Page 261 of When We Fall: Part One

“I spent the week with Matteo De Santis,” she said, her eyes locked on mine.

“Why?” I asked, trying to control the rage bubbling up within me.

“I didn’t mean to. I left here upset. I went to a club in the city. I was at the bar drinking, and Klaus Seeley approached me. Apparently, I’d stumbled into one of Matteo’s establishments. I had some drinks with Klaus, got high with him, and then he took me to his car. We went to Matteo’s.”

“What?” Fox shouted at the same time I did.

“You got fucking high?” I snarled, balling my hands into tight fists. “With fucking Klaus Seeley?”

She nodded. “I did. I wanted to know what you guys were doing. I wanted to know why it sold so well. Why Ethan depended on it so much. I get it now. I do. I don’t regret doing it.”

“What did you get high on?” Fox asked carefully, his hands visibly shaking.

“Sugar. I trusted it was from good stock,” she said softly.

Fox nodded, relaxing a bit.

“Never again,” I said in a dangerous voice. “Do you hear me, Rosalie? Never again. You never get fucking high again.”

“Fine.” She nodded and didn’t put up a fight.

“Did Matteo or his men touch you?” My voice shook. I’d march there right now and kill them all. I knew the sort of shitMatteo put Dominic and Bianca through. There was no way that prick asshole was going to fuck with what belonged to us.

“Yes,” she said, her green eyes locked on mine. I nearly launched myself out of my chair.

“But not how you think. Matteo is… he’s like a father I never had,” she finished in a whisper. “In fact, I think he cares more about my happiness than my own father does. Even my safety.”

“What?” I crinkled my brows at her.

Fox hadn’t said a damn thing. He was simply studying her.

“He cares about me. He spent the week teaching me how to defend myself. Him, Alessio, and Klaus. And then Ani came…”

“Fucking Anson was there?” I got to my feet and paced the room. That son of a bitch knew where she was and didn’t tell us? What the fuck?

“He didn’t know I was there,” she said. “He showed up not long ago with a friend of his. He figured it out. They stayed for a few days. Sylar showed me how to use everything as a weapon. Ani taught me how to throw a better punch. Matteo, Alessio, and Klaus taught me how to get out from beneath someone who has me pinned. They cared about me. If you want me to regret being there, I can’t do that. I don’t regret it. I know I said I wouldn’t go to Matteo, and honestly, I didn’t. I was way wasted, and when I asked Klaus why he took me, he told me it was because I needed a place to find myself. He’s a good guy, too. You don’t see it because?—”

“Because he’s trying to kill Dominic. Bianca. Fuck, all the kings. I mean, of course, he’s a good guy,” I snapped.

Rosalie stared at her hands. I sighed and went to my knees before her.

“I love you. They’re our enemy, Rosalie?—”

“They aren’t,” she murmured. “They really aren’t. He’s Ani’s dad?—”

“He fucks with peoples’ heads, Rosalie. He’s using you to get to us. He doesn’t give a shit about you.”

Her bottom lip wobbled. “Then why did he not just kill me? Why teach me what he taught me?Perché hai così tanta paura della verità, Lorenzo?”

I swallowed hard at her words. “Le sue verità sono belle bugie avvolte in un fiocco. Sono ciò che dice per ottenere ciò che vuole. Sono ciò che usa per ingannare belle ragazze come te. Non sono la verità. Io sono la verità. Io, Rosalie. Non lui.”I tilted her chin up so she was looking at me again. “I am the truth, Sunshine. Me. I’m grateful he found mercy in his heart, but don’t trust him. Don’t let him fool you, baby. He’s a snake waiting to strike. Promise me. I need you to fucking promise me you won’t go back there. You swore it to me once. I need it to mean something this time.”

“I promise,” she whispered.

I kissed her soft lips and breathed out. Fox hadn’t said a word the entire time. Matteo was his uncle. He’d been around him a few times, but he never acted like he gave a shit about the man.

I looked at him to see him staring back at us, his legs bouncing.

“He’s a monster. Right, Fox?”