Page 156 of When We Fall: Part One

“Find out who is behind this. I want them brought directly to me. I don’t care if they just breathe too heavily. Bring them.”

Klaus gave Matteo a curt nod and left as I pulled away and wiped at my eyes.

“I’m not a pussy, Father. I’m sorry?—”

“You are a man in love. I respect that level of fury,” he answered back. “When I find out who is behind this, I will allow you the honor of killing him.Il mio regalo per te, figlio mio.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

He cradled my face for a moment before the doctor poked his head out.

“Is she OK?” I demanded.

“I’ve given her pain medicine. She will be out for the rest of the night. I did a few X-rays. Nothing is broken in her face, but she is badly bruised. She’s going to hurt.”

“Did-did he rape her?” I asked, my voice wobbling. I’d bring that motherfucker back and kill him again.

“We will have to wait for the test results, but there doesn’t appear to be any evidence of penetration. I’ll get them started as soon as I leave here. She was beaten and will surely be traumatized. She is quite bruised between her legs. I can tentatively say he was most likely not successful in the manner of completing what he set out to do.”

“Thank you, god,” I whispered, really hoping the doctor knew what he was talking about. “Fuck. Can I see her?”

“Of course. Renee is finishing setting up her IV. I cannot properly assess head trauma here, but from what I see so far, she isn’t suffering from anything more than a nasty headache. I highly recommend she rest; if she gets worse, call me. We can take her in. She responded, so I’m confident she just needs rest.”

I nodded and pushed past him.

“I’ve sent the money to your account already,” I heard Matteo say as I closed the door and went to Rosalie’s side.

Renee gave me a kind smile. “She’s a strong one.”

“She shouldn’t have to be,” I murmured, taking her delicate hand in mine. Her nails were broken and jagged from her fighting. I swallowed hard, knowing she had to be so terrified. I didn’t want this shit for her. God help me, I didn’t. She’d already been through this horror before. This wasn’t going to sit well with the guys.

The guys.

Renee left the room, and I pulled my phone out to see I had seventeen missed calls. Rosalie didn’t have her jewelry on, so I knew they didn’t know jack shit on where she was.

I hit send on Fox’s name. It rang once before he came on the line.

“Rosalie is gone,” he choked out, his voice shaking.

“She’s with me,” I answered, my voice giving me away.

“What happened? Is she OK?” He put me on speakerphone.

“No.” My voice wobbled.

“What?” Enzo demanded. “What happened?”

“Where were you?” I whispered. “Why weren’t you there? Why was no one there?”

“We were in a gunfight. I got shot,” Enzo said thickly. “Clean hit to my arm. Our guys were called off her. Cloned phone pretending to be me.”

I nodded, knowing it had to be something like that.

“Did you find out who it was?”

“No,” Enzo said tightly.

“Where the fuck is Rosalie,” Cole’s voice sounded out. “I swear to fucking god, Ass Hat, I’ll kill you?—”