Willow's Chaos

by A J Storm

  The two men used their nights to learn the backgrounds of each of the men they were portraying in their adoption of the baby. It wasn’t an easy task since Creeper put in enough information to be an honest representation of a person’s life. Chaos would prep them by asking official questions they would be asked by a lawyer. It was imperative Viper believe their story and background information. That was the reason Creeper included a checkered past into his background. Viper was vile enough to be interested in someone with a like mind, especially if they were known to not follow all the rules. After all, Creeper knew if Viper went down, he would take others with him. There had to be a modicum of trust among thieves hinged to corrupt lifestyles. It was much better if the lawyer thought Creeper and his partner appeared a bit crooked.

  During the time Chaos worked with Creeper and Lyle on their task, his mind was focused on Willow and her safety. Before she’d moved back home, he’d had his brother and his crew check over the new security system he’d had installed. They ran a few mock scenarios which confirmed all the correct phone numbers were automatically dialed in certain situations. Plus, Chaos also had a couple of his men watching her house on a rotated twenty-four-hour shift. He also had someone following her wherever she drove. He didn’t tell her that, but now that their relationship had taken a step forward, he wasn’t taking any chances.

  Willow went back to driving her Mustang to her parent’s ranch and back. He almost wished she’d stay at the ranch, but she refused to be around her mom that long. He couldn’t blame her. Chaos spoke to her on the phone several times a day. He missed having her around the penthouse and not just for the sex. The sex was hot, but he enjoyed being around her whether watching a movie, riding the Harley, or working on finding Nova.

  Her sister was hidden well—she was doing an excellent job of being invisible. They were no closer to finding her than when they started. Nova, however, did call Willow two days after she had moved back home. She’d assured her sister she was safe for now but wouldn’t give up where she was or who was protecting her.

  She’d shared with Willow how much her tummy had grown; she now had to wear loose clothing to be comfortable. Willow had begged her sister to come home and let the Jacksons protect her, but the answer was always no. At that point in the conversation, Nova would make an excuse and cut it off.

  He wanted to console Willow badly, but they’d agreed to meet only on weekends. At least until Willow caught up with all her bookkeeping. They also realized someone had been following them to know where they were on the day someone took a pot shot at her. The conclusion drawn by the bad guys was Chaos and Willow were together, and Chaos didn’t want any other information to be gathered about them as a couple.

  Their situation was becoming very complicated, but he didn’t intend to stop seeing her—that was not going to happen. On the weekends, he’d take her kayaking on Lake Lady Bird, to concerts, or movies—anywhere there were lots of crowds surrounding them. Having her stay indoors wasn’t an option she would ever go for. He also had a few of his snipers following them and acting as bodyguards whenever they went out in public.

  She loved the water sports—not so much the dress-up night on the town with a single chaperone. Just glad she isn’t aware there were four more of those chaperones in the area. They did spend one Saturday night after a concert back at the penthouse. The intention was not to have sex but to just spend a quiet evening with wine or a beer. Of course, with the attraction between the two of them being what it was, they ended up in bed, having the same kind of sex they had the first time.

  Chaos was falling—falling hard. Although Willow always seemed to enjoy their time in the sack, she’d never talk about it afterward. He couldn’t tell where her heart was, so he put his pride on like the tats on his body, using it for armor. His strength was in the fact that his job was to find Nova—do what he was paid to do. When that was accomplished, the two of them would work the rest out. That was his goal.

  Friday morning, Creeper strolled into the Investigative Service offices, looking for Chaos, whose door was closed.

  “Maggie, my love, you look marvelous,” he mimicked the voice of Billy Crystal. “How’s my best girl?”

  “I’m wonderful, Creeper. I hear you’ve taken on a partner. I think I’m jealous.”

  “You have a hot man at home, Mags. No need to be jealous. I should be the one who’s jealous. Is he in there?” he asked, pointing to the closed door.

