13. Willow
WILLOW
“Dad?” Knox says as we step through the double doors to the conference room. I tried texting Gig and Dad before we got here, but they didn’t reply. Dad always said I could interrupt a meeting if I needed him. He’s always put his kids before the business.
Three men sit across from my dad and brothers.
They all look at me harshly, irritation clear on their faces.
I’m assuming it’s a response to me interrupting their meeting, but they’re on my turf—well, my family’s turf—so they can suck it the fuck up.
My dad stands up and opens his arms, and I walk right into them and give him a hug.
“Hey, baby girl. I thought you’d already be on the plane,” he says while he releases me from the hug.
“I was on my way, but I forgot the body cam that Gig got for me and thought I’d stop and grab it on the way,” I reply while looking over at the three men. I offer them a small smile instead of an apology for the interruption, because I’m not sorry.
I give them a once-over and take note of the cuts that they have on.
Looks like they’re in the same club as Jackson and Knox.
The one sitting in the middle is definitely Knox’s dad; they have the same tall, dark look.
They have the same broody eyes that make you question your sanity because they are so dark and inviting.
They both have dark brown hair, but Knox keeps his long, hanging to his shoulders, looking sexy and windblown.
His dad has his cut short on the sides and longer on the top.
They have the same strong jaw, and I wonder if his dad has a crooked smile like his son.
He looks just as big as Knox, even sitting down; his cut says he goes by Red and that he’s the chapter President.
The man on his left has a cut that says “Griz,” and he’s the current VP.
Looking at him is like seeing Jackson in the future, and I’m assuming this is my sperm donor.
I can see that, unlike Jackson, he let his curls grow out, and he looks older than I thought he would with deep wrinkles on his forehead and around his mouth.
Not that I can tell, but I can’t see any smile lines like my dad has, and I think that says something about him.
I turn away from him as soon as I realize who he is, but I can feel his gaze burning a hole in me the entire time that I’m in the room.
He looks deep in thought, trying to size me up, and I couldn’t give any less of a fuck.
The last guy is stockier and shorter than the other two.
He has a bald head and a long scar down the side of his face.
He has deep set brown eyes that are so intense, it makes it uncomfortable to make eye contact for very long.
“Jackson, it’s good to see you again. I’m hoping Will isn’t making the chauffeur job too hard on you,” Dad says as he takes a step towards Jackson and puts out his hand to shake with a smile.
That’s one of the reasons why my dad is amazing.
I know he would love to have a relationship with Jackson after hearing about him from Mom for so long, already thinking of him as his kid.
But he would never force it. He takes cues from Jackson and goes from there.
Jackson does an aggressive man-shake thing that guys do with the half-hug and painful-sounding back slap. Smirking at my dad, he says, “Yeah, she’s fine, and we left her house with minimal injuries,” while laughing a little.
“And people say I’m the clumsy one in the family. Willow hurts herself more than I do, which I don’t understand, because she is usually so stealthy,” Ben feels the need to add to the conversation.
“It’s nice sometimes, with all the swearing after she gets hurt. At least we can hear her coming. I mean, since she won’t wear the bell we got her,” Tell throws out.
Turning to Dad, I say, “On a scale of one to ten, how upset would you be if I became an only child? Like, were you really hoping for grandkids? Because we can get a dog instead. It’s never too late, Dad.
” He just chuckles and shakes his head like he thinks I’m joking.
You would think that the man would know me by now.
“So, I’m going to take that as not a no. Do you mind if I grab Gig so I can get the body cam and get out of your hair?” I say, motioning to Gig over my shoulder.
“Sure, that’s fine.” He moves in to give me another hug. “Be safe. I love you, baby girl. Your spotter will meet you at the airport,” he quietly says as he hugs me.
“I love you too, Dad. I’ll call you when I land.” I pull back, smile up at him, step away, and give my remaining two idiots quick hugs.
