For Tabby, Chaos had intervened before she made that debut. When they did, they bought Valenzuela’s displeasure and more of his attention.

It had been a while with both sides butting heads but not much happening.

High didn’t like living with that shadow.

One way or another, he wanted it done.

But he didn’t trust Natalie. She’d fucked their shit, got sober for a nanosecond, then fell into the junk again. No one had seen her in months.

If Tack sent her in, he’d be surprised at his brother’s play. Tack above all the brothers knew they shouldn’t hang anything on a junkie who wouldn’t deliver. And Valenzuela liked Natalie less than the brothers did.

“Rosalie,” Tack said.

High straightened and moved slightly closer to the huddle as the room went alert.

This was because Rosalie was an ex of Shy’s. A sweet girl. Like Millie, born an old lady, though quieter than Millie, less ballsy. Still, Shy introduced her to the life and you could see she took to it, and Shy, right away.

He’d dumped her for Tabby and that might not have been fun for him, but it wasn’t ugly. She got burned by him but word was she held no ill will.

Actually, no one held ill will.

And Rosalie was another way High didn’t want to see this shit with Valenzuela done.

“What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” Shy bit out toward Tack.

“You ended it with her, brother; she got in with a Bounty,” Tack explained.

High could see that, seeing as Rosalie was an old lady, and when Shy dumped her, she was this without an old man.

The Bounties were another MC. Chaos had Denver central as well as claiming south Denver, Englewood, Lakewood, and Littleton. The Bounties were East Denver, including Aurora.

The Bounties were outlaws to the bone, like Chaos, and they were a decent club. Good men. But they didn’t run a Club business like Ride, so they all had jobs. This meant they dipped their wicks into extraneous shit to make extra cash.

Recently, that extraneous shit became serious.

And part of this was that they’d made an alliance with Valenzuela that earned them Chaos attention and caused friction between two clubs whose members got along, and if they didn’t, they gave each other a wide berth.

“As you know, when we pulled out of security, Bounty picked up some of that for players in town,” Tack went on. “As you also know, part a’ that was them pickin’ up some business with Valenzuela. Rosalie didn’t know about either. That is, until Snapper caught sight of her with her biker. Snap wasn’t around when you were with her. Shot a picture of the biker when she was with him. Showed it to Roscoe. Roscoe knows Rosalie, had the idea. He made the approach. She was not pleased when she heard what was goin’ down with the Bounties doin’ that shit for Valenzuela and she says she’s in to help.”

“She’s not in to help,” Shy shot back.

“We’ll keep her covered, Shy,” Tack told him. “You know that. Snap is on her, with Roscoe and Speck at his back and hers.”

“She’s not in to help,” Shy repeated, his tone deteriorating.

“Calm, Shy,” Hop warned. “You think we’d take her on if Snap didn’t have her covered?”

“Snap doesn’t have shit,” Shy clipped to Hop, then looked to Tack. “She ain’t takin’ cock to serve Chaos.”

“Can’t claim pussy that’s no longer yours, brother,” Tack stated, heat building behind his words, which was understandable since his daughter had Shy’s ring on her finger and his kid in her belly and he was throwing in for another woman.

“Rosalie isn’t pussy,” Shy returned. “She’s Rosalie.”

“We know that,” Tack replied. “But she’s tight with her man, thinks she can pull him out of it after shit goes down. And part of this decision includes us knowin’ the guy. He’s in with the Bounties and like a lot of ’em, he’s solid. They’re makin’ bad allegiances because their president is greedy. Not all of them are down with what’s goin’ on, including her man. So we think she’s not wrong and he can be turned.”

“We use her, she’s still swinging out there,” Shy pointed out.

“Which is why Snap is on her,” Tack fired back.

Shy shut his mouth but a muscle jumped in his jaw.

“Won’t let anything happen to her, Shy,” Pete said quietly. “We know she’s Rosalie. She’s not Chaos, never really was, but she’s a good gal. We wouldn’t let her swing.”

“I want on her,” Shy announced, and the men got more alert.

“No fuckin’ way,” Tack growled.

“Do not mistake me,” Shy whispered. “When it comes to my woman, the family we’re makin’ she’s got inside her, do not ever mistake me, Tack.”

Tack held Shy’s gaze steady for a beat before he said, “Tabby knows.”

“That would be you mistakin’ me,” Shy returned. “I wouldn’t do dick with or for Rosalie without my wife bein’ in the know. She’s uncomfortable with it, I leave it to Snap, Roscoe, and Speck. She’s good, I’m in.”

Tack nodded.

When the vibe in the room mellowed, High waded in.

“That’s sorted, what’s she gonna get for us?” he asked.

Tack looked to him. “Whatever she gets is shit we don’t currently have.”

“I hear that, brother, but she’s covered or not, the fact remains we’re puttin’ a good woman out there and we should do it knowin’ she’s takin’ a risk that’s worth it,” High noted.

“Her man works security for Valenzuela’s dope transport,” Tack replied. “She can get to his cell, see his texts. She hears him on calls. She’s already given detail on a shipment and their possible route. We’re gonna cover that, see if what she says is gonna go down, goes down. It does, Lawson and Lucas go in on the next one, take it down but do it to turn a Bounty to the cause, informant instead of jail time, this hopefully bein’ Rosalie’s biker. Rosalie is off the hook without anyone knowin’ she was on it and we got someone on the actual inside who can really help bring Valenzuela down.”

High turned to Shy. “It’s a solid plan, brother.”

“It is, we don’t give a shit about the woman who’s got her neck out,” Shy replied. “It isn’t we do. And I thought Chaos was not into doin’ this kind of shit.”

“She’s not an old lady, Shy, and never was,” Tack remarked.

Shy looked to him. “That matters? She’s a woman.”

“She’s a woman but that don’t mean she don’t have courage or brains,” Tack returned. “She wants her man out of that business, brother, and she’s willin’ to take the risk to get the reward. That’s her call. Not yours. And she made it.”

“You’re good with that, we’ll talk again, she’s found in an alley with her throat cut,” Shy shot back, and before Tack could say anything, he looked around and stated, “This should have been brought to the table.”

“Brothers out takin’ old ladies’ backs, on our kids, we don’t have time to sit a table,” Tack told him. “Obviously Roscoe, Snap, and Speck are in with this plan. The rest of you are standin’ right here.”

“Rush isn’t here,” Shy noted.

“Rush has already voted and I think you get what his vote was,” Tack replied.

They all got it. No way in fuck would Rush put Rosalie out there.

Then again, if it was up to him, Rush would retreat off their turf and do nothing but protect Ride, the shop, the garage, the Compound, the parking lot, and the forecourt, leaving the rest to the cops.

This was not a weak decision. A woman Rush cared about was kidnapped and stabbed and he’d watched his father suffer through it right along with the woman who would become his stepmother. All because of shit Chaos waded into.

So it was an informed decision.

Just, to High’s way of thinking, the wrong one.

“So I got Rush but if this were to come to a vote, I’d be outvoted,” Shy said.

“Seems that way, brother,” Boz replied.

“Rosalie isn’t gonna get her throat cut,” Hound put in.

“You sure about that?” Shy asked.

“Sure I’m sure,” Hound returned. “She trusts Chaos. We’re your brothers. Not sure why you don’t.”