Page 90 of Into the Fire

“I’m fine. He’s in the kitchen putting the pizza away.”

“Can you put him on the phone?”

“Sure,” she said. There was some rustling before Anson’s deep voice came on the line.

“Hey.”

“Hey, man,” I greeted him. I ran through what I’d just told Rosalie. “So, do you think you can stay at our place tonight and keep an eye on her?”

“Of course,” he said without missing a beat.

I swallowed hard.

“Listen, Fox, stop worrying. She’s safe and loves you pricks. It’s all good. I’ll crash in the guest room like last time. It’s not a problem.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I-we appreciate this. What you do for her doesn’t go unnoticed.”

He let out a soft chuckle. “I’m sure Cole doesn’t like you speaking for him.”

I sighed. “Just. . . keep her safe.”

“Always,” he said solemnly. “Get Dom’s girl back.”

He didn’t need to say shit to me about it. I knew who he was to Dom. I knew who he was to me.

“We will. Talk to you soon,” I said. We bid each other goodbye. I hung up and looked to E, whose leg was bouncing, his fingers in his hair while he tugged it.

I got up and kneeled in front of him. I pulled out a baggie of sugar, doled a portion onto the coffee table for him, and then took out a rolled-up bill from my jacket pocket.

“E,” I murmured, touching his shoulder. He looked up at me with his wild eyes, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“It could be her, Fox. You know it could be,” he whispered, his voice shaking.

“I know, man, but it’s not, OK? It’s not. I just talked to her and Anson. They’re at the house. He’s going to stay with her tonight while we sort through this shit.”

“He’s good to her. For her. Fox, we need to let her go before this shit gets bad. I keep trying to push that thought out of my head, but I can’t. It keeps coming back. It’s driving me insane. I can’t lose her though. I’m nothing— we’re nothing— without her. You know that. What do we do? I-I don’t want to do this anymore—”

“Hey.” I shook his shoulders. “Get it together, E. Listen to what I’m going to say to you. OK?” I searched his wild eyes to see he was paying attention despite the very real panic attack he was nearing. “Nothing will happen to our girl. Ever, OK? I’ll die before I let her be a victim in this world again. I fucking swear to you, brother. She will always be safe. My life for hers. Always.”

“We can’t lose you either,” he choked out.

“You won’t,” I said, cradling his face. “You won’t. I just need you to focus right now. The kings don’t need to see you crack. I’m making a promise to you that I’ll die to protect our girl. She will be safe, and she will be happy. This shit won’t happen to her, E. Believe me. Tell me you believe me.”

He swallowed. “I-I believe you.”

I rested my forehead against his, noting the trembling in his body as he tried to maintain his control.

“Snort this.” I pressed the rolled bill into his hand. “Take the edge off. Then let’s kill these motherfuckers so it keeps our own girl safe.”

He nodded, and I pulled away and watched as he snorted a rail off the table and settled back in his seat, his eyes growing glassy.

I sat next to him and stared out the massive floor-to-ceiling glass windows into the dark woods, the snow falling gently in the darkness.

Everything about this was fucked.

And I’d need a better plan in place to keep Rosalie safe in case Enzo’s plans ever failed.

TWENTY-EIGHT

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