AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ipull up outside Axel’s and shoot him a text to let him know I’m here. I watch several teens in the estate park larking about. Two of the lads are wrestling while another is busy tagging the slide in a vivid shade of green spray paint. Two girls are sat huddled inside a makeshift hut attached to the slide, their heads close together as they chat and smoke.
The faces of the teens blur into the faces of us; Maddox, me and Rox. We grew up on an estate like this doing just what they are doing now. Shooting the shit and causing trouble. I’d like to think that the kind of trouble these guys get into is a lot less dangerous than ours, although I doubt not.
Maddox and I were bad boys. We still are. When your childhood consists of beatings from whichever prick your mother is screwing and almost dying when you took something you thought were sweets but turned out to be ecstasy, then yeah, being a bad boy seems like an obvious evolution. Being quite literally dragged away from the only parent you’ve ever known, albeit a bad one, is bound to leave you emotionally traumatised.
Those sorts of things leave an indelible mark on your skin, on your mind and on your soul.
I look away from the teenagers as the main door to Axel’s block opens, and he steps out. Spotting me, he jogs over and jumps in the car.
“Hey, man. Sorry ‘bout that, I fell asleep. So, where we off to?”
“Rogue,” I reply and give nothing more than that as I turn the car around. I don’t miss the furtive glances he keeps throwing towards his building. He seems skittish, so when I look back through the rear-view mirror and spot a young, dark-haired woman exiting the block, a woman who stands out like a sore fucking thumb dressed as she is, my suspicions raise.
Sometimes fate throws you a helping hand, and I stop the car for an old lady to cross the road. During the time it takes for her to amble across, I watch as the dark-haired woman climbs into a black Fiesta. It’s a newer model and certainly not something most who live here can afford.
When she pulls up behind me, I swear Axel’s body goes rigid.
“What has you so tired? You have a late one last night?” I probe casually.
“Nah, the fucking couple next door kept me up half the night arguing. You know those walls are like fucking paper. When they finally finished, the screwing started. Crazy bitch could give a porn star a run for her money the noise she was making.” Not content with his description, he demonstrates. “‘Ahhh, fuck me harder, Billy. Yes! Yes!’’” he yells in a mock high-pitched female voice.
I can’t help laughing at him as he continues, even adding breathy pants. I try to get a better look at the chick behind us, but it’s dark out making it impossible to see clearly. Getting her number plate is the best I can do.
I’ve been up in the office watching the CCTV for the last few hours and keeping a careful watch on Axel too. I tasked him with mingling, blending into the crowd and watching for any of Laskin’s men. Not that I think he’s stupid enough to send his dealers inside Rogue, but Laskin’s getting more and more brazen.
I’m sorting through paperwork when my attention is caught by something on the camera outside. The office is sound proofed, but I don’t need sound to know what’s going on.
My chair falls to the floor as I jump up, racing for the door. Screams and the sound of gunfire slam into me the instant the door opens.
Entering the main room, people are running in all directions or hiding beneath tables as gunfire continues to rain outside and inside as glass from the windows explodes, showering people and the floor. Several people hit the ground while others trip and fall in their rush to flee. I spot Axel herding people to safety behind the bar and flipping tables to create a shield as I duck and dash across the floor.
The gunfire ceases as the door leading to the storeroom and back exit opens, revealing Maddox with Rocky trailing behind him.
I watch as Maddox’s eyes scan the room, hardening as he spots the bodies on the floor. His nostrils flare, and I can feel his rage like a tangible thing. When they land on me, I see the relief on his face. It’s only there for a second before his face hardens again, and he stomps this way.
As he reaches me, a woman steps out from a table she’d been hiding behind, gripping onto her friend’s hand, and lets out a piercing scream when her eyes land on a body lying feet from her in pool of blood.
Before either of us can stop her, she races for the door, dragging her friend by the hand behind her, hysterically and causing panic. Others emerge from their hiding places and begin frantically trying to exit.
“Fucking hell!” Maddox exclaims, running a hand over his stubble covered jaw. “Zak, get the rest of these people out of here,” he orders before striding for the front exit.
I do as he says, leading terrified woman and even some guys, who look like they might piss themselves any second, to the exit. Rocky checks over those with injuries, moving the ones still breathing to a corner of the room. I hear sirens and look up just as I see Maddox dragging someone through to the office.
Once everyone is out, except those who are hurt, I quickly head to the office after Maddox. I didn’t get a good look at the woman, but I didn’t need to. I would recognise her anywhere.
Not able to hear anything from the soundproofed room, I quietly open the door to find Maddox facing off against Rox, who has her back to me and is spitting fire at him.
“Excuse me? Your club just got shot the fuck up and you’re worried about what I’m doing here. Pfft.” She waves a dismissive hand at him before starting back in at him. “I think you should be more concerned about the police that are going to be crawling all over this place any minute. Not worrying about the cop—sorry ex-cop, standing in front of you who is wondering what the actual fuck she’s been dragged into,Maddox,” she spits, stepping forward and jabbing a finger into his chest.
Maddox’s eyes light with a mixture of fury and respect at the woman standing there with not an ounce of fear evident in her at all.
She’d always been fearless. The day we met her she was getting her arse beat on by some little prick called Wayne from the estate. We had watched her land a couple of decent punches to his face before he laid into her. I guess we saw something of ourselves in her, something that spoke to us on a base level, and that’s why we helped her.
Maddox’s hand swipes out, snatching her wrist and easily encasing it within his large hand. He yanks her forward, causing her body to crash into his.
“Remember who you’re talking to, Roxanne. We aren’t the same people anymore, and you’d do well to remember that.” She lifts her chin at his words, and I can picture the defiance in her eyes at his threat. He forces her back several steps, and I straighten from my position leaning against the door frame as her back comes to within an inch of me.
Her breath catches and her shoulders broaden as she feels me behind her. I look at Maddox over her head, seeing the devilish glint in his eyes.
