Royal Mess (Devil's Knights 2nd Generation Book 3) Read online

  I turned and nodded to Apollo. “Bring the car to the back. Royal and I will meet you there.”

  Apollo nodded and swiftly exited the room.

  “You don’t have to leave,” Slider called. There was concern in his voice. That was about five minutes too late.

  “I’m sorry things happened the way they did, King. I’ll let you know when everything is taken care of.” I gave a stiff nod in the direction of the table and walked out.

  I may not be Leo Banachi, but years of watching Leo work had taught me one thing—never let yourself be disrespected. Even when that disrespect is masked with humor.

  “Marco!” King called.

  I didn’t turn around.

  I had nothing left to say.

  This was my mistake, and I was going to be the one to fix it.

  *

  Chapter Two

  Royal

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.” I rubbed the sleep from my eye and felt the start of a migraine beating in my head.

  “I didn’t ask.” Marco grabbed a suitcase from the corner of my room and tossed it on the foot of the bed. “I told you.” He moved to the dresser and pulled open the top drawer.

  “Stop,” I called. Did Marco really think I was dumb enough to go with him when he had just gotten my brother murdered? “Don’t touch my things.”

  Marco grabbed a ratty old tank top and curled his lip in disgust. “You’re right. I’ll get you new things.” He dropped the shirt in the drawer and slammed it shut.

  “You’re not buying me anything, and I’m not going anywhere with you.” I had fallen asleep and had been woken to Marco standing over my bed and shaking my shoulder. “Get out of here. I’ll call for Indiana and Frost.”

  My threat didn’t faze Marco at all.

  “Get up and put some shoes on.”

  I didn’t move from the bed. I wasn’t going anywhere with Marco. “Indiana!” I yelled.

  Marco turned and folded his arms over his chest. “They’re not going to help you.”

  “Says you,” I snapped. “You probably don’t understand what it means to have friends since you’re just a grumpy old man.”

  Marco laughed flatly. “Old, huh?” He shook his head and grabbed the suitcase from the bed. He tossed it on the floor and sat where it had been. “You’re going to listen very carefully to me, Royal, and then you’re going to get in the car Apollo is bringing around.”

  “Apollo is here?” I asked. Apollo had been with Marco when he had come to Destin to free me from the Meeks. While Marco had been somewhat cool and distant, Apollo had been more than nice. Hell, on the flight back to Rockton, he had told me about his wife and his two kids. Marco had sat in the seat opposite me and barely spoke a word.

  He had a mysterious air about him that had appealed to me in an odd way. At the time, I had wanted him to open up and talk to me like Apollo had. I had wanted to know what made Marco tick and what kind of man he was.

  I now knew the answer to both of those questions.

  Marco Banachi was a cold, ruthless man who didn’t care about anyone but himself.

  “Yes, Apollo is here working for me,” he growled.

  “I’m not going with you,” I repeated.

  “If you don’t come with me, you and your baby will be dead within the week.” He leaned toward me. “And that would be the best case scenario. Unless, of course, you want to take a trip to Mexico with your boyfriend.”

  My skin crawled at the mention of Rider even being my boyfriend. “What do you mean?”

  “Do you really think the death of Grit is going to be enough for Biff and Rider? They are coming for what they think belongs to them, and that is you.”

  “I don’t belong to anyone,” I hissed. Least of all Rider Meeks. That man was a mistake I wished I could go 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.”

&
nbsp; “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 for Royal.

  “Honey,” Meg called. “Let her go. She’ll be back.”

  Indiana whirled around in Frost’s arms. “How do you know that? He might get her killed just like he did with Grit.”

  “And she could just as easily end up dead here,” Meg reasoned. “All of us would trust Marco with our lives. You need to do the same with Royal.”

  “No,” Indiana cried. “You’re the crazy one. You should be coming up with some crazy plan to flatten the tires on the car and knock this mafia buffoon upside the head.”

