Rosalie Kasten is out of luck and out of time. For the last two years, she's been living on borrowed time. After her involvement with the death of Edwin Pierce - Alexander Pierce's son - it's only a matter of time before Hydra comes for her.
James...
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𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧❜𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 quiet. Rosalie can hear him through the walls. There's some soundproofing but the whole building seems to shake with every hit he makes. She wonders what he's hitting, but she's too scared to find out.
A sigh leaves her as she throws her head back. The guilt is pooling in her already. She shouldn't have looked into it. It's still something personal about him, and he should be able to tell her in his own time. Or never tell her, if that's what he chooses to do. Her curiosity got the better of her. No matter what it is, if she finds a hint of something that's supposed to be a secret, she wants to know everything.
Rosalie thinks that he's going to be done within a couple of minutes. She can't concentrate on the file because of the noise but after 15 minutes, nothing about what James is doing seems to be slowing down. The hits are only becoming louder, harder. His anger scares her. She's never met anyone who has so much of it, but she knows it isn't his fault either. The more she digs into business that isn't hers, the more she learns about him. It gives her insight, and it slowly becomes easier to understand why he does the things he does.
Carol was right. Rosalie shakes her head, she should have listened to her from the start. Carol said James had a reason for being like this, for being so outwardly cold, angry, pushing people away. And now she gets it.
Another sigh leaves her as she stands up from the chair. It's been more than half an hour. He stopped for about two minutes but then went back to punching. She can't let him keep going. If it hasn't helped by now, then it most likely won't. This is partially because of her, and she feels like shit because of it. Being that angry can't feel good. Especially not without a place to put it.
Rosalie feels the fear rush through her. There's no getting around this. It's not just the guilt, either. She wants to help him. She walks up to the door and lifts her hand to knock. It's so much louder here, breathing, hits, grunts, growls, and yells. He won't be able to hear her knock. Rosalie slowly wraps her hand around the doorknob.
A breeze of warm air hits her. James is standing there, shoulders heavily rising and falling. He doesn't notice her enter, and her blood runs cold. He's intimidating as hell. The only light in the room is from the hallway, the room itself completely dark. She's never done well with anger, and she doesn't know what exactly to do. So, she walks forward with slow steps. She's not trying to be quiet, it happens on accident as she holds her breath.
Her fingers reach out. The heat radiates off him and the sweat beads down the dark inked skin. He keeps heaving for air, fuming like an angry bull ready to snap and charge. Rosalie looks up at the back of his neck, his hair clings to his skin, to the dark artwork of a skull on his neck.
