Kimera Chapter 3

The past several days had been confusing, to say the least. While a small part of it was the Punishers as a whole, it was mainly one member, Spawn, who caused the bulk of it. He kept throwing me off-kilter, and I didn’t know what to do about it. I tried to avoid him and thinking about how he made me feel.

The club had not only been very happy to see Troian back, but they’d welcomed me, a total stranger, too. Not only did that surprise me, but so did how they treat their women and kids. Most of the members were single, but they were still helpful and affectionate toward the women and kids.

I got a good dose of it when they had Aryas first birthday party. She was Alisse and Ink’s daughter. The clubhouse’s common area had been cleaned and decorated in purple-and-teal balloons and streamers, and all the table covers, paper plates, and other decor matched. She’d gotten a ton of gifts since every member bought her more than one thing. Her cake had been a masterpiece. Other than her and Lily, Cheyenne and Reaper’s daughter, there was one other child, Flynn.

I was surprised to find out he was the adopted son of Maniac and his wife, Lark. They treated him as if he was their natural-born son. It brought up memories I didn’t want to think about. They were too painful, even if I was happy they treated him the way they did.

I’d laughed so hard watching Arya bury her face and hands in her piece of cake and get it everywhere. Her daddy instigated her to do it, too. The adults hung out, talked, and had a few drinks, but it was mainly about the kids. They played with them and had a ball. What would it be like to grow up being loved and wanted like that?

The compound was awe-inspiring. Not only the size of it but what they had. There were several houses, along with a big clubhouse and play and picnic areas. I was told back through the woods there were a couple of storage buildings, too. Toro was in heaven. He had acres and acres to run to his heart’s content. Sure, my place had a large yard, and my neighbor allowed us to walk on his property, but I didn’t let Toro run wild. I was afraid he’d get hurt, or someone might take him or shoot him, thinking he was a stray, even though he had a collar and was microchipped. It would kill me if I lost him.

The guys went to the clubhouse more than once for mystery meetings. Troian had explained they called those church and they discussed things. I asked Lash what they talked about and got a vague answer that it was club business. I asked her what club business was, but she could only say she didn’t know. Their unwillingness to answer made me huff in aggravation and to be wary. What did they have to hide?

I kept to my work schedule at the hospital. It wasn’t like I could take off from work just because there might be a slim possibility I could be hurt by Troi’s twisted family. If the threat of them kept me hidden, I’d never leave the property. She kept an eye on Toro while I was at work. He loved having someone to fuss over him. Usually, he stayed at home in the house while I was working.

The one thing that irked me was the club insisted I had to have an escort to work and back. I argued it wasn’t needed, but they refused to listen or pull it, so I bided my time. Hopefully, they’d see soon that such a thing was overkill. Truly, it was Troi’s pleas and worry for me which made me stop fighting it.

Today, I was off work, and we were in Lash’s backyard playing ball with Toro. He had us laughing. He needed his exercise and things to keep his mind active, or he’d get into mischief, and that could end up costing Lash his furniture. I didn’t think he’d appreciate it. She was swearing Toro had a doggie smile, which I had to agree, he sort of did.

He was giving it to us again. Our giggles were cut short by the arrival of Lash and Spawn. My whole body tightened seeing Spawn. The man might make me want to fight with him, but he also caused me to have a physical sexual reaction to him, which I was more wary of than anything. The looks on their faces made me grip the arms of my chair tightly. Toro ran over to stand between them and the two of us. Troian asked them what was wrong.

“Babe, we just found out something. I need you to stay calm. There’s nothing to worry about. We’ve got you,” Lash said firmly. I knew he was trying to reassure her. She insisted he tell her.

I steeled myself to hear it. I knew it couldn’t be good, although having been beaten and left for dead was pretty damn hard to top in my book. I was wrong.

He grimaced before telling her they had more information on her other male cousins. Somehow, they’d confirmed that the four remaining ones who weren’t in prison were part of the business, too, with the one who was in prison, Andrik. We knew that was a possibility, and the club wanted to know for sure if they had anything to do with her being beaten. It was the latter they confirmed to us. A text was sent, and it consisted of her family talking about checking if the body had been found. They were headed to Bristol soon to find out.

She bent forward in her chair and gasped as she held her stomach. I shifted to go to her, but Lash beat me to it. He dropped to his knees in front of her and wrapped her in his arms. I could see the love he had for her on his face. In that instant, I knew he’d do anything for Troian, and he’d never hurt her as he had with his momentary need to confirm she wasn’t involved in that awful business.

