Chapter Thirty-Three

Rocky

The more time that passed, the more worried Rocky became. Aiden was going through the motions, clicking away at the keys of the computer Blade had brought, as the guys questioned Rich about what he'd revealed. The other man didn't know much about Drake's plan. Everything he knew was what he'd already said before the other men were called in.

Aiden hadn't said a word since being handed the laptop over half an hour ago. No one else seemed surprised, Aiden was known for getting caught up in what he was doing and not contributing to a conversation unless he had something useful to add. It worried Rocky now though, because he was well aware that it wouldn't take Aiden as long as thirty minutes to find what he was after if he knew exactly what he was looking for. Why hadn't he found it? Or had he, and he just wasn't ready to talk yet?

As Rocky did a closer inspection of his lover, he realized that he didn't see any of the signs Aiden usually showed when he was focused on a task. His brow wasn't scrunched in concentration, his mouth wasn't pursed, he wasn't muttering at his computer. His boy was playing possum and that worried Rocky even more because Aiden had never been one to put off for later what he could do now. He'd never had problems saying what was on his mind. Sure, he'd hidden part of himself from the club but he'd never shied away from anything otherwise. Rocky really didn't like that he seemed to be doing so now.

"What can you tell us about him so far, baby?"

Rocky hoped his question would pull Aiden out of whatever he was thinking. He'd be damned if he let this shake his boy without him trying to prevent it. He might not be able to fix this, but he could do his damndest to be sure that as little damage was inflicted on his baby boy's heart as possible.

"Um," Aiden's eyes glanced around the few booths they'd commandeered in Ralf's to the men gathered as a blush heated his cheeks before he cleared his throat, "When I was looking through the members, I missed him because he isn't a full member. At the time we figured it had to be a full member."

"Yeah, I remember thinking it was someone on the security detail at Spike's because of Arabella's ex waltzing right on into his house." This came from Stone and his words had a look tightening on Spike's face. The other man still hadn't completely forgiven himself for being knocked unconscious the night Arabella had been taken by her evil ex.

"Yeah, I didn't waste resources on more than a cursory look into prospects. When I had the chance to look further, I noticed he had a sister who was deceased, but I didn't look into it further. If I had, we might have caught him a lot sooner."

Oh, hell no! There was no way he was letting Aiden blame himself for this, "There was no reason to think we needed to look further, baby. Why would we? We thought we were looking for a full member."

"Yeah, well, anyway…" When Aiden didn't continue for a bit Rocky reached over and grabbed his hand, giving a light squeeze of comfort and encouragement. "His sister was killed. She was staying at a battered women's shelter when the enraged ex of one of her two roommates broke in and killed all three of them."

"Wait," Blade cut in, "Are you saying what the fuck I think you're saying?"

"Yeah, his sister was killed at the Hope's Stand Women's Shelter shooting."

Hope's Stand was the women's shelter they'd taken the very first woman they'd ever liberated from an abusive marriage to. They'd been new to their mission, dumb enough to believe if they just got her out and got her to the shelter, she'd be fine. She hadn't been.

It hadn't taken long at all for her ex-husband to figure out where she was and kill three innocent women–one of whom had apparently been Drake's sister. Since then, they'd learned to be much more careful, but they were all still haunted by the women who'd paid the price for the club being too young and naive.

"Fuck!" Blade's curse was loud enough for a few heads in the diner to turn their way, but no one looked for too long, "How did we not catch this when he first came to us?"

"There wasn't really a reason to go deep enough to find the information. He doesn't share the same last name as his sister since they were half siblings. Different dads. No red flags came up, so there was no reason to dive deeper."

Rocky was so fucking proud of Aiden. He knew his baby was hurting, and yet he continued on speaking as though nothing bothered him.

"Well, fuck." Blade's curse that time was much quieter. He turned his head toward Rich and asked in a low tone, "Wouldn't happen to know where we can find him right about now, would you?"

Rich visibly gulped before squeaking out, "No." He cleared his throat and then said, "But we're supposed to meet for dinner tonight."

"Where and when?"

Aiden

Aiden felt as if he'd disconnected from the scene around him. He felt stupid and beyond betrayed. He'd thought Rich had genuinely liked him and wanted to be friends, but Rich had simply been trying to get information to use against him. How could he have been foolish enough to think he'd made a friend?

He was aware of Daddy's hand smoothing up and down his back, the guys making plans to meet with Drake instead of Rich, but it was like he was observing the scene, rather than part of it. He wasn't paying attention to what was said, he couldn't. It was as if his senses had shut down. He knew in a vague, dreamlike way, that things were happening, but he couldn't focus on any of it.

Aiden startled when Rich entered his line of sight, looking for all the world like he'd lost his best friend, but had he? Had Rich ever even been his friend? Aiden didn't know what to do with deception. It was a foreign concept to him in most cases. Sure, he'd kept some things from the club, but he'd never outright lied to them. If any of them had asked him, they'd have learned the truth about Aiden long ago. He couldn't understand Rich coming to him with the intent to deceive him.

"I came to you because I consider you a friend. I know I approached you for the wrong reasons at first, but over the months I've come to know you better. I genuinely like you, Aiden, and I think we have a lot more in common than either of us knew. I just hope you can forgive me."

Rich didn't wait for Aiden's reply, he turned for the door, shoulders drooping and looking defeated. Aiden almost felt sorry for him, but as soon as the feeling welled he reminded himself that Rich had been playing a part.

But then, why would he say what he just had?

Aiden's head was beginning to swim. Everything around him was blurring and it was becoming harder for him to focus on any one thing. His mind was overloaded and he could tell he was about to shut down.

Before it could become too bad, he turned to his Daddy and whispered, "Get me out of here, please."

Aiden didn't have to say more than that and, for the first time in his life, he completely trusted another person and let go. He didn't know what followed those words, he'd retreated into himself too far to care. He simply needed to escape the overload of noise around him and the rioting emotions inside him. So, he did. Trusting that his Daddy would know what he needed.