Royally Chosen Christmas (Royal Sons MC #7) - Elle Boon Page 0,65
Mario Cart,” Axl said, kicking the other man’s feet off the table so he could move between it and the bed.
“Fuck you, asshole, I’m playing WOW, and you know it. Besides Mario is the baddest game ever created, and you know it. You’re just pissed because Princess Peach would never look at a mushroom hater like you.” Cannon stood up, stretching his arms above his head, red welts lined his abdomen where his shirt rode up.
Roq turned away, not wanting to see how his friend and brother dealt with the shit that was their pasts. Each of them owed Cosmo more than just their lives. They owed him their sanity as well. He’d been fourteen, the oldest of their little quartet by a few months, but he hadn’t hit his growth spurt until the following year. He often wondered what the prick who called himself his father would’ve done had he lived until Roq outgrew him. Nah, the fucker probably would’ve beat him down even if he had, keeping him so weak he wouldn’t have been able to do anything except obey like he had all those years.
He shook himself, banishing the dark thoughts that threatened to pull him under. Seeing the welts on Cannon reminded him how close they all were to an edge of a cliff. He, Axl, and Ridley didn’t need to be punished like their brother Cannon. He didn’t judge the younger man, none of them did. What he’d been through was even worse than all of them. The sick and twisted place they’d found him in still turned his stomach.
“Let’s roll,” he ordered, shrugging into the lightweight jacket that appeared normal but was made of a thin Kevlar that would stop most bullets from piercing their skin. A head shot? Well in that case they’d be dead if they took one of those.
“Shotgun,” Axl called, shoving his way past Ridley.
Ridley and Axl got into a shoving match, reminding him of toddlers he’d seen on TV. “Why do I put up with them?” he asked Cannon, locking the door behind them. They didn’t worry about cleaning up the room, since none of them had anything they worried about anyone stealing. It was standard procedure for them to have their shit ready to roll out at the drop of a hat, like now, each man grabbing their gear and rolling, no questions asked.
“Because they’d kill each other or bystanders if you didn’t.” Cannon’s matter-of-fact answer was said without inflection.
Roq was beginning to worry about his brother. They weren’t related by blood, none of them were, but the four of them were closer than any birth could’ve made them. Many times, throughout their first ten years or so, they’d been locked in the same hellholes, made to watch what the others had to endure. Only Cosmo had been saved from that humiliation, since his father was the ringleader. He pushed the memories away, hating that they were trying to make a comeback like an old movie that wanted to remake. “You alright?” he asked Cannon, watching as the wiry man with the mocha-colored skin that made him stand out amongst them get a little ruddy hue to it.
“I’m level, Roqueland, don’t you worry non about me.” Cannon’s Cajun accent became a little more pronounced when he was angry.
“Good to hear. I need all of us to stay on point.” The reprimand was said loud enough that Axl and Ridley could hear. Their shoving match immediately stopped at his bark.
Axl, ever the jokester, gave him a salute. “Got it, Captain.” He climbed into the front passenger seat while Ridley walked around to the driver’s side, getting into the backseat. Cannon and he both stayed silent, walked toward the vehicle and deposited their bags in the back. The fucking past rearing its head when he needed a little peace screwed shit up.
The SUV rumbled to life, the console lighting up with the coordinates of Hollywood’s home on the screen. “We’ll follow him at a distance. I think one of us should hang around his place. I have a feeling I don’t like in the pit of my stomach.”
Axl lifted the panel from the floorboard, taking out a semi-automatic, checking that it was loaded. “I’ll stay back,” he offered.
“I’ll do it. I’m restless so walking around the woods would help me. Nobody will get close to the house, I promise.” Cannon spoke without inflection, letting Roq know he was in control of his emotions with that one tell-tale sign.