“That doesn’t work for me,” she said. “So I’m here to tell you if that’s how you want to play, I’ll pull the trigger now and save us all a lot of time.”
She still had the gun out, and it was definitely pointed at me.
“Rosalie, we both know you’re not going to shoot me,” I said. “So please, put the gun away before you hurt yourself.”
“That was always the problem with you, Enzo. You never thought I could handle shit. It’s why you all lied to me and did what you did. Not one of you assholes believed I was strong enough.” She approached in that fucking short skirt of hers, her long, sexy legs on display, and shoved the gun under my chin.
My breath caught as she put her lips against my ear.
“I was never weak. I was kind. There is a difference,” she whispered in my ear. “And right now, I have no fucking problem pulling this trigger.”
She pulled away from me, and I let out the breath I’d been holding, my pulse roaring in my ears.
“You already told me how you feel about me,” she continued, back to standing in front of us. “And right now, the feeling is mutual.”
“What feelings?” Cole demanded. “What did he say?”
“Tell him,” Rosalie said softly. “May as well. All secrets are on the table now.”
I breathed out. Her hand still didn’t shake.
Fuck, she’d become a force.
“I hate you,” I repeated, my voice soft. “That’s what I said.”
“What?” Cole snarled, turning to glare at me.
I said nothing as I ground my teeth together. The truth was, I didn’t know what I felt. I was angry. Hurt. Pissed. But at the end of all of it, I was confused. Conflicted. I didn’t know shit right now except that I’d mourned my best friend for five years and had lost my girl for no fucking reason.
She wasn’t my girl anymore. I knew that as I stared down the barrel of the gun she had pointed at me.
I’d give Evan and her guys credit. They’d clearly been training her, something I should have done years ago for her.
But I’d always wanted to keep her sweet and innocent. Untainted by the ugly in this world.
“Is it true?” Cole demanded. “What you said?”
I swallowed and continued to stare at Rosalie.
“I don’t give a fuck what his feelings are for me. I’m more concerned with my daughter and him threatening to take her dad from her. Threatening to ruin anything you’ll even have with her.” She looked at Cole when she said it.
“What?” He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Do you think I’d let some motherfucker who is threatening my daughter have his friend come around?” Rosalie asked. “If I can’t trust him, then I can’t trust you. This is a message I came to deliver. I am not the weak girl you left crying in a living room. That girl died with Fox. I am what’s left, and I won’t deal with your mafia bullshit. You left me because you didn’t trust me.” She looked directly at E, who stared back at her, tears in his eyes.
“You didn’t trust me with the truth, even though I always stood by you, even during the worst times of our lives.I was there.I never would have left you had I known what happened. The fact that you didn’t know that hurts me. You thought I was weak. That you couldn’t trust me with your worst truths. I don’t like to fail at things, and you made me feel like a failure. Like I didn’t prove enough to you my love for all of you. Instead, you tossed me away. I understand Fox asked for you to let me go, buta simple fuck you would have sufficed, not this load of fucking bullshit!” she shouted, her green eyes flashing. “Five fucking years, horsemen! Five years, I hated every single one of you because I thought you cheated on me. Got someone pregnant. Created a life without me because I wasn’t good enough.”
She exhaled, a tear falling down her cheek. My heart cracked as I stared at her.
“When in reality, it wasyouwho weren’t good enough for me,” she finished softly.
“Rosalie,” E choked out. “I’m sorry.”
“I know, Ethan. I know you’re sorry,” she said, looking at him. “I don’t blame you for your decisions. I knew you were hurt and trying to work through things. But you’re an adult now. A father. We all have lives separate from one another. This is me telling you that you hurt me. That you betrayed me, my love, my trust. You should have just had the same faith in me that I always had in you. I-I was willing to let Anson go because I loved you all so much. In a way, I am thankful you were all such idiots because I got the world in return. Without your idiocy, I’d never have what I have now. So, thank you for that. I only wanted to come and tell you that if you try to take away from me what you so freely gave to me, there will be consequences. I am strong now, but I also have an army, and I will fight. This empire that you’ve built?” She looked directly at me.
“I will burn it to the fucking ground,” she said, her voice even, her tears gone now. “With you inside its tower. Don’t fuck with my family.” She lowered her gun, finally.
I stared back at a fierce queen. In that moment, I realized how much of a mistake I’d made all those years ago when I underestimated her. I’d worked hard to maintain her innocence, but Rosalie Bishop wasn’t that type of woman. Her destiny was always to be strong. She was an Ivanov, for fuck’s sake. It was in her blood to be violent and take no prisoners.
