Hollywood glanced around the tables to see what was on offer for breakfast.
Something with meat that looked like a kebab, but smelled like a rotten corpse, had his stomach churning.
He grabbed a couple of pre-packed pastries, and something that looked like it might have chocolate in the middle and headed away from the awful stench towards his guys.
“I know they said we’d be heading out before dawn, but four o’clock is ridiculous.” Evan griped. “If I was in Cardiff right now, the clubs wouldn’t have even thrown out yet.”
“Yeah?” Logan smirked. “When was the last time you hit the clubs until dawn?”
Evan shrugged.
“It’s been a while, I guess.” He admitted. “But only because I’m so dedicated to my job. Obviously, I can’t be seen raving it up if I’m supposed to be a Guardian, can I?”
“Isn’t it true that the last time we went clubbing you actually fell asleep in the VIP area?” Logan teased. “You were drooling onto the shoulder of the world-famous footballer you were supposed to be looking out for.”
“In my defence, he fell asleep first.” Evan grinned. “Plus, we had just gotten off an eighteen-hour flight from China. Man, those Chinese fans love their footballers.”
“Knowing you, you probably slept all the way back.” Logan snorted.
“I’ll have you know that I spent most of the time fighting off flight attendants.” Evan laughed. “Well, fighting them off him, that is, not me.”
Hollywood drowned out the banter as he looked around the big hanger.
“Anyone seen Niko in the last ten minutes?” He asked nobody in particular.
“Ilya turned up just before you climbed out of your truck.” Yuri nodded to the rooms at the back. “She went in there with him as soon as he showed his face, and they’re still in there.”
“Where’s the kid?” Hollywood looked around.
“Over there with the woman that showed up with Ilya.” Kris pointed to the other side of the hanger.
Sure enough, Roman was sitting on a makeshift bench, looking as bored as it was possible for a three-year-old to look, while Ilya’s lady-friend applied a fresh layer of nail polish to her toenails, and completely ignored him.
“How long until we head out?” Kellen shoved a chocolate bar in his mouth.
“It won’t be long.” Yuri pointed to the building where the women were being herded out, back towards the rear of the trucks.
Hollywood turned and walked towards Ilya’s girlfriend. She was sitting too close to where the women would shortly be passing by for his liking.
“Roman?” He called to the kid. “Come over here, son.”
Roman looked at the woman as if to get permission, but as she was taking no notice of him, he hopped up from the bench and skipped over to Hollywood with a smile on his face.
“Have you had any breakfast yet?” Hollywood crouched in front of Roman, keeping the boy’s attention away from what was going on behind him.
“No, not yet.” Roman shook his head. “Mama usually likes me to shower first, and then we have breakfast.”
He looked around the hanger.
“Do you know where the bathroom is?” He asked Hollywood.
Hollywood had been inside the so-called bathroom, and knew there was one sink, and no showers.
“I’m sure your mom wouldn’t mind if you skipped the shower today, given that we’re on a trip, y’know.” Hollywood smiled. “So, why don’t you come with me and I’ll take you to the bathroom where there’s a sink, and then after you’ve washed your hands we’ll grab you some food before everyone heads out.”
Hollywood led Roman over to the bathroom, quickly realising the kid wouldn’t be tall enough for the urinal, so he took him over to the filthy cubicle. Ignoring the stares of Ilya’s men, he stood outside the door.
“Don’t touch anything that’s not attached to your body.” He instructed Roman, who pulled a face, confirming to Hollywood he understood exactly what he was being told.
When the kid was finished, Hollywood flushed the toilet using his booted foot, which made Roman giggle.
The sink wasn’t much cleaner and there was no soap, but there was running water, so he helped the kid wash his hands. Realising there was no towel, Hollywood offered Roman the bottom of his shirt to get his hands dry.
Given all the strange goings on around him, Hollywood was surprised that Roman was taking everything in his stride the way he was. But then, he realised, with Niko’s life being a constant merry-go-round of trafficking trips, maybe the kid was used to living like this.
It was a struggle to keep the scowl off his face. How could the woman bring her son up this way?
Walking back to the truck, Hollywood grabbed a handful of pastries, handing one to Roman and stuffing the rest in his pocket. It was only when he realised the kid was having to run to keep up with him, that it dawned on Hollywood he was dealing with someone barely out of diapers.
He bent down and scooped the boy up, carrying him in one arm as he strode back to the others.
Roman didn’t seem to mind being carried at all, and he continued munching his ‘breakfast’ as though there was nothing strange about it.
As they approached the rest of the Guardians, Kellen turned around and grinned at him.
“Hey, kiddo. How’re you doing this morning, hmm?” He held his hand out for a high-five which Roman duly returned.
“I had to pee, and it was stinky.” Roman announced, wrinkling up his little nose. “But they got no showers, so H said I could have breakfast anyway.”
He held out his half-eaten pastry as evidence.
“Well, you eat that up, or you won’t grow to be a big strong man.” Kellen nodded seriously.
“I’m strong.” Roman held out the puniest arm Hollywood had ever seen. “Look at my muscles.”
Kellen pretended to test them and nodded in agreement.
“You’re pretty strong, for sure.” He grinned, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Just make sure you eat all the good fruit and vegetables to make you grow a bit more. You’re a bit short for a man.”
“I’m not a man, silly.” Roman giggled. “I’m a kid.”
