“OK. Then let’s do this,” Anson said, giving me a quick nod. “If you’re sure.”
“I’m fine,” I said stiffly, not really knowing if I was. I suppose this would be the determining factor on how well I did at reinventing myself.
I followed him out of the room and downstairs, where I found E sitting on the couch, talking to Klaus.
E looked up when I came into the room.
The air shifted. He stared back at me, his lips parted.
For a moment, I thought he recognized me, but then he blinked quickly and got to his feet.
“Hey, this is Evan,” Anson said softly, gesturing to me. “Rosalie’s husband.”
Klaus cast a quick look at me without a word. He told me it was a bad idea to come out of hiding here in Chicago, but I told him I’d never hide when Rosalie’s safety was involved.
“Hey, man,” E said, coming over to me.
He looked damn good. He’d changed so much. His hair was a little longer. He dressed nicely in designer clothes. His confidence oozed off him. He definitely wasn’t the man I remembered. Bigger. Stronger. No-nonsense.
I was impressed.
“I’m Ethan. Everyone calls me E. Uh, I’m Rosalie’s ex. The one she’s been talking to and hung out with.” He offered me his hand.
I took it in my hand and gave him a firm shake, noting he still wore blossom’s ring. I had taken mine off long ago and put it into a box next to Rosalie’s. We’d gotten tattoos instead to honor her. We had the B tattooed on the inside of our thumbs, where the rings had once been.
He winced as my wedding band cut into his finger.
“Evan,” I said, my voice low.
“It’s good to finally meet you. Rosalie talked a lot about you.” He paused. “Wow. Pardon me for saying this, but you are one big motherfucker.”
Anson and Klaus both chuckled at that.
“Those tattoos are incredible,” E continued. “Is that over your entire body?”
I nodded my head for him.
He simply stared back at me, looking dumbfounded.
“What’s wrong? Doesn’t look like someone Rosalie would date, let alone marry?” Anson asked.
“No. He’s not,” E admitted. “Sorry, man. I was told you were into the arts and writing. I expected someone shrouded in black with eyeliner and thick glasses. Definitely not someone who looks like he benchpresses Klaus in his spare time.”
I smirked at that beneath my gator.
“He can’t bench me,” Klaus said, eyeing me.
I shrugged. I probably could without batting an eyelash. Maybe. I’d be eager to try, and if our girl wasn’t missing, I’d have told him to climb on, but we had shit to do.
Once we got Ro back in our arms, I’d show Klaus what I could do.
E’s phone buzzed, so he backed away to answer it. I watched as he went to the floor-to-ceiling windows to take his call, out of earshot of us.
“Bold move coming out,” Klaus said.
“He doesn’t recognize me.” I eyed E as he continued to talk on the phone. Whatever he was talking about was pissing him off because his voice rose.
“Just keep your sunglasses on. Should be fine,” Klaus added.
