Page 260 of When We Fall: Part One

A pained expression crossed his face, making my heart clench. There was no fucking way he’d leave her. Something was going on with him. Yes, we’d all been tense lately, but Fox wasn’t himself. Quieter. Moodier. Sad. This wasn’t the Fox Evans I knew. Fox would fucking cut the stars from the night sky and die on their points for our girl. He’d not walk out.

But he’d been saying he wanted out…

“You’re not going to leave us,” I said softly. “You know the rules, Fox. The only way out is in a fucking body bag.”

Fox finally looked at me, his blue eyes filled with so much sadness that my breath caught. He stopped flipping his coin.

“That’s what I’m afraid of, Enzo.”

“I promise,” I choked out, reaching for his hand. I grasped it hard. “Fox, I fucking promise. Please. I don’t want our family torn apart. I can make this work for us.”

“You can’t, Enzo. You know you can’t. Rosalie is going to give up her dreams for this. You know she will. We can’t let her. Fucking tell her, man.Make her go. I-I don’t want someone to get hurt. Or worse. Please. I’m fucking begging you to listen to me. Lorenzo. Ineed youto listen to me.”

I searched his face, my chest tight. “Fox…”

“Please,” he whispered. “I’ll do anything, man. Just listen to me for once.”

“I…my father…my family.”

“We’re your family too,” he murmured. “We are. We’re falling apart. Just walk away. Once you do, then we’ll have it all. I would give up anything for Rosalie, even my life. What are you willing to give up?”

His words made my heart ache. “I would die for her, too.”

“It should never come to it. It wouldn’t come to it if we left.”

“Fox, man, please. I can’t disappoint my father. I’ve never done shit in my life to make him proud. Now I am. He and my mom need me right now. They need my protection. Even ifI wanted to go, I-I can’t. I’m in too deep. This is my life now. I’m sorry. I swear to you that I’ll make it to the top for us and take care of my family. I need you. Rosalie needs you. Fucking E and Cole need you. Just…stay. You can play ball, but we’re your home. Your family. Please. Don’t throw us away.”

“I’m not the one throwing us away,” he whispered.

“This is something we should all discuss,” Rosalie said. “With Cole and Ethan, too.”

“We don’t need to because we’re not going to break our family up. Right, Fox?” I stared at him, his hand still in mine.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

“Right. We’re not. We’re in it until the death,” he whispered, his voice shaking.

I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against his. “Forever,Constantino.No outs. Not ever. Promise me. Even in death, we will return to one another.”

“No outs,” he choked out. “Even in death we return.”

I pulled away and kissed the corner of his lips gently. “Thank you. This means the world to me. To us.”

He said nothing as I released his hand. I turned my focus back to Rosalie, feeling like shit over everything. The fear was still gnawing at me despite his saying he’d not break us up.

“Sunshine. What else?” I swallowed hard and stared at her. “You’ll call Alex, right?”

She wiped at the tears on her cheek before inhaling. “I’m not calling Alex. Not right now. Maybe I can try if I still feel like doing it in a few years. Right now, my answer has to be no.”

I shook my head, furious at her choice. “You’re making a mistake?—”

“Maybe,” she answered, her voice small. “But it’s my mistake to make.”

I breathed out, knowing she was just as stubborn as I was. She needed time. That’s all this was. Once she was backin classes and singing, she’d miss it and want to stay in the program. We had time to convince her. It would be a battle we’d continue to fight for her.

“Fine,” I said tightly. “We can revisit it later. What else?”

“I want to tell you where I was and why.” She smoothed down her skirt. I noticed her nails were done again, this time in a pretty baby blue color with little diamond accents. I ground my teeth, already anticipating her answer.