Something in Gorgon’s posture tightened. “What is it?”
“Found tracks matching that SUV that was here last night, out by the old cutline. It looked like it stopped a while, emptied some cans, and then headed northbound again.” She shot Kimi a sympathetic look, and her stomach twisted tight. She knew what that meant. Cole wasn’t leaving. He was looking for a way around Gorgon’s men.
Gorgon didn’t seem surprised. “He won’t stop. He’ll try again soon,” he said casually. Then he looked back at her, his expression unreadable. “Whatever he’s after—it’s not done, is it?” She had expected him to ask her questions while they ate the ham sandwich, or on the walk back, but he hadn’t. She thought that she had dodged a bullet, but she was wrong because that bullet was coming back at full force and headed straight for her. Cole was going in for the kill shot, and if she stayed there, she’d be giving him the chance to take it.
Kimi shook her head slowly. “It won’t ever be over. Not until he gets what I took.”
He studied her face. “What’d you take?”
“Something that can cost him his freedom,” she breathed.
That caught him off guard for half a breath. “You want to explain that?”
“No,” she said quietly. “But if I don’t, more people get hurt. I have no choice but to tell you about it.”
He stepped closer, voice low enough that only she could hear. “Then start trusting someone before it’s too late.”
Kimi swallowed hard, her pulse hammering in her throat. “That’s the problem, Gorgon. The last time I trusted someone, they burned down everything I had left.”
His gaze didn’t waver. “Then stop trusting the wrong people.” When he walked away toward Buck and the others, the yard seemed to breathe again. Kimi stood on the porch, arms tight around herself, listening to the low murmur of strategy and engines and men who moved like a single body under one command.
Cole was out there—not running. He wasn’t hiding; he was waiting. And she knew what was in that envelope would light the match for what came next. But as she looked toward Gorgon, his shape framed against the snow, another truth slid through her chest like a secret she hadn’t meant to keep—she wasn’t afraid of Cole anymore. She was afraid of what this place—what he—might awaken in her. Because for the first time in longer than she could remember, she didn’t want to keep running. And even though she knew that it might be a mistake, she wanted to trust Gorgon—with everything.
Gorgon
Gorgon hadn’t meant to stay out on the porch that long, but something about the cold sharpened his thinking. It scrubbed the noise out of his head better than whiskey ever could. From the yard, the clubhouse looked alive with smoke curling from the chimney, engines rumbling to life, and laughter punching through the crisp air. The Kings of Anarchy’s territory looked like it was holding steady. But underneath it all, he could feel it—that subtle tension that meant change was moving through his house. And even though he wouldn’t admit it out loud, that scared the hell out of him.
He watched Buck bicker with the fence crew near the gate, while Hulk checked the generator. Trudi stepped out of the bar with coffee, handing him a mug, and disappearing back into the clubhouse. Everyone was doing their part, pretending nothing had shifted. But they all knew—one new person and one bad night was enough to tilt the balance of a place built on instinct and control. And control was what kept them breathing most days.
He turned his head toward the frost-coated window of the spare room upstairs. The curtains were half-drawn, and for a second, he thought he saw the faintest flick of movement—ashadow of her. Kimi hadn’t left the clubhouse since their walk. She hadn’t said whether she’d trust him or run again. But the look in her eyes when he told her Cole’s trail hadn’t gone cold—that look, he knew too well. It wasn’t just fear. It was guilt. And guilt made people unpredictable.
Inside the clubhouse, warmth hit him like a slap in the face. The place always smelled the same—like wood smoke, grease, coffee, too many bodies breathing the same air. He nodded to Trudi at the bar and motioned for her to follow him.
“Tell me what she’s been doing up there,” he ordered.
She wiped her hands on a rag, grinning up at him. “Hey, Trudi, how are you doing?” she grumbled. His stare cut straight through that sarcasm, and her grin vanished.
“She’s been quiet,” Trudi said. “She’s been keeping to herself. I can tell that she worries too much, because the poor thing jumps at shadows, even after I told her nobody here’s gonna bite.”
“She tell you anything?”
Trudi shook her head. “Not yet. But she’s not lying when she says she’s scared of that guy, whoever he is—Cole, right?” Gorgon nodded. “He’s not done. He didn’t look like the quitting type. You know the kind I’m talking about.”
“Yeah,” Gorgon muttered. “I used to be that kind.”
Trudi frowned. “You used to be smarter about people, too. What’re you keeping her for, Gorgon? Because I’ve seen danger, and she’s wearing it like perfume.” He didn’t answer because he didn’t have a good one. He had no idea why he was protecting Kimi, and telling Trudi that she reminded him of her grandmother, or that when he looked in her eyes, he couldn’t help but want to help her, wasn’t going to happen.
She sighed. “Watch yourself, Prez. Storms like her are dangerous. You pick it up, and carry it, then it becomes part of you.”
He turned toward the stairs. “That’s my problem,” he called back over his shoulder.
“Yeah,” she called after him. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Kimi’s door was open when he reached the top of the stairs. She was standing by the window again, her profile lit faintly by pale daylight. Her hair was braided now, loose and imperfect. “Is Trudi done tattling on me?” she asked without turning.
“She worries about her people,” he said evenly. “She worries about me.”
“Her people. That’s Interesting because I didn’t realize I was one of those yet,” she spat.
