“It means I don’t know if I can. I want to, but I’m required to leave my life. It’s been my experience that the only way you leave this life is through a body bag.”
I eyed him as he tried to smooth the wrinkles in his shirt.
“So why are you even fucking with her if you don’t know if you can leave?” I asked.
“You know why,” he replied.
I scoffed. “Enlighten me.”
“I love her. She was mine. I want her back. It’s really that simple.”
“It’s not that simple, though.” My irritation rose. I’d always been fiercely defensive of Rosalie. If you fucked with her, you fucked with me. Plain and simple. I wasn’t about to let anyone fuck with her.
“You don’t even know how bad she was, do you?” I asked. “When you guys left her? She thought Fox was dead. She was a shell of who she used to be. And just because you were with her for a few years, you think that entitles you to come crawling back?” I shook my head at him. “Understand this, De Luca. I love that girl. I have for far longer than you have. I have been with her through your fuck-ups, through her successes, her tears, her anxiety, her loss, her gains, and a baby. If you think for one moment you’re going to come back here, whisper a few sweet words to her, then bounce again, you won’t have to worry about finding your way out of the life you lead. I’ll fucking kill you myself.”
He stared me down and stepped into my space.
“Do not fucking threaten me, Romano. In this very moment, she is mine as much as she’s yours. If this is going to work with all of us, you better really fucking learn to love me if you love her. That goes for Cole and E, too. You may have been at her side for the last five years, but I assure you, I have been in her dreams, fucking haunting her. I’d like to think my ghost still means something to her.”
“You and your damn ghost are what nearly drove her to kill herself,” I said. “Or do you not care what your fucking ghost did to her?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as we stared one another down.
“I know I fucked up, but I did it with the best intentions. I was trying to save shit I fucked up. I am not that guy anymore. I want her. I need her. And I will do everything within my power to have her.”
“And yet you stand before me telling me you don’t know if it’ll work out.” I shook my head at him. “You’re still a joke, De Luca. Maybe just run off and fuck your assistant and leave Rosalie alone before you do more damage.”
He tightened his hands into fists.
“I don’t want to fight you, Ryder, but if you speak to me like that again, we’re going to have issues,” he snarled at me.
“Go fuck yourself,” I said to him. “Give me all your issues, De Luca. I’ll be a lifetime fucking subscriber if it means I keep Rosalie safe. Your mafia status doesn’t mean shit to me. I grew up on these streets and had a father who would make you fucking weep. Your darkness and violence don’t mean fuck-all to me. I was fucking born and raised in shit that was pitch black. Your threats are just a shit brown shade to me.”
He glared at me for a moment before he spoke again.
“You’re new to her,” he said, his voice soft and dangerous. “But I’m not. I know her in ways you could only dream of. I helped carve out that pussy you love so much. So instead of trying to fight me on her and things related to her, how about you thank me? Without the horsemen and me, she’d have lived a life with one man, not as many as she could love. That gift came from us.”
I scoffed. “Whatever. My words stand. Go fuck yourself. If you’re not going to figure out how to become a permanent fixture, then you can go back to your little assistant and fuck her busted pussy. Rosalie is my girl now, so I get a say in the shit that happens. I’ll be fucking damned if I let you break her heart again.”
“I’m not going to,” he said fiercely. “I want her. I love her. I just need time.”
I shook my head. “Then take it, but don’t be surprised when you approach the line that’s been drawn. Once you get there, you’re fucked.”
He stared me down before nodding. “Fine. I guess that’s something I’ll have to deal with, but I promise you, I want her, and I will have her.”
“And you know the rules for that. Follow them because I’m the fucking man who will end your dreams for you. I’m not a nice guy when it comes to my girl, and Rosalie… is mine.”
Enzo’s throat bobbed as he stared at me. “Understood.”
“Good. And the next time you’re in her bed, don’t fucking sneak off. That’s fucked up, and she deserves better than that.”
He backed away from me without saying another word and left. I shook my head at the closed door, only to turn to find myself face-to-face with Rosalie.
“Hey,” I said softly, swallowing hard. I thought she was still asleep.
She approached me and rested her hands on my chest.
“Ry?”
