Chapter Twenty-Three
Cash
Letting Rose go to be cared for by the old ladies was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. I wanted her by my side, where I could watch over her and protect her. Instead, I was in church with King and the officers, along with Sypher, Dante, and Torment.
“Where the fuck is she?” Dante cried.
“We don’t know. The SUVs have trackers, and she went to a bar in Sydney. I sent the prospect out there, and the vehicle is there, but she isn’t,” King explained.
“Should have put a damn tracker on her,” Dante mumbled.
“Babe, calm down. We’ll find her.”
“I called Valhalla. And Bane,” King said.
“Why?” Dante asked cautiously.
“Fuck, I’m sorry, Sypher,” King apologized.
“It’s not your fault, King. I should have told him before we got here.”
“Told me what?” Dante asked, eyeing his husband.
Sypher took a deep breath. He was stalling, but this was fucking inevitable. And call me fucking petty, but I wanted Dante to feel what Amber and Rose were feeling.
“Valhalla and Bane are your parents,” I snapped.
“Cash,” Jack hissed at me.
“Fuck this, we don’t have time for hand-holding. My woman is losing her fucking mind because she believes everyone will hate her for having a conversation with her goddamn brother, that Amber should not have been eavesdropping on.”
“They were in the—” Blade started, and I slammed my hand on the table, interrupting him.
“I don’t give a fuck if they were in the main fucking room. When you hear two people having a conversation, you say excuse the fuck out of me and get their attention. You don’t listen at the fucking door to their private information.”
“Okay, everyone calm down. Val and Bane will be here in a few hours. Val has a few of her Nyght Nymphs meeting her here to help us search.”
Torment hadn’t taken his eyes off mine. He knew what I knew. He couldn’t say anything, but I fucking could.
“Call them off.”
“What? Who?” Gunner asked.
“The Nyght Nymphs—I don’t want them here. Not around Rose.”
“Cash, she lives with them. They’re her family,” Sypher reasoned.
“I’m her fucking family. They haven’t done shit to protect her. I don’t fucking want them here.”
“Cash, brother, we need to know why,” King said, searching my face for an answer to my outburst.
“I can’t tell you.”
Sypher narrowed his eyes at me, as if he thought he could read something in my eyes. “What didn’t they protect her from?”
I glared back at the kid. Rose hated it when I called him a kid, but that’s what he was. He was a fucking kid who, for being as smart as he was, didn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.
I refused to answer, and when Sypher looked at Torment, he said nothing, just held Sypher’s stare.
“What happened to Kytten?”
I folded my arms and glared at him. Willing him to figure it out without me having to say it.
“Was it a Nyght Nymph?” Colt asked, his hands fisted on the table. We didn’t know much about his past, only that he grew up in the church. His father was a minister and on the religious zealot end of the spectrum.
I nodded, unable to say the words to confirm what my brother had figured out.
“Who?” Sypher growled. “Who the fuck was it?”
Dante looked at Torment. “Do you know, Torment?”
“You know I can’t answer that, Pippen.”
“Does Val know?” Sypher asked, his eyes on the table. Then before I could answer, he added, “Of course she doesn’t fucking know. Otherwise, whoever it was would be dead.” He was breathing heavily, trying to control his anger. “They won’t stay away unless Val tells them to back off.”
“If the fucking bitch walks into this clubhouse, she won’t be walking out,” I declared. They all needed to know where I stood when it came to my woman. I would burn the fucking world down to make it safe for her.
“Alright, we’ll deal with that when they get here. Right now, we have to focus on finding Amber. Do we have anything on camera anywhere?”
I couldn’t focus on Amber, not after what I learned about Kytten. Not when I couldn’t stop thinking about what was going on in the main room.
Would she tell the old ladies?
Would she talk to Mellie?
What about Mimic? How would he react when he learned the truth?
“Cash, you with us, brother?”
“No,” I said, standing from my seat. “Let me know when you have something. I need to check on Rose.”
I pushed through the double doors and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a woman I didn’t know holding my girl.
“It’s ok, baby girl. We’ll figure it out.”
“Get your fucking hands off her,” I shouted, stomping across the room. Two more women I didn’t recognize stepped in my path.
I looked them both over. “If you think I won’t toss your ass into the nearest wall, you’re wrong. Get the fuck out of my way.”
“Cash, no!” Rose scrambled from the couch and slipped in front of the two women. “It’s okay. They’re my friends.”
“Baby, they are not your fucking friends. They didn’t protect you.”
“Cash, please, don’t,” she whispered.
“Kytten, what is he talking about?” the redhead asked.
“Baby?” The Asian woman who was holding Rose walked over.
The third one hadn’t said a word. She glared at me from right behind Kytten. I glared back, adding a snarl for good measure.
I assumed these women were Nyght Nymphs. And if one of them was the bitch who hurt my old lady, she was fucking dead. And so were the rest if they tried to get in my way.
“Cash, this is Arsyn, Harmony, and Lucky.”
She said the names slowly, making sure they penetrated my brain. I grabbed her hand and pulled her close. The one named Arsyn stepped forward, and I quickly put Rose behind my back.
“You got a problem with me touching my old lady?”
“Old lady?” Lucky asked.
