Dirty Little Secrets (Kings of Bolten 1)

“Hey, Jamie.”

“Ethan. Hey. Uh, is Rosalie available?”

I heard him rummaging around for a moment like he was going through the fridge. “No. She left her phone. Fox just took her to the studio, though. You can call his phone and reach her. You probably have about ten minutes before she goes in. She hates being bothered once she’s in her zone.”

“Right.” I fiddled with a string on my t-shirt before taking the plunge. “Uh, is Cole there by chance?”

“Cole?” Ethan sounded confused that I’d asked for the dark prince of all things scary and terrifying.

“Yeah, I mean is he with you?” I twirled a piece of my dark hair, ready to lace into him. Why the hell did I need to be nervous? Because it’s Cole-freaking-Scott. The memory of him telling me he’d tear my still-beating heart out of my chest and eat it when he’d left Rosalie at my house for a girls’ night ran through my mind. Yeah. Cole Scott was a whole other creature.

“One sec.” The line became muffled as Ethan called for Cole. A moment later, Cole’s smooth voice greeted me. I wondered which Cole I’d get. Sometimes he seemed playful. Other times he was sullen and dark. With him, I never knew what to expect.

“Jamie,” he said.

“Hey, can you stop texting me? That shit’s not cool. I live alone and —”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t text you.”

I paused. “Are you sure? I’ll tell Rosalie you were trying to scare me—”

“Listen, Jamie. I didn’t do shit. I was chilling on the couch getting a foot rub from Enzo.”

The moment the words left Cole’s mouth, Enzo’s voice boomed out in the background. “The fuck you were, Scott. Stop telling people that shit.”

“Then stop doing it,” Cole retorted, completely ignoring me as they poked at one another.

How the hell Rosalie did it, I had no idea. They’d drive me nuts with their bickering. Half the time I didn’t know if they were serious or not. I assumed there had to be some sword crossing in their relationship, but the one time I asked, Rosalie’s face reddened and she went silent.

“Jamie, he wasn’t getting a foot rub from me, nor was he texting anyone,” Enzo’s silky voice came on the line as Cole’s laughter boomed in the background.

“Really?”

“Really. If anyone is getting a foot rub, it’ll be me.”

“I meant about the texting,” I said, biting back a smile despite my nerves.

“Yeah, that too. No one here texted you. Do you want me to have Sunshine call you back when she gets home?”

I licked my lips. “If she wants. I know she’s busy.”

“She’s not so busy she’d duck out on calling you,” Enzo said. “But back to the main topic, if someone’s bothering you, I can take care of it.” His voice grew softer and darker. I swallowed. I’d be stupid to not fear Lorenzo De Luca. He was a mob boss’s son, and despite the fact he was fairly easygoing most of the time, I knew not to underestimate him. I was almost positive he had something to do with Juliet and her friends’ disappearance in high school. Even Ian’s dad came up missing. That shit was too much of a coincidence given they were all giving Rosalie shit and had even tried to kill her and Fox.

“No.” I cleared my throat. “It was probably just a wrong number.”

“I can find out who it is.”

“Really, Enzo, thanks, but it’s OK.”

“Fine, but if it happens again, call me. You have my number.”

“Right. Yes. Thanks, I will,” I stammered.

“I’ll let Sunshine know you called. Stay safe,” he said in that deep purr of his. I thanked him a third time like a bumbling idiot before saying goodbye and flopping back on the couch.

Darkness nuzzled against me as I let out a breath.

“That call may have been scarier than the text messages,” I said, kissing Darkness on the top of her fuzzy head.