Page 14 of Slayin Villain (Royal Bastards MC: Nashville, TN #11)
Ember
I passed Rachel on the dirt road leading out, her taillights red against the smoke curling from the bonfires. She didn’t look at me. Didn't slow down. Just kept driving like the devil was at her heels.
My stomach twisted as I rolled up to Royal Road, the night already on fire.
Bonfires cracked, motorcycles rumbled, women laughed and howled and danced half-dressed in leather and lace like the world was ending and we’d all decided to go out dirty.
I didn’t know if I belonged here. Not really.
But I’d dressed like I did.
Fitted red dress, leather jacket, boots tall enough to kick someone’s regrets in, and a smear of red across my lips that I didn’t even try to fix when it smudged from nerves.
“You alone?” Cousin asked at the gate.
I nodded. “Ain’t we all?”
He let me through.
The burn barrel was ringed with laughter and liquor. Eve, Jassica, Cece, Mary, Connie, every Ol’ Lady in the chapter who mattered, plus Leo and Memphis who was dozing in a camping chair, baby monitor resting on her thigh like a damn pistol.
Eve looked up from her seat on a hay bale, heels kicked off, glitter clinging to her collarbone like stardust.
“Look what the moon dragged in,” she said, patting the spot beside her.
I slid in without a word as Jassica pulled a flask from her jacket and passed it around.
I refused it right off. Automatically.
“You good?” Eve asked, eyes sharper than her smile.
“You missed Rachel,” Cece said, staring off into nothing. She’d not seen me wave off a drink.
“I know.”
I stared into the fire for a beat too long. Then said it.
“I’m pregnant.”
Silence hit like a punch. Then Jassica let out a low whistle.
“Damn, girl. You sure?”
“Two tests,” I said. “One pink line shy of a panic attack.”
Eve blinked slowly. “Does he know?”
“Which one?” I muttered, too tired to flinch.
Connie actually choked on her drink. Cece just sighed and leaned back like this was the most predictable drama she’d heard all week.
“I haven’t told Villain yet,” I admitted. “Rome either.”
Mary crossed her arms. “What’re you gonna do?”
“I don’t know.” My voice cracked. “I came here hoping the fire would burn something clear into me.”
“Sometimes you don’t get clarity, sugar,” Eve said, soft now. “Sometimes you just get grit. And you hold on until the storm passes.”
“I don’t wanna do this alone.”
“You ain’t,” Eve said, slinging an arm around me. “Not anymore.”
Jassica raised her flask. “To outlaw babies, biker daddies, and women who ride out the storm.”
We all drank to that.
Except me.
Eve didn’t either. She was showing, glowing, and the sight of her gave me hope.
“No matter whose name goes on that birth certificate, this kid was gonna have a village of badass women who don’t flinch,” Memphis announced.
The next night, I was tuning my fiddle on the back porch of Sassy’s Slop House when the screen door slammed behind me.
"Don’t lie to me again, Ember."
I froze. My fingers stilled on the strings, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Rome’s voice cut sharper than my bow ever had.
I turned slowly. He looked rough, shadowed jaw, smudged eyeliner from last night still clinging like regret, black t-shirt damp with sweat.
I should’ve known he’d find out.
"You’re gonna have to be more specific, Rome. I lie a lot," I said, playing it cool, but my throat was dry as ash.
He took a step closer, boots crunching gravel. “You’re pregnant.”
"News travels fast," I muttered.
"Tell me it ain't mine."
I couldn’t. My tongue went useless behind my teeth.
His nostrils flared. “Ember. Tell me.”
"I don’t know, okay?" My voice broke before I could stop it. "I don’t fucking know."
Rome’s jaw clenched so tight, I thought it might snap. He raked a hand through his messy dark curls and let out a sound that was more growl than sigh.
"How many times was it with him?" he asked, voice deadly.
I crossed my arms. "Does it matter?"
"It matters to me!" he roared. “Because I was still waiting on you. You were still mine.”
"No, Rome, I wasn’t." I stepped toward him, pissed off now. “You’re the one who started pulling away, remember? You’re the one who got too busy playing prospect and banging sweetbutts like I wouldn’t notice.”
“I did what I had to do for the patch,” he snapped.
I threw up my hands. “And I did what I had to do to feel something again. Don’t pretend you didn’t check out first.”
His eyes locked on mine, pure fire. But then they softened just enough to make my gut twist.
“If it’s mine…” he said, voice low, like he didn’t want to hope but couldn’t help it. “We leave. Together. We don’t have to stay wrapped up in this sick-ass mess. You know what this is with Villain. It ain’t real.”
“It feels real.”
That admission came out quieter than I intended.
Rome’s mouth hardened. “You gonna tell him?”
I hesitated too long.
He shook his head like I’d just stabbed him. “Jesus, Ember. You’re really gonna choose him over me.”
“No,” I whispered. “I haven’t chosen anyone yet.”
He stepped in close. Too close. “Then choose now.”
His hand cupped my cheek, rough and calloused. His lips hovered a breath from mine. He still smelled like my sheets, like the whiskey he used to drink from my collarbone. Part of me leaned in, muscle memory, bad habits.
“You know he won’t love you,” he said into my skin. “He doesn’t do love. You’re just a toy in his war with Rachel. A pawn.”
I pulled back. “And what am I to you?”
“You’re mine,” he growled.
“No, I’m not.” My voice shook. “Not anymore.”
I stepped back into the porch light, away from him, away from the past. My chest rose and fell fast as hell, heart pounding like I’d run a damn marathon.
“I need time,” I said.
“You don’t have time,” Rome shot back. “Tick tock, baby girl. Sooner or later, that bump’s gonna show.”
He stormed off before I could say another word.
I sank down onto the porch steps, my fiddle forgotten behind me, my whole body vibrating, not from music, not from rage, but from fear.
I touched my stomach.
Two men. One child. Zero clue what the hell I was doing.
And the worst part?
I’d never felt more alone.