“What the fuck is going on out here?” King bellowed from the doorway.
“Seems we have some guests,” I told him, my eyes never leaving the one woman in the room I trusted the least.
“Is one of them...?” King let his question trail off.
“No.”
“You told him?” Kytten asked, squeezing between me and Arsyn, who still hadn’t backed down.
“No, Rose. I didn’t tell him, but I had to give him something. I don’t want that bitch anywhere near you.”
“What bitch?”
“Oh, she finally speaks,” I snarked, turning a hard stare on Arsyn.
“I will ask you again. What bitch? Kytten, what is he talking about?”
The look of fear and panic on Rose’s face broke my heart. “Baby, they have to know.”
“Can we wait for Val? I can’t do it again. Not more than once.”
I pulled her into my arms. “Yeah, baby, we can wait for Val.”
“Kytten, if there is something wrong, you need to tell us,” Harmony pushed. “We can help you.”
“Not now, Harmony.”
I turned when I heard Sypher’s voice. Everyone had spilled out of church. Torment stood off to the side, watching the three women that had arrived.
“Sypher, what the fuck is going on here? Is Kytten in some kind of trouble because Amber is missing? What kind of dog and pony show is this?” Arsyn asked.
“Get the fuck out of my house,” King barked.
“King, no. Please, Arsyn will behave.” Rose turned to glare at the woman. “Please let them stay until Val gets here.” She pleaded with King until he gave in. Then she threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
He looked at me with panic. His eyes bulging out of his head. I shrugged, then shook my head when he patted the top of her head.
“Ladies, please behave,” Sypher begged.
“Why don’t you share your happy news, Rose?”
Rose looked at me with confusion. I kissed the crease between her eyes and said, “Mimic.”
“Oh!” She spun around and looked at the Nyght Nymphs. “I found my brother.”
“Kytten! That’s wonderful! Where did you find him?” Lucky asked.
“Here. He’s in the Silver Shadows.” Her bright smile lit up the room. “Val asked me to follow her granddaughter, which led me here. And I met Cash and the old ladies. I was invited to a birthday party. And it was for my brother.”
Kytten spun around, searching the room. When her eyes landed on Sam, Sam smiled and said, “He’s on his way.”
“Thank you!” Rose smiled back.
The front door opened again, and Mimic walked in. He stopped a few steps inside when he noticed everyone staring at him.
“Thorne! Come meet my friends.” This Rose was different. She was animated and happy. I watched her face, and I was kicking myself for missing it. This was Kytten, the Nyght Nymph.
The happy little pixie she pretended to be for her family.
“Baby,” I called. She was talking a mile a minute about Mimic and her, and everything they had learned about each other since they reconnected.
“I even learned who my father was.”
“Rose!” I shouted above her chatter.
She spun around. “What?”
“Stop,” I whispered, drawing her closer to me. “You are so caught up in being what you think they want you to be, you almost told them who your father was. They can’t know that. Not yet.”
She closed her eyes and leaned against my chest. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize I was doing it. I’ve been hiding myself for so long that when I saw them, I just slipped right back into Kytten.” She paused, then muttered, “I can’t do this, Cash. I feel like my world is caving in.”
“Kytten, do you need to talk?” Torment was at my side, looking after my old lady, and I was fucking glad someone was.
“FUCKING GODDAMMIT!”
Everyone turned toward the couches when Beck yelled. Blade was at her side in an instant. “What’s wrong?”
“My fucking water just broke.” Sam was snickering on the couch, while Ellie looked horrified. They were both due with their own babies in a few months.
“Now?” he asked. “You aren’t due for another three weeks.” Blade sounded as panicked as King looked.
“Well, I guess your son doesn’t care about schedules, asshole.” She bent over, her hand cradling her belly. “Fuck, this hurts.”
“We need to go, Becca.”
“No, I told you I wasn’t having this baby in the hospital.”
“And I told you Patch was not getting between your legs even to deliver my fucking son,” Blade growled.
“Hi, Becca is it?” Harmony stood in front of Beck and Blade.
“It’s Beck.”
“Beck, I’m a midwife. If you want to have this baby at home, you absolutely can. Do you have a midwife we can call for you?”
“No, I’ve been seeing a regular OB-GYN, and just planned on telling them it happened too quick.”
“That probably wasn’t the best way to prepare. But it is what it is.” Harmony turned to King. “Do you have a medical wing or room? Supplies, anything?”
“We have a medical suite downstairs.”
“Okay, let’s have a baby.” She clapped her hands together and smiled at the room. I understood why her name was Harmony. She was a ray of fucking sunshine.
“Kytten, would you assist?”
“Definitely. Come on, Beck. I’ve got you.” Rose tried to help Beck, but Blade bent down and picked her up. Rose and Harmony followed behind him, and we all stood there with our dicks in our hands, frozen at the idea of what was happening.
“SOMEONE CALL MY DAD!” Beck yelled back to us.
I looked at King and grinned. “Good luck with that, brother.” I slapped him on the shoulder as I passed by him to follow behind Rose.
Beck wouldn’t want an audience, and Blade would kick my ass if I saw her give birth, but I could sit on the floor in the hallway and wait for Rose.