Stella Starlet

Bleeding Roses

Carlisle and I had returned to New York a couple days ago.

The time we had in Italy was definitely eventful, it was a mixture of pure bliss, anger and heartbreak. 

Carlisle was back to his mobster self, working the day away.

I sat on the sofa, cigarette in hand, when I heard a crash from another room. 

What the fuck?

I got up quietly, trying not to make a single sound as I reached for the pistol I had resting on the coffee table. 

I stalked over to the room where I heard it coming from. 

As I walked into the room, I saw that there was indeed a vase shattered on the floor. The porcelain pieces were in a pile but what was on top of it made my blood go cold. 

The shards of porcelain had a river of red running over them, dripping over the sides into a pool.

Above the pile lay a single red rose which was oozing a familiar red liquid. 

I fell onto the wall, my knees unable to support my weight at that moment. 

I heard the front door slam closed and I knew I had to go after them. I pushed myself to sprint towards the door, loading a bullet into the chamber as I ran. 

After whipping open the door, I could not see anyone in the hall. 

They got away. 

"Fuck!" I yelled as I yanked at my hair. 

This wasn't good, not at all. 

The last time I saw a bleeding rose was when Enzo was still alive.

Sick fuck. 

Enzo.

Did that mean he was actually still alive and out there? Was he still coming after me?

The thought made me sick. 

I grabbed my keys on the counter and ran out of the house.

-

I drove to the building where Carlisle was in. 

As I speed-walked into the lobby, I was about to head to the elevator when a receptionist stopped me. 

"Excuse me, ma'am!" She yelled as she walked over quickly. "What do you think you're doing?" She snarled as she looked me up and down. 

"I need to see Carlisle."

"Do you have an appointment?" 

"He's my fucking boyfriend, I don't need a fucking appointment," I exclaimed, my patience becoming extremely thin. 

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave. He would never be with a lowlife like you."

It dawned on me that I had left my cell phone at the house so I couldn't call him. 

I sighed as I reached into the band of my jeans and pulled out my pistol. 

I aimed it at her. 

"Get out of my way," I snarled.

I heard the sound of a gun being loaded behind me. 

Fuck.

I forgot this place was where all Carlisle's mobsters worked too and they had just as much firepower as I did at that moment. 

"Who the fuck are you?" The guy behind me demanded as he pressed his weapon against my skull.

Just then, the elevator pinged and opened. 

Carlisle walked out but then stopped in his tracks as he took in the situation. 

I had a pistol pointed at the receptionist and the guy behind me had his pistol pointed at me. 

"What the fuck! Put your fucking gun away!" Carlisle yelled at the guy behind me. 

I felt the metal leave my skull and I lowered my weapon as well.

"Carlisle, I need to talk to you right now," I said urgently. 

"Of course, love." He held open his arm for me to come to him. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders as he led me into the elevator. 

"Can I ask why you held my receptionist at gunpoint?" He laughed and kissed my forehead.

"She wouldn't let me come see you. Fucking hell, Carlisle, someone was in my house."

He tensed up and looked at me, completely sober.

"When? How do you know?" He asked.

"I heard a crash so I went to go look and there was a broken vase and there was a rose." Jesus Christ, I leaned onto the side of the elevator for support. My knees felt weak again. 

"A rose?"

"Did you ever see the roses that Enzo got for me when he left that note?"

"The fucking bleeding ones?"

I nodded. 

He picked up his phone and barked commands at the person on the other end. 

"They're going to go and check out the place."

"I thought you said he was dead?" I half-yelled, blood boiling with frustration. 

"I emptied a whole round at him; he has to be. I don't know, maybe he's having one of his little minions do this? You'll stay at my place now, I don't want you alone while someone is fucking with us."

-

I had just finished unpacking my clothes into the drawers in Carlisle's closet. 

I laid on the bed and lit up a cigarette. After taking a long drag, I exhaled a cloud of white just as Carlisle walked in. 

"You've got to kick that habit. I want to see you with grey hair." He winked as he laid next to me. 

He took a deep breath and looked at me. "I'm being serious, you have to stop with all these things; drinking excessively, smoking, the coke, all of this."

"What if I don't want to?" I asked glumly. 

The truth is that I did want to stop doing all of those things. I was just afraid of being without them. When I wanted to rip my skin off in spreads, I would do a line of coke. When I wanted to laugh, I drink a glass of vodka. When I wanted to feel numb, I took a drag of a cigarette. 

"Then I would show you everything good in life and hope you make the decision from there."

I crept over to him and hugged him as I laid my head on his chest.

"How am I in love with a man who's a mobster and keeps his kinky shit at his parents house?" 

We both laughed.