We step back inside the big mansion and find Roman and Levi pushing their way through to the internal garage. My brows furrow and I follow them in. “Going somewhere?” I ask, watching as they empty the back of a few SUVs, clearing them out.
“Heading back to the castle to get our shit,” Levi says, glancing up at me. “You coming, or do you want to chill out here?”
I scoff, staring at him as though he just grew another head. “You’re fucking kidding me, right? You want to leave me here alone so I can get kidnapped again? I mean, sure. I didn’t think we’d be putting this new tracker into action quite so soon, but if you’re sure.”
Levi pauses, glancing up at me again before the corner of his mouth pulls into a wicked smirk. “That was pretty stupid, huh?”
I laugh and roll my eyes as Marcus strides past me to help the guys unload. “Probably your stupidest comment yet,” I agree. “Give me ten minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”
Levi gets back to work without another word, and I slip back into the main part of the mansion and make my way up to my room to get dressed. I can only imagine the type of shit the boys need to collect from their old prison. They made quite the collection of weapons over the ten years they were locked up there, not to mention the fact that Levi doesn’t have a drum kit here. How the hell is he supposed to give me wild drum fuckery without one of those?
After dressing in a matching crop and tights, I pull my hair into a high bun on top of my head and slip my feet into a pair of white sneakers. The comfort of this outfit is beyond anything I’ve ever known, and damn it, it looks cute too. I look like I’m ready to throw down at the gym and start counting calories and macros … whatever the fuck they are, but in reality, I’m probably just going to stand back out of the way, having absolutely no idea how to handle the type of weapons they’re wanting to collect.
Grabbing my pillow off my bed and a soft blanket out of my closet, I make my way back downstairs. It’s a good few hours back to the castle, and after spending the night with Marcus and getting absolutely no sleep, a good nap would do me good.
I step through to the garage right as Marcus steps away from the cars to come and find me, my timing impeccable. “You riding with me?”
Glancing over his shoulder, I take in Roman as he pulls open his driver’s side door and climbs into one of the three black SUVs lining the garage. “Depends,” I mutter. “Do you plan on chit-chatting and listening to screeching music the whole way?”
Marcus scoffs, a grin stretching across his face. “How else do you intend to travel? That’s the only way.”
I look at him in horror. I can’t think of anything worse, at least, just for today. A bit of silence will do me good, even if it means riding with the broodiest asshole in town. As much as I love Marcus’ random chatter, and even if he promised to keep it to a minimum, he wouldn’t be able to make any guarantees. He simply can’t help himself. Roman though, despite his glares, fuming, and brooding, I can guarantee complete and utter silence. There’s just no comparison.
Levi was out of the running before there was even a question. I can only imagine the loud bullshit that would come tearing through his speakers for the next few hours, and I simply can’t stomach it today. The only way I’ll listen to that is if it’s a set of drums directly in front of me and I can feel the vibrations slamming against my chest as he looks at me with a promise to fuck me just as hard as he hits his drums, and damn it, he always comes through.
My gaze sweeps back to Roman and as he tosses something onto his passenger seat, my decision is made. “Ooooh, he’s got snacks.”
Traipsing past Marcus who looks at me like I just kicked his puppy, I slip straight into the backseat of Roman’s SUV and place my pillow down on the leather seat, more than ready to get comfortable for the long ride. Roman stiffens as his head whips around into the backseat. His dark eyes are wide, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look so horrified. “No,” he says, gaping at me, the confusion marring his face like nothing I’ve ever seen, and damn it, I think I like bringing this reaction out of him. “Out. There’s no fucking way. Ride with one of my brothers.”
Giving him an innocent smile, I press my head down against my pillow and lay my blanket over myself, making a show of getting comfortable. “Too late now, I’m already here,” I tell him before indicating toward his snacks with a raised, curious brow. “Got any candy up there?”
Roman turns back in his seat and blows out his cheeks, silently fuming as I pull my blanket right up to cover the wide shit-eating grin that tears across my face. A moment passes and I listen to the soft thuds of the boys closing their doors, and not a moment later, Roman tosses a packet of Reese’s peanut butter cups into the back and hits the gas, sailing out of the garage with his brothers following suit.
After napping the majority of the way, Roman wakes me as we make our way down the long driveway of the massive castle. Pushing myself up from my pillow and sitting back in the center seat, I rub at my eyes and stare out through the windshield. “I’ve never gotten past how stunning this place is,” I murmur on a yawn, unable to take my eyes off the castle that changed my life, though I’m still undecided if that change was for the better.
“After ten years of imprisonment, the novelty of it kinda wears off,” he tells me.
I drop my tone, the heaviness of his words sinking into my chest. “I can only imagine.”
All three of the SUVs are backed into the garage and I don’t even want to know what type of things the guys are going to load the cars with. If it were up to me, I’d be getting back the clothes and sentimental shit that I’ve accumulated over the years, but the boys are a different breed.
They get busy, not wasting a damn second as they load up the first SUV and it becomes startlingly clear just how many of these trips we’re going to have to make. Hell, the boys should have brought a fucking truck for this shit, though that would only draw the wrong kind of attention, and after the close call with the FBI at the tomb party, I bet they’re looking for absolutely anything they can get their hands on to make a clean arrest.
Not wanting to handle all the weapons and feeling as though I’m only getting in the way, I head into the castle and make my way straight to the bathroom. It was a long trip, what’s a girl to do?
After finishing up and splashing water over my face, I make my way around the castle, moving from room to room and scooping up anything I think the boys might want to keep. I’m all too aware of their mother laying up in the tallest room of the castle, Snow White style, and I don’t doubt that the boys will eventually make arrangements to get her so they can bury her properly, but until then, I sure as fuck won’t be going up there, especially by myself.
I place bags upon bags at the internal entrance of the garage and hate the way my stomach clenches as I collect all of Marcus’ special trophies, knowing just how attached he is to this shit. I’m sure Levi and Roman will be doing the very same with their own trophies, but unlike Marcus, they haven’t proudly shown theirs off, and I have no idea where they actually keep them.
I haul the last of it back to the garage and pass Levi in the den, pulling one of his many drum kits to pieces when a hand clamps down over my mouth and I’m dragged backward into a dark corner, my back pressed firmly up against a wide chest.