Page 11 of The Biker & the Baker

There was nothing wrong at first, Brian recalled, except the fact that he didn’t remember anything from the so-called epic night, which happened to be his first sexual experience. There was also the fact that the guy, whose name was Cole, unilaterally declared himself his boyfriend, but the naïve sophomore found that very cute at the time.

And then, two years into their relationship, Edward was kidnapped while he was heading home from a friend’s place, a couple of yards away from their house. Brian, the last person who heard of him, was crushed by guilt and blamed himself for not being able to stop those who took his kid brother. The fact that the police stopped the searches and classified the file cold after only a few days didn’t help very much.

Cole, instead of comforting Brian and being supportive, intensified the abuse that already started a few months earlier, after the two of them argued over Cole refusing in very rude words to accompany his boyfriend to his parents’ house. The older man remorsefully apologized the next day, so the incident was forgiven and forgotten, except for the times when Cole was a bit too rough during sex, when it popped into his boyfriend’s mind.

Brian didn’t offer Albert a lot of details about the physical, verbal, mental, and sexual abuse his ex subjected him to the next three years; that wasn’t the purpose of his story. Besides, he was afraid the descriptions would trigger his friend, who, most likely, didn’t even start the healing process yet. However, he mentioned that, because his parents’ relationship was falling apart, he didn’t tell any of them anything about the hell he endured.

Brian’s words made Albert flinch imperceptibly, as he remembered that Rick’s abuse started around the time Mike, Brei-Ayn’s husband, was killed in the line of duty. It was also then when he gave into the biker’s pressure and sold the bakery, cutting ties with the only people who were there for him through thick and thin, his employees.

Like he would’ve read his best friend’s thoughts, Brian continued his story, recalling the period from after he left Cole. His apparent inability to keep a job, even if everything started great, caused him to be evicted from the tiny apartment he rented, and ended up sleeping in his car. Little did he know it was the abusive bastard's lies and intrigues, and not hisprofessional incompetence, the reason his employers kept firing him.

At that point in his story, Brian’s posture changed, all the tension leaving his body, the pained, forlorn look in his eyes replaced by amusement. Huffing a short laugh, he started to tell Albert about the fortunate encounter with Mr. Parker and Serge Mills at the bikers’ bar where he wanted to drink himself to death, or almost, spending his last hundred-dollar bill on the strongest liquid poison they had.

“Everyone says I was lucky I didn’t meet Leon back then.” Brian laughed quietly. “He would have poured a glass of iced water over my head and probably would have lectured me, too. He can’t stand drunk people.” The librarian let out another short laugh. “Can’t say I don’t agree with him on this one.”

“Yup.” Albert nodded, popping the p. “The guy seems pretty intimidating to me, to say the least.” He shook his head. “Scratch that, he is intimidating.”

“Didn’t anyone tell you not to judge a book by its cover?” Brian grinned. “Once a librarian, always a librarian, but, joke aside, Leon is a big teddy bear with a marshmallow heart. According to Julien, he is a guardian angel of sorts for his cousins and uncles, kept bringing the long-lost ones home.”

Albert was intrigued by that story, but remembered a detail he noticed when examining the handyman’s tattoos and frowned. “How well do you know Leon? I mean, is he one of the people you spend time with, or do the two of you interact only occasionally?”

“It depends on how busy the two of us are, but I’d say we spend a minimum of two hours talking on various subjects. Among many things, he taught me Italian and Sicilian.”

“This explains a lot of things,” Albert muttered to himself, letting out a sigh of relief. “Back in the biker colony where Rick and I lived, there was an old guy who went by Old Jim, the owner of a tattoo parlor. He was my only friend, and, for more than two years, kept that bastard’s heavy hand away from me. Old Jim also taught me the meaning behind some tattoos, and, looking at Leon’s ink, I could figure out he was, or still is, part of the Mafia.”

Brian nodded solemnly. “Yes. It is common knowledge here, at The Base, that he served under two powerful Mafia families: the Fenellis and the Della Roveres. In fact, my good friend still acts as a bodyguard for the favorite son of Don Cesare-Eugenio Brentano-Fenelli, Elyan, also known as the coolest kid in all the lands.” The librarian stopped for a moment, then continued with an even wider and brighter smile. “You’ll love him, everyone does.”

