Royal Mess - Winter Travers Page 0,4

back and fix. I never would have told him I was pregnant and would have just run up here to Rockton with Indiana. None of this would be happening if I had just done that. But no, naïve and stupid Royal thought she could be the woman to change Rider Meeks.

I was a damn fool.

“I don’t belong to them.”

Marco shook his head. “And you think they care about what you think? To them, you’re just a payday. You’re coming with me. The Devil’s Knights have enough to worry about without getting their noses anymore into this.”

“I’m not leaving Indiana. She’s all I have left in this world besides my baby.” I laid a hand on my stomach. “No one is taking either of them away from me.”

“You stay here, and Meeks finds you. You really think he won’t hurt and kill anyone who gets in his way? He’ll take out this whole club and just chalk it up to another body in the ground that got in his way.”

“As if he wouldn’t do the same to you and Apollo.”

A dark, chilling calm settled over the room. “No one fucks with the Banachis, lovely. You either get up, put your shoes on, and walk out of this club on your own, or I take matters into my own hands.”

“You’re not touching me.”

Marco stood and stepped back from the bad. “Then I suggest you get up and put your shoes on.”

There was a firmness in his voice that scared me. He wasn’t pretending. He wasn’t messing around.

“I don’t understand why I need to go with you. Just fix this mess you made and leave me out of it.”

He stepped forward and leaned into my space. “But therein lies the problem, Royal. You are in the center of the mess. You stay here and Indiana will be dead, right next to Grit. That guilt will lie solely on your doorstep, not mine.”

“You admit you’re the one to blame for my brother’s death,” I spat.

“I never deny something that belongs to me. I will forever have the death of your brother on my hands. I will not have yours on my hands. Get. Up.” His words fell heavily and slammed right into my chest. “Now.”

“Step back,” I whispered.

Marco moved back.

I swung my legs from the bed and stood. I shoved my feet into my slip-on shoes, and my eyes connected with Marco’s. He wasn’t going to have my blood on his hands, well, I wasn’t going to have Indiana’s or anyone else in the club’s blood on my hands, either. “Let’s go.”

*

Marco

“Royal!”

I grabbed Royal’s elbow and wheeled her forward to the car.

“You don’t have to do this, Marco,” King called.

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to leave without some resistance from King and the rest of the club.

“There isn’t any other choice,” I called.

“No!” A woman I didn’t know grabbed onto Royal and yanked her backward.

“Stop!” I thundered. She had almost pulled Royal to the ground and hurt her.

The woman released Royal and sobbed. “I’m sorry,” she gasped. “You can’t take her.”

Indiana. Now that I looked at her, I remembered her from the initial meet with the Knights when they had asked for my help with Royal and the Meeks. “I can, and I will.”

“I’ll be okay, Indiana,” Royal whispered. “I need to go.”

Indiana grabbed Royal’s hand. “No, you don’t,” she insisted. “Frost and the rest of the Knights can fix this. You don’t have to go anywhere.”

Royal shook her head sadly. “If I stay, you could get hurt. I can’t risk that. I’ve already put enough people in danger with my decisions. In the end, this is all my fault.”

“None of this is your fault,” Indiana gasped. “You didn’t know this would happen.” Indiana glared at me. “He is the one to blame for Grit dying.”

I didn’t deny it. I had already said over and over that Grit’s blood was on my hands. I hadn’t played the game well enough. I should have waited to strike against Meeks until I knew everyone was safe and not within his grasp.

“But I’m the reason why he did what he did.” Royal dropped Indiana’s hand. “You’re safe here, Indiana. I need to go with Marco.”

“You don’t!” Indiana shouted. “I just got you back,” she cried.

Frost moved in behind Indiana and wrapped his arms around her. She struggled in his hold, but she wasn’t strong enough to break away. “Shh, Indiana. You gotta let her go, babe.”

“Why? None of this makes sense!” Indiana reached wildly