by Elle Boon
She was staring at him, her eyes looking like two wounded emeralds. He’d known as soon as he’d seen the man holding her that he had to be related to Tai. Lots of people have green eyes, but her shade is a brilliant green that makes a person stop and take a second and third look. Bronson had the exact same electric green eyes. More than likely it was a familial thing. He wouldn’t tell Tai that, because the last thing he wanted to do was have her want to look for more of her family.
“You still love me?”
“More than I thought I ever could. Now hush and let me hold you.” He eased his arm behind her shoulders, thanking God they were all alive and relatively safe.
Epilogue
Cosmo stared across the table at Hollywood, wondering what the fuck had happened to his fellow MC brother. “Brother, you look like you met the back of someone’s fist, and it didn’t like you.”
Hollywood shrugged his massive shoulders. A grin tipping his cracked lips. “You should see the other guys.”
King knocked on the table with one big fist. “You two done fucking around?”
“He started it, talking about my good looks and shit.” Hollywood pointed a finger at Cosmo.
The Prez pointed the wooden gavel at Hollywood, clearly warning him without saying a word. His brother Duke chuckled, but he was smart and didn’t say shit.
“Hollywood, my patience is stretched thin these days. Why don’t you tell us where you’ve been the last week and a half, and why the fuck you look like you were someone’s punching bag,” King suggested.
“Like I said, the other guys look a lot worse than me.” He took a deep breath, then turned to Cosmo, his entire demeanor becoming serious. “Me and T-Rex took a couple other guys on a little vacation. On my dime, of course.” He looked back toward King.
“That was nice of you. I gave you and some brothers the okay to go on a road trip. I guess I didn’t really think to ask where since I assumed it was cool.” King folding his arms on the table, his dark eyes turning wary.
Cosmo leaned forward. “What the fuck did you do?”
“You know, China’s a real nice place to visit, if you like seafood and shit. I ain’t all that particular, but T? He won’t eat anything that came from the ocean. I think he lost a few pounds while we were over there.” Hollywood held up his hands as Cosmo growled. “Well you see, we thought we’d see some sights, but then, there was this fire. Damndest thing. An entire family burned in a house. The entire neighborhood couldn’t believe it. Of course, we heard them say the family wasn’t the nicest, but they all paid lip service to their passing.” Hollywood dug into his pocket. “You can do with this what you will.”
Cosmo stared at the piece of jewelry in the other man’s palm, then met his eyes. “What is that?”
“I met a little fucker who thought he was tough. I taught him he wasn’t. This belonged to his grandmother, Tai’s grandmother. I figured she deserved something—” He trailed off, placing the necklace on the table.
His throat closed up, realizing his brothers had done something he’d wanted to do, but feared hurting his ole lady. He hadn’t cried since he’d been a boy and learned his father took enjoyment in his suffering, making him cry more. Knowing he could go to Tai and give her something of the woman she loved, who had loved her—Fuck. He closed his eyes, stemming the hot liquid from falling. “Thank you, Hollywood.”
“Don’t mention it, brother. I know you’d do the same for me, or any of us. Besides, the other guys really do look worse than me, you can bet on that. I wouldn’t say anything about T’s black eye to him either. A little bastard tossed a brick at his face, an actual brick, funniest damn thing I ever did see. T don’t agree. If you like your pretty face, I wouldn’t make a comment about it.” Hollywood stood up, wincing a little.
“Do you need to see Doc?” King asked.
Hollywood shook his head. “I already saw one. Just some bruising and what you see on the surface. Nothing a good rest and some loving from a good woman won’t cure. We good?”
King turned toward Cosmo, waiting for him to give the okay.
Cosmo couldn’t let Hollywood walk out without thanking him again. Standing, he walked around the table. “Seriously, you need me for anything you call.” He gave Hollywood a hug, releasing him when he groaned. “Sorry, man.”
“Yeah, that loving from a woman might need to wait a bit. I’ll see you in a few days.” Hollywood walked out the door, shutting it behind him.
