58. Enzo
ENZO
Istared at my phone.
I hadn’t heard from Rosalie in a few days. She said she’d be giving me a little space since I had a business trip to New York, but I’d gotten back yesterday.
I knew she was with Cole, and I didn’t want to disturb their family time, but I was really aching to talk to her.
She was all I could think about. We were still keeping things away from Cole and E because I didn’t want them to know if shit didn’t work out, especially Cole. Seeing any shred of hope in his eyes regarding all of us getting back together was hard to handle.
“Fuck it,” I muttered, quickly typing out the message and hitting send.
Enzo: Hey, Sunshine. Thinking of you. Hope your time with Cole and Ellis was amazing.
I’d never been nervous sending a text before, but there I was, sitting behind my desk in my office at headquarters, my heart pounding as I waited for her reply.
“Mr. De Luca?” Heather buzzed in. She was taking up space at the front desk, vetting people who tried to get in to see me without appointments.
“What?” I snapped back into the intercom.
“Jade Michaels is here to see you, sir.”
“No.”
The intercom crackled.
“Sir, she said it’s urgent.”
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. I’d fired her. I told her not to come back, but here she fucking was. I needed to get this shit sorted.
“Send her in.”
A moment later, my door opened, and Jade stepped into the office wearing a short black skirt and cream blouse, her blonde hair in an elegant ponytail. A few months ago, I might have been interested in watching her walk toward me, but even that was hit-or-miss. Now it was definitely a miss.
I didn’t even realize she was holding a handful of papers until she tossed them onto my desk.
“What is this?” I demanded, not bothering to look down at them.
“Look at them,” she said.
I gave her a look of irritation before focusing on the papers. Magazines. Newspapers.
“What the fuck is this?” I murmured, my stomach twisting as I lifted and dropped each one with different headlines.
Rock Princess Bishop Caught Cheating With Billionaire CEO to Rustic Rifles!
Lorenzo De Luca and Bishop: Caught Red-Handed
The Fall of an Empire: Bishop Cheats on New Husband with Billionaire Playboy
Each headline screamed ugly words, but it was really the photos that got me.
They were from back when Rosalie and I were engaged. Definitely nothing new, but if people didn’t know Rosalie and me, then it was easy to assume they were recent.
I swallowed as I skimmed one of the articles.
“Bishop was recently seen at Mercy Medical. Lorenzo De Luca didn’t leave her side,” a source close to the rock princess says. “He stayed all night with her. An ugly brawl broke out when her husband, Anson, arrived, but security was quick to break it up.”
The Tribune has also learned the reason Bishop was hospitalized.
According to sources, she is currently pregnant with her first child with Lorenzo De Luca.
Sources say she and Anson Beyers, her husband and manager, are working on fixing their new marriage, but Lorenzo is making things difficult for the power couple.
Bile burned my throat as I read the article.
This was so FUCKED.
I threw the paper down.
“Why would you bring me this?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“Because I saw it all over the city. People are talking. Just because I don’t work here anymore doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. I’m here for you, Enzo. You need a friend right now. Someone to make this mess go away. I can be that person.” She slid onto my desk and leaned into me.
I wasn’t thinking clearly. All I could think about was getting to Rosalie and fixing this.
She reached for my tie, but I pushed her away and got to my feet. Quickly, I pulled my phone out and stared at the screen. Either Rosalie and Anson didn’t know this shit happened, or they were already doing damage control.
“Enzo, what do you think? We can make our relationship public. It’ll save Bishop and you—” She tried to grab my hand, but I pushed her away and dialed Cole.
“I saw,” he said the moment he picked up.
“Rosalie?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
“I have her at our place. We just got here. She’s on the phone with Evan and the guys. Evan and Ryder will be here in a few minutes. I don’t know if Klaus and Anson will be flying back.”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “I’ll be home soon.”
He was quiet.
“Cole, I’m sorry—”
“It’s not your fault,” he said thickly. “Just get home, OK?”
“I will. Get E.”
“He’s already on the way.”
“Good. Love you, brother.”
“Love you,” he whispered before disconnecting the call. I knew this was going to hurt a hell of a lot of people. None of the shit was true. Not in the sense it was being reported.
Fuck.
“Enzo—”
I shook her off again. I didn’t have time for this shit. I needed to talk to my PR guy I’d hired after the last round of nonsense, but more importantly, I needed to see Rosalie.
I left my office without a backward glance.
“Have Jade escorted out of my office,” I snapped at Heather as I stormed past her. She scrambled to phone security as I went to my private elevator and got in. I called Christian as I went.
