“What’s wrong?” he mumbled into the phone.
“Get here,” I said. “Now.”
“I’m here. In my room,” he replied.
“Then meet me downstairs.” I disconnected the call and got out of bed. Quickly, I dressed as Klaus continued to make phone call after phone call, each ending in nothing but angry, frustrated snarls from him.
“Brother, come,” I said. “We can talk downstairs so Alessio knows what’s happening.”
He followed me, his ear pressed to the phone again as he continued to try to reach her.
When we got to my study, Alessio was already seated on the couch, waiting for us.
“Klaus,” I said as he paced, his phone back in his pocket. “Tell us what happened.” I took a seat in my chair and watched him.
“Fuck.” He stopped and fisted his hair for a moment before letting his head fall back. It took me a moment to recognize what was going on.
He was crying.
I cast a quick look at Alessio, who sat forward, a frown on his face.
“Klaus,” I pressed, more concerned than ever.
“I-I went to meet her tonight. I was going to tell her that I wanted us to be… official,” his voice shook. “It was going well. She’d drunk a little too much. We were going to go back to my place to talk. She said she needed to use the bathroom. I wanted her to have some freedom. She deserves to be free.” He hung his head.
I crinkled my brows at his words. “Klaus, what is her name?”
He lifted his head and stared at me, his blue eyes wavering, a river of tears trickling down his cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Teo,” he choked out. “I-I’m so sorry. I-I never would have… I didn’t know.”
“What’s her name?” I pressed softly.
His bottom lip quivered for a moment. “Rosalie,” he finally rasped.
I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes as I tried to steady my breathing.
“Rosalie Bishop, John’s daughter, is who you’re seeing?” Alessio asked.
“Yes.”
“Alessandro’s Rosalie? Fox’s Rosalie?”
“Yes.” He sniffled. “Teo… please. Help me. Say something.”
I breathed out and opened my eyes. “You have been fucking the woman my son is in love with?”
His jaw shook. “Yes.”
“Knowingly fucking her when he loves her? When my fucking nephew is downstairs trying to recover and claim his life with her?”
“I didn’t know,” Klaus choked out. “I-I didn’t know about Fox.”
“You knew about Alessandro, though,” I countered.
“She said nothing was happening with them. H-He was marrying Bianca,” his voice was weak, and it told me all I needed to know. He knew, but cared enough to try anyway. I knew Klaus. He wasn’t the type of man to steal a woman away. If he’d done this, it was for one reason only.
He loved her.
