Page 11 of Biker's Dark Revenge

"What do you think, Kara?" I asked as I laid out a few soft toys on the couch in front of her. I had gone to a thrift shop not far from my apartment that morning to grab some toys for her, something to make this place feel a little more homey, but she was still struggling to settle in.

"I don’t know," Kara replied. I felt as though I had barely heard her speak these last few days since I freed her from the building she’d been trapped in with her mother. I was trying not to get frustrated, but I didn’t know what I could do to pull her out of the headspace she was in – what I could make happen to settle her a little quicker.

Lee was standing behind me, watching the two of us together; he had been staying with me, crashing on my couch the last few days, much to my surprise. When he’d offered to stay, I had only expected him to rest up for the night and then get back to his normal life, but he hadn’t bothered to go back to the compound beyond talking to Chuck. I was grateful for it. I wasn’t sure I would have been able to relax if I had been in that apartment by myself. After the shit I had been through, I needed someone around to assure me that everything was going to be okay, even if I didn’t entirely believe it yet.

Kara had insisted that I sleep in bed with her after that first night, which had surprised me. I had expected her to want the space to herself, but I figured she was so used to being close to her mother that she wasn’t used to being all alone. She wasn’t used to sleeping without the slow rise and fall of someone’s breath right there next to her, even if I had a hard time resting when I was beside her – I was so worried I was going to roll over and squash her, and most of the time, I found myself lying awake, staring at her, wondering what was going on in the confines of that sweet little head.

She was barely eating, though, and I knew this all must be such a shock to her little young mind and heart. I couldn’t imagine how strange it was, to find herself in a real home, when all she had known was the dank confines of that cell she had been trapped in with Hadley. She still slept in a curled-up ball, not wanting to take up too much space, as though worried she would get in trouble for it.

And, of course, she had been asking about her mother all the time. I had expected it, but I hadn’t expected how much it would rip at my heart to have to tell her that, no, we weren’t going to be seeing her mommy anytime soon. I didn’t know how much she had seen of Hadley when she had overdosed, but there was no way she could have processed something as enormous as the death of her mom when she was so young. Hell, she might not even know death was a thing, even though she had been surrounded by it for so much of her upbringing.

It made me so fucking mad when I thought about everything that had been normal to her – everything that had been treated as though it was the most natural thing in the world. How was that fair? How could that be right? How could anyone look at this little girl and not want to pull her out of the horrors that she had been a part of? And how many others like her were there?

The mere thought of it was enough to make my stomach turn, but I had to push those thoughts aside to focus on her. I had to trust that Lee meant it when he said that he would do anything he could to bring down Lombardi. I knew the Dogs were a formidable force to be reckoned with, and, with even more motivation to ruin Lombardi, it wouldn’t be long before his empire collapsed around him.

But, right now, what I had to focus on was Kara. I didn’t know if I could do anything useful in terms of parenting, but at least I could make her feel a little more comfortable, right?

I laid out the toys in front of her – an owl, a cat, and a giraffe, the cutest ones I could find. I didn’t know which one was her favorite or if she even had a favorite animal, but it was a start.

She scanned the three of them in front of her, looking completely non-plussed by the whole thing.

"I don’t know," she said again, but this time, she sounded upset – worried, almost, that I was going to get mad at her.

"Hey, that’s okay," I assured her gently. She hooked her arms around herself, looking like she wanted to vanish into herself for a moment.

"You know," Lee remarked, as he crouched down beside me. "I always heard that giraffes were good at taking away bad dreams."

Kara stared at him for a moment. She wasn’t entirely sold on the idea, but she was, at least, intrigued by it.

"Really?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Oh, yeah," he replied. "They’re great for that. That’s why they have the big, long necks – it’s so they’ve got plenty of room to store all those bad dreams for you. If you want."

I stared at him. Where was this coming from? Everything I had known about Lee over the years gave no indication he would be any good with kids. But his gentle, earnest tone was clearly unwinding some of the tension in her. He picked up the giraffe and handed it to her, and she took it uncertainly. Sometimes, when she was just sitting there on the couch, I was struck by how small she was – it was clear she hadn’t had the best nutrition while she had been locked away in that room, and her frailty seemed to be written all over her face.

"See?" he remarked, scratching the top of the giraffe’s head. "He’s good at helping you feel better."

"She," Kara corrected him.

"Oh, right, of course," he replied, nodding along. "What do you think her name is?”

Kara stared down at the toy in her hands for a long moment, as though sincerely considering the answer to that question. Her little brow furrowed like this was the most important answer in the world.

"I think her name is Gerry," she replied. "Gerry the giraffe."

I grinned. It was the first time I had seen her engage with any of the little toys I’d brought her. I didn’t know how Lee had managed it, but he had pulled it off, and I was beyond grateful.

"Gerry it is," he replied with a nod. "I think that suits her. Right, Liana?"

"I think it does," I agreed, and I rose to my feet. "You want to get some rest, Kara? You look tired."

"Okay," she replied, smiling slightly. She hooked the toy under her arm as I led her to the bedroom, and she snuggled down beneath the covers, the giraffe tucked beneath her chin. I paused for a moment, perched on the edge of the bed, gazing at her. I knew she’d been struggling with nightmares, judging by how much she had been tossing and turning most nights, and if this giraffe was what it took to make her feel better, so be it.

I emerged from the bedroom to find Lee putting the other toys away, and I planted my hands on my hips and raised my eyebrows at him.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"Do what?" he replied, glancing over at me.

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