Chapter Seven
Cash
I sat on my bike, staring at the glass-paneled door. King sat quietly beside me on his. He knew I didn’t want to be here.
But King ordered me here, anyway. He’d been doing that a lot.
A glimpse of Tabby running by the door made my heart sink. I missed the girls. I had gotten so close to them because of Rachel. Especially Tabby. She was named after Rachel. She didn’t talk for a long time. She was starting to now. Ever since Ryder married Ellie.
They didn’t come to the clubhouse anymore. That was my fault. I knew it. I owned it. But I couldn’t fucking let it go.
Ryder pulled Ellie into his arms. Still wearing his cut, and my heart sank even further. Guilt engulfed me. Rachel asked me to forgive him. To end the animosity between us. But I couldn’t do it.
I couldn’t even forgive her and I loved her.
As much as I could, anyway.
King swung his leg over his bike and tipped his head at the door.
“Let’s go.”
Fuck! I didn’t think he would make me go inside. I figured I would just wait here for him. I grumbled to myself as I climbed off my bike.
The slow walk to the door felt a bit like the walk of shame. I hadn’t been in the store in months. Not since Rachel died and I learned just how much she betrayed me.
Betrayed you? That’s a bit much, isn’t it?
No, it fucking wasn’t.
The bell above the door rang, announcing our arrival. I looked around for Chrissy until I remembered she had school each morning. I was disappointed she wasn’t here. The other three turned to look at me.
Tabby ran over, her arms stretched out, wanting me to pick her up, and I didn’t hesitate to lift her into my arms and hug her.
We could all learn a thing or two from children. They forgave easily because they loved unconditionally.
Ryder stood with his arms crossed. Silently watching me with his daughter. Ellie walked over and my chest tightened. But then she did something I never would have expected.
Throwing her arms around King, she murmured, “I’m sorry.”
“What the fuck are you sorry for?” he asked, pushing her back so he could look at her.
“For hitting you.”
He pulled her back, hugging her tight, and kissed the top of her head. “Don’t fucking apologize to me. I deserved it.”
“Yea, you fucking did.” Ryder eyed us both.
Ryder wouldn’t be so easily forgiving. Not after what King did. Maybe that was why he made me come. Maybe he thought having me here would make it easier for Ryder to forgive him.
Ellie turned to me. She took Tabby from my arms and set her on the floor, then pulled me close and hugged me too.
“We’ve missed you,” she whispered, and I tightened my arms around her.
Ellie was sweet. She burned hot in her anger, but it fizzled quick and she loved far greater than she hated.
“Can we talk?” King asked.
Ryder turned his back and walked toward his office.
“Go,” Ellie encouraged.
“If I’m not back in twenty minutes, tell my family I love them,” King said.
Ellie smirked and shook her head. “He won’t kill you. Just maim you a bit. You never wanted kids of your own, right?”
King chuckled at her nonsense and followed Ryder toward the back of the store. He looked back and raised an eyebrow.
I dropped my head and sighed. This wasn’t fucking about me. I didn’t need to be here.
When we entered his office, Ryder sat behind his desk. The ironic shift in the power dynamic caused my mouth to curl at the corners. King noticed it too, I was sure. He could have summoned him to the club. And based on the cut he still wore, he would have come.
But they both deserved this, I guessed. I might hate the man, but what King did was an asshole move.
“Blade told me what you said.” I looked at King, wondering what Blade had said to him. “About not being sorry.”
“I’m not,” he confirmed.
I shook my head at my president. He was an arrogant son of a bitch.
“You’re an asshole,” Ryder clipped.
“I am,” he said with a sigh. He didn’t sit, and I understood why. King might be willing to apologize, but he would still make sure you knew he was in charge. “I stand by what I said. She was never in any danger. If I thought for a second she was, I never would have given it to her.”
“You have any idea what the underworld would have done to get that drive?”
“Did you?” King countered, and Ryder blanched. “You had it in your house for weeks before Ellie gave it to me. All I did was send it back to your house.”
“Without fucking telling me!”
“What difference does it make? How was having it in your home any less dangerous when you knew it was there?”
“My daughter had it!” he yelled, standing from his chair.
“And no one but me knew it,” he shouted back.
I stood by the door, quiet. This wasn’t my shit.
“I would give my life for that little girl whether you are in the club or not,” King continued. “If someone had shown up here looking for it, I would have pulled you all in. I would have taken the thing and done something else with it. But there wasn’t a goddamn motherfucker who knew it was here.”
“Sypher knew.”
“Sypher was the asshole who gave it to Ellie. Have you given him any shit for it?”
That was when Ryder lost his steam. He dropped into his chair because he knew King was fucking right.
“I get why you’re mad. I won’t tell you not to be. But I would do it again. She was never in any danger. You want to get in the ring and kick my ass? I’ll make it happen. You want to leave the club? I’ll let you go. It would be a fucking mistake. But I won’t stop you.”
