59. Rosalie
ROSALIE
Ifell into a fitful sleep that night. Cole didn’t come to bed. Instead, he stayed up with Enzo. They’d left with Ethan hours ago, leaving me behind, locked in and with many guards outside.
Cole said they were going to talk to Evan.
I was worried because Evan hadn’t answered my calls or texted me back since Enzo and the guys left to see him.
I knew Evan. He could be violent, but I prayed he wasn’t with the horsemen. He loved them once upon a time, and I knew there were still feelings for them, or he’d not have said as much or been OK with the guys joining us.
I heard creaking in the hallway and sat up. Carefully, I got out of bed and peeked out the crack in my door to see Enzo going into his bedroom, but no Cole.
Quickly, I darted out and followed him into his room, closing the door softly behind him.
“Enzo?” my voice came out shaky and soft.
He had his back to me, but he paused before turning to face me.
I gasped and stared in horror at him. He was covered in so much blood.
“What happened?” I choked out. “Is Evan OK? Is Cole? Ryder? Ethan?”
“Everyone is fine,” he said, his voice low. “This isn’t our family’s blood.”
“Then whose is it?”
He said nothing, his expression cold. I went to him and reached out, but he pushed my hands away.
“Don’t,” he said, moving away from me.
I stood, my heart in my throat, as he went into the bathroom. I pulled it together and followed him.
“Don’t you dare walk away from me—”
Enzo grabbed me roughly by the waist and put me against the bathroom door, his lips nearly touching mine. The smell of his rich cologne and the iron tang of blood reached my nostrils.
His hand moved to my throat, and he wrapped his bloody fingers around it. He squeezed gently, his dark eyes trained on mine.
I said nothing as I stared up at him, my heart in my throat.
“Do you know what kind of monster I am, Rosalie?” he whispered against my lips.
“Yes,” I answered, my voice trembling.
“I killed eight men tonight. I cut their bodies up and sent them to Roberto Virelli in pieces with a warning that I’ll kill every motherfucker in my path until I get to him.”
I swallowed hard at his words.
“I am Lorenzo De Luca, the mafia don, not the sweet boy you knew in high school. I’m a killer.
I tear worlds apart to grow mine. I stab women to death who wrong me.
I burn their bodies. I kill their fathers and take over companies.
I cut up men and send them back to their families in pieces. Do you know why?”
“Why?” I choked out.
“Because it’s what monsters do.” He released my throat and cradled my face with his bloody hand. “Can you love what I’ve become? Can you love this monster, Sunshine? Or do I need to set you free once and for all?”
He stared me down. My pulse roared in my ears.
“I would die to love you. I would die to protect you. I am not weak. I’m fucking not,” he said fiercely. “I’m not.”
“I know you’re not,” I said, my voice soft and shaky. “I’ve never thought you were weak.”
He gripped my face tightly and gave it a shake. “Then tell me. Can you love me this way?”
“Enzo, I already do. I always have. I always will—”
I got no warning. His lips crashed against mine, his kiss tangy from the blood. His hand moved to my hair, where he tugged it, making me gasp against his lips.
He kissed down my neck, nipping and sucking against the flesh.
“After you have the babies, I’m going to put another one in you,” he husked out into my ear. “You’re going to give me my heir, Sunshine. My son will be better than I ever was. I’ll marry you just like the rest did. I will make you mine, and you will never fucking escape me.”
I closed my eyes at his words, them hurting my heart because he thought he wasn’t good.
Damn Dante and his hurtful words. He must have told Enzo he was weak before he left.
He didn’t know Enzo like I did. He didn’t know what he’d endured. How fiercely he loved and how easily he’d sacrifice his own happiness to give me mine, even if it hurt at first.
Besides, what was love without a little bit of pain?
I didn’t even realize Enzo undid his pants until he was lifting me into his arms. I wrapped my legs around him, his lips fused to mine, as he pushed his cock deep into my body.
I gasped against his lips, enjoying the stretch he gave me.
“I love you this way,” he rasped against my lips as his hips snapped forward.
“How is that?” I answered back amid a soft moan as I clung to him.
“Fucking mine.” He slammed into me again, making me cry out.
“Shh, Sunshine. I thought you wanted this to be your dirty fucking secret. If that’s still the case, I suggest closing that pretty mouth of yours and taking my cock like a good girl.”
His words were my undoing. Or maybe it was the incredible way he fucked me against the door. Either way, I came so hard, my body shook.