“I’m sure I will, especially since you talk about him with so much affection.” Albert weakly smiled, then the shadow of doubt replaced the shine in his eyes. “Your story of abuse is very similar to mine in so many ways, that I got goosebumps while listening to it. Both our abusers waited until we were vulnerable to get us in their clutches and deprived us, one way or another, of our source of income.” He paused, swallowing hard. “What makes us different is that I don’t need to be surrounded by people to get better. On the contrary, I’d like to be alone for a while, just me and the children.”

Brian leaned forward and looked his friend straight in the eyes, his voice thick with emotion. “I've had amazing people that helped me. My stubbornness set me back a few times; I wasn'tvery trusting at first, but they taught me how. This is what I want for you, too.”

CHAPTER 9

Here we go. With a long sigh of satisfaction, Lawrence looked around the kitchen. Everything was spotless clean, the pots, pans and the other kitchen utensils in the dishwasher, the flour, baking powder, chocolate chips, and the other ingredients Terry, Tracy, and him used when playing the bakers back into the cupboard.

The result of the two little girls’ and the man’s combined titanic efforts, a few flat, brown things of unrecognizable shape, were proudly displayed on a plate in the center of the table, for everyone to see them. The biker shook his head with amusement at the sight; he wasn’t sure if the products of almost two hours of work, plus another hour of cleaning and scrubbing, were edible.

However, Lawrence was grateful for two very different reasons, the most important being that his two little guests had a great time, giggling, laughing, scrunching their cute little noses and making other funny faces as they got engaged in their little play-pretend game. The pure happiness on their little faces was in stark contrast with the almost haunting sadness in their eyes when they were brought to The Base.

Lawrence went upstairs and, careful not to wake Tracy and Terry up, cracked the door from the spare bedroom open, and peeked inside, checking on them. As expected, the two little girls were sound asleep, in the same position he left them. A warm smile reached the biker’s eyes, and he spent a few minutes in thedoorway looking at them before carefully closing the door and going to his room.

There, Lawrence plopped down on the bed, staring ahead and sighing dreamily. From the very first second he saw the two little girls who were now peacefully sleeping down the hall, the biker decided he was going to adopt them one day, sooner or later, and, for some reason, he felt now was the right time to do it.

After spending a few months at The Base and finally understanding what the place was about, Lawrence planned that one day, he would offer one or more of those poor, innocent, helpless souls one of the things life, and the cruelty of some heartless people, deprived them of: the affection of a father. He was totally aware there weren’t many guys who would enter in a relationship with a single dad, and he didn’t even try to express his interest in a man or another, even if there were a few he really liked.

Until Albert. Over the last two days, since the man showed up at The Base’s gates, Lawrence tried to get him out of his head and get back to his daily routine, but couldn’t. He didn’t believe in love at first sight; all the couples he knew, be them gay or straight, spent some time testing the waters and knowing each other before getting into the relationship.

Lawrence didn’t know much about Albert, except that he was Brian’s best childhood friend, the sweets he baked tasted so delicious, and he was on the run from an abusive bastard. However, these little bits and pieces made the biker want towrap his arms around the other’s body, keep him safe, and kiss away the pain clouding those beautiful, expressive eyes.

Lawrence felt that urge earlier at Brian’s, when sadness suddenly darkened Albert’s gaze, so bright just moments before. The biker’s heart ached at the sight, and all the way to his house, he couldn’t stop wondering what caused the change. The question persisted in his head while he was getting ready to greet his little guests, and was only pushed in the back of his mind when Tracy and Terry asked him if they could bake more cupcakes.

Back when he was in the Army, Lawrence wanted to know everything about his brother-in-arms, because he saw them as family and cared about them; for the same reason, he shared his life story with them. He continued to apply the same policy with the members of the Steel Raiders MC, for the same reasons.

Anyway, with Albert, things were different. Lawrence wanted to find out everything about the man, what he liked and disliked most, his favorite and least favorite books, music, food, colors, holiday destinations, and everything in between. The biker needed that almost desperately, because right now, his greatest wish was to make the other happy, to see that beautiful smile every minute of the day.

Lawrence sighed, running a hand through his hair; none of the rescue missions he took part in as member of that elite division didn’t seem so impossible to achieve like getting information on Albert. He’d need either a lot of luck to catch thebaker in a chatty disposition, or a reliable accomplice who could ask the baker questions without him getting suspicious.

Suddenly, Lawrence slapped his forehead and started to laugh, relief coursing through him? How can you be so stupid, man? He chided at himself, shaking his head. Brian is the guy’s best friend, but he’s also friends with you, and likes to help, especially when the cause is so noble; all you have to do is ask.

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