Page 16 of Cash

King looked him in the eye. His face stern. Giving nothing away, he asked, “Did you?”

Blade shook his head and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

“He’s right you know,” I said. “You owe Ryder an apology.”

“Are you fucking with me right now? You’re gonna give me shit about Ryder?”

“No, I’m gonna give you shit about Tabby and Ellie. I don’t give a fuck about Ryder. But whether you want to admit it or not, you put his little girl and his old lady at risk.”

“Sypher put them at risk.”

Silence lingered between us, broken by an impatient knock on the door. Haizley barged in; her eyes locked with mine before pinning King with an icy glare. Despite his efforts to hide, everyone knew where to find him when he wasn’t in the bar.

“We need to talk.”

“Not now, Haizley.”

“Yes now,” she insisted, filling the chair Blade had left. She looked at me again. When she turned back to King, I wondered if she would rat me out. “It’s about Amber.”

The tightness in my chest eased, but the guilt stayed. I was wasting her time by not showing up. But I justified it by telling myself she was still getting paid.

“She still doesn’t know. Danny and Dante haven’t been to the clubhouse since they got back. She needs to be told about her family, now that the danger is gone.”

“The danger isn’t gone.”

Haizley visibly blanched. “Jane is dead. Dante killed her.”

“Jane wasn’t the only threat to Amber.”

“What else is there?” When King opened his mouth, she growled, “Don’t you fucking say club business.”

“It is club business, Haizley,” I said for him.

The look on her face told me she wasn’t amused that I had my prez’s back.

“Let me talk to Sypher first. I need to make sure she is safe before we tell her everything,” King offered.

“You have two days.” Haizley stood from her chair and walked out, leaving King with another fucking problem to solve.

“I have to get out of here,” he said. “Let’s go for a ride.”

As we walked into the main room, Jack shouted, “Oh shit! The Mob’s back!”

Someone turned down the music, and everyone turned to stare at the men by the door. Beck ran over and hugged Sal. She hadn’t let the shit going on around here stop her from having as much family as she could.

“Hello, Son.”

“What are you doing here?” King asked, ignoring the term Sal used.

“Hey, King. We brought Maureen’s daughter out. Thought we would stop by and say hello,” Duncan said. He was King’s uncle on his mother’s side. The mother he never knew.

King looked at Declan. “What’s going on?”

“Can we talk in private?” Duncan asked, looking back at Sal.

“Sure, we can talk in church,” he said, resigned that we weren’t getting away. The officers followed without being asked. Given what happened last time Sal was in this room, we wouldn’t let King face him alone. Family had your back no matter what. No questions asked.

“So, what’s up?” King asked.