Page 57 of Into the Fire

But he’d stepped up for the most part when I said I needed help.

That wouldn’t go ignored by me. I was the type of man who was loyal to you if you were loyal to me. Didn’t matter who you were. The need to please him and make him see how much that meant to me flowed through my veins.

If you fucked me over, that was a whole other ballgame which was why I sat waiting in the dark for Everett to knock on my door.

He’d come.

I knew he would.

He may have a dozen men waiting to stab me in the throat if he didn’t walk out, but it was a risk I was willing to take.

I stared down at my phone and thumbed through the messages from Rosalie.

Rosalie: Hey, do you want to come over and watch a movie with us?

Rosalie: Are you OK? I’m worried.

Rosalie: Ani? Please message me back. Even if it’s just an OK so I know you’re alive. I have a bad feeling.

Two missed calls from her too.

I hovered my thumbs over my screen for a moment before I typed out a message to her.

Anson: If you’re getting this, I’m dead, and I’m sorry. I really fucking tried to save you. You’re my whole world. Have been since the moment I saw you. Please be careful. When you get the chance, run. Matteo De Santis is my father. Without a doubt. There are a lot of monsters in this world, songbird. As much as you hate being forced to hang back, if the guys tell you they need you to listen, please listen. My death will have been pointless if you rebel. Hang tight, OK? Please? I love you, Rosalie. So fucking much. I hope this isn't the last message I send to you, but if it is, I want you to know you were the one. My one. It was just bad timing. Keep singing, songbird. Your Ani.

I didn’t hit send on it. Figured maybe it would be the last thing I did as I died. Or maybe they’d find the message on my phone and get it to her.

Going down without a fight wasn’t my style though, and I really hoped she never saw that message. It wasn’t everything I wanted to say to her, but it was close enough. She’d get the gist of it. I wasn’t great at just showing all my emotions. In my life, if you showed emotion, you got stomped on.

I swiped through my photos and stared down at a selfie I’d taken of me and Rosalie together before the Christmas showcase. In it, her wild red waves tumbled around her, and a smile lit up her whole face as she hugged me.

I smiled down at the picture for a moment before I set it as my background to my phone.

Knowing I had some unfinished business that needed to be resolved, I pulled up Trent’s name and called him.

His phone rang three times before he answered.

“What’s wrong?”

“Everett is coming for me,” I murmured.

He was silent for a beat. “What the fuck did you do?”

I lit up a cigarette and sat back against my couch and took a hit. “I killed Alice. I cut her up and sent her back in pieces to him.”

Trent swore softly. “Because of Rosalie.”

“Yep.”

“I swear to fuck, Anson, you better live through this shit and marry her ass or I’ll be the one to kill you. What were you thinking getting involved, man? We already have enough shit going on—”

“That’s what I called for,” I said thickly. “I found Dad.”

“What?”

“Matteo De Santis. He’s it. For sure. For real.” I launched into everything I knew, leaving out Fox’s information. I wasn’t sure why I held that back. Maybe it was because he’d kept my secret for me. It was all I held back though.

“I’m texting you Alessio Valentino’s number. If you need anything, call him, OK? He’ll take care of it.”

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