Page 131 of Into the Fire

He was brave. I’d give him that.

The tension in the room with Enzo and Cole was thick, but thankfully, they didn’t say anything.

Anson didn’t make a show of holding her too long.

“We should talk,” he said, releasing her quickly.

She nodded. “Yeah, we should. Um, we can go to the loft upstairs.” She looked over to us for approval.

“That’s perfectly fine,” Enzo said, nodding, no emotion on his face.

I nodded in agreement, and she turned, leading Anson upstairs to a space we called the loft. It was like a living room up there, complete with a big screen, furniture, and a bar.

Once they were gone, Cole spoke.

“I fucking hate him,” he snarled. “Who the fuck does he think he is coming in here and just going up and hugging her like that?”

“Cole, enough,” Enzo said, sighing. “They need to talk.”

“I swear to fuck, I’m going to drown him in the toilet if he touches her,” Cole continued.

“He’s not going to,” I said. “Relax.”

“You fucking relax,” Cole snapped.

“We should all relax,” E muttered.

“Like you? High as fucking balls again?” Cole shook his head. “I love you, E, but fuck. Slow down on that shit. You’re going to have to deal with shit and not run from it.”

“Fuck you,” E said, his voice shaking. “Insensitive prick.”

“Cole,” Enzo warned.

This wasn’t going anywhere good.

“I’m sorry.” Cole sighed. “I just get pissed whenever Ass Hat is near. It brings out the dickhead in me.”

“Forgiven,” E said.

“I ordered some pizza. We can play some video games and just chill, OK? A nice, easy night. We all need it.” I got up as the doorbell rang. “Speak of the devil. Pizza’s here.”

I left the room and grabbed the pizza from the delivery driver that the guards let pass. The guy looked like he was going to piss himself. I was sure the guards probably scared him by dragging him out of his car and giving him a thorough search. I handed him a tip and closed the door, taking the pizza to the kitchen.

The guys joined me, but we didn’t eat. We simply sat there, waiting.

We were too pent up. While I knew everything was OK with Rosalie and Anson being alone, I still worried. I knew she wasn’t in a good place with everything that had happened, but I hoped this talk would be just what she needed.

And if it weren’t, I’d be there to make it better.

It’s just what I did and would always do for her.

For us.

FORTY-THREE

ROSALIE

“Ani,” I started the moment we were in the loft.

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