Page 8 of Spider (Hades Abyss MC #1)

Luciana

One moment, I’d been in Spider’s lap, still rattled but not as nervous as I’d been before I’d interrupted his meeting.

The next thing I remembered was a man reaching for me, making a suggestion I sleep with him, a man who looked like one of my tormentors, and then…

nothing. Not until now. I slowly blinked and looked up at Spider.

The water from the showerhead beat down on my back, and his arms were wrapped around me.

My naked body was pressed against his, but I saw only concern in his gaze and not lust.

“What happened?” I asked.

“You zoned out. I think when my VP opened his big mouth, you freaked or had some sort of episode. I’d be willing to bet you have PTSD.”

“And you thought a hot shower would help?” I asked, gazing up at him in curiosity.

“I was trying to think outside the box. Holding you and trying to talk you through it didn’t seem to be helping,” Spider said.

I rested my forehead against his chest, then sucked in a deep breath. “Violeta.”

“She’s with Rocket, and she’s fine. What happened, Luciana? What scared you enough that you came to find me?”

“A man came in. We didn’t recognize him. Young. Almost too pretty. He stopped and stared, wouldn’t take his eyes off us, and Violeta got scared. I was a little worried too.”

“Did he have a Prospect patch on his cut?” Spider asked.

“Cut?”

He chuckled a little. “Violeta was confused by that one too. The black vest with all the patches. It’s called a cut.”

I thought about it a moment. “Yes. It said Prospect.”

“Young like you, or younger than you?” he asked.

“I think younger than me. Not the same one that brought us here, though. He was different.”

Spider nodded. “Teller. He was probably as scared of you as you were of him. Kid has a traumatic past, but he’s got a good soul. Raised in the system until he went to juvie. I found him on the streets and brought him here.”

“System?” I asked, not understanding what he meant.

“When a kid in this country doesn’t have parents or a legal guardian, they’re placed in something called foster care and passed around to people who get paid to take care of them.

In Teller’s case, they didn’t do such a great job.

Hurt him pretty bad. He got caught stealing cars and went to juvie, which is jail for someone underage,” Spider explained.

“No one ever gave him a fair shot. I decided to change that. He’s been here for a little over a year.

Dropped out of high school and we helped him disappear until he was too old for the state to shove him back into another home. ”

I looked up at what I figured had to be kindest man I’d ever met.

He thought he was bad, but he wasn’t. Even if he did break the law, it didn’t make him evil, not like my father and the other men I’d known.

Spider was a caretaker, even if he didn’t realize it.

A protector. I’d even go so far as to call him a hero, though I had no doubt he’d scoff and say he was no such thing.

But to me, and likely to Teller, that’s what he was.

“You’re a good man, Spider.”

“Call me Trent. At least when the club isn’t around. If it’s just you and me, you don’t have to use the name Spider.”

“Trent?” It didn’t seem to quite fit him, but if he wanted me to use his given name, then I would.

“Trent Storme.” He smiled a little. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Luciana Gomez.”

I dropped my gaze, hating that name. I didn’t want a single tie to my father. Spider lifted my chin and gazed down at me with worry in his eyes.

“What did I say?” he asked.

“It’s nothing.”

His lips twitched like he was fighting back a smile. “Honey, I’ve been around long enough to know that when a woman says ‘it’s nothing,’ then it’s definitely something. I’m old. Not dumb.”

I snorted. “You’re not old. And it’s just that I hate my name.”

“Luciana?”

“I guess my first name is fine. But I don’t like being a Gomez. I don’t want a tie to my father. It’s bad enough I’m of his blood, but sharing his name seems wrong. I would completely erase him from my life if I were able.”

Spider held me, but didn’t say anything for a while.

The water started to cool and he shut it off, then wrapped me in a fluffy towel.

He used brisk strokes to dry me, then gave me a nudge out of the room while he dried himself.

I looked around, realizing for the first time that I’d been in his bathroom.

My surroundings hadn’t really been in focus until now.

The episode I’d had must have been worse than I’d thought.

I started to leave, to go back to the room he’d given me, but he gripped my arm.

Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make me stop.

