Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 1-3) ✓

76 | His Homeboy

♞

MARCUS STARES AT THE food that's on his plate with a blank expression on his face. He then looks up, and the long table fit for a dozen people was completely empty. There were delicious dishes in front of him too, but no one was there to eat with him, making the food taste completely bland.

     "Where's your young master?" Marcus asks as he looks at the side where three maids were watching him eat.

     The maids got startled, but the one in the middle immediately takes a step forward and answers, "He has not arrived yet, sir Marcus."

     Marcus doesn't say anything anymore and looks down on his injured hand. He clenches his fist, and the pain immediately escalates in his entire body, but Marcus's expression was completely blank.

     Barely even touching his food, Marcus pushes his plate away and says, "I'm done eating."

     He was about to stand when someone suddenly arrives at the dining room, instantly making the maids bow to him. Marcus looks at the entrance and was surprised to see his little brother Max still wearing his white uniform while Étienne followed behind him.

     "Master Leigh, we thought you would be eating outside. Let us call the chef so we can serve you your dinner," one of the maids says. She was about to head to the kitchen to talk to the chef, but then Max stops her.

     "There's enough food here," Max says as he removes his cap and hands it to his butler before taking a seat in front of Marcus.

     The maid nods her head in understanding while the others immediately set the table for him. While they were doing so, Marcus doesn't say anything and stands from his seat instead so he could take his leave. But before he could even do so, Max immediately says, "Sit."

     Marcus looks at Max with an irritated expression, but Max doesn't look back at him. He didn't want to start anything, so he sat back down like he was a child that just got scolded by his mother.

     The atmosphere between them becomes awkward, but then Marcus looks back at Max with a serious expression and asks, "Where have you been?"

     Max stares at the food in front of him and grabs a slice of fish. As another butler arrives and pours cold water in his glass, Max answers his brother's question for him. "I had to deal with a couple of things in preparation for what will happen tonight."

NOTE: For clarification, Max's seafood allergies fall in the shellfish allergies category (shrimp, crabs, lobsters etc.) Which is why he can eat fish. I actually added that fact because I have seafood allergies myself (I wanted him to suffer too lol) but I'm not allergic to fish (tuna, mackerel etc.). Eating fish was always normal to me so I never explained it better for Max's situation. My bad!

     "Did Cj make a deal with you?"

     Without looking back at him, Max takes a bite of the fish and answers, "Yes, like how you guys expected."

     "What deal did he give you?" Marcus asks next.

     "You'll see," Max tells him before taking a sip of water.

    Marcus continues to stare at him, but Max didn't even exert any effort to look at him or ask him anything about what happened during the battle, so Marcus stands from his seat again and says, "Enjoy your meal then."

    Étienne watches in silence as Marcus makes his way towards the exit. But before Marcus could even take his leave, Max suddenly tells him, "Have you been strangling your Roses again? Or maybe you've been doing them to Jacks now."