Page 20 of Slayin Villain (Royal Bastards MC: Nashville, TN #11)

Villain

By the end of the week, they released me from the hospital with more warnings than stitches.

Rest. Hydrate. Avoid stress.

Yeah. Fuckin’ right.

I didn’t go Royal Road.

Didn’t go to Ember’s either.

Rachel had walked out and left my heart in her wake, and Ember… she just stared at me like I was the villain in her story now, too. I couldn’t even argue. The damn name stuck for a reason.

So, I rode.

Middle of the night, headlight cutting through the dark like a blade. The roar of my bike was the only thing keeping me tethered to this world. It felt like my sins clung to my cut tighter than the patches. Pregnant women. A dying club reborn in blood. A brotherhood on the brink.

I pointed my front wheel toward Knoxville. Toward him.

Rocky.

My brother.

Home.

It’d been months since I’d last seen him. Not because we were on bad terms, but because I couldn’t face him. Couldn’t tell him why I really left. Why I went nomad. Why I ended up in Nashville with a target on my back and a demon breathing down my neck.

Royal Road sparkled like sin. Knox's chapter burned like truth. And I was caught in the middle.

I pulled into his lot just as the sun broke the horizon, gold cutting through mist. The Wild Dog was quiet, save for a few patched bastards hosing down blood off the gravel. I recognized the look. Post-battle calm. We’d just lived through it ourselves.

Rocky opened the clubhouse door before I even knocked.

“Thought I smelled shit,” he said with a smirk.

“Missed you too, brother.”

He pulled me in for a rough hug, and just like that, the mask I’d been holding up cracked.

He ushered me inside, down the hall, into Knox’s office. Shut the door. Poured me a drink without asking. I took it.

I didn’t bullshit. Didn’t sugarcoat.

“I fucked up.”

Rocky sat across from me, arms crossed, tattoos of wolves coiled on his forearms. “Define fucked up.”

I downed the whiskey, throat burning.

“Rachel’s pregnant.”

His brow twitched. “Okay…”

“And so is another girl, Ember.”

He didn’t say anything for a long second. Then, “Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“You know who the father is?”

I shook my head. “Rachel’s is mine. No doubt. Ember’s…” I exhaled through my teeth. “Could be Rome’s.”

“Prospect, right?”

My brother had the memory of a fox. I nodded. “The one she used to fuck before she started using me to make him jealous.”

Rocky snorted. “And now you caught feelings.”

“I don’t know what the fuck I feel.”

“You feel like dying, that’s why you’re here. Why you were called home.”

I looked up at him. “I knocked up another man’s daughter. Not just a man, if you know what I mean. That man? He’s got a vendetta the size of hell, and he doesn’t even know she lost the first baby.”

“The first?”

“And the second.”

Rocky’s expression darkened. “That’s what this is about?”

I nodded. “It was years ago. She came to me. We were young, stupid. She didn’t tell me about the baby until it was gone. And when her old man found out…”

“You ran.”

“Fast. He’s been hunting for me ever since. Doesn’t know it was me, but if he finds out…” I trailed off, throat tight. “That’s why I left you. Why I left Knoxville. Why I went nomad. To keep y’all safe.”

“You could’ve told me.”

“I couldn’t bring that heat to Knoxville. And now with Knox, Eliza and the kids. Not with you finally finding peace with Birdie.”

Rocky leaned forward. “Villain, you think I haven’t made my share of enemies?”

“This one’s different. He don’t want a shootout. He wants slow revenge. The kind that makes you bleed from the inside out.”

I clenched my fists.

“And now, I got two women. Both carrying maybe-bastards. And I don’t know who the hell I am anymore.”

Rocky stared at me for a long time, then said, “You’re a brother who’s drowning. But you don’t have to do it alone.”

I looked down.

“You came all this way to confess?” he asked.

“No. I came to remember who the fuck I used to be.”

Rocky stood, walked around the desk, and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Then ride back and stop running. Make your choice. Face your mess. Take a mate.”

I nodded, jaw tight. “That’s the plan.”

“Good.” He smirked. “Because if you keep knocking women up like this, we’re gonna need a new clubhouse daycare.”

I barked out a laugh. First real one in weeks.

“But what if…” I started.

“The same way you’ve been keeping your secret all this time.”

I nodded. I knew some secrets would have to stay hidden. “I’m tired of the lies.”

“You can always come home.”

Shaking my head, I wouldn’t put my brother in danger. “I’m safe where I am. Someday…”

Rocky clasped my shoulder. “Yes, someday, our kin will run wild. Together.”

By the time I got back to Nashville, dusk had bled into the sky. I parked my Harley. My ribs still ached from the fight. My head from the guilt. But something inside me had settled.

Not peace. Not yet.

But maybe the start of one.

Tomorrow, I’d tell Rachel the truth. The truth I could tell her.

Tomorrow, I’d look Ember in the eye and give her the respect she deserved.

And maybe, I’d figure out who the hell I wanted to be.