I hadn’t even heard him come up behind me.

I turned to look at him and could tell he was still worried about me.

He wasn’t the only one. I’d never had that sort of reaction before.

I’d always just dealt with what happened to me, accepted it.

It seemed my mind was starting to fight the abuse in a different way now.

Or maybe I’d done this before and hadn’t even realized it.

“I’m moving your things down here,” he said. “I’m not letting you sleep alone. If you had a nightmare, I wouldn’t be able to hear you.”

“You didn’t seem concerned about that before, when you had me placed upstairs.”

He pulled me closer. “When I went to pick you up, I thought I was getting some spoiled, entitled little brat. I expected a diva, an overindulged princess. It never occurred to me that your father wouldn’t have kept you safe. Men are supposed to protect their children, not abuse them.”

“And because I’m damaged that makes you care more?” I asked, feeling a spark of… something. Irritation? Anger? Maybe a bit of both. “Even if I had been spoiled and coddled, I wouldn’t have deserved to be brushed off and treated like a nuisance.”

“You’re right,” he said. “And I’m sorry.

I only thought about the inconvenience to myself and my club.

I didn’t think about how you or your sisters were feeling.

You were uprooted from your home, your country, and even if you had been kept safe all these years, it still would have been traumatic for you. ”

I felt the anger drain from me. I couldn’t really be mad at him.

Spider had to think of what was best for his club, and I’d been an unknown to him.

The moment he’d realized I was in trouble he’d vowed to help me.

He was keeping me safe. Violeta and I had to hope that Sofia was as well.

I didn’t know why she’d been given to another club, but if the man guarding her was anything like Spider, then she was better off than she’d been back home.

“You know how you said you’re old but not dumb?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“You were wrong. You are most certainly dumb when it comes to women.”

He chuckled and held me against him. “You’re right, but then, I think most men are rather stupid when it comes to the fairer sex. You don’t exactly come with a set of instructions.”

“If we did, would you bother to read them?”

His body shook, and then he burst out with a deep laugh that had me looking up and smiling at him.

He looked younger, carefree, and really happy in that moment.

Not that I thought he was old. He might have thought that, but I certainly didn’t.

Age was just a number, and if he brought it up one more time I’d find a way to get even.

He was pissing me off with that nonsense.

“I’m going to assume this means you aren’t scared of me,” he said, humor shining in his eyes.

His words startled me a moment. I’d never spoken to a man like that before, never teased one or let my temper show.

Maybe he was right. I knew he made me feel safe, but perhaps while I was under Spider’s roof I would start to heal.

I didn’t think I’d be so bold with anyone else, but I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me.

Even though we were still essentially strangers, there was goodness in him.

We’d been intimate, but I knew that there was much I didn’t know about Spider or his club.

Still, if he were going to hurt me surely he’d have done it by now.

“I’m not scared of you,” I said, “but I don’t think I’m ready to be quite so bold with anyone else just yet.”

“Take your time. Everyone heals in their own unique way and at their own pace. It’s not a race, Luciana.” He frowned. “You don’t like your name.”

“The Luciana part doesn’t really bother me,” I assured him.

“Would you like to have your last name legally changed?” he asked.

“Is that possible? I don’t care what it is as long as it’s not Gomez,” I said.

“I’ll have Surge work on it. He’s fairly new to the club and came highly recommended by Wire over at the Dixie Reapers. The man’s a computer genius so you won’t even have to leave the compound to have your name changed.”

I looked around his room. “You really want me to move in here? You don’t want your space?”

“I really want you here. I’m going to get dressed, then I’ll bring your bag down. I’ll ask a few of the guys to come with us into town. You need clothes, shoes, and whatever other crap women can’t live without.”

I fingered my wet hair. “Conditioner would be nice.”

“Then you’ll have it.” He winked and brushed a kiss against my cheek.

I held the towel around me as I watched him quickly pull on some clothes.

He left and I heard his tread on the stairs.

I could have easily gone up after my clothes, but I was learning to like having someone do nice things for me.

If my father ever offered to do something or gift me a trinket I’d wanted, then it came with strings attached.

That didn’t seem to be the case with Spider.