She nodded, “It means I should be gone before that happens.”
He shook his head. “No. It means I’ve got something worth fighting for now. That changes everything.” The words hung in the air between them. They were simple, honest, and dangerous.
Kimi’s breath hitched. “That’s not fair. You make it sound like I asked to be that for you.”
“You didn’t,” he said. “But I’m not asking your permission, either. I’m just giving you the truth.”
She looked at him for a moment, then smiled faintly. “You’re the most stubborn man I’ve ever met.”
“I’ve been called worse,” he teased. Silence settled between them again, tempered by the hum of the heater and the storm outside. He wanted to pull her into his arms, to let that quietswallow them both whole, but for the first time in a long time, Gorgon thought about something he’d never considered before—what happened after the storm.
Could a man like him keep someone as gentle as Kimi without breaking her? He wasn’t sure, but as he stood and she reached for his hand—just lightly, a brush of fingertips—he realized he’d rather risk breaking than ever going back to feeling nothing at all. He squeezed her hand once, grounding himself in that small, impossible truth.
“Get some sleep, honey,” he murmured. “Tomorrow’s going to come soon enough.”
“And what about you?” she asked.
“I’m on first shift tonight, but I’ll be here before the sun comes up,” he promised. And for the first time in years, it felt like a promise he actually meant.
He turned off the lamp on his way out, leaving her in the silver light of falling snow outside and the faint echo of his words hanging in the dark. Outside, the storm deepened, folding the sky into itself, but the ache in his chest had burned down into something steadier. Not a quiet fire, and not the need to protect Kimi, but something that felt almost like peace.
Kimi
The door clicked shut behind Gorgon, and the quiet that followed didn’t feel very peaceful. It felt like a weight that sat heavily on her chest, as though she was waiting for something. It was the kind of silence that came right before something broke—something bad.
The wind hummed against the window, low and restless. Snow fell thick as ash, swallowing the world in that eerie gray-blue haze. Kimi sat on the edge of the bed in his shirt, the fabric still warm, still carrying his scent, and she tried to remember who she’d been before everything twisted into the mess that she was in, but she couldn’t remember because that girl was gone.
She pulled her knees tight to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She stared at the shifting shadows crawling across the floor. Below her, the clubhouse lived and breathed as she heard boots dragging across the hardwood floorboards. Low voices and the distant clank of metal floated up to her room. The Kings of Anarchy didn’t sleep, but then, neither did she.
Kimi knew all too well that storms like this never really ended—they just changed shape. The one outside of the clubhouse, and the one inside of her. They both carried the same weight. For just a second—just one—she almost got up and wentafter him. She almost told him that she was tired of running, tired of pretending that she didn’t care what happened to him. But that part of her didn’t win the battle raging inside of her.
The smarter part—the one that remembered Cole, and remembered what men like him did—crushed the thought before it could take root. Trust wasn’t free. It had never been. And now, she knew that she didn’t need saving. She just wanted to be someone worth saving.
The floor creaked outside her door, and her heart felt like it might leap out of her chest. It was stupid that she hoped that it was him, but when Trudi opened the door, her heart sank. It wasn’t Gorgon, and Trudi must have noticed her disappointment.
She slipped inside after a quick knock, closing the door behind her with quiet ease. She moved like someone who was used to surviving, like she was used to the shadows. “You trying to freeze to death in that shirt?” Trudi muttered, holding out a mug.
The smell hit Kimi first—burnt coffee. She wanted to tell her that she was good, but she managed a faint smile as she took it. “You checking if I’m still breathing?”
“Always,” Trudi breathed. Trudi perched on the dresser, watching her as though she knew every one of Kimi’s secrets. Maybe she did because she had come from the same kind of damage that didn’t fade—not even with time.
“Buck says the weather’s getting worse tonight,” she said. “Gorgon’s got half the boys fixing the west fence. The other half is arguing about who’s taking first watch.”
“All because of Cole,” Kimi said quietly.
“No, because of you,” Trudi corrected.
The words landed harder than Kimi expected. She looked down at the mug in her hands. “I didn’t ask for this.”
“I know,” Trudi said. “Trouble doesn’t care what you ask for, though. It just finds people, and after it ruins their lives, it moves on. Hell, sometimes, it even moves in, and there’s no getting rid of it.”
Her gaze sharpened slightly. “You in love with him yet?”
Kimi let out a soft, humorless laugh. It was easier than giving her an honest answer. “You’re kidding, right?”
Trudi smiled at her. “I’ve seen that look on your face before. The kind that keeps a man awake when everything’s quiet.” She tilted her head. “And I’ve seen his face when he thinks nobody’s watching. He’s already there.” Something in Kimi’s chest tightened. Could Trudi be reading the situation correctly? Was she in love with Gorgon? Was he really in love with her?
“You,” Trudi added gently, “are still trying to talk yourself out of it, though, and I’m pretty sure that Gorgon has accepted his fate.” Kimi didn’t respond—she didn’t trust herself to. Trudi stood, moving to the window, pulling the curtain aside. Snow fell in steady sheets, endless and suffocating. Beyond the floodlights, a single headlight cut through the dark.