  “He’s in with a client, but they should be about finished.”

  As she finished her sentence, Chaos opened his door, escorting an older woman to Maggie’s desk. “You can make arrangements with my office manager for payment. I should have results for you in a couple of weeks, and we’ll give you a call for another appointment,” Chaos told her.

  “Creeper, my man, come in here and tell me what’s up.” Chaos slapped his brother on his back, coaxing him into his office. “Have a seat. Can I get you anything to drink?”

  Just then, Maggie walked in with a beer, handing it to Creeper. She looked over at Chaos and smirked. “You don’t get one,” she sneered, then walked out.

  “Tell me what’s going on, brother.”

  “Lyle and I have an appointment at Viper’s law office Monday morning at ten.”

  Chaos knew the answer but asked the question anyway. “Are you two ready to tell your story and answer his questions?”

  “Yes, we are. We know our backgrounds forward and back. I have all the phone numbers and websites which confirms information ready to go and manned. We couldn’t be more ready.”

  “You’re my man, Creeper. You’ve got this. Anything you need—how about the down payment? Have we got that going for you?”

  “Maggie transferred the funds to my account today. I’ll go to the bank and pull the twenty thousand out in cash. He required it first thing before we even go through the background checks or the Q&A. Greedy guy.”

  “Are you nervous?” his brother asked, noticing Creeper’s jitteriness.

  “No, dude, I’m on fire. I want this to go down—ready to nail the bastard,” he replied. “You and Willow doing anything over the weekend? That’s the only time you get together, right?”

  “Yeah, although I’m tired of not being able to see her. I hate that she’s by herself in her house. I drive myself crazy worrying about her. I just need to go back in and have the guy work on filling in the mother and baby tat. Maybe that’ll release some of my crazy.”

  “That’s weird, Chaos. You’re going to turn yourself into the Illustrated Man if you don’t stop. Besides, I personally checked over the security system at her place. There’s no way someone’s going to get in there without some of our guys being there within four minutes.”

  “A lot can happen in four minutes, brother.”

  “No one is getting in there, Chaos—no one. My guys are that good,” Creeper replied.

  “Anyway, she informed me this morning I have been invited to brunch this Sunday. Brunch with her mother should be very interesting. The woman doesn’t like me, but I’ll win her over. I lost one bet with Willow—don’t intend to lose another.”

  “Well, I’ll get out of here. I need to round up some respectable clothing like—God forbid—a suit to wear on Monday. We have to appear to have money, so this attorney buys our story.”

  “You do have money, Creeper. More than I do,” Chaos said, standing and walking his brother to the door. He laughed at the ripped tight jeans with his hoodie pulled over his ballcap.

  “Dude, you’re just jealous of my sexy.” Creeper grabbed the brim of his ballcap and tugged down on it. “Maggie, my love. Where do you want to meet tonight?”

  “In your dreams, hot stuff.” She looked over at Chaos laughing at their banter. “Chaos, you don’t pay this boy enough of the profits.” She winked at Creeper and blew a kiss.

  “Maggie Mae, I don’t know what this office would do without you. You’re the best applicant Howler ever hired back in the early days. We all
thought you and he would get married,” Chaos teased.

  “Married, are you kidding me? I could never stand all that damn howling at the top of his lungs. Damn near gave me a fright,” she smiled and winked at him.

  15

  Saturday morning, Willow dragged her body out of bed, not looking forward to the next twenty-four hours. At least she still had one pile left on her desk to go through to keep busy. Why I agreed to spend the night at the ranch, I’ll never know. It was probably my dad’s eyes when he asked me to.

  She knew her mother had ulterior motives when she insisted Willow invite Chaos to brunch. She just didn’t know which direction her mother would take to attempt to humiliate him. She loved her mother, she guessed, but she didn’t respect the woman. Why her dad stayed with the witch was a mystery to her. She knew her dad saw the truth of her mom because he was always there to rescue her. Willow had always thought he deserved so much more.