“Flame, why don’t you take a seat? You can meet Michael. We’re just going over how we would like the MC and Vital to work together, since we’ll be in the same town,” the guy in the middle says in a friendly voice, but he gives Knox a pointed look when I glance over at him.
I start walking towards the door, not hearing Knox’s reply. I would much like to get away from the sperm donor’s staring. I peek back, and Jackson and Knox are following with Gig.
I raise my eyebrow at Knox, still not trusting myself not to embarrass myself more than I already have today in front of this man.
Why does he have to be so hot? Why do I not know how to act around attractive guys?
I mean, there have been a few cute guys that worked for Dad over the years, but I would never date a guy that works for the family business.
It’s already too hard to try and date when you have a dad and three brothers as protective and intimidating as mine.
Throw in all the people that work for Dad and the guys in Uncle Mark’s MC, and I’ve just come to the realization that I will die a virgin cat lady.
But I can’t even commit fully, because I’m allergic to cats.
Maybe I can do something different and get a shit ton of snakes. The crazy snake lady has a ring to it.
“They’re fine without me,” Knox says, snapping me out of my thoughts as he continues to follow us. I shrug my shoulders and keep walking out of the building that looks like a real office complex.
Mom was very direct when she told Dad that if she was living on a military base, it was at least going to be a nice one.
Dad went all out with the architect that he hired for the buildings.
It’s painted with an array of light colors that go with the completely renovated asylum.
It could pass as a resort, if resorts had a bunch of buff, deadly looking people walking around with guns and an on-site crematorium.
But I have never been to one, so who knows? Maybe they do.
“So, is anyone going to introduce the Pres’s kid?
Or am I just going to pretend that I don’t know who he is?
” Gig asks as we start walking back to the main house.
He’s always direct and doesn’t like to wait for information, especially since he usually knows it ahead of time.
That’s why I love spending time with him—we’re both bad at taking social cues, so we can just cut to the chase in most conversations.
It does make family dinners awkward sometimes, but we love it.
“Sorry, man. This is my best friend, Flame,” Jackson says after a second, probably thrown off by Gig’s bluntness. If he’s going to be around for a while, he’s going to have to get used to it.
“The background check said Knox, but you go by Flame,” Gig says as we keep walking. The guys look shocked when I peek at them over my shoulder, and I start laughing as quietly as I can.
“Really? A background check? I can understand Smoke, but why me?” Knox sounds a little irritated.
I really hope they don’t start throwing punches.
Knox is hot, and I would hate to have Gig ruin his face.
My brother is scary as fuck, and I would have to jump in, too, because no one is allowed to hurt my brother except for me.
But that’s because I had to deal with his ass my entire life—I’ve earned it.
“I ran them on everyone associated with Jackson. I was not going to let her go in blind to a situation where she could get hurt. She didn’t want to bring any of us for back up because she didn’t want to overwhelm him,” Gig says as he opens the door to the main house.
The other guys stay quiet, and I’m assuming that the conversation is over for now.
Jackson looks around, and I forget that this is his first time seeing the space that Mom created for her family after she was gone.
Seeing the walls full of photos of our family, he walks over to the spot that has some of the photos of him hanging up with the rest of us.
He stops in front of one of him and Mom when he was a baby: Mom is looking at the camera, blowing a raspberry on his cheek, and he is laughing. I slowly walk up and join him, standing in silence as he studies the photo.
“There is not one picture of just me in Griz’s entire house. Not even in boxes,” he says quietly, his voice growing thick as he speaks.
“Mom only had the pictures that she got developed of you. She printed a bunch of them in different sizes for different frames that she found for them. She hated that she only had a few dozen of you when she got more and more of us. Whenever she changed out the pictures on display, she would put a different one of you up, too. She would be happy that you got to see it,” I tell him, not knowing what else to do.
I’m not a big hugger unless you’re family, and I feel like it’s too soon for that with Jackson. Luckily, Knox walks up on his other side and grabs his shoulder, squeezing it and showing his support.