Gorgon’s gaze held hers, unblinking. “You are now,” he said. “I’m not doing this to put you in a cage.” He paused, letting the truth settle between them like falling snow. “I’m doing this to keep you alive.”
Behind them, the clubhouse door opened, spilling warm light across the porch. Voices began to rise again. His guys were curious about the new stranger. The club seemed to move back into motion after the threat passed, just as it always did.
Gorgon’s hand closed lightly around Kimi’s wrist—not the bruised one. He was careful to be gentle with her. “Inside,” he ordered. Kimi hesitated, and Gorgon didn’t pull her along behind him. He didn’t need to. He simply waited, and his patience did the rest of the work. Finally, Kimi moved.
As she climbed the steps beside him, her breath trembling in the cold, Gorgon caught one last glimpse of the road through the trees to the darkness where Cole’s taillights had vanished. He knew that trouble didn’t just disappear. Instead, it usually circled around him, and now it had a reason to circle closer.
Gorgon opened the clubhouse door and guided Kimi through it, into warmth and light and the watchful eyes of Kings of Anarchy. He didn’t speak the rest of what he was thinking, but he didn’t have to. Some things were better kept quiet. Some things were safer when they were secrets. But one truth sat heavy and solid in his chest as the door shut behind them. Kimi wasn’t just passing through, and no matter what it cost him, no matter what storm came next—Gorgon would not letthe world take what had stepped onto his land and become his responsibility. Kimi was his secret—his.
KIMI
Warmth hit Kimi the second the clubhouse door shut behind her. It wasn’t a gentle warmth. In fact, she was sure that the longer she stayed, the warmer it would get. The place smelled like whiskey, leather, wood smoke, and too many bodies in one room. It wrapped around her like a blanket she wasn’t sure she wanted to touch.
She hadn’t realized how cold she had been outside until that moment. Her fingers trembled slightly as blood rushed back into them. She tucked her hands into the pockets of her jacket so no one would see. But there were too many eyes already on her.
The room had gone quiet when Gorgon walked in. Not the awkward quiet of strangers. The controlled quiet of people who understood exactly who held power in the room. And right now, that power stood beside her like a wall.
“This is Kimi,” he said, almost growling her name. That was all he said. He gave no explanation as to why she was there and told them no sad story about why she was staying. He just said her name.
Kimi felt every gaze in the room shift over her like a spotlight. Men and women sat around worn wooden tables, pool cuesleaning against the wall, cards scattered across the bar. Every single one of them wore the same leather cut with the same patch that said Kings of Anarchy.
She had heard the name before. Everyone in certain parts of Manitoba had. Some people whispered it with respect, while others whispered it with fear. Right now, Kimi wasn’t sure which one she felt, but if she was being honest with herself, probably a bit of both.
“You bringing home strays now, Prez?” a man near the pool table asked, leaning back in his chair with a grin that suggested he enjoyed being annoying. A few quiet laughs followed, but Kimi didn’t laugh. She was too busy watching Gorgon. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t even move. But the laughter stopped almost immediately when he held up his hand. That was power, and a part of her respected it more than she feared it.
“She’s staying,” Gorgon said calmly. The entire room seemed to freeze. All Kimi could do was blink up at him with her mouth gaping open. Staying? That hadn’t been part of their conversation outside.
The man at the pool table straightened slightly. “You want to expand on that?”
“No,” Gorgon spat back. The answer landed like a door slamming shut, and Kimi wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or trapped. She knew that she should feel both, though.
Someone behind the bar suddenly spoke up. “Someone get the girl a drink,” a woman called. “She looks like she drove through the apocalypse.” A few smiles appeared around the room as though people were trying to be friendly. The woman behind the bar had dark hair piled in a messy knot and eyes sharp enough to cut glass. She slid a whiskey across the counter and gestured toward a stool.
“Sit,” she said. “Nobody likes interrogation on an empty stomach.” Kimi hesitated. Instinct told her not to truststrangers, but experience told her not to refuse kindness either. Her gaze flicked to Gorgon, and he gave a small nod. That was all the permission that she needed. Kimi walked to the bar and sat down carefully, the stool creaking under her weight. The glass was warm in her hands. The woman leaned her elbows on the counter, studying her like a puzzle.
“So,” she said casually. “You planning to tell me why the scariest man in Manitoba decided you’re moving in?”
Kimi stared at her, and then a tired smile slipped out before she could stop it. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “He didn’t tell me either.”
The woman laughed. “That’s fair,” she said.
Kimi lifted the glass but paused before drinking it down in one swallow. The whiskey burned even through the smell. Her hands tightened slightly around the glass as she set it on the bar.
“You bring trouble with you?” the bartender asked quietly.
Kimi let out a slow breath. “That obvious?”
“Honey,” the woman said gently, “nothing shows up here alone unless trouble drove it.”
The bartender poured her another drink, and Kimi looked down at the amber liquid. Images flickered in her mind—Cole’s face and the shouting that usually happened whenever he was around. She remembered the moment she grabbed the envelope from him and ran. Her stomach twisted at the memory.
“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” she murmured.
The bartender didn’t push her for more answers, and Kimi was thankful for that small kindness. She simply watched Kimi with an understanding that made something in Kimi’s chest loosen slightly. Before either of them spoke again, the door opened, and cold air rushed into the room.
Every head turned as a tall man stepped inside, snow dusting his shoulders. “Road’s clear,” he said to Gorgon. Kimi released abreath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Cole was gone—for now. But that didn’t mean he’d stay gone.
Gorgon started walking toward the bar as people shifted aside without even thinking about it. Kimi noticed that he didn’t demand space. The room simply gave it to him. He stopped beside her stool, and she studied him. Up close, he was even more intimidating than he had been outside. He had broad shoulders and dark eyes that seemed to see far too much.