“Have a seat, Cosmo. I think we need to talk.”
Cosmo turned back around, facing Duke and King. He’d known this meeting was coming, yet he’d still been trying to figure out how to say the words to them. How did one tell two men he respected ,what he had to, without breaking down?
“You know they say if you just rip the Band-Aid off, it doesn’t hurt as bad,” Duke said.
“They’re fucking liars,” King rumbled.
Cosmo stood behind the chair Hollywood had been sitting in, looking first at King, then Duke. “When I first met you, Duke, I didn’t know who you were, or who your dad was. I need you to know that.”
Duke nodded, staying quiet.
“Yours and King’s friendship was something I needed at a time that I was digging my way out of Hell. Obviously, you figured that out?” Both men nodded. “My father was Cosimo Luciano, mob boss, drug runner, and pedophile. He and a group of associates called The Circle of Men had a side business where they traded sons and daughters, while effectively selling others within their network. It was very lucrative and secretive. When I was seven, he killed my mother in front of me after making her service his guard. That night was the first night he traded me for one of his friends’ kids. It took me ten years to get out. I killed him and one of The Circle members in the same night, along with their guards. I worked my way through all the members, collecting names of others.” He began pacing, hating the memories.
“Fuck, Cosmo, you don’t have to tell us anymore.” King’s voice was a guttural rumble.
“Yes, I do. You see every time I found my next mark, I was very meticulous, going through their files, taking their money and giving it to their victims. Kind of like we do here. Each man had links to others. You know, sick fucks liked to have playmates they could talk to about their little escapades. Your father was next on my list,” he said, dropping the bomb into the quiet of the room.
Both King and Duke sat in stunned silence, neither man appeared to breathe or blink, for several long seconds. Duke was the first to move, exploding out of his chair, knocking it backward. “Are you saying that bastard was into...into fucking kids?”
King shook his head; he too was up and pacing.
Cosmo reached into his pocket, pulled out an SD card. “I never killed a man unless I had proof. He preferred young girls. I hadn’t put two and two together until I saw him with the two of you. That was the night I was supposed to come and meet him, remember? My gut was in knots, Duke. I left and planned to return the following night with my guys. My Demon Security team were all like me, young men who had been abused and needed a purpose. They’re all high on the spectrum in learning. Their skills in training are crazy. Had their parents kept from fucking them over, they probably would’ve become politicians or some shit. Instead they’re machines with brains.”
He went back to the table, sitting down with a weary sigh. Both Duke and King stared at the memory card in the middle of the table. Neither man reaching for it.
“Are you going to take that?” Cosmo asked, nodding toward the center.
“Did you keep the evidence on your computer as well?” King grated.
Cosmo shook his head in denial.
“I don’t need to see what’s on there to know our...that bastard was a sick fuck. I just had no clue how depraved he was. Fuck,” Duke muttered.
King leaned over, grabbed the card between two fingers, snapping it in half. “I’m sorry for what was done to you and whoever else. Can we make any reparations to his victims?”
&n
bsp; He hung his head. It was for that reason he’d known these men were meant to be his brothers. Family didn’t have to be blood to be family. He lifted his head, meeting the Royal brothers stares. “Nah, I made sure they were well taken care of.”
In the two weeks since they’d returned from Miami, he and Tai had found a comfortable rhythm. After his stitches had come out, he’d decided it was time to give Tai her present. The necklace that had been her grandmother’s.
He’d thought of the differences in the clubhouse here and the one in Tampa, compared to his homes. While he loved having a place right on the beach, he also loved having a place close to his MC brothers. Plus, it gave Tai family who was willing to die for one another. She, more than any of them, needed people in her life who would have her back no matter what. He wanted to be her everything, and he was, but he also wanted her to have more. The Royal Bastards were that. For now, they were staying in one of the houses on the property until the home he was having built was finished. Money could do a lot, like build a house quickly.
