Kimera Chapter 10

A day later, I was still thinking about Spawn’s call last night. Seeing his name appear on my phone had shaken me. I almost didn’t answer but found I couldn’t resist. I hadn’t heard a peep out of him since he’d texted me after I left Bristol. At the time, I didn’t trust myself to answer him, so I didn’t. When he never texted again or called, I figured he’d forgotten all about me. After all, why would he keep trying to talk to me? The first time was merely because of Troian, no doubt.

Hearing his voice made my whole body tingle and made me miss him more than I already was. Which sounded crazy when I thought about it. We’d only known each other for less than two months. Most of that time, we’d spent arguing with each other. I should be happy to be away from him, but I wasn’t. Even when he called me Hotcake, I smiled. The name was growing on me, although I wouldn’t tell him it was.

When I rejoined Claudia and Sonny after ending the call, they’d asked me who was on the phone. I’d told them about the Punishers and their families. I hadn’t said much about Spawn. I tried to downplay it.

“Oh, it was just someone back in Bristol wanting to check on me,” I said as I sat down on the couch. It was quiet since the kids were in bed.

“Who? Troian?” Claudia asked.

“No, not her. Is that one of the kids I hear?” I asked, trying to divert her.

“Kimera, you don’t have to tell us if you’d rather not. I was just curious. Sorry,” she said with a hesitant smile. I felt bad for making her uneasy.

“No, it’s alright. Sorry, I didn’t mean to act weird. It was actually one of the men. His name is Spawn. He wanted to know how I was doing and if I knew when I’d be back. They had a party tonight for one of their prospects, Colt. He’s now a patched member and going by the name Gravel.”

“Really, that sounds like fun. I can’t believe you know a motorcycle club. It seems wild and so different from the way you said they are and what I’ve seen and heard,” she said.

“They are. I admit I was surprised when I first got to know them. They’re a great bunch, and the guys are totally protective of their women and kids.”

“Why would Spawn call you and not Troian? Is he someone special?” Sonny asked.

I was taking a drink from my glass when he asked. I choked. As I sputtered and turned pink, he laughed, then said, “I guess that answers my question. So, tell us about him. What’s he like? What does he think of you being here? Why didn’t he come with you?”

I had to wait until I could speak to answer him. Claudia might back off, but I’d found Sonny wouldn’t. I liked him better for it, at least when it came to Claudia and their kids. “He’s their computer expert, a hacker, I guess you’d call him. He’s nothing like I thought a hacker would be. He’s good friends with Lash, Troi’s man. As for what he thinks of why I’m here, they don’t know why I came. All I told them was I needed time away.” I didn’t tell them more because I didn’t want to give away the fact I’d been attacked in Bristol. They didn’t need to know that.

“Why? God, are the two of you involved, and I caused trouble between you? I should’ve thought more before calling you,” Claudia fretted.

“No, we’re not together. Please, I’m happy you reached out to me after all this time. I’ve always wondered what happened to you. I didn’t know what to tell them.”

That statement led to us talking more about why I was there and what we’d been able to do so far, which wasn’t much. I was frustrated and on the brink of asking for help, but if I did, then I’d have to explain why to the club. I wasn’t sure I could handle them knowing.

My phone buzzed, making me jump. I glanced at it. It was a message from Claudia asking if I was still coming over for dinner. I hurried to tell her yes. As soon as I did, I got up from my hotel bed and went to the bathroom to freshen up. There was no use daydreaming. Tonight, we were planning our strategies more.

Ten minutes later, I was ready to go. She wouldn’t care if I came early. It was better than moping around here. Grabbing my purse and a jacket, I checked to make sure I had everything I needed. Seeing the phone I’d left on the bed, I grabbed it. Putting it in my pocket, I hurried to the door. I opened the door and then froze. Standing there with his arm raised was Spawn. He had a somber expression on his face. My purse fell out of my nerveless hand to the ground.

“Kimera, hello, sweetheart,” his deep voice made me shiver.