  Still in her old football jersey she got off an old boyfriend in college, she was making coffee when alarms within the house went off, alerting her to someone approaching the house. She turned around to the computer screen they’d installed on her kitchen cabinet, which showed Chaos walking up to her door and punching in a code on the keypad.

  Chaos knocked on the door as he walked in. She stood by the coffee machine with her arms crossed over her chest, leaning against the cabinet. He stood in the doorway, leaned against the doorjamb, and stared at her, taking in her entire body. His eyes smiled, followed by his lips.

  “I thought we agreed I was going to my parents’. What are you doing here?” she asked, unfolding her arms and standing straight on her long, smooth legs.

  Slowly, he stalked toward her, slid his arms under hers, and pull her against his body.

  “No way in hell I could stay away from this today. I’ve gone all week without you, so I had to see you even if only for a few minutes.” Chaos took her mouth with his.

  Willow melted into his arms, but her kiss was as aggressive as his. This man turned her body into fiery flames, willing to respond to his every touch. As much as she was attracted to his body and personality, his eyes were the most dangerous. His eyes were chaos, capable of spinning her world upside down.

  Once they came up for air, she placed her hands on his shoulders, holding on for her life. “This is nice, and this would be so good, but I’ve got to pack and head over to the ranch. Today is not playtime,” she scolded him.

  He leaned down, rubbing his nose against hers. “But I want to play so bad, sugar. You’ve put a spell on me, Miss Willow.”

  “I don’t do spells, sir. I do seduction, and today, I’m all out,” she laughed, pulling back and slapping him on the chest. “I’ll pick you up in my Mustang tomorrow morning at nine. Do you want me out in front of the building or in the underground garage?”

  “I want you everywhere, sugar, but you can pick me up in the garage.” He pulled her in for another kiss, then slapped her on the butt before walking to the door.

  Two hours later, she arrived at the ranch and took her bag upstairs to her old room. Not much had changed in there—still had all the pictures she didn’t take with her when she bought her house and moved in. Too many memories she didn’t want to remember.

  Willow skipped down the stairs, approaching the door to her office when she ran into her father.

  “Hey, Daddy, how are you today?”

  “I’m good, kitten. How about riding with me this morning? I’ve got to check out a fence repair job. It’ll give us time to talk.”

  “Daddy, I’ve still got a pile of bills to go through. I need to get started.”

  “Nonsense, you can catch up any time. Come with me.”

  Suspicion flooded over her. Her dad wanted to talk about something, and curiosity was rising. “Okay, Daddy, let me put my boots on—I wore flats this morning.”

  He walked to the front of the house and gave her a wave. “I’ll meet you out front—already have your horse saddled and ready, kitten.”

  He hasn’t called me kitten since I was a little girl. Something’s up.

  After running back up the stairs, slipping out of her flats and into her boots, she came down the stairs again. Her mother stood, peeking into her office, apparently looking for her, Willow presumed.

  “Oh, there you are, Willow. I thought sure you’d be working on the books today since you fell so far behind over the last week or two.”

  “I’m going riding with Daddy, Mother,” she answered, trying to run past the woman.

  “Are you sure that’s wise, dear? You know how he takes hours on his rides. You won’t get any work done at all. Oh and is your young man coming to brunch tomorrow?”

  “Yes, Mother, it’s wise, and yes, Chaos will be here.”

  “Don’t be smart with me, Willow. It isn’t ladylike.” The woman walked back toward the stairs as if someone had insulted her. Whatever.

  Willow exited through the front door and mounted her horse. “Can we please ride out of here before Mother can think of another way to piss me off?”

  Her father smiled and led the way over to the pastures on the left side of the house. This was a familiar route to Willow, and she knew exactly where her father was taking her. They always ended at the same spot every time she rode with him as a teenager.

