Page 1 of The Villain

Chapter One

Dare

He was here somewhere.He had to be.

I scrolled through the images on the screen. Names and faces becoming a blur of pixels in front of me.I would find him. I had to.We were too close to have him slip away again. I leaned closer for a better look, and the surveillance footage started to swim and then split in two.

Dammit.A deep exhale carried a rough sound of frustration from my chest as I pulled out my earbuds and pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes for what felt like the first time in hours. I was turning into a zombie—a creature consumed by the need for one thing: justice.

My hand strayed to the jagged scar on my left cheek, tracing the raised, mostly healed flesh. A potent reminder that there was work to be done. A criminal to catch.Ray Ivans.Up and down, my finger traced and retraced the path of the blade in a newfound tic. Ivans might not have wielded the knife thatsliced open my face two months ago, but he was the man responsible, and I was determined to find him.

I forced my eyes open and back to the glowing screen, fresh resolve steeping my focus.

Appear, dammit. Just for one fucking second so I can find you.

The knock on the door jarred my concentration, and my head snapped up. The office took a beat to sharpen. Shelves of security, surveillance, and computer equipment surrounded a small table in the center. This office was the center of our operations for both our motorcycle garage, the Sherwood Garage, and our motorcycle club, the Vigilantes.

“Yeah?” I called just as the door opened, my gaze narrowing on the intruder: Rhys Garrick—a friend and fellow Vigilante.“What do you need?”

If he didn’t need anything, then I needed him to leave; I had work to do, and so did he.

There were five of us total in the club. Four of us—myself, Rhys, Tynan, and Harm—were former Special Forces. Green Berets. FifthSpecial Forces Group, Third Battalion.Brothers by fire, we said, but in my case, the leader of our unit, Harm, was also my older brother by blood. The fifth member of our club was Rob—Robyn.My older adopted sister. She was the reason we existed in the first place: to get justice for what had been done to her and to those like her.

“I came to check on you.” Rhys shut the door firmly and flashed me his too-easy smile.

Dammit.

What we’d seen, what we’d lived through, and what we’d lost…they were the kinds of things that had both broken and bonded us forever. We understood each other in a way no one else could—a way forged from unbreakable trust and unimaginable tragedy. And it was exactly that perceptiveness I didn’t want to deal with right now.

“I’m fine. Working?—”

“You’ve been cooped up in here working for weeks now. I’ve never seen you like this, man. Let me—let Ty—let someonetake over for a little,” he drawled, approaching the desk.

I stilled and bit into my tongue, the taste of blood keeping me from snapping back.And do what instead?

I’d finished my last engine rebuild early for a client’s vintage Harley—no surprise there since I’d spent my days and nights in the garage working on it, and I wasn’t scheduled to start another bike until next month. If I didn’t focus on this, I knew exactly where my thoughts would go: to him and Harm.How they both had someone to go home to.

Fuck.

For some reason, I thought things would stay forever the way they were. Our unit, together, fixing bikes and seeking justice. It had been that way for so long. But then Harm found Daria, and Rhys fell for Merritt…and it wasn’t jealousy that hit me, it was reality.

After everything we’d been through, they’d found happiness. Love.The one thing I’d never allow myself to have.So, to take a break orlet someone else take overmeant having to face the truth: instead of a life here with the only people who knew me, I could end up facing forever alone.

“I’m handling it.”

“Dare, if this is about me and Merritt?—”

“It’s not.”

“No?” Rhys moved closer, his presence like a pin against the thin skin of a stretched balloon.

I glared at him, words balling on my tongue like a balloon inflating to the point of rupture. Carefully, I let the breath hiss out.

“I’m happy for you, Rhys. Honest to God,” I rasped, and it was the fucking truth. I was happy for him and Merritt. It wasn’t their fucking fault their happiness reminded me of my failure.

“But you wanted to be happy, too,” Rhys said, seeing more than I wanted him to see.

It wasn’t their fault the woman I’d fallen for betrayed me—betrayed us.Love had been a costly mistake for me, one whose price I still continued to pay.And who the hell could blame me for not wanting to sit around and dwell on how my attempt at happiness had almost cost us all our lives?

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