I didn’t know what to say. All I could do was stare at him like an idiot. My legs went weak, so I had to grab the door frame to keep from falling. Seeing me do that, he frowned, and then I was swept back into the room as he closed the door. His arm wrapped around me and supported me to the bed. I thumped down.

“Babe, are you alright?”

“I-I’m…W-what’re you doing here? How did you find me?” I croaked stupidly. Duh, he was a hacker.

He sat next to me. His arm around my shoulders soothingly rubbed lightly up and down my arm, adding to my goosebumps. “Let me get you a drink. Then I’ll answer your questions. Stay,” he said before he got up and picked up the empty glass on my nightstand. He went to the bathroom. While he was gone, I struggled to get my brain to work.

He was back before I accomplished that. After sinking down in front of me, he held it up to my mouth. I tried to take it away from him, but he held onto it. I let him tip it up so I could take a sip. I pressed his hand away once I had enough to wet my dry mouth. “Thank you,” I said.

“You’re welcome. Now, you wanted to know what I’m doing here and how I found you. Let me answer the last question first. You know what I do for a living, baby. I’m a hacker, among other things. You’ve been gone for two weeks and wouldn’t tell Troian or me where you went. You told me last night you had no idea when you were coming home. I had to come and make sure you were alright. I’m here to help you with whatever brought you back here. I didn’t get the impression you had friends here.”

“How did you know I was here in this hotel?”

“I can access camera systems, the DMV, credit card accounts, bank accounts, phones, and more. It wasn’t that hard,” he explained.

Terror filled me. “What else did you find when you went searching for me?”

“I didn’t dig into more. I wanted to give you a chance to tell me what’s going on. Who are you visiting? Why?”

“Please, don’t ask me that, Spawn. I need you to turn around and go home. I’m begging you,” I whimpered.

He frowned and shook his head no. “Baby, I can’t do that. It’s obvious from the way you’re reacting that it’s something serious, and you’re scared. Let me help you. Surely you know me, and the club will help you?” He was holding my hands as he said it.

I hung my head and stared at our intertwined hands. God, the feel of his hands on mine felt so good. Just a tiny touch and I felt safe. “Spawn, I know you all would. It’s not that. It’s the fact you shouldn’t have to deal with it.”

“Do you remember what I told you when you went back to your house? How I wanted you to be mine?” he asked. I nodded yes. I had thought about it so many times.

“That right there makes this mine to help you deal with, no matter what it is. Even if you weren’t, as a friend to Troian and the club, I’d still do it. First, let me get us something to eat then we can talk. You’re pale as a ghost. I don’t want you fainting.”

I gasped. “Oh God, I have to call Claudia. They’re expecting me for dinner soon.”

“Whose Claudia? Is she the woman you’ve been visiting while you’re here? The one with a husband and two kids?”

“I thought you said you didn’t dig further!”

“I know about them, but only their names, nothing else. Were you going over just for dinner, or is there more to it?”

“Spawn, don’t—” I went to plead, but he cut me off.

“I’m not leaving until you tell me everything. And I have some things to confess to you as well. Something I’m not proud of, but you need to know. Now, we can do it just the two of us or with them since I think they’re involved. Your call, but before you decide, I do have something else to ask you first.”

I could see that he wasn’t about to let me get away with not telling him. I’d been debating anyway if it was time to tell the club to see if they might be able to help. My shame wasn’t worth letting this continue. Plus, I was tired. “Fine, we’ll talk. Ask what you want, and then I’ll let them know that I’m not coming tonight.”

“Good. What I want is for you to call me Aidan, at least when it’s just us. Will you do that, please?”

“Aidan? That’s your name? I thought you only went by your road name.”

“Yes, it’s Aidan Priestley, actually, and we typically don’t allow people to use our actual name unless it’s someone special, as in our old lady or sometimes our blood family. Nothing would make me happier than to have you use it, Kimera.”