“Will it always be like this?”
“I fucking hope not.” Finally sitting down, King said, “I started this chapter because I was tired of the bullshit. The bullshit just never stops.”
We waited for the words to settle in the room, then King asked him, “What are you gonna do?”
“I should leave.” He looked up at me. “There’s already a strain on the clubhouse.”
King looked over his shoulder at where I stood, leaned against the door. “Cash is working through his shit,” he said, and I snorted.
“Rachel was my best friend. My sister. There was never anything even remotely romantic between us. We never even kissed to see if something could happen. Just the thought of it made us both sick.” He laughed.
I didn’t make a sound. Normally, a growl would rumble through my chest even if he mentioned her name. Things were different now.
“I’m not leaving the club. And I’ll come to church. But I don’t know how much my family will be there. The girls miss everyone, but I can’t keep subjecting them to the bullshit.”
“I get it.” King stood.
Fucking finally! I’d had it with this bullshit of them talking about me like I wasn’t standing in the fucking room.
“For what it’s worth, I wish I’d had another option. Sypher put us all in a difficult situation,” King said.
Outside, we climbed back on our bikes, and King pulled out his phone. He barked into it, “Meet me at the clubhouse in twenty minutes. And come alone.” He put his phone back into his cut and looked at me. “One more.”
I shook my head and followed him back to the clubhouse.
King and I looked up at the knock on his office door. “You summoned?”
“Have a seat. We need to discuss a few things.”
Sypher closed the door behind him and sat in the chair opposite King’s desk. I studied the cut he wore. We’d all heard the stories about his president, Reaper, and how he ran his club. Pulling it out of the shit his father and grandfather had been involved in.
The lies, the deceit. His supposed affair with a club whore and believing he had been killed. Only to come back to life and go on a killing spree.
“When you showed up at my clubhouse, I gave you some leeway because of your daughter and because of what you told me about Amber. But you put this club in a lot of shit that didn’t involve us,” King began.
He opened his mouth, but when King held up his hand, Sypher quickly closed it, respecting his authority. Again, I sat quietly, listening as my president handled club business.
I had mad respect for him. He’d learned from Steele, but he couldn’t be more different. Maybe that was Declan’s influence.
“Because of Mellie and her relationship with your daughter, I am letting you stay. But make no mistake, I am the fucking King. You and Pippen may have forgiven that son of a bitch. But if I see him in my town, I will fucking shoot him.”
He would do it, too. Declan and Matlock would work their magic and get him off, if he was even charged to begin with.
“I haven’t forgiven shit. But he is the only father Dante had growing up. Their relationship may be as dysfunctional as it comes, but he wants him in his life. He believes he can be redeemed,” Sypher explained.
“Not everyone is redeemable,” I added.
“I agree. But I love my husband and will do whatever I can to make him happy. If that includes Sin visiting us on the ranch, then so be it. I will make sure he stays on the ranch. But he’s family.” Sypher shrugged.
“Which brings me to Amber. She is his family. As well as Bane and Valhalla. She needs to be told.”
Sypher rubbed his hands over his face.
“I told Haizley to let me speak to you first. I want her safe. She means a lot to this club. She’s not just a club girl here. She’s our family. I want to know how much danger she’s still in.”
“I honestly don’t know. Morpheus doesn’t know anything about her. And with Jane gone, I’d like to say he never will. But there are other factors here. Another family that plays into it.”
“What other family?”
“I can’t say.” He shook his head, and I groaned. This was more shit that didn’t involve us. Except that it did, because Amber was one of us.
“Why does Morpheus pose a threat to her?”
“He doesn’t. Not to her. It’s everyone around her that isn’t safe. If he finds out about Amber and Dante, he will come for them. And fuck anyone who stands in his way.”
“What about Bane?”
Sypher smiled. “Bane can take care of himself.”
“Does he know? He took off after Sin took Pippen, so I assume he knows Pippen is his son. Does he know about Amber?”
“Val told him, I’m sure. I asked her to stay away for a bit.
I know she wants her kids. She wants a relationship with them.
For years, she had to watch Amber from a distance.
And she only recently found out about Dante.
But neither of them is ready. I’m not sure how long we can hold them off, though. ”
“Let’s try for as long as we can. I’ll talk to Haizley. I think it’s important Amber and Dante at least know about each other. They live in the same fucking town,” King said. “Also, you owe Ryder and Ellie an apology. You’re the one that involved them in this shit.”
“I know.” He looked at the floor. “Nothing went according to plan.”
“When the fuck does it ever?”
Sypher nodded. We talked for a few more minutes before he left to get back to his family.
“What do you think?” King asked.
“About what?”
“Everything.”
“I think this is just the fucking beginning. Morpheus isn’t far from here. If he finds out about those two and knows we kept shit from him, he’ll be pissed,” I offered.
King leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh. “We started this chapter to get out of this shit.”
“Brother, we’ll never be out of this shit.”