“Really?” Kellen scratched his head, pretending to be confused. “Because I’m sure I heard someone say you were twenty-four, and your mama just turned three.”
Roman nearly choked on his pastry, he was giggling so much.
“No, Ken.” He insisted. “My mama is twenty-four and I’m three. That’s why she’s taller than me.”
“Oh, now that makes more sense.” Kellen smacked the palm of his hand on his forehead, wincing exaggeratedly to make Roman laugh even harder.
The sound of shouting had everyone in the hanger turning around to face the office, where the yelling was followed by a crashing sound like someone smashing up furniture.
Hollywood knew Niko was in there, but as she was supposed to be having a meeting with her brother, he didn’t suppose she’d be very happy if he poked his nose in.
As the yelling continued, one of Ilya’s men shouted something at the others, and they continued to load the women into the trucks.
“Have you seen some of those women?” Kris hissed. “They look like a puff of wind would blow them over. It turns my stomach to see them like that.”
Yuri turned and stood in his brother’s line of sight, blocking the view of the women.
“Then stop looking at them, Kris.” He warned. “Don’t forget we’re supposed to have no emotions about what’s going on.”
“Just store it all up.” Hollywood nodded to Kris. “It will feel so much better later, when everything is fixed.”
He glanced down at Roman who was busily munching away, and he wondered what would happen to the kid if his mama got herself arrested. She’d have nobody else to blame but herself, but what about Roman? He didn’t ask for this life.
All of a sudden, the office door flew open and crashed against the inside wall.
Ilya strode out, yelling something at Drago who was two paces behind him.
Even from fifty yards, Hollywood could see how red in the face Ilya was. The guy looked absolutely furious.
As he reached the car, Ilya climbed inside without hesitation, leaving Drago almost hanging out of the passenger door as he hit the gas, the tyres leaving rubber marks across the floor as he sped out.
Hollywood glanced down at Roman who was busy licking the icing sugar from his fingers, thankfully having paid no attention to his uncle’s tantrum.
A few seconds later, he noticed Kellen nod his head towards the office, and turned to see Niko come through the door and make her way down the steps, looking a little like she’d had one too many to drink.
Hollywood noticed that he wasn’t the only one watching her, and he leaned over to hand Roman off to Kellen.
“Have a chat with your uncle Ken.” He murmured to the boy as he strode over to Niko, now convinced she was actually limping.
She looked up to see him striding towards her, and stopped dead, obviously not sure of his purpose.
He pulled up in front of her, immediately noticing the bright red mark on her cheek. If past experience was anything to go by, Hollywood guessed that she was going to have one helluva black eye by lunchtime.
“Ilya’s guys are watching you carefully.” He said quietly. “If you want to keep any sort of control over them, I suggest you start yelling at them now. If you show any sign of weakness, they’ll start circling like vultures.”
Niko looked up at him in surprise.
“What does it matter to you what they think of me?” She demanded, and he noticed her intake of breath as she snapped at him.
“If they don’t think you’re still in a position of authority, or if they think Ilya isn’t going to back you up, then there’s no way they’re going to follow your orders.” Hollywood pointed out, turning his body so he blocked Ilya’s men from seeing her. “And if that happens, they’ll probably consider the cargo fair game, to do with whatever they want. Which will not please my employers at all.”
Niko’s eyes narrowed as though she was going to snap back at him, but then changed her mind.
Instead she stepped to one side and took a deep breath, before yelling something in Russian.
While he had no idea what she was yelling, he turned and glared at Ilya’s men, just in case it helped to show a united front.
Whether it was her yell or his glare he wasn’t sure, but the men turned and started packing everything up as fast as they could.
“We’re leaving in five minutes, so be ready.” She hissed at him as she tried to walk past him.
“Stay by my side and they won’t see you limping.” Hollywood used his bulk to hide her as much as possible.
Niko didn’t acknowledge him, but he noticed she stayed glued to his side, all the way back to the Guardians.
“We’re heading out inside the next five minutes.” Hollywood said to the other guys, watching Niko take Roman from Kellen and walk slowly to the truck. “Get where you need to be, because I don’t think anyone will give a damn if one of us gets left behind.”
As he made his way to the driver’s side of the cab, he noticed Ilya’s girlfriend looking around as if she’d only just realised that her ride had already left without her.
She ran to the nearest van and yelled at the guy driving it to let her in.
“What happened to Niko?” Kellen stopped alongside him.
Hollywood shook his head.
“Not sure yet.” He growled. “But she’s taken a smack to the face which is gonna leave a nice black eye, and I think she’s got some damage to her ribs.”
“Her brother did that?” Kellen frowned.
“I reckon so.” Hollywood nodded. “I don’t see that Drago being the sort of guy who would smack a woman, do you?”
“Not really.” Kellen agreed. “So, what next?”
“We keep doing our job, but we add running interference between Ilya and Niko as one of our tasks for the day.” Hollywood said decisively. “Because if I see him lay a finger on her again, I don’t care what she’s guilty of. I’m likely to rip his arm off and shove it so far up his ass he’ll be able to brush his teeth without ever opening his mouth.”
Kellen snorted a laugh, but Hollywood really wasn’t joking.
As much as he hated what she was involved in, hated everything about her life, there was something about a man hitting a woman that was taboo in Hollywood’s world.
Of course, the fact that despite all his good intentions he couldn’t actually stop this feeling of attraction towards Niko had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Nothing at all.