My heart skipped. I was stunned but also excited. Surely, he wouldn’t want me to do that unless he was serious about us despite the way I’d pushed him away and what happened with the Gusevs. But would he knowing the whole truth make him change his mind? “If you want me to call you Aidan after we talk, then I will, but you might change your mind once you hear what I have to say.”

“There’s nothing you can tell me that will do that. Unless you’re already married or have a boyfriend.”

“No, I don’t have either of those.”

“I’m relieved to hear it. Would you like me to get us something to eat before we do this? I can bring it in, or we can go out if you prefer.”

“No, no food yet. I wouldn’t be able to eat it, and if I did, I’d probably throw up. Let me do this before I chicken out.”

He eased around on the bed, putting his back to the headboard. He patted the bed beside him. I slowly moved up there. He took my hand again and gently squeezed it. Taking a moment to compose myself, I began to tell him about my past.

“My parents couldn’t raise me. When I was three, they gave me over to my mom’s mother to raise. She’s the one I told you taught me how to cook. I had her until I was ten. When she died, there was no family to take me in, or at least none I knew of, so I was sent to be a foster kid. I was matched to a family for about a year, but it was only temporary while the foster system tried to find me a permanent place. When I was eleven, I went to another family. They were great. I really liked them, and they treated me well. I think I would’ve stayed with them until I was eighteen, except the mom got sick and died when I was thirteen.

“I wasn’t placed with a family again until I was fourteen. They’d had foster kids before me. They treated me well overall. I had no complaints. I was with them for almost a year when they took in another girl. She was three years younger than me, and her name was Claudia.”

“Claudia, the same woman you’ve been visiting?”

“Yes, the same one. It was great having a younger sister. I always wanted one growing up. We were close, and we were the only foster children in the house at the time. The family had a natural son, Paden, who was older than us, but he didn’t live with them. He lived a couple of hours away and was in college. I never even saw him the first year I was there. It was several months after Claudia came when he came home claiming he needed a break from college.” I paused because talking about this was hard. I’d only wanted to forget it, but recent events made it impossible.

“Kimera, what did he do?” Spawn growled.

I fought back the tears that wanted to fall from my eyes. I wasn’t able to meet his gaze. His hand gently gripped my chin and raised it up, not giving me a choice. “Tell me. Let it go,” he said softly.

“He seemed not to pay much attention to us unless he was picking on us. He would play practical jokes on us all the time, but they were never funny. They were humiliating or cruel. We kept wishing he’d go back to school, but he didn’t. His parents thought he was an angel, and telling on him got us in trouble, not him. Then, two months after he moved back in, his parents were out of town for the night for a class reunion. They left him in charge. Claudia and I were in bed. We were lucky enough to have our own bedrooms, which wasn’t usually the case.”

His hand tightened on my face a bit. God, this was so hard to do. I wanted to run out of the hotel and hide, but I’d come this far. I had to finish it.

“I woke up because I heard a weird noise. At first, I had no idea what it was. It was dark in my room, and the clock showed it was after one in the morning. I was about to go back to sleep, thinking I had imagined it when he appeared next to the bed. I let out a little scream and asked him what was wrong. I thought something happened with his parents being gone like an accident.”

My stomach was cramped, and I wrapped my arms around it. “Finish it,” he urged me. There was a fire which had started to burn in his stare.

“He stared at me funny, and it made me begin to worry. I was about to tell him to leave when he lunged at me, pinned me down, and put his hand over my mouth. He told me he had been watching me, and I’d teased him enough. It was time to give him what he wanted. I tried to fight him, but he was much bigger than me. We struggled and fought, but I couldn’t get him off me. We fought for a long time, and then he-he raped me,” I whispered.

Spawn let out a loud roar and jumped to his feet. The rage on his face was scary. I moved further across the bed. When he saw me do it, he tried to school his features to be calmer. He paced back and forth as I huddled there for several minutes before he said anything.

“What did his parents say when you told them?”

“I didn’t tell them,” I mumbled.