“Tai, I’m fine. Look, the stitches are gone. Doc has said I’m good to go.” He rolled his arm around in a circle, the slight soreness he hid from her. Tai had become a little beast of a protector when it came to him.
“You were shot two weeks ago, Cosmo. I don’t think you should be picking up heavy boxes. The guys offered to move everything for us.” She stood in the doorway tapping her foot, looking cute as shit.
He put the box down, strolling toward her with one thing on his mind. “That’s the last of my personal things. I didn’t want anyone else hauling them anywhere, so I did it myself. Besides, they weren’t heavy, Baby. I have something I want to give you.” He dug into his front pocket, tugging the necklace out. He’d had it cleaned and was waiting for the right moment to give it to her. “This belongs to you.”
“Where did you get that?” She touched the gold chain, her finger tracing the delicate gold filigree that circled the jade stone hanging from it.
“Hollywood brought it back from your country.” He put his finger over her lips. “Don’t ask questions you don’t really want the answers to, Baby Girl. Just know that there are no family members to ever give you problems, ever again.”
She turned around, lifting her hair. “Put it on me, please.”
Cosmo let out the breath he’d been holding, slipping it over her neck. “You know, you look sexy in those clothes, but you know what you’d look better in?” he asked, skimming his palms down her sides.
“You like these?” She spun back around, lifted her right leg up so that she rubbed along his outer thigh, her jean shorts so damn short and worn looking, the pockets showed through the denim.
“Mmm. I sure do. I like ‘em a lot. I really love that I can almost see your panties when you bend over. But you’d look even better out of them.” He didn’t give her a chance to speak before he swooped down, covering her lips with his. At the same time, he lifted her into his arms deciding he was done talking and moving shit. If he hadn’t, his woman would’ve tried to object to his carrying her. Silly little thing, thinking he was too injured to cart her around.
A loud cough had him pausing in his steps.
“Sorry, Cosmo, thought you’d like to know that I have your bill for my rig repair.” Hollywood held a couple sheets of paper in his hand, smiling like an idiot. Of course, said idiot still looked like a bruised idiot, but he owed him.
“Leave it on the table and shut the door on your way out,” he growled.
“Cosmo, stop it. I owe you a huge thank you. How’re you feeling, Hollywood?” Tai asked sweetly. Too damn sweetly to his way of thinking.
“You’re most welcome, Tai. Besides, I’m good, other than, you know, having to see a shrink since the Incident. I think she thinks I’m crazy, but most women do. I just don’t know what to do with myself,” he sighed theatrically. When he said the word incident, he made sure to whisper it, but Cosmo wasn’t sure if he had been referring to Florida or China, which knowing his friend, it could be either. It wasn’t that either actually affected the big fucker.
“Boy, I ain’t got my boots on, and the shit you’re spouting is getting deep. So shut the fuck up and get out. I got some loving to do with my ole lady.”
“Oh scandalous. More to talk to my therapist about. My poor virgin ears.” Hollywood pretended to write in a notebook, then he began to laugh as Cosmo lifted a crystal statue. “Kidding, bro. I’m out, but seriously, the bill is here for you, anytime you want to pay. Like today, or tomorrow, or you know, tonight. Bye,” he said with a chuckle, shutting the door quickly.
“I swear, the only reason he’s still alive is because women find him gorgeous.” Cosmo turned back toward the bedroom.
“I can’t believe he got this for me. My brother always wore it after my Lǎo lao passed away.” She rubbed the stone between her fingers.
“I’ll make sure I send him payment for the damage to his rig plus a little extra.” He kissed her forehead.
“That’s really nice of you. Do women truly fall all over themselves for him? I mean, he’s handsome, I guess, but I think you are by far better looking.” Tai kissed Cosmo’s cheek.
He was stunned at her words. She just spoke as if she was speaking the truth, instead of trying to placate him or garner a favor. “I fucking love you. So damn much.”
