“No!” Sypher shouted, jumping from his seat.
“Yes, goddammit. What did you just say about being more objective?”
Sypher fell back in his chair, and I spoke up, “Skip Valhalla and Kytten.”
“Why?” King asked.
“Valhalla wouldn’t tell them. She’s Amber’s mother, for Christ’s sake. She walked away from her daughter to keep her safe. No way would she put someone else’s child in jeopardy.”
“And Kytten?” Jack asked, that smug grin of his plastered on his face.
“Fuck,” I muttered. “I was going to wait until Friday. I met Kytten a few weeks ago.”
“You’re already moving on?” Blade asked, his voice tight. “It’s been three fucking months.”
“Shit, I should have talked to you, too.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Look, I don’t have answers. I wasn’t looking for someone. She just fucking appeared. I know you’re pissed, Blade. But I spoke to Ryder—”
“Hold the fucking phone, Cash,” King interrupted. “You talked to Ryder?” When I nodded, he asked, “When?”
“I went to see him a few days ago. Then Rose and I had dinner with him and Ellie and the girls two nights ago.”
The room was quiet until Sypher asked, his eyebrows lost in his hairline, “She gave you her real name?”
When I nodded, my eyes were still on Blade.
“Does Val know?”
“I don’t know what she has told Val.”
“Did she tell you about—”
I cut Sypher off with an icy stare. I didn’t want him talking about her past. “I know enough. Which is why I don’t want Nav digging into her. She wouldn’t sell out Aspen.”
Blade stood from his seat across the table and left without a word.
“Well, you fucked that up, brother,” Jack said.
“What did Ryder say?” King asked. He wouldn’t ask about Rose in front of the others. He would wait until we were alone and then give me the third degree.
“He wasn’t happy at first. But he likes Rose. He, Ellie, and the girls will be here for the party Friday night.”
Everyone stared at me like I had grown a second head.
“Can we not make a big deal out of this?”
“Yea, that ship sailed, brother,” Jack snarked.
“Until Nav can get information on the Nyght Nymphs, there isn’t much we can do but watch the Death Dogs. We need someone in that motel.”
“She’s not going back,” I snarled.
“We still don’t know why they’re here,” Colt reasoned. “Nobody moves a whole fucking club for a patched brother’s old lady. Even if she was married to an officer, it wouldn’t make sense.”
“I think this might be about more than a battered wife,” Sypher confessed.
“What do you mean?” King asked.
“Colt is right. When has a club pulled up stakes to go after an old lady?” Sypher asked.
