced and looked at the floor. No one said a word. Finally, I breathed in and looked at my guys. “I-I know the stipulations, but I was hoping that I could maybe get him to—”
“Have some grade A pussy to convince him?” Klaus asked, smirking at me. “Oh, hummingbird.”
I winced. “I think I failed.”
“LeeLee.” Anson sighed. “Can you just focus on Cole right now? You’ve lured Enzo in, so maybe it’ll get the ball rolling, but please, babe.
Focus, OK? I know you love these assholes, but I’m so worried you’re going to get your heart broken.
And honestly, I’m not a fan of you fucking someone who might not end up with us.
If he was a sure thing and he had his shit together, I’d be more inclined to celebrate just so we can move forward with our lives, but he’s not, and he doesn’t. ”
“I understand,” I whispered, feeling like shit. It had been a heat-of-the-moment thing. I told myself I wasn’t going to let it happen, but I’d definitely failed and spread my legs, hoping that it really would convince him.
“You love him, huh?” Evan asked softly.
I nodded and wiped at my tears. “Yeah. I tried not to, but I do.”
Evan sighed. “Anson is right. Focus on Cole. I’m not against Enzo and E joining, but things need to be sorted out. If you have to fuck them to make them see sense, then whatever, but make sure this is headed somewhere good, OK?”
“OK,” I whispered, wiping at my eyes again. “I’m sorry.”
“No sorrow. No tears. We told you to go for it, and you did. We’re not mad, my love.
We aren’t. We knew this was a possibility.
Honestly, you’re our wife. We already have you and aren’t going to lose you.
You hold the power here with the horsemen.
If and when you realize it’s not worth it, then no harm, no foul.
We’re still here. Still a family. But I do want this to be headed somewhere.
I feel the same way Evan and Anson do.” Klaus smiled at me.
“Why are you guys so good to me?” I murmured.
“Because we love you and want your happiness,” Anson said.
“LeeLee, I’m not a fool. None of us are.
We know what the horsemen meant to you. We accepted this might happen.
We’ve made peace with it, and clearly we are OK with it or I wouldn’t have let Cole Scott fuck you with me.
So just… let’s focus. OK? Get your men, so we can get sorted.
There will be a lot to discuss in the coming days. OK?”
I nodded. “OK.”
“I love you, baby,” Evan said.
“I love you. I love you all,” I replied, truly meaning it.
“Love you, hummingbird.”
“LeeLee?”
“Yeah?”
“If you and Cole do it, call me. I want to watch.”
I raised my brows at Anson’s words. “Really?”
“Yes. I want to fuck with him.” Anson grinned at me.
I smirked back, finally relaxing. “OK.”
“Perfect. I love you. Ryder will be there tomorrow,” Anson said.
I nodded. I was excited to see him.
“Maybe you two could get some alone time,” Evan said, his voice soft.
I frowned. “What?”
“I’m just saying, might be worth considering.” Evan winked.
I shook my head, taking in the way the guys stared back at me. Like they knew something I didn’t. I didn’t want to contemplate it. In fact, all I wanted was to run down to Cole and kiss him. And talk to Enzo. And meet Lazarus. And hold Ethan.
“How’s Ellis?” I asked, deciding that maybe I was imagining the guys’ reactions.
“Uh, she is at ballet, as you know. Then tonight, we’re going roller-skating,” Evan said. “I’m sure Klaus is going to have a sore ass tomorrow.”
“And not because I’m getting fucked in it because we’re all horny and hard-up here,” Klaus supplied. “It’s because I don’t fucking know how to skate.”
I laughed at them as they all teased one another. Finally, we bid each other goodbye before I went back downstairs to find Cole looking at a cookbook.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He kissed me quickly, his arm winding around me.
“I was thinking we could make this.” He pointed to an image of a chocolate cake. “I mean, if you want.”
“I do.” I kissed him again. He easily fell into it, his tongue tangling with mine.
“Do you know how fucking much I miss you when I’m not near you?” he asked between kisses.
“Show me,” I replied.
He kissed me again, but the front door opened. Enzo walked in.
Cole broke our kiss off and grinned at Enzo.
“Hey, beautiful. How was work?”
“Terrible,” Enzo muttered, his dark eyes skirting over Cole’s arm around me, then to my face. “How was your day?”
“Boring. I set a broken leg and then watched a patient exorcist puke on a nurse.”
“Well, that does sound… boring.” Enzo shook his head. “Rosalie? Anything interesting?”
“Um, not really. I started to write a new song,” I replied, watching Enzo watch me.
Butterflies jumped to life in my stomach.
I needed to tell Cole what I’d done with Enzo.
In fact, I was going to do it tonight. I didn’t need the secret kept.
Speaking up was what I hoped would fix the mess we were all in.
I’d leave tomorrow to stay with Ryder, and then Evan would join us.
I assumed Cole would come stay with us at that point, so time was of the essence.
“Really?” Cole’s eyes lit up. “What’s it called?”
“Uh, Dirty Secrets and Sweet Nothings,” I muttered, glancing at Enzo. His brows crinkled as he stared back at me.
“Oh, spicy. I can’t wait to hear it.” Cole kissed my cheek. “I’m going to run upstairs and take a shower. E said he’d be here at seven with Laz.”
“I’ll get going on dinner,” I said.
Cole grinned down at me. “I fucking love you. I’ll be right back.”
He kissed me again before leaving the room, a little bounce in his step.
Enzo moved toward me, his dark eyes fixed on mine.
My breath caught when he reached me, and his hands landed on my hips.
“I missed you,” he admitted softly. “All day. All I could think about was you.”
“Really?”
He brushed his lips against mine. “Really, Sunshine.”
“We… We should talk,” I said.
He rested his forehead against mine. “I don’t want to talk if it’s bad.”
“Enzo—”
“Rosalie, please. Let us have these moments.”
“That’s the thing—”
He captured my lips with his again. “Shh. You talk too much.”
“You don’t listen enough.”
“I just want these moments—”
“We need to tell Cole.”
He stiffened before pulling away to stare down at me. “Really?”
“Do you want me?”
He visibly swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“Enzo, do you want me?”
“I’m scared, Rosalie. I am. I fucked everything up before. If this doesn’t work out, then what? I’ll lose you and my brothers. I can’t risk it—”
“Enzo. Please. Tell me. We can’t do this if it’s not going anywhere. Too many people could get hurt. I don’t want that.”
He nodded. “I know, Sunshine. I know.”
“So…?”
He breathed out. “Can you give me some time? Not to decide if I want you, because I already know that I do. I just need time to think, OK? It’s a lot.
So please… know that I want this more than anything, but there are a lot of moving pieces.
I’m not just some regular guy, and you’re asking me to leave my life…
” His voice trailed off. “Fuck. I’m so lost. I’m just… lost.” He took a step away from me.
The way his voice shook and how his face pinched in an expression of pain made my heart ache for him. He was hurting, and he had been struggling for a long time with it all. Beneath his tough mafia-don exterior was a man barely holding himself together.
“Come here,” I murmured, reaching out for him.