Rosaline

XXVIII.

I held onto Rosaline, grounding myself to reality and not losing myself to the pent-up rage. She was the only reason I wasn't hunting Lorenzo Diablo down and spilling his blood on the streets.

I held no blame on Rosaline, as much as she insisted. While she was reckless for staying at a scene of a crime, I couldn't help but respect that Rosaline was there for Angelo's final moments. She might carry guilt at the prospect that she caused the shooting, but how could an innocent civilian know the events that led up to it? Her instincts told her to run and blend into the crowd.

No, the real monster was Lorenzo for ordering his men to hunt her down like an animal in a public setting.

Once Rosaline woke up, I would have to debrief Xavier. While I wanted to tell him now, it was late and I refused to leave Rosaline alone. I promised to protect her and I'll be damned if I left now. I was considering gluing her to my damn side so I knew where she was twenty-four-seven.

I was too restless to fall asleep, so I looked up at the high ceiling, evaluating what I had learned from Rosaline. It must have been fate that the key to all of this stumbled into Elysium. I had never been more grateful that we were able to save her before the Diablos caught up with her.

Months ago, we sent Angelo to infiltrate the Diablos to uncover their files and information on the leader of the group. Somehow, Lorenzo discovered his secret and wanted to know who Angelo worked for. Luckily, it seemed that we hadn't been outed.

Did that mean Angelo found something? Why didn't he send us the information right away?

Scatena la verità...Sblocca il cassetto...Enlightenment.

How did that connect with our case? Why would he say that to Rosaline? Was it an attempt at making peace with himself before his death? To taunt Lorenzo?

There were too many questions, but the answers were almost in our grasp.

Rosaline whimpered in her sleep and I instantly started running my hand up and down her back to soothe her. She slowly quieted and snuggled in closer to me.

I needed to rest and hoped that closing my eyes would convince the rest of my body that I was asleep.

I didn't know how much time had passed when I opened my eyes again, but the sun was beginning to rise. My stomach growled and I heard a small giggle.

I looked down and saw my Flower peeking up at me with a sleepy grin. Her dark hair was tangled and a large pillow mark covered the side of her face, but she couldn't have looked more beautiful to me right that moment.

"I'm guessing the chocolate cake from last night didn't fill you up?" Rosaline teased before letting out a yawn that she quickly covered with her hand.

I shook my head at her before giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"How about breakfast before we head to Xavier's office? We need to talk to him about last night," I told her gently.