  Meg laughed and stepped next to Indiana. “Trust me, I already have a plan, but my big MC buffoon won’t let it happen. Sometimes you have to lay your trust in someone else. Trust Marco.”

  “She’ll be back,” I promised softly. “Nothing will happen to her.”

  Indiana’s eyes connected with mine. “I put my trust in you before. You brought back Royal to me, but now, she’s in even more danger.”

  “Sometimes things aren’t as easy as they seem,” I replied, simply.

  “If anything happens to her or the baby, I will personally kill you,” Indiana growled.

  “Easy, tiger,” Frost chuckled. He gathered Indiana in his arms. “Marco will take good care of her.”

  Meg reached out and rested her hand on my shoulder. “Don’t be a stranger anymore, Marco. Not only your mom misses you around here.”

  I nodded and loosened my grip on Royal’s elbow. “She’ll be back when it’s safe,” I promised. I couldn’t say the same about myself. Maybe I had outgrown hanging out with the Devil’s Knights. It was time for me to really step up and show everyone just what kind of man I was.

  King nodded to me. “Call us if you need anything.”

  “I will.” I turned on my heel and pulled Royal along with me. I didn’t plan on needing help from anyone, but from the actions of today, I didn’t know if that was going to happen.

  I pushed through the back door, and Apollo stood there with the rear passenger door open.

  “You were quicker than I thought you would be,” Apollo laughed.

  I laughed flatly. “You and I both know the Devil’s Knights don’t give up easily. It’s a miracle I made it out without one of the girls throwing themselves on me.”

  “Meg must not have been around,” Apollo laughed.

  “She was actually the voice of reason this time.” I shook my head and motioned for Royal to get in the backseat. “It was her friend who wasn’t going to let me leave with her.”

  “That Meg is always a wildcard.” Apollo looked around. “Though I am going to keep my eyes peeled. That could have all been an act and she plans to ambush us yet.”

  Royal ducked into the car and scooted across the seat without a word.

  I clapped Apollo on the shoulder. “Always be alert, Pol.” Even if it was for crazy ol’ ladies who always thought they knew better than the men who were trying to keep them safe.

  I ducked into the backseat, and Apollo shut the door.

  Royal pressed herself against the door and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “To my estate.”

  “Estate?” she asked.

  Apollo got into the front seat and shifted the car into drive. He pulled around the building and through the lot filled with bikes and cars.

  “Yes,” I replied simply. She would see soon enough what I meant.

  “And where is this estate?”

  I turned to look at her. “About fifteen miles from here.”

  “You think Meeks really isn’t going to be able to get me there?” she asked.

  I leaned toward her. “I fully expect him to find us, lovely.”

  “Then why are you making me leave?”

  “Because that’s all part of the plan.”

  “It doesn’t sound like a very good plan to me,” she whispered.

  “I don’t know if I’ll take advice from the woman who decided she was going to become involved with a man who she knew wasn’t good.”

  “As if you have any room to talk,” she spat.

  I leaned back in my seat and unbuttoned my coat. “Don’t confuse a man with his business.”

  “As if you want me to believe that you’re some amazing man when you clock out from being a mafia boss.” She turned back to the window. “I was dumb to think I could change Rider Meeks. I’ll never be stupid enough to have any faith in another man again.”

  “Yet you’re in my car because you can’t handle your own business.” Apollo turned the car in the direction of the estate, glanced at me in the rearview mirror, and shook his head.

  Apollo had been married for ten years. His wife, Greer, was more than a handful who kept him on his toes. I’m sure he wanted me to just stop arguing.

  “Because you gave me no choice. Yes, I got myself into a mess with Meeks, but you made it even worse.”

  “And I admit I made a mistake handling Meeks.”

  “You got my brother killed,” she spat.

