Chapter Thirteen
Cash
We settled into a routine at the clubhouse. Rose met with Torment every day until things got tough, and then she took a day off to regroup. I met with Haizley once a week.
Torment said she was making great progress, but she was still having nightmares almost daily. She swore she didn’t remember them when she woke up, and I wanted to believe her. I didn’t want to think about her keeping her pain from me.
I understood there were things about her I still didn’t know. And I was trying to be patient. I just hated seeing her hurt and scared. She no longer panicked when the old ladies surrounded her.
But she was still wary of Maureen’s dog, who went to her immediately every time Maureen brought him to the clubhouse.
“I don’t understand his fascination with me.”
“He knows you’re hurting, and he wants to protect you.”
“He’s a dog,” she cried.
I laughed at her frustration. “Just pet the damn thing. He won’t leave you alone until he knows you’re okay.”
“He’s scary.”
“Wait until you meet his brother.”
Her head snapped up, and she looked at me with that panic I was so familiar with that it hurt. “There’s another one?”
“Aspen has Tucker’s brother. His name is Diesel.”
“Why? Why do people need dogs that look like they escaped from the bowels of Hell?”
I sat on the stool and pulled her between my legs, holding her tight to me. “If they were dangerous, King wouldn’t let them in the clubhouse. Especially around the kids.”
“Well, maybe King isn’t as smart as he thinks he is.”
“I heard that.” I looked over Rose’s shoulder and there was my president. “Need to talk to you, VP.”
I dropped my head to Rose’s shoulder. I didn’t want to leave her. Hell, I wanted to put her in my fucking pocket and carry her with me everywhere.
“Go; duty calls.” She wiggled away and strutted over to the couches, exaggerating the swing of her ass. She knew what she was doing to me. The grin she flashed at me over her shoulder ensured she would pay for her sass later.
I followed King down to his office, where he poured a drink and set it on the edge of the desk, then poured another for himself.
“This doesn’t bode well,” I said, taking a sip of the whiskey.
“Got a call from Carson.” I waited for him to elaborate. We didn’t deal with Carson much. He was the oldest of the Powell siblings. He ran The Hardware Store in town so he could look after his grandfather.
“He had a couple of out-of-towners in asking about the club.”
“Death Dogs?”
“Said they weren’t wearing a cut. But they’d be fucking stupid to come into town wearing one.”
“Something tells me they aren’t that smart either,” I said. “We need to talk to Aspen.”
“Yea. I’ve been avoiding it. I don’t want to put her through more than she’s already been through.”
“Having Haizley there is a good idea. Rose should be there too.”
“Why?”
“Because the Nyght Nymphs are the ones that got her out. She might have information we can use.”
I sat still under the watchful eye of my president. I knew what he was thinking. And I knew what he was about to say. When he opened his mouth, I held up my hand and cut him off.
“I am not asking, nor do I want her involved in club shit on a regular basis. But my old lady or not, she has knowledge of the situation. And if she wasn’t involved with me, you wouldn’t think twice about using her for information.”
“But she is involved with you.”
“And she’ll want to help.” There was no question that Rose would want to help Aspen.
“This won’t become a habit,” King warned.
“What the fuck is your problem? Do you have an issue with Rose being my old lady?”
“I didn’t vote against you, did I? But she has her own club.”
“So does Sypher, and you don’t seem to have an issue with him being in church.”
“It’s not the same thing.”
He wouldn’t meet my eyes and suddenly I understood what the problem was. “You misogynistic son of a bitch.”
“Cash.”
“Fuck you, King.” I stood, slamming my glass in his desk, and moved to the door.
“It’s not because she’s a woman,” he said, standing behind his desk.
“Then what the fuck is it?” I waited for him to come up with an excuse. Something that made sense other than the fact she was a woman. “That’s what I thought.” The knob twisted in my hand and I expected it to break with the force of my grip.
“I don’t trust her.”
I spun around and glared at my oldest friend. “Say that again? ’Cause I know I didn’t hear that right.”
“Please sit down.”
“If you have something to say, fucking say it.” My hand tightened on the knob. It was the only thing grounding me in this moment. I wanted to jump over that fucking desk and knock my president’s teeth out.
“She’s young.”
“King—”
“Just fucking listen.” He sat back in his seat and motioned to the one I had left. Fuck him. I stayed where I was, one hand on the doorknob and one foot out the door, metaphorically, of course.
“She just turned twenty-one. She’s Mimic’s twin sister. A brother who lied to us to get into the club.”
“A brother you allowed into the club, despite knowing he was lying to us,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, well, if I’d known who his father was, I would have made a different choice. The fact is, she has ties to two clubs that are notorious for being involved in shit. Two fucking clubs that have brought shit to our front door already.”
My hand loosened on the knob, but I still didn’t return to my seat. Instead, I leaned my back against the door.
