“It’s nothing,” E broke in. “With that Riley guy. It’s nothing.”
“How do you know?” Cole asked, scowling at him.
“I… just do,” E muttered.
Cole snorted. “What-the-fuck-ever. It’s about more than that rock star prick. It’s Ass Hat. Every fucking rag in this city has that goddamn image of his tongue in her mouth on the fucking cover. We need to bring her home.”
I sighed. Every few months, we had this damn conversation, and it always ended the same. I’d say she was living her dreams, and to let her. E would bring up how we’d even tell what happened without her hating us for all that. His fears of her hating him. And then I’d remind myself of the deal made with Dante Church. Lately, it had become a daily occurrence, which was why I’d told E everything about the contract. We need to get Cole out of here before he lost his damn mind. I’d miss the hell out of him, but he deserved to have her.
We’d never go after Rosalie.
Instead, we’d watch from afar. It sucked, but I didn’t have a chance in hell with her these days. She didn’t need me. Hell, even after everything happened back when we split, she hadn’t needed me. She’d plowed onward, got a job, and lived her life. I knew for a fact the day I had her in my Escalade that she was done with me. She’d begged me to let her go. Told me I was killing her. So I did. I let her go. Wish granted.
I knew then she’d never come back, and I was sure Church knew it too, but to ensure we never tried, he’d given us the contract.
The crushing news of her marriage confirmed she’d left me in that alley behind Merv’s diner years ago.
“The next fucking news story I’m going to hear about is her fucking pregnant by Ass Hat! He’ll take my fucking future. My baby. I’ve lost her to him, but this can be fixed! We can convince her?—”
“It’s fucking over!” I shouted, getting to my feet. “Let her go, man. Fucking hell! We don’t date. We don’t fuck anyone. We sit around jerking one another off. Come the fuck on! At somepoint, we have to realize it’s fucking over! It’s done! We couldn’t if we wanted to. She’s married! Hell, E is talking to another girl.”
E winced at my words and looked to his lap, a sad expression on his face.
Cole got to his feet, his chest heaving. “I don’t fucking accept that. She needs us. Some motherfucker is leaving body parts in her dressing room! That’s the kind of shit we don’t just sit back and let happen. Unless you stopped loving her. Have you?”
I swallowed and looked to E, who sat forward on the couch, his green eyes locked on me. I didn’t know where E was on any of this, but because he was talking to someone new, I assumed he was done.
I sighed and stared back at Cole. “It’s over, Cole. Let her go. It’s going to make you crazy. I’m done with her. I let her go a long time ago. Maybe it’s really time to find a nice girl?—”
“Fuck you.” He shoved past me and went upstairs.
I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples.
“I’m worried for her too,” E said softly.
“You know I have people looking for this prick,” I said.
“I know. But with Cole, you know how much he loves her. He always has. He doesn’t like to hear it’s over. He’s been holding on for four years, man. We all did.”
“She’s married. She married the guy who loved her endlessly. Do you think we can bring her home to us after?” I stared E down. “Do you really?”
He looked down at his hands. “No.”
His answer broke me further. Fuck. E always was the optimist, so hearing his words wasn’t what I needed to keep hope alive.
“I want her to be happy. If she is happy being married, then we should leave her to it. I just wish…” His voice trailed off. “Guess it doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t,” I said, blowing out a breath. “I accepted long ago that she was gone. I accepted this was how it would be. I-I can’t do anything about it. This is it, man. Moving on is what should happen at this point.”
E stood. “I know, but it’s hard.”
“One day at a time,” I said thickly. “And you have this Emily now. And I reached out and left a message for Church about the contract. It’s only a matter of time.”
“I… don’t. I’m just… It’s just… talking. Nothing more.”
“E, it’s OK if you like her. You deserve your happiness. Laz deserves to have some semblance of a mom in his life. If you can make it work with this girl, you should try.”
He scoffed and shook his head.