He pleaded with her. “Baby, please, don’t be scared. We’re not gonna let them get near you. Now that we know it was them for sure, we can take care of this once and for all.” As he finished, his tone changed. It hardened. She pulled away to look at his face. He wasn’t smiling at her. Shit, this wasn’t good. She knew it, too. She immediately told him not to do anything that would get him or the others hurt or killed. She said her family wasn’t worth dying over or going to prison for. I wanted to holler and tell them the same.

Glancing at Spawn, I saw he was just as determined and unhappy as Lash. My heart fluttered. Lash put on a smile and assured her she had nothing to worry about. He seemed convinced they wouldn’t go to prison and would have the tools they needed to make it back alive. It was his next comments which made me take even more notice.

“This isn’t our first rodeo with people like this. Surely, the old ladies told you their stories.”

I hadn’t heard the other women’s stories, but Troi appeared to have. She admonished him even if they had done it before. There was no guarantee. He listed a few things that could happen to them in everyday life. She lay her head on his chest and closed her eyes. He held her and rubbed her back. Spawn came over to stand next to me. I didn’t look up. I couldn’t. If I did, I’d start telling him not to do anything to end up hurt, in prison, or killed. Eventually, she lifted her head and shifted her gaze to us, then back to her man.

“I’m not saying that I can stay. I haven’t decided that yet, so if that’s a condition of taking care of them, you now know it and can forget going after them.”

I expected him to argue that she needed to make her decision right then. I knew he loved her, but what if she left him? It was most likely he and his club would wash their hands of her, and she’d be on her own. Well, not alone because I’d stick by her. In the short time I’d known her, we’d gotten close. I had what I considered a best friend for the first time. I wasn’t gonna let her go it alone.

His declarations left me beyond stunned. A man was pledging that not only would he protect her even if she left but that she would always be his in his heart. It was heartwarming. She’d always have someone or something watching out for her. That last part made me think he meant there was something Spawn could do. I was learning the man was a whiz with computers.

She pushed Lash on that by asking what would happen if she found someone else. He didn’t look happy at the thought, but he was adamant he’d make sure she was safe, and that meant from whomever she was with. And he wouldn’t stop trying to win her back until she married.

“Lash, you can’t do that! What about your happiness? Having a wife and kids? You said you want that,” she cried.

“I want that with you. If I can’t have you as my wife and old lady, and those kids aren’t ours, then I don’t want them,” he said.

Troian sat there speechless at his revelation. She glanced at me. I gave her a speaking look, but she appeared too dazed to understand it.

I cleared my throat. “I think you’ve given Troian enough to think about. Tell me if I’m wrong, but you’re okay with them doing what needs to be done to protect you. Right?” I asked her. Troian nodded yes.

“Okay, then, why don’t you guys go do whatever it is you do, and Troian and I will fix something to eat? Are you hungry?” I asked as I rose to my feet.

Lash offered to bring in dinner rather than having us cook. I couldn’t help but tease them about forgetting about the ribs and pork we’d been cooking all day, along with baked beans and coleslaw.

Spawn was the one to answer first. “Hell no, you’re not wrong! Tell me what you need me to do.”

“Stay out of the kitchen. I don’t need you in my hair. Go plot with the guys or entertain Toro.”

“I’d entertain your dog if he didn’t look at me all the time like he was plotting ways to kill me and hide my body,” he told me as he and Toro exchanged looks of challenge.

I held back my giggle, but I did say, “Well then, I suggest you get to know him better, and maybe he’ll stop plotting. Give us an hour, maybe an hour and a half, and it’ll be ready. Shoo, we’ll be fine.” Surprisingly, my wave made them leave. Boy, they must either love barbeque or were starved, maybe both.

I hooked my arm through hers and walked her inside as I teased her to stop mooning. I assured her she wasn’t weak for likely forgiving his stupidity and how he made me melt when he told her how he’d watch over her and protect her even if she was with another man. Toro came inside with us and did his customary walk-through while we went to the kitchen.

The next hour was spent talking, cooking, and laughing. I had her help with my barbeque recipe. She questioned why we weren’t using the store-bought one in the fridge. I had to teach her that Yankees like her didn’t know what a religion barbeque could be in parts of the South. I teased her about how deprived she had been all her life, and I’d get a marriage proposal out of her after she tasted it. She thought it was hilarious.

The men rejoined us at the end of the hour and set the table for us. That was something else I wasn’t used to—men helping with household chores. Lash had cooked the other night. I’d seen him doing laundry, too. My experience was men thought of those as women’s work and would rather die than clean a dish or wash a load of laundry.

