“Did you think about me when you married?”
“Yes.”
I nodded, my throat tight. “But you did it anyway.”
“You left me,” she whispered. “Cole. You left me when I needed you the most. You went with Enzo. You took Ethan. You left me all alone when I was trying to-to survive. To know that you left me for someone else… it hurt. It still hurts. So forgive me if I’m not eager to see you these days.”
I nodded. I knew what I’d done, but there was so much more to it that she didn’t know.
I breathed out. “Rosalie, I didn’t fuck Celeste.”
She crinkled her brows as she stared at me.
“I never touched her. I was alone too. I just… I love Enzo. He’s my brother. He needed me?—”
“I needed you,” she choked out, her eyes wide and filled with tears. “I needed you, Cole, and you left me when I needed you the most.”
“Fuck, baby, I’m sorry?—”
Her bottom lip trembled as she stared at me. I tried to reach for her, but she shoved me off, a soft cry coming from her because she’d shifted her ankle again.
“Don’t. Please,” she choked out, her voice trembling. “I-I don’t want you to touch me.”
I pulled back and nodded. Instead of letting her see how fucking broken and pathetic I was, I fixed her pillows again and got to my feet.
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” I said.
I grabbed a blanket and pillow out of the closet near her bathroom before settling on the couch. I’d leave her alone for now.
She didn’t try to stop me. Instead, she closed her eyes, and soon, she was sleeping, her brows crinkled.
I went over to her and adjusted her blanket before pressing a tender kiss to her forehead.
“Love you, Rosebud,” I murmured before backing away and returning to my couch. I covered myself and closed my eyes, miserable for completely new reasons.
9
EVAN
Another day. Another trip to nowhere.
The police stopped in, and we caught them up on the nothing we had. They had just about the same.
E didn’t stop in, which I was grateful for because he definitely wasn’t the guy I remembered.
I was still proud of him and happy, despite him being a complete dickweed to me.
But I also understood where he was coming from. He saw me as a threat and Fox’s replacement. I wanted to pull him aside and just pull off my disguise so many times, but then he’d open his mouth and be a dick.
I shook my head as I let the water from the shower spray down on me.
My dad had called earlier in the evening, and he said he was turning up nothing. If my dad was coming up empty-handed, then I knew something was seriously fucking wrong.
Every lead we had led to the same fucking dead end.
I didn’t want to give up, but I honestly didn’t know what else to do. All we could do was keep pounding the streets to shake shit up. Dante wasn’t having any better luck than we were.
I was sick.
