Chapter Ten
Cash
Morning rides weren’t something we normally did. But when I left the clubhouse this morning, everyone that was there decided it was a good fucking time to start.
I had planned on riding up the mountain. I’d been up there every day this week at different times, looking for Rose. Only she wasn’t there.
I had a feeling she was avoiding me.
I didn’t miss the flare of her pupils when I threatened to throw her on the ground and rip her clothes from her body. It wasn’t fear that had her whiskey-colored eyes darkening to milk chocolate.
It was fucking lust.
Feeling her blade against my dick made me hard, and I wondered if she’d noticed. The way she caught me unaware was fucking hot. The confidence in her voice told me she would have cut my dick off and not thought twice about it.
She reminded me a little of Rachel. A tiny little ballbuster who didn’t take shit from anyone.
As I climbed from my bike, King reminded me, “Sypher and Pippen are coming by today so Haizley can talk to Pippen and Amber.”
I nodded, letting him know I remembered.
“I want you to sit in.”
My eyes snapped to his. “Why?”
“Amber needs people there for her. If Haizley would let me, I’d have the whole damn club there to support her.”
He was right. Haizley was great, but she was still new to the club. Sypher and Pippen, well, they weren’t in the Silver Shadows. They had their own clubs. Amber needed someone to be there strictly for her. Someone she was comfortable with.
“Ok.”
“Let’s go. They should be here soon.”
We walked into church and waited for the others to arrive. Sypher and Pippen came in, and I knew Gunner’s sister would have their daughter Dani. She had become a mom to Dani when Sypher and Pippen left her in Mellie’s care while they fucked off to New York.
“What is there to talk about?” Pippen asked as they sat down.
Sypher reached over and took his hand. “Dante, please just relax. Everything is fine.”
“It doesn’t feel fine,” he grumbled and then looked at King. “I’m sorry about what Sin did. I know he’s an asshole, but he wouldn’t hurt Grace just because.”
“This isn’t about that,” King tried to reassure the man, but he wasn’t having it.
When Haizley and Amber entered church, King and I stood. “Amber, come sit here.” He motioned to the seat between us.
“What’s going on?” she asked. Her voice was anxious as she sat.
“I’ve asked you all here because there is something we need to discuss,” Haizley began. “It’s been a few weeks since everything happened, and I wanted to share some information with both Amber and Dante.”
The two looked at each other. Pippen’s eyes widened, and he turned to Sypher. “Is she?” Sypher nodded but didn’t say anything.
“Am I what?” Amber asked, looking at King, then Haizley before settling back on Pippen.
“Amber, what do you know about your birth?”
She glared at King. “What does any of this have to do with my birth?” She stood, and I followed.
“Sweetheart, just listen.” My hand on her shoulder was meant to ease her racing thoughts, but she shrugged me off.
“What the fuck is going on?”
“Amber, there is no easy way to say this—”
“I’m your brother,” Pippen blurted, interrupting Haizley.
“What?” Amber’s eyes darted around the room. “I don’t have a brother.”
“You do. Amber, Harold Garrison was not your father.”
Amber froze. Her body stiffened, and the color drained from her face. Turning first to me and then King, she dropped into her chair, her hands reaching out to us both. She squeezed my hand, and I placed my other hand over hers.
“He wasn’t?” she whispered. “He wasn’t my father?”
“No, Amber.” She turned at King’s voice. The tears that had formed slipped out.
“Who was he?” she asked Haizley.
I looked across the table. Pippen stared at Amber. His eyes were glassy. He looked like he was ready to leap across the table. Only Sypher held him back.
“You were born in a place called the Trick Pony. In Miami, Florida. A woman by the name of Amelia Scott escaped with you. Her husband ran the Trick Pony,” Haizley explained.
“You were never supposed to be there, Amber,” Sypher spoke. “Amelia knew that and got you out with two other children.”
Amber looked at Pippen. “Were you one of...?” Her voice trailed off, and Pippen shook his head. “No. Crispin Sinclair rescued me. I never knew I had a sister until a few weeks ago.”
“We don’t know how you ended up with Harold. Near as we can tell, Amelia trusted the wrong person, and sadly, she is the only person who could tell us that but she passed away,” Haizley told her.
I studied Amber’s face. Her eyes darted around like a scared rabbit. Moving my chair closer, I slipped my arm around her. “You ok, so far?”
“I-I’m not sure.” Amber looked at Sypher. “You knew?”
He swallowed thickly and nodded. “I knew who you were when Valhalla took you from the hospital in Louisiana. I didn’t know you had a brother, or that it was Dante until just before I went to New York to kill Jane.”
“Jane.” Amber turned to Pippen. “She’s dead?”
When he nodded, she turned to King. “Is that who I was hiding from?”
“Yea.”
“So, I’ve been free for weeks but no one told me?”
“Amber, we wanted to make sure you were truly safe before we told you the truth.”
She glared at Haizley. “How long have you known? I told you things. Things you could have made better.”
“Amber, I only found out just before Danny and Dante came to the clubhouse.” She looked at Sypher, and he nodded. “Danny told me as part of his therapy. I wasn’t able to tell you until he gave me permission.”
“Why now?” she asked.
“Sypher has been monitoring the dark web for any mention of you. There hasn’t been anything. We’re confident Jane didn’t tell anyone else who you were,” King explained.
“What’s so special about me?” she asked.
I wondered how much they were willing to tell her. We all looked at Sypher.