We got the food on the table, and we were all seated. Spawn pulled out my chair like Lash did Troian’s. I thanked him, and he winked at me. “You’re welcome,” he said.

We filled our plates and took our first bite. I loved ribs and pulled pork. Along with those two, brisket was up there too. I hadn’t found any in the freezer and didn’t want to ask Lash to go get some when Troi and I decided to do this yesterday. I smothered my laugh as Troian got up and came to my chair. She carefully kneeled and then took one of my hands in hers. The guys gave us puzzled looks.

“Kimmy, I love you. Will you marry me?”

“What the fuck?” Spawn choked out. He furrowed his brow and glanced at Lash.

“Hell, if I know. Maybe she took too many pain pills,” Lash answered.

He sounded so serious that combined with Spawn’s reaction, it had us exploding into laughter. We looked at them. She assured Lash she wasn’t high, then explained. When she said she could convince me to change teams to be with her, I laughed even harder.

I had to fight to choke my mirth back enough to say something. “Well, I guess I’ll have to take it back. Let’s run away with each other,” I offered her.

Lash had something to say about it as he helped her to her feet. Spawn didn’t disappoint me when he had his own remark to make, but what he said did stun me so much so that I didn’t warn him not to call me Hotcake.

“Hotcake, you don’t have to switch teams. If you want a proposal and an undying love declaration for your cooking, I’m your man. When do you want to get married? I’d like at least three kids, so I hope you’re on board with that.”

I scrambled to think and come up with a suitable comeback. I couldn’t let him know he was getting to me. “Well, Studcake, that’s nice, but I believe Troian’s offer is better. If you’re good, I might let you come to the wedding. Do you want to be the ring bearer?”

“Babe, you know you can’t resist me. Keep trying. I know you’ll see the light soon,” he told me as he smirked.

My snarky reply came out without me even thinking about it. “Oh, great, so I’ll be dying soon then because that’s the only light I’ll be seeing.”

His retort that he would rock my world made my heart beat faster. I’d never tell him, but it made my nipples harden. I had to stop this line of talk before I spontaneously combusted or begged him to take me on the table. I told him to eat and not let it get cold. He surprised me when he did it without a quick comeback. The noises the guys made and how they cleaned their plates made Troian and I grin.

I stood up. “Now, who’s ready for dessert?” I asked. The guys groaned.

“God, woman, you can’t expect me to eat dessert too,” Spawn growled.

“You don’t have to. You can watch me and Troian eat it. It’s just homemade banana cream pie. No biggie,” I said as I shrugged.

He bounded to his feet, almost falling as he ran to get clean plates and a knife. Lash whispered something in Troian’s ear. Spawn came back, and I cut the pie and scooped out slices for all of us. They inhaled it and didn’t leave a lick of it on their plates. Spawn’s moans were making me squirm. Lash called him on them before I did because I was about to excuse myself and go to my room to masturbate.

“Man, you gotta stop moaning like that. It’s indecent. You sound like you’re having sex.”

“Don’t judge me. You have no idea what I’d do for pie like this. Hotcake, who do you want me to kill? Or wipe their existence off the internet? I can make them disappear if you promise to make this once a week for the rest of our lives.”

I fought to hold on to my smile so they wouldn’t know how his offer hit me. I could think of someone he could kill. However, I couldn’t tell him that. He kept talking and teasing about the wedding being next month and asked if three kids were acceptable to me. He was willing to adopt, he said.

I wasn’t able to resist, telling him I thought six was better and a month was enough time, but making him this pie weekly would have him getting fat, although I didn’t see that happening. The man was ripped and worked out. You could tell it. That wasn’t just good genes, though they helped. He said he would exercise more to counteract it, then asked where I learned to cook like that. My memories made me smile.

“My granny taught me. She loved to cook, and I spent a lot of time with her in the kitchen when I was a young kid. She made sure I knew how to cook and bake.”

“I take it she’s gone? You used the past tense,” Spawn said.

“Yeah, I lost her when I was ten, but I have my memories and a book filled with her recipes. She’d love to know people were eating them and enjoying it.”

He reached over and took my hand and then squeezed it. “She’s dancing then because this is wonderful. Bet she’s watching you from heaven with a smile,” he said. I patted his hand.

Troian broke the spell by asking if it was alright that she’d written down Granny’s barbeque sauce recipe. I assured her there was nothing my granny loved more than people enjoying what she made and asking for her recipes.

While the guys cleaned up after dinner, she and I went to sit in the living room to pet a content Toro. He’d inhaled his small portion of pork. I saved him some without the sauce. I didn’t feed him a lot of human food, but some things like the delicious pork, I did.