Page 44 of The Monsters Within

“Join us,” Beck offered.

“Yeah, we can squeeze two more in. But Dante has to sit down here with us,” Dr. Jefferson said.

“Why?” Sypher asked.

“Because we like him more.” She smiled at Sypher, who glared at her, but there didn’t seem to be much heat behind it.

“Aww, Danny, I still love you!” Ellie called out from the corner.

I smiled at their banter, and Sam pushed Ellie to tell me the story of how Ryder met Sypher. Ryder rolled his eyes while Sypher grinned and the whole evening was spent getting to know the other old ladies and some of Cash’s brothers.

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.”