“You didn’t tell them! Why not? It wasn’t your fault, you know that, don’t you? He was an adult, and you were a child. How old were you?”

“I was fifteen, close to sixteen. I couldn’t tell them. He threatened me if I did. He said if I told and if I didn’t let him have me whenever he wanted, he’d get it from Claudia. She was thirteen but developing fast, Aidan! I couldn’t let him do that to her, so I submitted.” The tears escaped. Now he knew my biggest shame. I felt so dirty telling him.

He was over to me and back on the bed, holding me in a flash. “Shh, baby, don’t cry. It’s alright. Is there more? With that happening, why come back here even to see Claudia? You can’t have good memories of this place.”

“There’s more. He kept it up for the next four months. Thank God he used a condom every time, or knowing my luck, I would’ve gotten pregnant.”

“Why did it stop?”

“I finally got the courage to tell his parents.”

“How did they take it?”

“They thought I was lying, and they sent me back to the orphanage. I was terrified he’d target Claudia next, but I heard he left and went back to college a few days after they sent me back to the group home. After I turned eighteen, I got far away from here, went to school, and ended up in Bristol. Claudia was moved to another foster home, too, eventually, and I lost track of her. That is until she contacted me two weeks ago and said she wanted to see me. She said we needed to talk. That’s why I packed up Toro and we came here.”

“Speaking of Toro, where is he? Why isn’t he with you?”

“This hotel has a policy against animals, even if they’re a service animal. I tried to tell them he was my protection, but they didn’t care. I tried to find one that would allow him, but they all said they were full. I don’t think it’s legal for them to do that, but I didn’t have a choice. He’s been staying at Claudia and Sonny’s house. The kids love him, and he’s getting all kinds of attention, so he’s in heaven.”

“I need to know what Claudia wanted to talk to you about. Then you’re gonna tell me that fuckers full name and anything else you know about him. Is he still here in Lake Charles?” he snarled.

“We think he is. Claudia called me because she saw him in town. He approached her on the street and was inappropriate. She was running errands and he scared her. When she told Sonny, he tried to find him, but he couldn’t. She wanted to tell me about it and what he said in order to warn me. He mentioned my name to her, and that clued her into what he did to me. God, it was all for nothing! I let him continue to hurt me to protect her, never knowing he was doing it to her too and using the threat that if she told and didn’t submit, he’d come after me,” I sobbed.

Thinking about it and how I’d felt and then to have Spawn know it made me sick to my stomach. It rebelled. I shot off the bed and ran into the bathroom. I lost what little I had in my belly. As I heaved, my hair was pulled back. I moaned. He was standing there helping me. I didn’t want him to see this. It was gross.

“Please, go, you don’t need to see this,” I moaned.

“Like hell, I’ll leave you alone. How is your belly feeling? Better?” he asked. I’d stopped throwing up after the third heave. I nodded my head yes. It wasn’t rolling nearly as much.

“Good, stay there,” he said as he stepped away. I watched as he got a cup off the sink and filled it with water and some of the mouthwash I had on the counter. Then he wet a washcloth before bringing both to me. The washcloth was placed in my hand, and the glass was put into my other hand. “Swish and spit.”

I did as he instructed. I was too tired and drained to argue. When I was done, he gently wiped my face and then helped me to my feet. He held onto me as he guided me out of the bathroom and over to the bed. “Lay down, babe.”

I crawled onto the bed, and he sat beside me. He rubbed my back. I was facing away from him. “Babe, why didn’t you tell us this, especially after what happened with the Gusevs? It had to have brought back all the shit that fucker did to you. We could’ve found him and taken care of him already. You don’t need to be doing this alone,” he chastised me a little.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that! You just took out five men. You and the club didn’t need to add more bodies to your resume. The more you do, the more likely it is you’ll get caught. Yes, the Gusevs brought things back I thought I’d conquered, but you need to know something.”

“What’s that?” He sounded tense.

