This made Rocky laugh outright as he urged his friend off the phone and picked up his fork. His smile faded some as he watched the chair across from him, as if an eating companion would suddenly materialize before his very eyes. When they didn't, Rocky put an elbow on the table and rested his head in his hand as he twirled some squash onto his fork.
"I know we're focused on trying to find the traitor and Cynthia Blaire is still needing our assistance,” Cynthia was a woman who Sheriff Blake had brought to their attention. He’d seemed certain that if she didn’t get away from her abusive husband it would soon be too late. Aiden had been working just as furiously to formulate a plan for the guys to get her out of there without anyone getting hurt. He knew all the guys were anxious to get her out, but experience had taught them all that they couldn’t rush the process. “That isn't what I want to focus on first, though." Blade paced the back office of The Hell Hole as he spoke.
Blade had been agitated quite a bit lately and if he didn't come out with it soon, Rocky knew he'd have to intervene. He couldn’t let Blade continue down his current path much longer. Rocky had an idea of what was bothering his brother but until Blade said something, Rocky would avoid the topic. For now.
"Look," Blade went on, facing the other men gathered directly, "This place is a shithole. How many of y'all would be willing to bring your Littles around here?"
One hand raised in the air, as Spike declared, "I have brought mine. Sure, it looks like a hellhole, and it's named for one, but for the most part, it's our members and prospects who frequent it and they'd never hurt her."
"For the most part being the key word there." Stone cut in, "No way am I letting Sapphire through those doors. How many times has a rival club, or a pissed off husband come in hoping to start trouble?"
"I haven't let Jane back in these doors since she became mine,” Ham added. “I know she'd been here before and I know she can handle herself, and god knows I want her with me as much as possible, but I'm not willing to take even the smallest risk with her safety. Hell no."
"Exactly. When I claim my Little girl, I know I'm going to want her here with me when I need to be here. I'm going to want her close. No chance in hell would I ever let her spend her days in some place that looks like a dump and is named Hell Hole."
Rocky noted the fact that Blade hadn't said, "find my Little", he'd said "claim"; those were vastly different things. It seemed more likely that Rocky was right about what had been troubling Blade.
"So, what's the plan?"
Rocky had asked the question on everyone's mind because he couldn't offer input into the ‘bringing a Little around’ discussion. If Rocky ever did find a Little, he knew that the person he had in mind would constantly be around.
"I've talked to a contractor. We're shutting the bar down for a while. It will be loud and dusty, and our offices will probably smell like new construction for a while but we're renovating. Classing the place up. We're also adding a playroom for the Littles."
"Dude," Rocky interjected, "You're hardly ever around anymore. Don't know what you're doing 'cause you won't tell us but with you gone all the time, who's overseeing this shit?"
"Glad you asked." The gleam in Blade’s eyes gave Rocky his answer even though it wasn't the one he wanted. "The people here the most are you and Pup. So, you'll oversee it. The contractor will be here to spruce up the outside today. That should only take a day or so..."
Rocky lost track of what Blade said after that. He was too focused on the fact that he was being paired with the one club member he'd been avoiding, who tested his resolve, set his blood on fire. Rocky had one thought circling his mind as Blade droned on about plans and contractors.
I am so fucking screwed.
Chapter Three
Aiden
I am so fucking screwed.
Aiden tried hard to keep his mind on the tasks being given to Rocky and himself, but all he could think was that one looping thought. How the hell was he supposed to keep control of his ever-growing attraction to Rocky when he was being assigned a job that would keep him in Rocky's company almost constantly over the next few months?
Also, he didn't do well when talking to new people. How was he supposed to supervise contractors when he could barely talk to them? Not that he would tell anyone that. He didn't want to come off as weak. As far as anyone here knew, he was a Daddy and Daddies handled their shit. No, they hadn't specifically asked but they'd assumed, and Aiden had let them. He couldn't go running to Blade now saying he couldn't have a simple fucking conversation.
I am so fucking screwed.
Shit. If he was handling contractors, how was he going to get into finding the traitor? He needed to find the bastard and fast before someone he loved got hurt. Aiden had been given up for adoption at birth. He'd bounced from foster home to foster home but had never found one that felt like a family. He'd thought he had once, when he'd been fifteen, but the only thing that had come from that was a crushed spirit and Octavia. He'd learned not to get his hopes up. Or he'd thought so. Until he turned eighteen and realized he could make his own family if he found the right people. Finally in Lilton, following heartbreak after heartbreak, he'd found what he'd been searching for in this club. In the men in this room. He needed to focus his time on protecting them, not sprucing up a bar that seemed just fine as it was.
"Pup!" Blade’s sharp tone drew Aiden's attention, and he realized it was time to give his findings. Or, his lack of finding, as the case was.
"I was telling the guys yesterday..."
"We know that part. Rocky filled us in so you wouldn't have to go over it again."
As Blade explained, Aiden shot Rocky a grateful smile. Repeating himself made him itchy. It grated under his skin. He wasn't sure why. He'd just always been that way.
"Well, after you called the meeting, I went back to my office and went through everything there, then headed to my room and checked my second laptop, as well as my phone and tablet. Anything connected to the internet. I couldn't find any sign of a rootkit that seemed to be compromised. I plan to head out today and replace both laptops just in case there's a compromise I can't detect. It's a better-safe-than-sorry precaution, though. Honestly, I don't think anyone hacked into the system."
"If no one got in, how the..."
"I don't know, Blade. I only told the men in this room what was where and how it worked. Unless someone was listen..." That was it! That was fucking it!
