Rosalie's P.O.V -
Cole looked amused by my question and I was fighting every urge in my body to not kiss him. I couldn't go there, it would be messy to say the least. But I couldn't move either, something inside was keeping me from pushing him away. I mean maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, he was my husband afterall...
Before I could ponder any longer I felt his lips softly brush against mine, lingering like that for a moment. Almost like he was waiting for my response before deepening the kiss, which I gladly leaned into. He fisted my hair and pulled my body into his, causing me to gasp and give him complete access. Which he didn't hesitate to take full advantage of. I moaned softly as he dominated the kiss, and even had to pull away to catch my breath for a moment.
Which he wasn't a fan of and immediately pressed his lips against mine once more, but only for a brief moment before pulling away. My head felt like it was spinning.
"Cole I-" he put his hand over my mouth for a second while resting his forehead against mine.
"Don't say anything, don't ruin it," he whispered.
I just stared at him, waiting for him to make the next move as I was quite literally stuck to the wall. After what felt like forever he pulled away and I immediately missed being so close to him, but I shook that feeling off and straightened up. Bad Rosalie, I shouldn't be feeling anything towards him.
"I need to go and do damage control," he breaks the silence, finally.
"Okay but I'm coming with you."
He nodded and lead the way out of the room. Cole didn't say a word to me the entire drive, which only made me more anxious. I hated feeling this way, filled with uncertainty and maybe... regret? When we pulled up to warehouse it was swarming with firefighters and police. I looked at Cole alarmed, but as usual his face was giving nothing away.
"Aren't you the least bit worried about the cops uncovering all those weapons?" I asked.
"No, the whole department is on payroll."
No wonder he's so chill.
"Wait he-" I cut him off by shutting the car door behind me.
Seconds after I hear his door close, and he's beside me in an instant.
"Mr Salvatore, good to see you although I wish it were under better circumstances," one of the policeman said.
Cole walked over and shook his hand. My eyes diverted to the ruins of the warehouse, ash filled the air like little snowflakes and the entire building had burned to the ground.
"What do we know so far?" Cole asked.
"I believe it was arson. The CCTV footage is being pulled for you now, so we will know more once we view that. But it looks like the fire started from the inside. And we found two jerry cans that are being dusted for prints as we speak."
Cole nodded "Send me the footage and write it off as an electrical fire, faulty wires or something. I don't care. I'll take it from here."
"Alright, boys wrap it up!" the officer calls out to the rest of the people, and they start packing up to leave.
Cole pulls out his phone and starts watching the footage, fast forwarding it to last night. It took a while but eventually a figure appears at the back entrance of the warehouse. It's almost impossible to make out who it is, their face was covered by a hood. A couple minutes passed and suddenly smoke started coming from the door, seconds later the person reappeared. Their hood had slipped off but I couldn't see their face, just their long red hair.
Cole for once had an expression on his face, he looked pissed.
"Do you know this woman?" I asked.
He looked at me not saying anything for a moment. Why would some woman burn down his warehouse? Who is she to him? And why isn't he answering my question?
"Well?" I pressed.
"I think that's... Lindsay."
"Okay... who is she?"
He ran his fingers through his hair, "She's someone I slept with a few times. The other day she was in my kitchen, and made it very clear she was upset about our marriage."
"Oh that's just f*cking fantastic!" I threw my hands in the air, "So instead of going after my father we are dealing with your jealous ex, yet again wasting more time!"
"She's not my ex! She means nothing to me it was just a fuck."
I slapped him.
"That's disgusting have some damn respect! Wow you've really changed have you? Bullshìt! You've been pulling the same shìt since high school, grow up!" I snapped.
He laughed, "Don't you ever put your hands on me again."
"Gladly! I wouldn't want to end up like Lindsay now would I?"
"Damn it Rosa! I don't have time for this. I'm taking you home, I need to deal with this shìt and you're just getting in the way!"
I glared at him, "Fine, take me home."
I marched over to the car and got in, glaring out my window to avoid any possibility of looking at him. He got in moments after me and started to take off, I refused to look at him, I was too mad. My life was on the line and instead of doing what he promised me, he was running around cleaning up after an ex, or whatever she was.
"Rosa... don't be mad, please," he said, once we had finally reached home.
I got out of the car and didn't answer him. Rushing inside I groaned internally as I realised I don't have my own room. Avoiding him is going to be difficult, I walked upstairs and headed for 'our' room. I needed to call Drea and find out if she can find my father. If he wasn't going to be helpful I would just have to do it myself.
Slamming the door to our room, I take my phone out of my pocket and dial Drea's number. It rang three times before she answered.
"Hello?"
"Drea! It's Rose I need your help."
"Let me guess you want me to trace the signal back to your father's location?"
I chuckled, "Let me guess you've already done that."
She didn't answer right away.
"Well... yes and no. I couldn't get his exact location, but I did get a rough area."
"Oh my god! Where!?"
"Somewhere in Milan, in the south. Close to the boarder."
"You keen on taking a trip with me?" I asked.
"Always, you know I've got you."
"Okay, I just need to get away from Cole which shouldn't be too hard as he's running all over town after his ex."
"Oh dear, sounds like drama. Do do you want to talk about it honey?"
"No, it's fine. It's not like I actually care about what he does, he just promised to help me find my father and hasn't delivered yet."
"Well don't worry we don't need him."
"You're right! I didn't even need to marry him. I was just so scared and sick of running. I had no one to help me. I f*cked up Drea."
"Hey, you've got me now. I wish you would have reached out sooner, I will always be here for you. I know we drifted apart since Serena disappeared but I want you to know you'll always be my best friend."
"Oh god Drea, you're going to make me cry! Can you imagine if Serena saw us now, she'd lose her shìt at the fact I married her brother!"
"She'd be over the moon because then you'd be sisters technically."
I laughed at the thought, Drea was right. That's exactly how she'd see it.
"I miss her Dre."
"I know, me too."
I sighed, "After all of this is over with my father, we need to find out what happened to her. She wouldn't rest until we were found if roles were reversed."
"I agree, we owe it to her."
"Okay, I'll get away from Cole tonight and meet you at yours. We need to be quick though, he'll know exactly where to look for me."
"I'll see you tonight."
I said goodbye and hung up the phone. Something in me just clicked and I wasn't afraid of my father anymore. I don't know if it was the thought of waiting on Cole to save me, that knocked some sense into me. Or if it had been too long and my father had taken too much from me that made me snap. All those years of running, not enjoying my life.
It was all his fault! And I was going to make him pay.
Author's Note:
Hey lovelies! 🌹
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think in the comments, I love reading all your thoughts and opinions!
I'm currently moving house so the next chapter should be up at the beginning of May 2023!
Till next time.
Xoxo