“Now!” I shouted.
She jumped into action and grabbed the phone as I stormed to my private elevator with Cole. I put my key in to take us to the underground garage, where I knew we could escape with minimal issues.
We got into my Escalade, and I wheeled us up to the exit. There were a few reporters waiting outside, but far fewer than I’d have had to deal with if I’d gone out the front doors.
“Mr. De Luca! Mr. De Luca! Can you tell us about your relationship with Bishop?”
“Is it true she’s been having an affair with you?”
“Mr. De Luca! Please, just one comment.”
I drove past them without slowing down and got onto the road, the assholes disappearing behind us.
“What’s the plan?” Cole asked, his voice shaking.
“Meet with the watchers and try not to get killed,” I muttered. “If we do that, then we can go to step two in figuring out how the fuck our shit was broken into.” I paused. “How many people do you have coming in and out of the house during your remodel?”
“Several,” he muttered. “I’m always there when they are, though. I watch all of them. No one has ever gone out of my sight.”
I nodded. Cole was good about stuff like that, but someone had definitely gotten in, and we needed to figure out how. I didn’t have the cameras there anymore, telling myself I didn’t give a fuck, and if it burned, it burned.
“What about Rosalie? Shouldn’t we reach out?” Cole asked.
“That’s the last fucking thing we do,” I snapped at him. “She’s dealing with this shit. I don’t give a fuck if my dick is all over the internet, but I goddamn care about her body being put on display. If we reach out, it’ll look like it’s something recent. I don’t want that for her. She’s fucking married. I don’t want to ruin the good things she has going for herself.”
“I think we should reach out and tear it to the ground. Fuck Ass Hat! Fuck their marriage?—”
“If you loved her as much as you claim to, you’d not be plotting to ruin her fucking life!” I shouted and slammed my hands on the steering wheel. “Do you even fucking hear yourself, Cole? Huh? She is not our girl anymore. She. Is. Fucking. MARRIED. To another man. Not ours. Never ours again. Get it through your thick fucking head that it’s over! Let that shit rest in peace right next to Fox’s dead body!”
Cole said nothing, his chest heaving as he stared out the window. I hated to yell at him, but this shit was getting old, and I was tired. I hurt too, but fucking hell. We had to let go. The chances of Church changing the contract now were looking slim.
We rode in silence the entire way back to our high-rise. Once home, we went inside to find E already waiting for us.
“We have a meeting,” I said, confirming what Cole had already sent to him via text.
E nodded tightly, but I noticed the twitch of his hands. He hadn’t been back to the underground since we’d rescued him all those years ago.
“Laz is with Anna and Harold. I told them to keep him if we don’t come home. They have instructions to reach out to my parents.” He smoothed down his shirt before grabbing his jacket. I noted he already had his gun.
I swallowed hard, knowing E wasn’t one to lie down and die these days. I worried how he’d react if we had to return to the place that took so much from all of us.
“You might not have to go if they decide to take us,” I said. Church typically left E out of all the shit related to the underground. E never really said much about Church, but I figured there was something there I didn’t know about, and I never pushed it.
E said nothing, his gaze fixed on the door. Cole was whispering to him, no doubt telling him to play it cool. E was less than cool these days. More like a silent storm that would tear down your house.
The bell rang at the door.
I pulled open the door to see two of the watchers, or ghosts, as they preferred to be called when dealing with underground business.
“Malachi,” I said, eyeing the tattooed monster in front of me. Church’s brother. “Sinclair.”
Malachi pushed past me, Sinclair following him into the living room.
I sighed, irritated that they had just come inside, but perhaps we could do this here without the need to be seen in the underground.
I followed them deeper in our space and watched as they slowly took in their surroundings.
“I didn’t send those videos,” I started.
