Buck shrugged, “Trudi said she ate some. She picked up her tray this morning on her way down to make breakfast. She said that the girl asked where the nearest bus station was.”
He almost laughed. “She’s not catching a bus out of here.” If she wanted to run, her only option was her car, and he had made sure that it wasn’t going to start for her. He had one of his guys take out the spark plugs so that if she tried to leave, she wouldn’t be able to do so in her car.
Buck’s eyes lifted. “You planning to tell her that before or after she tries to head out to find a bus station?” Gorgon didn’t answer. He took another sip of coffee, and the black sludge scalded his tongue. He set the mug down as though it had offended him in some way. “Find out what you can about this Cole asshole who followed her here. I have no last name for him yet, but he’s the kind of man who leaves a record that can be traced.”
“You think he’s after property or payback?” Buck asked.
“Neither,” Gorgon said flatly. “It’s about ownership. You see the way he looked at her? That wasn’t about money.”
Buck nodded. “Then he’ll come back. Men like that don’t just let a woman like Kimi go—not without a fight.”
“I’m counting on it,” Gorgon spat. He was always up for a fight. The question that plagued him was why he’d want to fight for a woman he’d just met. She meant nothing to him, but for some reason, he was ready to lead his men to war over her, and that scared the hell out of him. He never lost his head over a woman before, but something about Kimi had him running in circles.
“I’ll see what I can find out,” Buck offered. “And when I have something, I’ll report back.” Gorgon nodded and grabbed his mug of coffee, heading back to his office. He had some work to do, and then, he’d find Kimi and get the answers to his questions. One way or another, he was going to find out what Cole wanted with her and why.
By midmorning, the clubhouse was busy. Engines revved in the yard; laughter blotted through the buzz of machinery. But the building surrounded by that noise felt different, like the air was leaning in to listen. Gorgon could tell his people were waiting—wanting to know who Kimi was and what she’d brought to their door.
He found her where he hadn’t expected her: sitting at the bar, turning her mug of tea in slow circles. He was sure that he’d have to pry her, kicking and screaming, from her room. Trudi was behind the counter, wiping down glasses and pretending not to watch them both.
Kimi looked up when he entered the room; her expression was unreadable. Her hair was tied back messily, and she had shadows under her eyes. She had showered and cleaned up, but the jacket still looked too thin for this cold.
“You always stare that hard before you say good morning?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t say good morning,” he replied.
She smiled just barely. “Figures.”
He gestured toward the hall. “Walk with me.” Her expression flickered—something between suspicion and resignation. He thought that she was going to tell him to go to hell, but she nodded and followed him anyway.
He led her through the back hallway toward the shop, where the roaring noise dropped off into echoing quiet. The smell of oil and steel filled the air. Bikes gleamed under the fluorescent lights, half-rebuilt machines in various states of resurrection. He stopped beside one of his old Harleys, the matte black framepitted with age. “This place has rules,” he said, turning to face her.
Kimi crossed her arms. “What kind of rules?”
“Well, the number one rule is that nobody disappears without talking to me first,” he said.
“That sounds a lot like prison,” she grumbled.
“Then it’s the safest prison you’ll ever be in, honey,” he said evenly. “You walk out there without protection; you won’t make it five miles before someone finds you.”
“You mean Cole?” she asked.
Gorgon met her eyes. “Or someone worse.”
For a second, her confidence seemed to waver. Then she said, “I’m not sure that there is anyone worse than Cole. I can handle myself,” she insisted. “You don’t know me or what I’m capable of.”
“I know someone who’s scared when I see them. And I know when someone’s trying really hard to kill that fear by pretending it isn’t there,” he said. From the look in her eyes, his assumptions were correct.
Her jaw tightened. “You don’t have to keep me here, Gorgon. I’ll only bring more trouble to you and your men.”
He stepped closer until he could feel the heat of her. He towered over her, making her crane her neck to look up at him. “You’re under my roof, and that means you’re my responsibility. I don’t drop what’s mine.”
“Even when they could wreck your whole life and your club?” she challenged.
He almost smiled. “Especially then.”
Kimi turned away, her arms hugging around her like armor. “You can’t keep this up forever. People like Cole?—”
“Always get what’s coming to them,” Gorgon said. The calm in his tone made her falter.
