He shrugged. “No idea. We’ve been dealing with them off and on for about three years now. They’ve been pushing heroin and coke pretty hard.”
“You don’t think they had anything to do with Rosalie, do you?”
He shrugged. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. It’s a delicate situation. With Ivanov out, someone else was bound to come back in, but we don’t want to start any turf wars with the Virelli family if they’re innocent. And Roberto Virelli isn’t a nice man.”
I nodded. It made sense.
“So we can’t exactly go around and question them. Roberto has declined to meet with us, so we’re just keeping our ears to the ground at this point. It would make sense if he’s involved. He hates Enzo, and Enzo hates him. Old beef with his dad and all that,” E explained. “When news of Enzo and Rosalie’s video came out, Roberto started trying us a bit more. So who fucking knows.”
“Fuck, what a mess,” I muttered. “I knew we shouldn’t have come here. I fucking told the label no, but they wouldn’t listen to me.”
E sighed. “We’ll find her.”
“I hope so,” I murmured.
We were both quiet for a long time before I spoke.
“How was your visit with her?”
“Good.” He shot me a quick smile. “Really good. Kind of bittersweet, I suppose.”
“Makes sense,” I said.
“And for your next question, yeah, I kissed her.”
“I wasn’t going to ask,” I muttered.
“You wanted to know, and I know Rosalie. She wouldn’t have kept it from you.”
He was right on that one. I knew she’d come home and tell us.
“Klaus knows. I guess all that’s left is Evan,” he said. “Speaking of Evan, is he here?”
I nodded. “He is. He’s asleep, but I don’t think he’s interested in chatting anytime soon. He’s not the chatty sort.”
“Rosalie said as much. Said he likes being alone.”
“He does. He’s the artsy sort. Tortured writer type,” I said. “Always lost in his own world.”
“Kind of like Fox,” E mused, a sad smile on his face.
I swallowed hard. “Yeah, man, kind of like Fox.”
“Is he a good guy?” E ventured. “To Rosalie? Is he good for her? She only deserves the best.”
“He is the best,” I said softly. “Loves her endlessly. He’s her whole world. He’s a better man than I am, that’s for sure.”
“I doubt that. You’re a good guy. Honestly, I was sad that you never joined us.” His green eyes raked over my face. “Always thought you’d make a great addition to our group.”
I chuckled at that. “Yeah, well, it worked out for the best. Now it’s my group.”
“Touché.” He gave me a genuine smile. “How is Ellisandra? Is she OK with all of this? I didn’t want to ask Klaus since he seems to be so focused on just killing people. Figured talk about kids might pull him out of the zone.”
“She’s OK. She’s staying with family. She’s happy. She’s used to Rosalie being away, so this isn’t new for her. She is wondering why she’s not calling her, though.”
A sad look swept across E’s face.
“But hey, heard you horsemen have a kid. Congrats.”
