Page 24 of When We Fall: Part Two
“I’m promising you that you’re fucking with the wrong family. Cole is looking for a reason. Don’t give him one.”
I nodded. “I won’t.”
I turned to leave, but he called out to me again.
“Anson?”
I paused and looked over my shoulder at him.
“Even if you are better for her, don’t take her from us. Promise me?”
I swallowed hard. “Promise.”
I left the room and went back upstairs, only to run straight into Rosalie as I rounded a corner.
She cried out and fell back, but I reached out and caught her at the waist, dropping my bag of sugar in the process.
“Ani?” She stared up at me.
“Hey, songbird,” I murmured, my heart pounding hard and fast.Fucking goddamnit.“Sorry. I didn’t mean to run into you.”
“What are you doing here?” She stared up at me as I righted her on her feet. As much as it pained me, I released her and backed away to scoop up my bag of sugar from the floor.
Her lips turned down as she took in what I had in my hands.
“Are you selling for Enzo?”
“No. This is mine.”
“You’re getting high?”
I sighed and tugged at my hair. “Sometimes. Yeah. It’s been a tough couple of weeks. Stress relief and all that.”
“I don’t think you should?—”
“Rosalie, not to be a dick or anything, but it’s not any of your business what I do in my spare time,” I said, hating myself as the words poured out of me. As much as I wanted to stop them, I couldn’t. I was fucking hurting and ready to break. I knew I shouldn’t have come here. Fuck me, though.
She visibly swallowed. She looked sad. Exhausted. Her eyes were bloodshot, like she’d been crying, and her nose was red. “You’re right. It’s not. I’m sorry.” She backed away from me.
“Fuck. I’m sorry. It’s just—” I stepped toward her, my arm out to hold her, ready to burn it to the ground again because clearly I was a fucking idiot who didn’t learn. Fuck the promise I’d made to E, not even five minutes prior. Fuck the promise to myself to keep walking.
The front door opened, and Cole came into the room with Enzo and Fox.
“Why the fuck are you here?” Cole demanded, the smile falling off his face. “I don’t recall ordering a piece of shit to be delivered to my house.”
I let my hand drop back to my side.
“I came to pick up some sugar,” I said, stepping away from Rosalie.
“That’s a lot of product,” Enzo commented, nodding to my bag. “You’re not trying to sell, are you? Do you need some money? I can set you up if you want to push for us.”
“No.” I shook my head. “This is for me. And Drake. I smoked his. I owe him, so I came to pick some up from E.”
“Oh.” Enzo frowned. “Drake?”
Fucking hell. I should have just bought another fifth of whiskey and called it a night.
I sighed. “Yeah.”