“Not to mention the club she willingly joined. Valhalla is tied up in all this shit. She’s in the fucking middle of all of it. I have to know, when shit hits the fan, where Kytten’s loyalty will fall.”
“Jesus Christ, King.”
“Something’s coming, brother. Something big. My first priority is to protect my family.”
“Rose is family. Even if she weren’t my old lady, she is Mimic’s twin sister. That makes her family.”
He nodded, but I wasn’t sure he got it.
“I said what I needed to say.” King watched me for my reaction. I understood his concerns, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“Yeah, you did.” I turned and left his office.
I refused to think about what he said. Rose wouldn’t put the Soulless Sinners or the Golden Skulls before the Silver Shadows. Not with her brother here. Of that I had no doubt.
My concern came from Valhalla and the Nyght Nymphs. That was her club. The family she chose. Valhalla wasn’t just her president. She had raised Rose from the time she was eleven years old.
She was Rose’s mom as much as Sam was Mimic’s. Even if she wouldn’t admit it out loud.
When I got back to the main room, I searched for her. The smile on my face grew wide when I found her in the corner of the couch, Charlie on one side of her and Tucker on the other.
Tucker’s head lay in her lap as she read a book to Charlie. Watching her for a few minutes, I noticed she never actually touched the dog. Though Charlie did. She had her hand resting on the dog’s head. Rose pretended he wasn’t there.
She had a white-knuckle grip on the book, but she let the dog lay with her. I considered that progress.
“She’s making progress.”
I didn’t turn to look at the brother from her father’s club. But I nodded an acknowledgement that I heard him.
“There’s still a lot to unpack.”
“Are you allowed to talk to me about her therapy?” I asked, my eyes still on my woman.
“I am. She gave me permission to discuss some aspects with you.” That had me turning to look Torment in the eye. “I can’t tell you what she talks about. But I can tell you about her progress, and what she might need.”
“What does she need? I’ll make it happen,” I assured him, turning back to see Rose stiffen as Tucker opened his mouth to yawn. The dog’s mouth was as wide as a fucking shark’s.
Charlie stuck her hand in Tucker’s mouth and Rose snatched it out, forgetting her own fear, and pushed the dog’s mouth closed. Charlie laughed, and I smiled, knowing what she had done. I hope Jack understood just how fucking smart his daughter was. She must have gotten it from her mother.
“She needs her brother.”
“She has her brother.”
Torment sighed heavily beside me. When I turned, he looked me in the eye. “She needs him to talk.”
“Fuck.”
Mimic didn’t talk to anyone but Sam. King tried to order him to talk to Haizley, and even Mellie. But they both said no. They said he wasn’t ready and they wouldn’t push him. He had Sam, and if Sam thought he needed either of the two therapists we had at the clubhouse, she would convince him.
I wondered if she would push him to talk to his sister.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
He nodded, and I went to my woman. I wanted to hold her, maybe help her with her fear of the dog. But when I got over there and tried to lean in, the dog growled low in its throat and its ears flattened.
“Tucker, I just want to kiss my woman.”
“You have to say hi to Tucker first, Uncle Cash,” Charlie informed me. I looked at her, wondering if it was that simple. Tucker had taken to Jack, and we all wondered how. But thinking about it now, Jack always said hello to the dog before he got near Charlie.
I looked at the dog, who stared back at me. With a hard swallow, I crouched down in front of him, my face inches from his. I hoped Rose appreciated what I was doing because I was putting my life in the dog’s hands right now.
“Hey, Tucker. How are you doing today?”
“What are you doing, Cash?” Rose whisper-yelled, panic lacing her tone. I tentatively lifted my hand and set it on the dog’s head. I scratched between his ears, and his eyes closed while his tail began to thump on the couch.
I smiled at Charlie. “Well, goddamn, Charlie. Are you the dog whisperer?”
Charlie giggled her little girl giggle, and I laughed. It appeared Tucker was just as horny for attention as the rest of us men in the clubhouse.
Giving him a few more rubs, I stood and leaned over to press my lips to Rose’s. It really was that simple, but fuck me if I’d tell the other guys that. Let them figure that shit out on their own.
“Have you petted him yet?” I asked Rose.
“No.”
I chuckled at her tight answer. “How did he get up here?”
“Charlie.”
Turning a smile to the cheeky little conniver, I winked before turning back to Rose. I picked up Charlie and sat next to Rose, placing Charlie on my lap.
“What are we reading?”
“The Boxcar Children.” Charlie’s smile beamed when she added, “I’m gonna ask Papa King if we can get a boxcar for the backyard.”
I stole a glance at Rose and wondered if she had anything to do with that idea. And when she turned her innocent eyes on me and smiled, I knew it was true. And in that moment, I vowed to find a fucking boxcar for the backyard.
I didn’t know a lot about Rose’s childhood. But I knew enough to know hers wasn’t even close to normal. Like Charlie’s would be. And if my woman wanted a boxcar, I would damn well get her one.