She smiled at him, making his life brighter with her presence. “I love you too. When is our house going to be done? I can’t believe it’s happening.”
King had grinned when Cosmo went to him. He’d gone to him as the Prez of the MC, not as his friend but the man he respected, the man he’d pledged to, and asked if he could build a home on the property. He was finally ready to put down roots. They’d negotiated a price, but Cosmo paid more than King had asked, and then he had his lot. When you had money, you could get almost anything you wanted, except happiness and love. And he was lucky enough to have found a tiny woman who loved him as fiercely as he did her, and he had his brothers who were family.
“It won’t be all that long. I have a couple crews working together, and the weather looks favorable.” He didn’t mention he’d chosen a section that was close, but not too close to the others. King’s father had a house that had gone to shit that the others hadn’t wanted, but Cosmo found it perfect. He’d had it demolished down to the basement. A solid foundation was always good.
“I can’t believe you’re real. That we’re together, here. I still don’t know what I’m going to do.” Tai looked up at him.
He’d thought long and hard about how he could help her find her way. Telling her she didn’t need to work because he had money wouldn’t go over well. His little fighter needed a path, needed purpose.
“Life doesn’t just happen for us, Tai. It’s like a flight of steps. Take it one step at a time and don’t let the staircase scare you. You focus on that first step, then the next. The next thing you’ll see, you’re standing at the top. You’re first step is living. I want you to live and be happy, Baby. Everyone exists, but living, really living is rare. We’ll figure out what makes you happy, and then you can build on that.”
“I’m so messed up. But you, you make me feel like I’m okay, like maybe I’ll be okay.” She looped her arms around his neck and kissed his chin.
He held her loosely within the circle of his arms. “Ah, my sweet Baby, you’re no more effed up than me.” He didn’t know how to tell her she made the chaos he’d once lived with day in and day out become wonderfully beautiful. She made him accept the fact he was who he was, and because of their pasts, they might have been two fucked-up souls, but they can overcome anything as long as they had each other.
“One step at a time,” he said again.
“What if I wanted to skip the stairs and ride the elevator?”
Tai took a step back, shimmying out of her shorts, making his mouth water when he realized she wore no panties underneath. His palm itched to give her a swat for not telling him earlier. In the next instant, her
top came up and off, leaving her in nothing but skin, his favorite outfit. He took his own clothes off, watching her as he did. “We’ll see about that. But first, I think someone has been a bad girl. Middle of the bed, arms above your head, legs spread, Baby Girl. Don’t make me tell you twice, or I’ll make you wait for hours before I let you come.” He gripped his dick in his right hand, pumping up and down slowly as he stared at her chest, watching it rise and fall with her exhalations.
Cosmo was sure he’d ripped some seams as he’d struggled out of his own clothes earlier, but he didn’t give two fucks since he was making love to his ole lady, knowing whatever the future held they’d face together.
The End
Next up in my Royal Bastards is Hollywood’s Story. He may look like the perfect male specimen, and well he really is. But behind every smile, secrets are hidden. And I swear, I love to delve within these guys’ and gals’ heads and find just what kind of twisted and dark things they’re hiding. Are you ready to find out what’s up with Hollywood?
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Royally Chosen Christmas
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Thank You
Thank you for reading Royally F**ked! I hope you loved it!
Did you enjoy meeting Cosmo and Tai in their story and getting to see some of the others from previous books? I tried to write this so you could enjoy it without having to read the others. Up next is going to be Hollywood (I think). He is talking in my head, and OMG the image I have bought for him is awesome. However, you know how these things go, I just let them flow.
I have two books releasing in October. Lula’s book Their Dragon Mate, in an anthology called A Cursed Hallows Eve. And The Leopard’s Witchy Mate in Robyn Peterman’s Magic & Mayhem Universe. Be sure and check them out because I think y’all will LOVE them (fingers crossed).
You can also join my Facebook group, Elle Boon’s Bombshells, to discuss all things Elle Boon books and see what’s going on or coming up in my book world.