Page 63 of Into the Fire

When he let her go, he came to us, his eyes filled with exhaustion. He’d woken up screaming several times this week. Rosalie hadn’t heard him, and he’d taken to sleeping alone. Shit was bothering him a lot, but he was being a fucking trooper about it. Despite the happy face he put on for her, us guys knew how bad it was for him.

In the hopes of keeping her unaware, we’d slept separate from her, at least most of the time. Sometimes I’d spend the night with her. Sometimes Cole. Sometimes Fox. Cole and I had slept with her the night of the cookies, but we’d fucked her together, so it made sense.

“Foxy,” she murmured when Fox released her from his kiss.

“We’ll be back before you realize we’re gone, Rosie.”

“Can Anson keep me company at the house if you’re not back?”

I sighed and held my arm out just in time to catch Cole in the chest. I shot him a warning look to keep the damn peace. He scowled but didn’t say anything.

“Why not just a quiet night alone?” Fox asked.

“He’s been absent lately. I don’t know where he is or what’s wrong. He doesn’t answer my calls. I just want to know he’s OK. I’m surprised he’s even showing up to this tonight. If he comes over, we can talk. I think he needs help.”

Fox nodded. “I’m OK with that, I guess. Text me though if he’s coming home and staying with you so we know he’ll be there. We can leave early to pick you up if he’s not taking you home. Deal?”

It was her turn to nod. She hugged him again and whispered something in his ear that made him smile and kiss her again.

“We’ll be late,” Cole muttered. “Come on.”

Great. Now he was in a shit mood.

Fox pulled himself away from Rosalie and piled in behind E after we called out goodbyes to her. We sat in the Escalade and watched as she went into the school, a couple of her music people greeting her on entry. The moment the doors were shut, I put the Escalade into gear and we drove to the club. We hadn’t even made it onto the main road when Cole started in.

“I hate that motherfucker—”

“Relax. She’s worried about him. That’s all,” I said, turning onto the road. I had a lot of men on duty tonight watching the place, so she’d be safe if he took her home. I even had a couple in the far parking lot watching. They were loyal, so I felt confident Rosalie was safe. Only her and us had the codes to get into the house and everything was locked up tight. The place was a fortress, so even if men went rogue, she would be safe since we did have a safe room no one knew about but us.

But it wasn’t a thought I wanted to entertain. For now, I just wanted a good night with, hopefully, good friends so we could return home to our girl and continue being happy.

“So, Beyers,”Dom said after swallowing down his drink at our table later that night. Dark circles ringed his green eyes and helooked like he was living in his own personal hell. “How’s that going?”

“Not good,” Fox answered. He took a deep drink, but even though he said things weren’t good, I knew they weren’t bad. The entire Anson thing seemed to be getting better, and if I had to go out on a limb, I’d say Fox and Anson had become rather close. Or as close as he could get without losing his shit on him.

“She’s out with Anson tonight,” Fox continued.

“Not alone,” E quickly threw out. “She’s with a large group doing stuff at the university. We’re picking her up when we’re done here. We also have eyes on her.”

“Well, at least they aren’t alone together,” Dom muttered. “Or do you think she would?”

“Oh, she would. She loves to defy us.” Cole shook his head. “It’s absolutely sexy as fuck, but it’s also terrifying.”

He wasn’t wrong.

“We have a tracker on her phone. We can see where she is,” I said.

“There’s also one in the necklace I gave her,” Cole took another drink. “So even if she leaves her phone, she never takes off the necklace, so we’re good on location.”

“Sounds a little strict,” Vincent muttered. He kept his distance from us, and it didn’t take a brain surgeon to understand why. He was still leery of us after all the shit that had gone down when we’d taken him and Bianca. I was really hoping he’d come around soon.

“And you’re not?” Cole laughed, shooting a look at him. “We’ve seen your girl. I’d have her ass on lockdown, twenty-four seven. Little wildcat.”

“Hellcat,” Levin corrected, speaking up. He was the quieter of the three. He only seemed to have two moods. Grumpy and pissed off.

“Kitten,” Cole snickered.

“She’s a handful.” Dom let out a sigh.

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