She sagged against me, her fingers twisting in my gray t-shirt. “I love you, too.”
“Are you OK?”
“No.” She sniffled and buried her face in my shoulder. “I was so scared. I can’t get the smell out of my head. Ani said they’re going to run tests on it to see if it was animal blood or-or…” She shuddered against me.
“Hey, look at me.” I cradled her face and tilted her head up. “We’re going to get this sorted, OK? We will find out who did this, and they will be dealt with. There were a lot of people. Someone knows something. Anson said Ryder was out all night and got a few leads. Let’s just go to Boston and have a nice couple of days, alright? Ellis is excited that she gets to go to the concert.”
She gave me a sad, tired smile. “I’m excited for her to go too.”
In the very rare event that we ever went to one of Rosalie’s shows, Trix pretended to be Ellis’s mom. People were unassuming and never questioned it. If anyone asked, Trix was one of Rosalie’s best friends and brought her daughter to the shows. It was as simple as that. Of course, we’d only ever done it once, and it hadn’t even made people turn their heads at it. I prayed this time would be the same because I wasn’t going to sit in a hotel room while my girl risked her life on stage. If shit were going down, I’d be there. Trix was a smart girl and knew our drills we’d pounded into her head over the years. She was a pro at this point.
Plus, the band and Trix had a longstanding history, and Vic was Trix’s stepbrother. While they didn’t really get along, they were family. The guys treated Trix like a little sister, so I had no worries that they wouldn’t get her and Ellis out if something happened. They promised they would anyway.
“Come on.” I kissed Ro’s cheek tenderly. As much as I wanted to monopolize my time with her, I knew I couldn’t. I’d get to be with her later.
I took her hand and led her out to the living room.
The moment Ellis spotted her, she stopped dancing and rushed forward. Ro bent and scooped her into her arms.
“Mommy!” Ellis threw her arms around Rosalie’s neck and held on tightly.
“Hey, sweet pea,” Ro said, her voice choked as she hugged her.
I knew being away was hard on both of them. I caught Anson’s eye, and he offered me a sad smile. As much as I hated the reason why we were here, I was grateful to have the chance because fuck, I missed my family.
I’d do anything to protect them.
I’d brought my bat with me as proof.
5
COLE
“Did you fucking see the news?” I rushed into our living room and shoved the morning paper in Enzo’s face as he sat up from the couch where he was lounging.
He rarely lounged, but I knew he was struggling lately.
He stared down at the paper, his dark brows crinkled.
“What the fuck?” he snarled, reaching for his phone.
I watched him push a number and waited while whoever he wanted to speak to answered.
Seeing my girl covered in blood and looking terrified had done something to me. The headline said she was rushed to the hospital, too. Sure, I hadn’t spoken to her in over four years, but nothing had changed for me. Rosalie was still as much mine as she’d always been.
Maybe even more these days. Not a day went by that I wasn’t looking at her social media or putting her name into an internet search in the hopes of catching a new glimpse of her. She never played Chicago shows, and I knew it had something to do with us still living here.
But I saw her tour schedule.
She would be here in just over a month.
That did something to me I couldn’t explain. The show was sold out, and I’d tried to get tickets, but even scalpers were fucking sold out. Enzo told me to relax, but I wasn’t above waiting at her tour bus like a fucking groupie.
Of course, I knew Anson would likely have me tossed out on my ass before I got to see her, but fuck him. Ass hat could eat shit.
“Sylar,” Enzo’s voice cut through my thoughts.
I took a seat in the loveseat across from Enzo and listened.