“I heard, boss. I’m already downstairs.”
“See you in a few,” I said before disconnecting the call.
I checked my phone again to see Rosalie still hadn’t replied to me, but I didn’t expect her to in the moment. So when I reached the parking garage, I got into my waiting SUV, Christian behind the wheel with Memphis in the passenger seat.
“Drive,” I said.
We squealed out of the garage to find reporters beginning to flock around the building.
“Fucking vultures,” I muttered, dialing Benson, my PR guy.
“I’m working on it,” he said the moment he picked up. “I only just got word. Get home. Keep your head down. Don’t talk to anyone.”
“What else?” I demanded since I knew there had to be more.
“Reporters are outside your high-rise. They’ve already accosted Cole, and Rosalie was with him.
So it’ll hit the front page within minutes that she was seen going to your place.
Cole was already mentioned in previous reports, so it’s only going to get worse.
We’re trying to get a handle on it, but just be prepared to make a statement I can get written for you. ”
I scrubbed my hand down my face. Cole should have just taken Rosalie back to her place and not bothered stopping at home.
Fucking hell, this was a nightmare. I didn’t want her to be stressed. She was pregnant for fuck’s sake. If she lost the baby over this shit…
My stomach twisted.
I didn’t want to think about it, so I hauled in some deep breaths as we made our way through the city.
“Dmitri, E, and Elijah have the parking garage on lockdown now,” Memphis said. “Just pull in. We can fight any stragglers.”
“Just shoot them in the head so they don’t come back,” Christian muttered.
I swallowed at his words. It’s what I really fucking wanted to do.
It was a damn circus outside my building, but we managed to get into the underground garage, my men barring reporters now.
Too bad they hadn’t been there sooner to protect Rosalie and Cole.
I got out, hearing people shouting my name from the opening to the garage.
“Lorenzo! Care to give your statement on you and Bishop’s relationship?”
“Lorenzo! How long have you been cheating with Bishop! Does Anson know?”
“Homewrecker!”
I ignored it all and got into the elevator with Christian and Memphis, the doors closing and shutting out the shouts from Bishop fans and reporters.
“What a fucking nightmare,” Memphis muttered.
I grunted, agreeing.
“Congrats, though,” Christian said.
“Why?”
He smirked and showed me his phone. “Your stocks are soaring.”
I rolled my eyes. “Perfect.”
We made it to the top, and I got out and stormed into my home to find Evan and Ryder already there. Cole was shouting into the phone at Anson and Klaus, and E was staring down at his phone, presumably giving any updates he was reading while Ryder scribbled on a notepad.
Evan held Rosalie in his arms.
I went directly to them and fell to my knees.
“What can I do?” I whispered.
“We’re working on it,” Evan said softly as Rosalie continued to keep her face buried against his chest.
My throat tightened. “Rosalie?”
“I’m OK,” she whispered, peeking out at me. “Really.”
“You’re not,” I said. “Fuck. I’m sorry this is happening again.”
“It’ll blow over,” Ryder muttered. “Just like last time. We’re more concerned with her stress levels.” He continued writing on his pad of paper.
“Where’s Ellis?”
“Dante took her,” Evan said. “She’s with him and Trix at his place.”
I nodded. Seemed like a good plan. I personally wasn’t a fan of him taking Ellis, but the last thing we needed was for her existence to get known.
My phone buzzed, and I looked down to see Benson had arrived. I told Dmitri to let him in before I got to my feet.
“We’ll get this sorted. My PR guy is here.”
“Good,” Cole said, coming to me, bringing Anson and Klaus with him on the video call.
He handed me the phone as Benson opened the door and stepped inside. I nodded for him to follow me, taking Cole’s phone to my office.
I settled behind my desk, and Benson sat across from me with his assistant, Calvin.
I propped up the phone so Anson and Klaus could be a part of the meeting. I assumed Rosalie would be joining us in a moment at the very least.
“Benson. This is Anson Beyers and Klaus Seeley,” I started. “Guys, this is Benson, my PR guy.”
They all greeted one another before Benson began.
“Obviously, I’d like to extend my apologies for the situation, Mr. Beyers,” Benson began. “It’s not my client’s intention to cause issues—”
“Benson, right?” Anson broke in.
“Yes, sir.”
“I don’t need an apology. This is not Enzo’s fault.
Someone was talking at that hospital, clearly violating privacy policies and NDAs.
My team is digging into that now. What I want to know is what you plan on doing on Enzo’s end to smooth this over.
” Anson was no-nonsense and, in that moment, reminded me of his father, Matteo De Santis, who had been one of the most feared men in the world.