Ellis raced from the room, her little shoes making a clicking noise as she went.
“She seems happy,” I said.
Rosalie smiled. “She is. This has been good. So far.”
I nodded. “I’m glad.”
We were both quiet for a moment as I eyed her.
“What?” she asked, smoothing down her wild curls nervously.
“Nothing. You look really pretty today,” I said softly. “I like that dress.”
“Oh.” She laughed and tugged at the short hem. “Ani got it for me.”
“He always had good taste.” I chuckled. “No crutches today?”
She shook her head. “No. I think it’s getting better. It’s not hurting as much, and I’m honestly tired of the damn things. I think as long as I’m not trying to run a marathon, I should be OK.”
“And I’m here to carry you if you need me.”
Her lips quirked up. “Part of the job description. I like that Klaus put that into your contract.”
I laughed at that. “Just sends me to the gym to keep in shape. I think that’s really his plan.”
Ellis came back into the room with her bear, and Rosalie held her hand out to her. I went to the door, pulled it open, and followed them out. Enzo had a different security guard on duty. He’d eyed me for a moment without a word before going back to his phone.
We made it to the parking garage, Ellis talking a mile a minute about how cool her dad was. I didn’t like Cole Scott, at least what I knew of him, but I liked that Ellis seemed happy.
Frank opened the back door to the SUV. I figured it was best to have some extra muscle with us for the day. Frank liked to fight and didn’t seem to care if he lived or died. In a way, that worked in our favor. Klaus and the guys trusted him, and he was Sylar’s old man, so he was a good fit.
Of course, he was an odd guy, but considering the children he’d fathered, I wasn’t surprised.
“Mrs. Beyers,” he greeted Rosalie, then Ellis. “Miss Beyers.”
“Frank.” Rosalie patted his cheek as she got into the back of the SUV. He grinned stupidly at the gesture, and I shot him a warning look. Aside from being Frank, he was also a serial womanizer. Not that he had a chance with Rosalie, but it likely wouldn’t stop him from trying to get another cheek pat from her.
He winked at me, and I shook my head.
We settled in, and Frank got behind the wheel before taking us out of the parking garage and onto the street. Luckily, Enzo’s place didn’t have any paparazzi hanging about. It seemed they’d grown bored with the sex tape.
“How’s it been?” I asked Rosalie as I sat across from her. The SUV was set up with the seats facing one another.
She shrugged. “OK.”
What I really wanted to ask was if she was letting Cole join. When I spoke to Anson last night, he said they’d watched Cole kiss her on camera, and it was looking like it was heading in that direction. Anson didn’t seem overly upset by it, and it brought me a little relief, considering I knew Anson couldn’t stand Cole.
“That’s good,” I said, smiling at her. “But OK could always be better.”
“It could be. Circumstances and all that. I guess I’m a little gun-shy, so to speak, given our…history.”
“Gun-Shy? Sounds like a new song.”
She chuckled and reached over to push a rogue curl away from Ellis’s face.
“It could be. How would it go?” she asked.
This was a game Rosalie and I had played over the years. We’d throw out a line and just build on it. I was by no means a songwriter like her and Anson, but I could play guitar and hum a tune if I needed to. I just enjoyed making up songs with her. Sometimes they ended up on her albums, at least a line or two. She’d tried to credit me before, but I’d immediately shot her down. I wanted no credit.