  She looked over at her dad and smiled wickedly. Then, she made a clicking sound with her tongue, nudged her horse’s sides with her boots, and yelled behind her, “I’ll race you there.”

  Her dad started laughing and encouraged his horse to race. It didn’t take much since his horse was competitive around other horses. Both gave their horses the freedom to race the other while keeping them headed to the same place.

  Willow won the race, but not by much. She pulled her horse up at a small bank looking over a large pond surrounded by trees. Willow always thought of the place as her oasis. As a teenager, it was a place to come and think—relax and de-stress. Sometimes, she was with her father, sometimes alone.

  Dismounting their horses, they tied them to a downed tree trunk, left there to act as a fence. Willow sat on the grass, pitching small rocks into the pond.

  “I haven’t been here in ages. I forgot how wonderful it feels. I miss this place. I miss you, Daddy. What’s on your mind?”

  “What makes you think there’s something on my mind, kitten?”

  “Come on, Daddy, I know you better than that. You don’t usually suggest going for rides and talking for no reason. It used to be because I was in trouble or sad about something Mother said to me.”

  “Hey, can’t I miss you, too?” The silence grew between them, then he cleared his throat. “All right, you do know me, but I have missed you.”

  “So, what’s up?”

  “This young man you’re bringing to brunch… how well do you know him? Where did the two of you meet?”

  Willow stared at the water, heaved a huge sigh, then smiled at the memory.

  “We met in a bar near Round Rock. I was there with a bunch of other women, and he saw me and asked me to dance. Then we simply sat, drank a beer, and talked for hours about our families and lives. He gave me his card and said to call him if I ever needed their services. A month or so later is when Nova came to see me, told me her problem, and disappeared. I went to his office and hired him.”

  “What do you really know about him?”

  “Daddy, what is this? I researched him and his business before I ever sought them out. It’s a family-owned business, and his family owns a huge ranch near Austin—cattle and horses.”

  “My attorney suggested their investigative service wasn’t professional. I was concerned.”

  “I’d be interested in knowing who your attorney talked to. You’ve seen Chaos. I admit he doesn’t look squeaky clean—not an easy-on-the-eyes gentleman. But Daddy, he is loyal, caring, and smart. His two brothers are as crazy as he is, but very different from each other. They were all Marines, so they can’t be all bad. They are who they are, and I trus
t them.”

  “You like him, don’t you?”

  “I do, Daddy, and at the same time, I’m not sure. I’m so worried about Nova but more afraid of commitment than I thought I would be.”

  “Just be careful and trust your gut. It’s steered you right before. You know, your Mother is going to run him through the wringer tomorrow?”

  “I know she’ll try, but I doubt she’ll get far. You’ll be surprised at how he handles her.” Thinking quietly for a minute, she finally worked up the nerve to ask him a question.

  “Daddy, why do you stay with Mother? You two are so very opposite of each other.”

  “That’s an easy question, kitten. I stayed because I love her. I fell in love with the most beautiful and popular girl in my senior year of high school. I’ve loved her ever since.”

  “She doesn’t deserve you, Daddy.” Tears formed in her eyes as she gazed at him. “She acts as if you mean nothing in her life. Almost as if you’re not important enough for her. I’ve hurt for you all these years.”

  “Willow, listen to me because I won’t tell you again. I was always aware of how your mother was raised—a banker’s daughter, belonging to all the right social clubs. She was pampered her whole life, but I didn’t care. I fell in love and was fortunate enough to support her as she was accustomed to. She loved me, and her family loved me—that was all I needed.

  “When your mother had you, then Nova, she expected you both to be like her. But you, little kitten, you were daddy’s girl, and that hurt her. Nova became number one in her eyes because you didn’t want the same things your mother did. And little girl, your Mother loves me as much as I love her. You never see her behavior when it’s the two of us, and no one else is around. You aren’t there in bed at night when we make love. Yes, I said it. We still make love—not just sex. She’s my woman and always will be. We good, kitten?”