“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.”