He let out a feral snarl and moved faster, claiming me harder and weaving one orgasm into the next before he let out a groan of his own, his cock throbbing deep inside me.
Breathless, he rested his forehead against mine.
“Enzo—”
He sobbed softly as he held me. My heart shattered at the sound.
“I’m not weak,” he whispered, repeating what he said earlier. “I’m just… tired.”
I cradled his cheek. “Then rest.”
“Never,” he said, his voice soft and shaky. “No rest for the wicked.”
“You’re not wicked.”
“I am,” he said. “I’m a very bad man who does very bad things, but I love you, Sunshine. I love you with everything I am, and I meant what I said. I’d die to protect you.”
“I wouldn’t want that.”
“I owe you that after everything. I’d have taken Fox’s place in an instant. E’s. All of it was my fault, and I’ve lived with that guilt for years. I want more than anything to make it up to you, but I can only do that in another life because this one is fucked. It’s so fucked, baby.”
“It’s not. I promise, it’s not.”
He said nothing, gathering himself before pulling away and staring at me.
“You have their blood on you,” he whispered.
He immediately took me to the shower, losing his shirt with one hand along the way as he held me with his other, his dick still buried deep inside me.
With ease, he started the shower and stepped into it with me in his arms.
He hadn’t even bothered to remove my nightgown.
“I love you,” he whispered against my lips as the warm water rained on us. “What do you need from me to prove it?”
“Just you. I don’t care about anything else. Just you, Enzo.”
“Fuck, Sunshine.” He kissed me harder, his cock moving deep inside me again as he took me once more.
“Where’s Cole?” I rasped.
“Asleep on the couch. He didn’t want to wake you.”
“So you decided to fuck his girl while he slept?”
“Fuck yes, I did.” He nipped my bottom lip as he pounded away inside me. “Sunshine. Baby. I’ve missed this pussy.”
Our kisses were fierce as we tore into one another. The blood had washed off him, swirling around our feet.
“I’m going to come,” I gasped. “Oh, my god.”
“Come for me, Sunshine.” He slammed deep inside me. My eyes rolled back, and I came with a cry, my nails in his back.
He followed, groaning my name through his release.
We slowed to a stop, and he kissed me again. I broke away from him and stared into his tired, dark eyes.
He blinked slowly at me, so much turmoil in those dark depths it broke my heart. He’d been through hell, and I’d let him go it alone because I’d believed the lies.
I’d never make him do that again.
I didn’t care what I had to do to make this work; I’d do it.
“You need rest,” I murmured.
“I do,” he agreed, his words low. I knew he meant more than sleep. This life had aged him and stolen so much.
Despite his dick still deep inside me and having come twice, he was still rock hard. I wiggled a little in his arms, and he let out a soft grunt.
I grabbed his soap and washed his hair for him, then washed his body as best I could.
“Don’t be mad at me, Sunshine. Fuck, please.
I’ll find who took those videos and kill them.
I swear it. These babies in your belly are everything to Cole.
I love him. I can’t let anything happen to you guys.
And it’s everything to me. It’s my second chance to prove I’m not the piece of shit you think I am. ”
“Shh.” I kissed him gently. “I don’t think you’re that at all. Let’s go to sleep. No more killing talk. Just rest.”
“OK,” he whispered, a man defeated.
I tried to stand, but he held me tighter.
“No,” he whispered against my lips. “I want to be connected to you all night.”
I said nothing and let him carry me to bed. He removed my nightgown along the way, letting it splat to the floor in a wet heap before putting me into his bed. He somehow managed to stay buried inside me the entire time, a feat I found admirable.
I faced him in bed and traced lightly around his soft lips.
“Do you love me, Sunshine? Even after everything?”
“I love you,” I whispered.
He grabbed my hand and stared at my wedding rings, his eyes glassy in the moonlight.
“My ring should have been here for the last five years,” he whispered. “I want to add it to your collection.”
“Promise?”
“On my life, you’ll be my wife someday,” he murmured, kissing the rings. “I’m glad Fox got to marry you first, though. You deserve him. He’s the best. I’m only sad I missed it.”
“I’m yours if you want me.”
“Fuck, baby, you know I do.” He kissed me before shifting his hips to gently thrust into me again.
“What about Cole? In the morning?”
“He won’t wake early. It’ll be OK.”
I believed him and let him slowly make love to me.
It was uncharacteristic for him, but it was so damn good I didn’t question it.
I would never question perfection.