Gorgon
The snow stopped falling before sunrise, but the quiet it left behind was worse. The world seemed to hold its breath after a storm. It was the kind of stillness that made animals stay in their dens and men reach for their guns without thinking about why they were doing it.
He looked out over the land, and while it usually brought him peace, today, it filled him with dread.
That was the thing about Manitoba—nothing out here stayed buried for long, no matter how deep the snow got.
He knew that things might look peaceful and even pretty under the newly fallen powder, but underneath it all, something was waiting to rear its ugly head.
He’d sent Buck and Hulk to run patrols along the south fence to the highway.
He told Duffer to check the old mill site where kids liked to dump stolen cars.
He’d given them routine orders, but he’d seen the unease in their eyes.
It was the same unease that he felt in his gut.
The woman had rattled them, same as she’d rattled him, and he hated that was happening to his club, but he’d do it all again.
There was something in her eyes that made him want to help her—no, need to help her.
He didn’t like it any more than his men seemed to, but when his gut screamed at him to pay attention, he fucking did.
He exhaled smoke through his nose, watching it curl into nothing and dissipate into the cold air.
He should’ve turned her away. Hell, that was standard protocol, and no exceptions were usually made.
Anyone bringing unknown heat onto Kings of Anarchy soil was a risk.
But he hadn’t followed the rules for some reason that he couldn’t quite explain.
He’d pulled her inside and watched as she drank his whiskey and slept under his roof.
He hadn’t done that for anyone—ever. The question that was playing through his head was—why her?
Maybe it was because she had looked him in the eye and didn’t flinch.
Or maybe it was that she had said her name like she knew what it meant—even if she didn’t realize that he did too.
Kimi. Secret. His grandmother’s voice breathed through his memory again: Some names are shields, boy.
And some are storms. He wasn’t sure yet which one she was, but he planned on finding out.
A truck engine echoed faintly from the highway.
He tracked the sound until it faded toward the south, then turned his bike back toward the compound.
He didn’t like being away from the place for too long—not when trouble knew where to find them now.
He knew that sooner or later, trouble would get bored and come looking for Kimi again—he’d put money on it.
The ride back was short but felt longer—the snow crunching under his tires, the cold slicing through the leather coat he wore.
The familiar silhouette of the clubhouse crept out from the trees like an old beast waking in the early morning after a big storm, and he couldn’t help but feel proud of what he and his brothers had built on the little piece of land that his grandmother had left him.
When he pulled through the gate, the fence crew waved him in. “All is quiet, Prez,” one of them called.
“Let’s hope it stays that way,” he mumbled under his breath.
He parked his bike in front of the clubhouse and killed the engine.
Inside, the main room smelled like burnt coffee and bacon, just as he had imagined it would.
Buck stood near the wall of maps, studying something with a frown.
He didn’t bother to say good morning, just passed Gorgon a mug.
“Nothing on the west camera since last night,” Buck said. “But Trudi said your guest didn’t sleep much. She heard her pacing most of the night.”
Gorgon’s hand tightened around the mug. “Did she eat?”
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 frame pitted 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.
She looked up at him again, seeming to search for something, but what it was he couldn’t name. “Why does that sound like a threat?”
“Because it is one,” he growled. They stood in silence, the sound of slowly ticking metal filling the space between them.
Finally, Gorgon said, “You’ve got something he wants. Something worth chasing you through the cold for. You gonna tell me what it is?”
Her breath hitched. Her gaze darted away, down to the floor. “Not yet.”
“Then you’d better do it soon,” he said quietly. “A secret’s only worth something if it stays that way.”
He turned back toward the door, but before leaving, he added, “Breakfast’s on the table. You should eat. After that, Trudi will find you some clothes that fit. Until further notice, you don’t leave this property.”
“And if I don’t obey?” she almost whispered.
He paused in the doorway, his profile cut against the light.
“Then you’ll learn that no one ever really leaves this place until it lets them go.
And that usually happens when I say so.” Outside, the sun finally crept up over the trees, pale and cold.
Gorgon lit another cigarette and watched the smoke drift into the bright air.
He could feel a change in the wind—the kind that didn’t ask permission to do so.
Kimi had brought something dangerous to his doorstep, that much he knew. But she’d also brought something else. Something that made the silence in his head a little less empty. He hated that most of all. Because storms he could handle. Secrets, though—secrets were another story altogether.