Page 137 of When We Fall: Part Two
“Ani… my heart. My-My Foxy…”
“I know, baby. I know,” I whispered thickly into her hair as I held her tightly. “It’s OK. I promise it’ll be OK. It hurts like hell right now, but I swear it’ll be OK. You’re my strong girl. Your Foxy is watching you be so strong right now. He loves that you are. So keep being strong. For him. For you. For your family. Can you do that, baby? Can you keep being strong?”
“I don’t want to be strong anymore,” she choked out. “I want to be with him.”
I closed my eyes, my throat tightening as my tears fell.
“He wouldn’t want that. You know he wouldn’t. He’d want you to live your dreams. To be happy. To live for him. Don’t… fuck, LeeLee, stay for him. For me.”
Her small body shook against me as I continued to hold her. Fox wanted me to take her away if he died. How could I? I know I promised, but she just lost Fox. E was clearly a mess. If I took her from them, she’d lose four guys instead of just one. I was lost. I had no idea what I should do because I didn’t want her to hurt more. Taking her would likely make her worse.
FUCK.
Cole stepped angrily around Santino and grabbed Rosalie roughly from me. She reached out for me, my name on her lips.
“Don’t,” I warned, my voice trembling as he shoved her behind him to Enzo. “Not fucking here, Scott. Now isn’t the time.”
“I said I’d fucking kill you,” he snarled at me. “You think I was bluffing? Do you think this funeral will stop me?”
I balled my hands into fists. I really didn’t want to do this here, but if he wanted to throw down, so be it.
Santino shoved Cole away.
“You want to fuck with someone?” he demanded. “Fuck with me because I’m sure as hell going to fuck with you.”
Cole eyed him wearily.
“I’m sure Fox told you exactly who the fuck I am,” Santino continued. “And if he didn’t, here’s my introduction. My name is Santino De Santis. I’m the rightful heir to this fucking city. If you don’t sit the fuck down, I’ll tear your entire world apart, brick by fucking brick. Is that what you want? To watch what you built crumble? I’m the man who can make that happen. One snap of my fucking fingers and it’s over. Do you think I sat around being silent all these years?” He left out a dark, dangerous laugh. “Don’t. Fucking. Try. Me. Keep this shit up. You’re making it worse for yourselves. You already killed my son. Do you really want to kill yourselves, too? Huh? Because believe me, when I say death can find you when you least expect it, I fucking mean it. While you’re warm in your bed, thinking you’re safe. Twelve. Seventeen. Forty-eight. The code changes every twenty-four hours. That was yesterday’s code. Today it’s nineteen, thirty-three, twenty, right?” He narrowed his eyes at the guys. Enzo had been quiet the entire time, but I knew Enzo. He was assessing.
I also knew the numbers Santino was rattling off.
They were the security codes to get into the house. They did change daily. He had them. I didn’t know how he had them, but he did. Santino wasn’t playing.
I looked from Cole to Enzo, who appeared like he was ready to lay it all on the line as he stepped forward.
“Careful, Lorenzo,” Santino warned. “You’re only still alive because of Rosalie. Don’t make me break my promise to her.” He backed away. “If she isn’t cared for, you’ll be hearing from me sooner than you think. Now get your shit together and have some respect for my son. If you think you’re going to fight on my dime, you’re wrong. I’ll kill you in front of this entire room to set a fucking example of what happens when you fuck with a De Santis.”
Without another word, Santino turned and left.
Enzo looked to Rosalie, who was openly weeping. Ethan stood behind everyone, staring at his feet. Not a single word from him.
“Enzo, can we talk?” I asked.
Enzo looked at me, his face emotionless. He wasn’t touching Rosalie. Even in her sorrow, when she needed someone, he didn’t touch her. Didn’t comfort her. It was Cole who stepped back to her and cinched her to his body. E was a shell, that much was certain. He likely wasn’t even in his right mind.
Enzo nodded to Cole to take Rosalie and E away. Cole shot me a scowl before doing as silently instructed.
“Let’s do this now since I don’t have a lot of time,” Enzo said. “I want to thank you for helping and giving me the information we needed to get E out. I will be grateful to you forever for that. Fox is dead, though, and without him, you are not welcome. Cole hates you. E isn’t well enough to even tie his own fucking shoes. And me? I tolerated you because Rosalie cared for you, and Fox liked you. You were an excellent help many times, but thecompany you keep with Matteo and now Santino is something I can’t stand by. I can’t trust you, Anson.”
“I have never betrayed you,” I said. “Fucking never, Enzo.”
“Ask yourself why, and you’ll have the other reason why you need to go.”
I swallowed at his words. “Rosalie.”
He nodded. “She’s not well. She doesn’t need you around, making shit worse for her. You… remind her too much of him.” His dark eyes skirted over me. I knew he meant how closely Fox and I resembled one another with our black hair and blue eyes. We were even the same height and had the same muscular body type. If one didn’t know better, they’d think we were siblings.
“I promised Fox,” I said. “I promised him I’d be here for her if anything ever happened. Don’t make me break that promise.”
