He stopped jerking us as I rested my forehead against his.
His soft sobs sounded out.
“It’s going to be OK,” I soothed, kissing his forehead, hating that he hurt so much. I knew he loved Rosalie. It had nearly killed him to leave her for E and me. Had he said no, I’d have let him go too, because I knew how much he loved her.
How much he craved a family with her.
Now he worked his ass off in school and was so far ahead of people. He’d received countless recommendations from doctors, all saying how incredible he was. Cole had seamlessly moved quickly through the Mayfair programs. It didn’t surprise me, though. He’d rivaled Rosalie for intelligence in high school. The pair were first and second in our class rankings, Rosalie taking first.
“Cole, come on. Let’s get cleaned up, OK? I’ll get us something.”
“Y-Yeah. OK.”
I pulled away from him and went to his attached bathroom and cleaned my dick off before returning to him with a warm washcloth. I quickly cleaned him before tossing it into his hamper and getting back into bed beside him. He’d managed to half-ass change the sheets but had missed a bottom corner.
“Come here, brother,” I murmured, opening my arms for him.
He came easily and let me hold him.
He was a crazy, giant asshole, but I loved the hell out of him.
“Can we go to Foxy’s grave soon?” he asked.
“Yeah, man. We can go.”
“Can we talk to him while we’re there?”
“Yes,” I answered thickly. “We’ll talk to him.”
“Do you think he forgives us?”
I kissed his forehead fiercely. “I pray he does.”
“Me too,” Cole whispered, his words slurred and garbled. “I miss him. He’d be able to fix everything if he were here.”
I held Cole tighter, knowing he was right. Fox always knew how to fix things, especially things that concerned Rosalie. I couldn’t count the number of times since he’d died that I told myself what a piece of shit fuck up I was at not having listened to him. For not backing down and letting him be the one to marry her.
I’d fucked it all up, and this was my personal hell.
Unfortunately, I’d brought E and Cole along for the ride.
It only made me hate myself more.
But it was no less than what I deserved.
7
ETHAN
“Daddy, look,” Riot rasped, showing me his Ninja Turtle. “It broke!” Devastation crossed his cute face, and my heart immediately cracked.
“Oh, no,” I said, taking the broken turtle from him. The head had come off.
“Can you fix him?” Riot pleaded, his raspy voice trembling, tears in his eyes. “Please, Daddy?”
I tried to get the head back on, but it wouldn’t stay on. The design didn’t allow for head reattachment.
“I think he’s broken,” I said gently.
