“I don’t know. You know I love her and Ellis. They’re my world. My family. I wouldn’t have proposed to her if I had any reservations. Am I concerned? Yes. Absolutely. Do I trust Cole and the horsemen? I trust they’ll try their best, and it’s not them that’s the issue. Aside from Dante, I really don’t think there’s anyone in the world who would try to keep her safe like the horsemen would. Maybe the kings, but they have their own shit going on.”
I nodded. “But how do you feel?”
“I don’t like that another man fucked our woman, Anson. I fucking don’t. It took everything I had not to find his ass and drive my fist through his face. I don’t care that it was a mistake or an accident. He’s a fucking doctor. His job is to care for people, not get them high and fuck them.”
My leg bounced as I rubbed my eyes.
“If Rosalie decides she wants to let Cole come back, then I will not oppose it,” Klaus continued. “I love her, and she has a history with him, but I am with Evan on the mob stuff. I left that life. I’m happy with this life. I do not wish to return to it. So that’s the issue I foresee. If Cole comes to us, he must leave that life. That’s my hard limit. I don’t want Rosalie or Ellis draggedinto hell because the horsemen want more. Cole is a multi-millionaire without the mafia. Did you know that?”
“He is?” I knew he had money, but I never bothered to research it.
“He is. His family is well-off. He was left nearly fifty million in a trust fund when his grandparents passed. Old money. Dirty money. His brother, too. And that’s not even counting the money he has made from investments, the mafia, or anything else he has his hands in. When his parents go, he will likely inherit their fortune with Colten. And they have even more. He is not, and will never be, hurting for money. On top of that, the little shit is a doctor and a bit of a prodigy, if my sources are correct. His life is, for lack of a better word, cake.”
I swallowed at that information. I had no idea Cole was that well off.
“Ever heard of the Ashford family?” Klaus continued.
“Yeah.” I nodded, frowning at the name. “That’s old money. I studied the name in high school. Made fortunes on the gold rush and then built an empire on railways and other things that are mostly a conspiracy. Government connections. Dirty laundry connections.”
Klaus raised his brows at me.
“Why? What does that name have to do with anything?”
“Cole’s great-great-grandfather was none other than Augustine Ashford.”
I blinked rapidly at that information. “Are you shitting me?”
Klaus shook his head. “I would never shit on you.”
I shook off his incorrect understanding of the phrase and didn’t bother to correct him.
“And that’s on his mother’s side. His father’s side is the Scott family. They trace back to some royal European bullshit.”
I had no fucking idea. And why would I? I’d never really talked to Cole aside to tell him to go fuck himself.
“Do you think Rosalie knows?” I asked.
Klaus shrugged. “I doubt it. Cole hates his family. His immediate family, aside from Colten. At least he doesn’t flaunt his heritage. I appreciate that about the little dick head.”
“What about E? Nothing crazy in his background?”
Klaus took another drink. “His background defines crazy. Mother and father are both addicts. His mother’s parents were decent people. Both dead from disease. Father’s side was scum. His mother’s side was a bit more upper-middle-class. Ethan inherited what was left on his mother’s side. He got a few million from savings and life insurance things. Nothing substantial. E doesn’t need it though. He’s the sugar daddy. He rakes in so much money every minute on his designer drugs that he won’t have to work a day for the rest of his life or his next life if he doesn’t want to. His son included.”
I blew out a breath. The horsemen really had themselves sorted. I already knew what Enzo had. He had his billionaire status long ago with Rustic Rifles. He was all over the papers with it.
I didn’t nearly have that much money. I was doing well for myself and had millions too, but nothing like what the horsemen had. I had every intention of starting my own record label, and had been on the fence about just doing it, but I didn’t want it to interfere with Rosalie’s things. Her contract with Trackmaster was almost up, and I was seriously considering surprising her by offering her a contract with a company I wanted to start.
Klaus had a fuck load of money. He probably rivaled the horsemen, or at least was closer to rivaling them than any of us were. Evan did great with his books and had sold the rights to his newest book to this production company for a sizable, multi-million-dollar sum, and he generated passive income from all his backlist, but still. We couldn’t compete with the horsemen. If Enzo went all in, we’d be fucked.
“You worry. Talk to me,” Klaus said.
I sighed. “Cole is Ellis’s dad. What if he decides he wants to take her from us? I mean, he has the means to do it. All Enzo needs to do is snap his fingers, and a judge would grant whatever he wanted. They could argue that Rosalie is gone a lot. Cole isn’t. I… I worry.”
Klaus nodded. “I get it. It’s definitely a concern. If it comes down to it, then we do what we do best, brother.”
“Fight,” I murmured.
He winked at me. “Fight.”
