“Well, brothers, let’s fucking hope,” I said.
Rosalie wantedto be alone for most of the day, so we let her. She hung out with Ellis, and they watched Ellis’s favorite princess movie while we guys sort of just relaxed, the stress of her being missing gone.
“I have so many fucking meetings when we get back,” Anson muttered, rubbing his eyes after he took Ellis to her room. He said Rosalie and her had fallen asleep together.
“Me too. We start casting for the movie,” I said. “I need to be there.”
“Yeah, don’t fuck that up,” Klaus said. “I have onboarding of new clients to deal with. It’s going to be a busy few weeks while I play catch-up.” He looked over to Ryder, who sat on the couch. “What about you? New York?”
Ryder glanced to our bedroom quickly before looking at his hands. “Uh, I don’t know, man. Trevor drove me insane. I-I think I would like to just quit.”
“What? No,” Anson said. “What the fuck, man? And do what?”
“I don’t know. Maybe buy a house in the country. Get a donkey. Anything I want. I’m not hurting for money.”
“Stay,” Anson said. “Fuck the donkey.”
“Don’t fuck the donkey,” Klaus said. “You can get into trouble for that.”
I chuckled, and Klaus winked at me.
“There are better men out there to protect Rosalie. I’m not the one?—”
“You are the one. Rosalie loves you,” Anson said. “She’ll be devastated if you bail.”
Ryder looked at his hands. “She doesn’t love me. I’m just your friend. She’s tolerated my ass all these years as a service to you.”
“Shut up.” Anson shook his head. “She loves you.”
“Stop fucking saying that, man,” Ryder snapped.
Anson blinked at him as Ryder got to his feet.
“I-I’m going to go to bed. I have a lot of shit on my mind.” Ryder left us.
“What the hell is his problem?” Anson muttered. “This isn’t like him.”
“Stress,” Klaus said before I could just come out and tell him. “He works too much. I am going to give him a month off, paid. See if it helps.”
“Nice benefits,” Anson said, frowning as he tried to work out Ryder’s issues in his head. The fact that he couldn’t see them spoke volumes about his trust in the guy.
“Uh, so, let’s discuss something else. Ethan Masters,” Klaus said.
“Oh fuck, man.” Anson groaned and looked over at him.
“I assume you’re in the know?” Klaus asked, raising his brows at Anson.
“I am definitely in the know.”
“What the fuck do you guys know?” I demanded. “I’m not in the know.”
Anson and Klaus exchanged looks before Anson spoke.
“I can’t say for certain, but Enzo’s son isn’t his. It’s E’s kid. You know that, man.”
I sighed. I had my suspicions and had said as much to E, but the confirmation kicked my ass.
“He’s the same age as Ellis. Looks exactly like E,” Anson said. “He showed me a picture a few weeks ago too. Seeing the kid in person leaves no doubt.”
