“I sense a story there.”

“Not one I’m willing to tell.”

Julian rolled his eyes. “Children, behave please.”

Cyn batted her lashes at him. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Say that again when we’re alone.” He heard Ryan’s sigh even over Cyn’s quickly muffled giggle. “Stay here and guard Cyn. I’ll go fetch Glory.”

Cyn’s brow rose. “How are you going to get her to leave? She was having a pretty good time, and Glory loves to close the club down.”

From the way Ryan’s shoulders tensed once more the club would be permanently closed if they didn’t get Glory out of there soon. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got this one covered.” He patted Ryan’s shoulder sympathetically. Honestly, if his mate had pulled half the stuff Glory had he wouldn’t be handling it nearly as well.

He stepped once more into the club and scanned the sea of dancers looking for pale blue hair. He spotted Glory quickly and cursed under his breath. She was at the bar and flirting outrageously with the bartender. She brushed his hand and shot him a coy look, a look that clearly stated she was ready, willing and available.

She might be ready and willing, but she certainly wasn’t available no matter what she thought. Julian plastered on his most innocent smile and sauntered to the bar. “Glory! I’ve been looking all over for you.”

He could see Glory’s teeth clenching as she shot him a dirty look. “Go away, Julian.”

The bartender scowled. “Is this man bothering you?”

Only the genuine concern Julian could sense pouring from the man kept him from fetching Ryan. “She’s a friend of my girlfriend, Cyn. We were worried about her.”

The man’s smile dimmed. “Cyn is here? And you’re dating her?”

Now it was Julian’s turn to clench his teeth. Who the hell was this guy? “I most definitely am.”

Pain flashed across the bartender’s features, but was quickly masked by resignation. “Oh. Well, I hope things go better for you than they did for me.”

“Thanks. I’m planning on making it permanent.” While Julian felt some sympathy for him, there was no way in hell he wouldn’t stake his claim to Cyn. But right now he had other things to worry about. He placed his hand on Glory’s shoulder, and smiled. “Time to go!”

“Ugh. I don’t think so.” She tried to brush his hand away but he wasn’t budging. “Rude much?”

“Aren’t you feeling tired? Maybe even a little dizzy?”

She wobbled on the stool, her eyes going wide with horror and suspicion. “You son of a—”

“Like I said, time to go. You’ll be fine once we get a few carbs in you.” He tsked and shared a look with the bartender. “She was so excited to come out tonight she forgot to eat.”

He could tell the bartender wasn’t buying it, but when Julian waved to Tabby and got a wave back the bartender backed down. Julian helped Glory down from the stool, wrapping one arm around her waist when it was obvious she couldn’t stand on her own. When they were far enough away from the friendly bartender she growled at him. “When I get changed into a Puma I’m going to eat your face off.”

Was she still going on about that? Ryan would never allow anyone, not even Emma, to change his mate, no matter how many times the Puma Curana offered. “Aw, you’re so cute. Sort of like a rabid weevil. With anthrax.”

She tried to stomp on his foot but missed horribly, nearly sending them both to the pavement. “I hate Bears.”

“Is that any way to speak to your future pseudo-brother-in-law?” She growled again and Julian laughed. By the time they reached Ryan she was beating him with tiny, ineffectual fists. He deposited her on Ryan’s lap. “Yours, I believe.”

“Whether she likes it or not.” Ryan’s eyes had begun to take on chocolaty tones again, sort of like a half-melted blue M&M.

“Not!” Glory struggled to get out of Ryan’s arms, but he wasn’t letting go of his prize any time soon.

Julian watched her wriggle, and nearly burst into laughter. Now he remembered who she reminded him of. “By the ancestors, I get it now.”

Cyn wrapped an arm around his waist and Julian pulled her close, cuddling her up against his side. “Get what?”

“The blue hair.”

“What about it?”

They both watched as Glory slumped over Ryan’s arms and panted for a few seconds before renewing her struggles.

“She’s Super Grover.”

Glory snarled at them both as he and Cyn collapsed together in a cackling heap of oh-shit-you’re-right.

How in the hell had she wound up here?

Marie Howard held out the wicker basket. “Breadstick?”

She stared from the basket to the woman and back again. “Why the hell not?” She picked up one of the garlicky, buttery pieces of heaven and bit in. Noah’s had the best food, but it wasn’t exactly what she’d expected to eat for lunch today. Cyn’s salami and provolone sandwich was currently sitting in the fridge back at Living Art Tattoos, “stinking up the place” as Tabby put it. When the invitation for lunch had arrived from Marie she’d been startled, but intrigued.

If Marie had told Cyn she was taking her to Noah’s she would at least have grabbed her fedora. As it was, she felt woefully underdressed. A black tank top and jeans weren’t exactly the classiest thing to wear to a place like this.

“Are you all right? I heard about what happened at your shop. Jamie was worried about you.”

Cyn smiled. Jamie and Julian were becoming good friends. Making nice with Marie made sense, even if they had nothing in common. They were going to wind up spending at least some time together, thanks to their men. This was a good place to start learning about one another. “I’m good. Super Bear fixed me up just fine.”

“That’s good to know.” Marie twisted the breadstick, jumping as it fell apart. She dusted off her fingers, her gaze glued to her plate. Cyn had never seen anyone so nervous in her life. “So.”

She stared at Marie, waiting. It was obvious she was up to something, but Cyn had no clue what it could be. Marie was toying with half her breadstick, ripping it to tiny crumbs. “So?”

Marie loomed up with a grimace. She took a deep breath. “So. You and Emma are friends, right?”

Oh. Huh. This was not quite what Cyn had expected. She’d thought that it was a get to know my mate’s friend’s mate lunch, not…whatever the hell this was. “Maybe? I’m not sure.” The Puma Curana was a hard one to figure out, at least for Cyn. She had a way of bowling everyone in her path over, and for some reason the people she ordered around actually felt grateful for it. Cyn just didn’t get it, or her, but she had to admit it was fun whenever Emma came by LA. The bikers especially adored the Little General. “I like her, except when I don’t, if that makes any sense.”

Marie laughed. “I think it does. She’s a force of nature.” She blushed. “Look, can I trust you?”

Cyn nodded. She didn’t know if what Marie wanted to talk about was good or bad, but if it affected Marie, then it affected Jamie. If it affected Jamie, then it had the potential to affect Julian, and Cyn wouldn’t have that.

“Oh. Good.” Marie blew out her breath, but Cyn could tell she still wasn’t entirely comfortable. “This is Pride business, okay? You can’t let anyone know I talked to you about it.”

Cyn mimed zipping her lips shut.

Marie grinned. “Thanks. Emma and I, we…” She gulped again. “We had a falling out early on in her reign. Now we’re cordial, but not nearly as close as we used to be.”

“It has something to do with Belinda Campbell, right?” Marie winced at the name of the Poconos Pack Luna, and Cyn nodded. “I thought that might be it. Even I’ve heard of how Belle left Halle in a cloud of suspicion. What the hell happened?”

Marie sighed and took a sip of her soda. “Belinda was so close to Livia, I thought for sure she was in on the plot. I mean, she was Livia’s best friend. How could she not know?”