“They didn’t rape me that night. It was close, so close, but you bursting in when you did saved me. Zandro was about to do it when you guys came storming in. I couldn’t say anything because I was afraid I’d blurt out what happened when I was a kid. I don’t want to make this your business. It’s Claudia and I’s fight. It’s time he was made to pay for what he did. God knows how many others he’s done this to. I should’ve gone to the police, but when his parents didn’t believe me, I figured no one else would either.”

“When are you going to realize that anything that happens to you is my business? The club isn’t letting this go, and I sure as hell won’t. You’ll be safe. I promise you that. Tell me his name. Let me protect you. It’s my job and my honor to do it, my little She-Wolf.”

“She-Wolf? What’s up with calling me that?” I asked. I’d never heard him use it before. It was always Hotcake or Babe. Coming from him, I now found I didn’t mind being called babe or baby.

He grinned. “You are so feisty and ready to defend others even if it places you in danger. You’re like a she-wolf protecting her cubs. Would you prefer Hotcake?”

I pushed him, and he barely rocked. “Keep calling me Hotcake, and I may have to beat you. As for she-wolf, I think I like it. It sounds strong. God knows I need to be that. It might help.”

“Kimera, you’re already strong. Look at all you went through, and you’re still standing. That bastard can’t run and hide from me. He’ll get what he has coming to him, and it’ll be because of you. I think we should let you rest and then I’d like to meet Claudia and her husband. I need all the details I can get to track him. Also, I have to make sure you’re safe. If he’s around, I don’t want him seeing you and trying anything. Will you take me to meet them?”

I didn’t want to involve him or the club, but it did make me feel better knowing they would help and have our backs. After a minute or so of silence, I answered him. “Yes, I can do that. I need to check with them to make sure they’re alright with it, but I don’t see them minding. Anything to make Paden pay.”

The way he twisted his mouth told me that he had some very painful ideas on how to make him pay. I knew I wouldn’t mind them at all. Some might even coincide with mine.

“I’ll call them right now,” I told him as I took my phone out of my pocket. I found Claudia’s name and hit the call button.

It took three rings before she answered. “Hey, are you on your way yet? We’re running a bit behind.”

“I haven’t left the hotel yet, but I have someone here who wants to come meet you and Sonny. He can help us. Would that be alright?”

Her cheeriness switched to caution. I could hear it in her voice. “It depends on exactly who wants to meet us. I thought we were the only ones who knew about you-know-who.” I heard Sonny murmuring in the background, asking her what was up. She told him she’d tell him in a minute.

“Remember I told you about Spawn with the Iron Punishers? He’s here, and he knows what happened. He wants to help and to do that he needs all the information we can give him.”

“What!? He’s here? Oh my God, a real biker is offering to help. Yes, bring him to dinner. Hurry and get here,” she said excitedly.

I laughed. “Control yourself, Claud. He’ll be afraid to come with you acting all hyper,” I teased.

“Hey, I’m an old married lady. I have to get my thrills somehow. No, Sonny, I’m not trying to replace you, but I’ve never talked to a real biker before. I’ve seen them. I wanna meet him and ask him some questions,” she told him in a whisper that wasn’t really a whisper. I glanced at Spawn to find he had an amused look on his face. He winked at me.

“Tell her I’ll answer her questions and ask her what’s for dinner. Do we need to bring anything? I’m starved.”

I had it on speaker, so she heard him. A squeal came through the phone. “Oh, goody. No need to bring anything but yourselves. Toro is waiting impatiently for his momma. See you in a bit, and Spawn?”

“Yeah.”

“Be prepared for a lot of questions.”

This earned her a laugh. I told her we’d see her soon, then hung up. I sat up. “Give me a couple of minutes to make myself presentable, and then we can go,” I told him as I scooted off the mattress.

“I’ll be right here waiting, although you’re more than presentable, babe.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. I went to the bathroom to compose myself. I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake involving him. If something happened to him or the club, I’d never forgive myself, but I’d run out of ideas to find the bastard.