“I can’t tell you, yet. There are other people, that if they knew about you would come for you.”
“So, I am still in danger.” She slumped against me, and I held her tighter.
“No. You are not in danger. But it is best for now that they don’t know who or where you are,” Sypher explained.
“Can I leave?”
King sat up straighter and leaned toward Amber. “You want to leave?”
She bit her lip and shook her head. “No, I mean, can I leave the clubhouse? Can I go back to my regular hair color? Stop wearing these stupid contacts that I hate? Can I be Bethany Garrison again? Can I stop hiding?”
“Do you want to be Bethany Garrison again?” Haizley asked.
Amber focused on the ceiling, her eyes blinking rapidly. “No. She was a victim. Amber Marks is the survivor,” she said as a tear slipped down her cheek. She swiped it away, and added, “But I want to feel like me again.”
“You don’t have to hide anymore. You can move around town, and you can leave if you want to,” Haizley said.
“No,” King barked. “She’s not leaving.”
“King,” Haizley started.
“No.” He turned to Amber. “You aren’t leaving. Your family is here.” Amber looked at Pippen. “I don’t mean him, Amber. I mean the club. We’re your family. We always will be.”
She threw her arms around King and cried. When she pulled back, she asked Pippen, “Are you safe?”
“I am. Jane never really wanted me. She wanted to hurt Sin.”
“Why did she want me and not you?” Amber asked.
“Jane ran an organization called The Society . It was run solely by women. You, our daughter, and one other woman were the last remaining females in the bloodline. Dani was too young. Jane wanted you to take over from her,” Sypher explained.
“What about the other woman?” Amber asked.
“She is very well protected. Jane already tried to get to her and failed,” Sypher said.
“Does that mean she is related to us?” Amber asked. I smiled at the way she quickly accepted Pippen as her family. She deserved to have a family.
“Yes,” Sypher answered.
“How?” Pippen asked.
“I can’t tell you that right now,” he said, looking at Pippen. He was keeping secrets. He told me and King he would do anything to keep his husband happy, but secrets would tear them apart if he wasn’t careful.
“How are you feeling, Amber?” Haizley asked, and we all waited on bated breath for her answer.
“This is a lot.” She looked at Pippen again. “I have a brother. Are you older or younger?”
“Younger,” he said with a smile. “By ten minutes.”
“Twins?” she asked, surprised. “We’re twins?”
“Wait, that means Dani...”
“Is your niece,” Pippen supplied.
Amber smiled at that. “I love that little girl.”
“She loves you, too,” Pippen said. He stood from his chair and cautiously walked around the table. I slid back out of the way, knowing what he wanted. “Can I hug you?” he asked quietly.
Amber flew from her chair into Pippen’s arms. They held each other tight, and I felt something stir inside my chest. For the first time, I wondered about my birth parents.
Could I have a sibling out there I didn’t know about? It made me want to call my mom and ask her what she knew. But was I prepared for that information?
“Wait,” Amber said, pulling away from Pippen. “What about our parents? Who are they? Are they alive? Where are they?”
The rapid-fire questions made us all stiffen. Everyone in the room, other than Amber and Pippen, knew the answers.
“That is something we can’t share with you yet,” Sypher announced.
“I’m sorry. But this affects the lives of other people and until that’s resolved, it’s better this way.
I know you both want to know. What I can tell you is, your parents love you both very much and would do anything to keep you safe.
Including staying away for the time being. ”
“That doesn’t make sense. If Jane is dead, and I am the only one who can run the Society, then won’t it just fall apart?” Amber asked.
I watched Sypher as he tried to navigate the question. He wouldn’t tell us who else would be affected by the news of Amber and Pippen. But something told me the Society had nothing to do with it.
“Amber,” Pippen voiced. “I’d like to get to know my big sister.”
“Of course.” Amber smiled. “Maybe we could go to the diner? I haven’t been out in so long.” Her parents quickly forgotten, replaced by the excitement of getting to know her brother.
“I’d like that,” Pippen murmured.
“I want a prospect following you,” King commanded, and Amber groaned. “The old ladies have one when they leave. I told you. You’re family. We take care of our family.”
Amber walked over and hugged King, before turning and hugging me too. “Thank you both for being here for this. I don’t think I could have done it without you.”
“Like King said, we’re family.” I kissed the top of her head and followed them out to the main room. “Archie, Amber is going out. You’re her shadow.”
“You got it!”
“Well, that went better than I expected,” Haizley said from behind me.
“What did you expect?” I asked.
“A lot more anger.”
“Amber doesn’t have it in her to hate someone she loves. You’ve done a lot for her. And you aren’t to blame for her circumstances.”
“I know. I just wish I could have told her everything right away.”
“Hey. You’re good at what you do.”
Haizley eyed me for a moment before asking, “How are you doing?”
“I’m good.”
I knew she didn’t believe me. She looked around the room, then asked, “Will I see you this week?”
I inhaled deeply, stalling before I blew out the breath. “I’m trying.” It was the only answer I had.
“That’s enough for me,” she said, patting my arm.
I left the clubhouse. My solo ride got interrupted this morning. If I could sneak away, I could take it now. And I knew exactly where I wanted to go.
I rode up the path and parked my bike at the top.
She was here. I refused to examine the feeling that washed over me when I saw her bike.
I found her lying on the grass, her eyes closed. I knew she was awake when I stood over her head, blocking the sun, and she opened her eyes.
“Where the fuck have you been?”