Chapter Sixteen

Rocky

Rocky stood in the doorway of Aiden's office and watched as he cleaned up the mess he'd made. It was still early and no one else was around yet. Rocky wrestled with himself, part of him wanting to approach his boy, because something was definitely bothering him and Rocky had a strong need to help. There was another part of him, though, that was focused on the promise he'd made to keep their relationship secret at the club. No one else was here but they were in the club.

"I almost feel you thinking back there," Aiden said into the silence.

Rocky moved forward, approaching Aiden while reminding himself over and over that this was not the place for his control to slip. "Something is bothering you," he replied. "I'm trying to figure out what it might be and how I can help."

"I think I'm just tired." Aiden's words were casual but he motioned for Rocky to follow him, and headed toward his desk, "I don't know why I decided to come before dawn and clean my office."

Rocky was so confused by Aiden's words but some of the confusion slipped away as Aiden pointed under his desk then cupped his ear. Starting to gain more understanding of the situation, Rocky bent down and spotted the little black listening device. Rocky was sure that when he looked back at Aiden the shock of what he'd seen showed on his face.

"I think I need some coffee. You want some?" Aiden asked casually as he headed for the door.

"Sure," Rocky said, hoping his voice was as casual as his boy's was, "Why not?'

They walked down the hall and to a room set up very much like a breakroom. Neither spoke until the coffee had brewed and they both held steaming cups, Aiden's heavily laced with flavored cream and sugar. Rocky eyed the cup thinking that if Aiden insisted on that much sugar in his coffee, he'd have to limit it for more than caffeine content. He didn't want his sweet boy to get cavities from having a little coffee with his sugar.

"They're targeting me." Aiden finally spoke and Rocky felt his body go rigid at Aiden's words.

"Why do you say that, baby?" If Aiden noticed Rocky using the endearment in the club, he didn't mention it but Rocky noticed and vowed to be more careful. He might not care who knew they were together, but Aiden still did and he'd respect that.

"The bug I showed you is the only one. There wasn't anything in any of the other offices or any of the common rooms. Only my office."

"Shit." Rocky didn't like this one bit. It was bad enough that they had a traitor to begin with but to have them focusing their efforts on his boy was something that made Rocky's rage ignite. When they figured out who this fucker was, Rocky was going to annihilate them. The grief on Aiden's face was killing him. All he wanted was to pull Aiden into his arms and tell him everything would be okay.

"How do I tell Blade that I'm how the traitor got all their information? They didn't hack the system; they left an obvious bug that I should have thought of a long time ago. I didn't check and that's why all of this happened. I wasn't thorough and people I care about paid the price."

Fuck it. There was no way Rocky was letting these thoughts continue. Rocky could reason that if Aiden had been upset like this before they'd gotten together, he'd have done the same thing. Rocky pulled Aiden into a hug and put as much strength and command in his voice as he could as he said, "This is not your fault, you hear me? No one thought of this and you aren't the one who put it there. The only person at fault here is the bastard that's fucking with us. I won't have you taking the guilt for their actions. I won't have you carrying that burden."

Aiden shuddered in his embrace and despite their location and the fact that anyone could show up at any time, said the most beautiful words ever strung together. "Yes, Daddy."

Aiden

Aiden looked up as Blade entered. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the conversation to come and let it out slowly as he felt a thumb subtly stroking his hip. A small gesture from Rocky to let Aiden know he was there, something Aiden appreciated greatly. They'd been waiting in Blade's office for a while now, hoping to talk to the club president right away.

"Pup, Rocky, what are y'all doing here?" Blade glanced curiously at them as he took a seat behind his desk, "Is there a problem with the contractors?"

"I know how the traitor got at least some of their information." Aiden didn't bother trying to soften the words. Not only was it an ugly topic that wouldn't get prettier if he used flowery words to talk about it, but Aiden also just really wanted to get this conversation over with so they could move on to how to catch the traitor.

Blade sat up straight in his seat, going from friend to club president in zero point five seconds. "Tell me."

Aiden explained about finding the bug in his office. When Blade began to question if they should be talking in the club at all, he explained how he'd searched everywhere and the only listening device he could find was in his own office. Then, after taking a deep breath, he explained the beginnings of a plan blooming in his mind.

By the time everything was done, it was barely eleven o'clock in the morning, but Aiden felt more like it was eleven o'clock at night. He was physically and emotionally exhausted. He didn't argue when Rocky helped him up and barely paid attention as Rocky offered some vague excuse about his head and stress before leading him from the building and back home. All he had the energy for was being grateful.

Aiden closed his eyes as soon as he was seated in the car and when he opened them again, he was being lifted from his seat by strong arms under his knees and his back. He didn't understand why he was so tired, but he didn't have the energy to dwell on it, so he rested his head on his Daddy's broad chest and let the steady beat of his heart lull him back under.

Aiden stirred again as he was placed on the bed. He was aware of his boots being removed and his jeans and cut being stripped from him. He remembered rolling onto his side in just his shirt and boxer briefs, having the covers tucked around him and Octavia placed in his arms. He vaguely remembered Rocky brushing the hair back from his forehead before pressing a kiss where the hair had laid, but before Rocky's lips had even fully lifted from his skin, Aiden had slipped back into a deep and dreamless sleep.