I follow him, clenching my jaw, holding in the anger. Why did she have to do this to us? Why did she have to keep pushing and pushing? Roman unlocks the car, and I climb into the passenger seat, slamming the door behind me. I don't even tell Violet that we are leaving. I can’t bear to see her like this, and I don’t want to be around her right now. Not when I’m not myself. Plus, she’s mad at me anyway. The best thing for us is space, even if it’s the last thing I want to give her.
We pull out of the driveway and start driving down the road. I stare out the window, wishing I had it in me to just talk to Violet. I hate leaving things the way that we did.
“You want to tell me what’s going on?” Roman questions as if he gives a fuck.
“Nope. There’s things in your life you don’t tell me about, and there are things in my life that I won’t tell you about. Violet is one of those things,” I growl, clenching and unclenching my fists numerous times.
When we finally get to the gym, I head straight for the biggest bag I see and start punching the shit out of it.
Why didn’t I just tell her? Punch. Why did I hurt her? Punch.
Questions swirl inside my head as I keep punching the bag until a sheen of sweat covers my body, my fist aches and my muscles are stiff. Only when it becomes hard to breathe, my chest constricting with each breath I pull in and the pain in my hands becomes unbearable, do I stop.
Roman appears out of thin air, shoving a bottle of water into my face. “Feeling better?”
“A little…” I wipe at my sweaty forehead with my arm. I suck in a ragged breath. “Fuck… how long have we been here?”
Roman gazes down at his imaginary watch as if mocking me. “An hour and a half.”
My face deadpans. “Seriously, how long?”
“About an hour and a half,” he repeats.
“Shit.” A wave of guilt washes over me. “We should get going. I shouldn’t have left Violet alone that long.” I feel like such a douchebag. We just left Violet to deal with her anger and grief all alone. I mean, she might have not wanted me there, but I could’ve asked Roman to stay home with her. I start toward the door and Roman follows.
We are about ten feet from the door when it opens and a guy in a suit walks in. He definitely sticks out like a sore thumb in a place like this, and my first though is that he might be one of Rossi’s guys. Roman and I both freeze, fists clenched, and ready to fight if need be. The unknown man merely holds up his hands, showing us his sweaty palms. He looks familiar but I can’t place him right in this moment.
“I really don’t want to have to use my gun, so please, let’s keep this peaceful, gentlemen.” He lets the door fall closed behind him and then he steps right up to us, holding out his hand as if he expects us to shake it.
Who the fuck is this bastard?
“We haven't met personally, but I’m Damon… Damon Rossi.” The glint in his eyes is irritating as fuck. Neither one of us takes his hand, now that we both know who he is.
Damon fucking Rossi, one of Rossi senior’s sons. Fucking Christ.
You should’ve called him. The thought repeats inside my head. For a moment, I think of Violet and if she’s in danger. There is no way anyone would be willing to show up at Roman’s house, not knowing who he is. But Xander, his men might think otherwise.
Damon drops his hand, and instead, adjusts his tie as if he’s insulted. “First. you don’t return any of my brother’s calls and now, you won’t even greet me as a guest should be greeted?”
I’m anything but happy that he is here. Though I can’t deny that he has some balls walking in here by himself with only a gun.
“I don’t greet guests who show up uninvited.” I cross my arms over my chest. Roman and I are evenly matched in size. We could take him, but something tells me if he disappeared, his brother would be kicking down our doors, and the last thing I need is another Rossi attempting to kill me.
“Ivan,” he smirks, looking me straight in the eyes. “My brother simply wants to talk to you, that’s all. Is it really that hard to pick up a phone? It’s not like he was going to try and kill you… or the girl.”
Anger overcomes me, and I take a step toward him, ready to rip his throat out.
“Ivan,” Roman warns, and I swallow down the rage, knowing beating his face in won’t do me any good. The last thing I need to do is piss more people off.
Damon smirks at my reaction, which only makes me want to hurt him more.
How the fuck does he know about Violet though?
“What do you and your brother want?” I growl, barely holding onto my patience.
“Look, I’m serious, he just wants to talk to you. We might be able to help each other out with the bastard known as my father. I mean it. I didn’t come out here to fight with you. That’s just one of the things Xander would like to discuss with you.” Damon looks as if he’s telling the truth, but you can never be sure. I’ve seen Rossi joking with a man one second and pressing a gun to his head the next, splattering his brains all over the fucking place. A man’s word means nothing… only his actions.
“What’s the other thing?” I ask, hoping that it’s not Violet he wants.
“Xander would also like to know what happened to the girl you took from the auction.” Fuck.
“That’s none of his fucking business. The girl is off limits and anyone who tried to hurt her will die. Got it?”
“Xander doesn't want to hurt her; he just wants to talk to her.” Damon stays calm and collected even with me threatening, which is kind of impressive.
“Then why the fuck didn't your brother come here himself?” I sneer.
He looks around as if he is deciding how much information he should give me. Then he sighs as if he’s made up his mind. “He didn’t want to leave his girlfriend, and honestly, I didn’t want to have to leave my wife either, but we can’t all have everything we want.”
Wife? Girlfriend? These men were criminals at their finest. I can’t believe they are openly having women in their lives. Their father would never allow such a thing within his ranks. You don’t get to marry the woman of your dreams… you don’t get to marry anyone at all. Rossi Senior sees relationships as weaknesses, nothing more.
“What do you know about the girl I took?” He hasn’t mentioned Violet’s name yet, so maybe he doesn't know a lot, maybe she’s still safe.
“I know that Violet’s sister has been looking for her.”
My heart slams against my ribcage, and I clench my fist with a fiery rage.
I speak through gritted teeth. “Violet’s sister is dead. Your father told me so. So, don’t come in here lying to me, because I already want to rearrange your fucking face.”
Damon shakes his head slowly. “You really think my brother and I would just leave a helpless girl tied up to the bed? Do you think we’d just light the place up with someone innocent inside of it? What kind of monsters do you think we are?”
My eyes narrow. “I wasn’t aware there were types of monsters.”
Damon smirks as if something I’ve said is funny. “You have very little to be judgy about. We know what you were doing for the last couple of years, so if you want to throw around who the bigger monster is in all of this, we can, but I’m not sure you’re going to like the results.”