  “I don’t need your constant reminder of what happened, Royal. I tried everything I could to prevent it from happening. If I could go back and change it, I would.” It was still fresh and new. I expected the blame to be laid at my door. She had a couple of weeks of being upset and blaming me, but she wouldn’t be able to talk to me this way forever. I had walked out of church with the Knights because I wasn’t being respected.

  If I had to, once I was done fixing my mistake with Meeks, I would walk out on Royal, too.

  When I had first met Royal, there had been a pull to her. She had a light and air that called to my dark soul. Years of working for Leo Banachi changed a man. The light and innocence of the world had faded years ago for me. I had seen the bad in the world, and it had tainted me.

  Royal was something that normally didn’t get close to me.

  She laid her head on the headrest and sighed. “I’m too tired to argue with you, Marco. Please just take me to whatever prison you plan to and leave me alone.”

  “Prison?” I scoffed.

  “Will I be allowed to leave whenever I want?” she questioned.

  “In the house? Yes.”

  She laughed flatly. “But I can’t actually leave, Marco. You’ve just given the definition of a prison.”

  I looked out the window at the countryside. “I can’t let you go, Royal. You’ll be dead within an hour without me next to you.”

  She sighed. “If only you would have cared this much about my brother.”

  Another knife of guilt stabbed into me.

  I held my tongue. She was hurt. I was to be her punching bag for now.

  So be it.

  *

  Chapter Three

  Royal

  I was tired.

  I just wanted to sleep and stop being hurt and angry.

  My eyes were heavy when Apollo turned into an asphalt drive and navigated down a wooded driveway. I didn’t know Rockton at all, and for all I knew, we were anywhere right now.

  I should have known when Marco had called it an estate that wherever we were going was going to be impressive.

  We rounded a bend in the driveway, and I’m sure my jaw hit the floor.

  In front of us, a large—and I mean humungous—log cabin sat in a clearing with tall fences surrounding the perimeter. Apollo pulled up to the gate of the fence and rolled down his window. He waved a badge at the post with a scanner thing on it, and then, the gate slowly opened.

  “Princeton and Murphy just touched down, Marco. They should be here within the hour.” Apollo edged through the gate and drove up to looming house.

  “I suppose you could call this an estate,” I drawled. I could proba
bly live here and no one would ever be able to find me.

  “It’s a home.”

  It’s a home. As if this wasn’t impressive or anything.

  That just went to show that Marco and I lived very different lives. I had never seen a house this monstrous before, and it was just a home to him.

  Apollo pulled to the front door and parked. He stepped out of the car and opened my door.

  He held out his hand, and I placed mine in it. “Welcome to Wyndemere Estates, Royal.”

  Of course this place had a name.

  Marco helped himself out of the car on the other side and moved to the front door.

  Apollo motioned toward it. “I’ll show you around.”

  “Is tour guide part of your job, too?” I rounded the car and climbed the steps to the front door with Apollo next to me.

  “I do whatever Leo or Marco need from me,” Apollo replied simply.

  “A life of service, huh?”

  Apollo chuckled and moved to the door where Marco stood waiting. “There’s more to it than that, but you can say that to put it simply.”

  “Say what?” Marco asked.

  Apollo unlocked the front door and pushed it open. “Miss Royal was just wondering about my job duties.”

  Marco turned to me. “Taking interest in the mafia life?”

  “I like Apollo. I was just wondering more about his life.”

  “Maybe you could ask his wife about his life.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You mean Greer? And I’m assuming you’re trying to be a jerk by throwing her in my face as if I am interested in something more with Apollo.”

  Apollo cleared his throat. “How about we take this inside? A little bit warmer in there.”

  Marco growled. “After you,” he motioned.

  This man was infuriating. I flounced past him and into the house. I stood in the entry way and folded my arms over my chest. Marco walked in with Apollo after him.

  Apollo closed the door and turned to us. “I’m going to get the house up and running. I can give you a tour and show you to your room once I’m done.”

  “I can do it,” Marco interrupted. “You don’t need to worry about Royal, Apollo.”