“Why don’t you come back?” Rosalie asked. “It won’t be a bother to me if Enzo’s son is here.” Her voice shook.
A pained expression crossed E’s face, and he looked at me quickly.
Tell her. Fucking tell her, man…
“Uh, no. I’m good hanging out with him at the hotel. He’s with Ann right now, his nanny. I’ll pick him up on my way back to the hotel. He’s having fun in the pool and stuff anyway.”
“This place has a pool,” Ryder said.
“Thank you for pointing that out,” E said tightly.
“Ethan, I’m serious. It’s not a problem—,” Rosalie started.
“Rosalie, no offense, but I don’t think you’re going to want to see a reminder of the hell we put you through. Or the aftermath.”
“Well, no offense, Ethan,” she shot back. “But he’s a little boy and didn’t ask for his parents to cheat and create him. I don’t like keeping him out of his home.”
E gave her a tight smile. “Right. The cheating to make him.” He got to his feet and ran his fingers through his hair. “I-I gotta go. I have to get things sorted over at Mayfair. Paperwork and all that. I-I ordered a new desk, so that will be arriving at my office.” He walked quickly to the door.
“Ethan, wait,” Rosalie called out.
“We’ll talk later,” he said when he reached the door. “Keep Cole in line, OK?”
Rosalie nodded, a sad look on her face. E left, leaving us in silence.
“Gosh, I feel like I’m the queen at clearing out a room,” she muttered.
Ryder chuckled. “I helped. Don’t take all the credit.”
She sighed and shook her head. “I have to call Dante anyway. He’s been blowing up my phone the last few days. I assume he wants to see me.”
“That is a safe assumption. We can go to him if you want,” I said.
She nibbled her bottom lip for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. I don’t want to be here with Enzo anyway, in case thatcrazy girl he’s seeing comes back. Plus, we can get Cole’s ballet slippers.”
“Ryder, you good with us leaving you and Ellis back at Klaus’s?” I asked, looking over Rosalie’s head to Ryder. I frowned as I noticed his full attention on her. I hadn’t even noticed he was holding her hand, or that she was letting him.
They had always been close, but this just seemed… weird.
“Ryder,” I called out.
He looked at me. “What?”
“Will you watch Ellis at Klaus’s?”
“Oh. Of course, man. Sure.” He said, releasing Rosalie’s hand. Instead of inquiring about what the hell that was, I shook it off.
“I’ll get Ellis,” I said. “Baby, you need your bag and anything else?”
“Mm, just you and Ellis,” she said.
I kissed her quickly and left the room, but the moment I was on the stairs, I looked back to see Ryder had moved closer to Rosalie, and her hand was back in his. He was saying something and looking at her nails.
She replied with a laugh that made him grin.
I swallowed my doubts and went to get Ellis.
There was no way Ryder felt anything but friendship for Rosalie. He was one of my oldest and best friends. He wouldn’t do that.
