Wildflower (Chapter 32)

Chapter 32

 

            Nicolas was concerned about a few things. Wildflower of course was always on the top of his list of things to worry about. He learned something that disturbed him, Owen was practicing. From the drug cocktail he made and injected Brooke with, it was pretty obvious it was meant as a tranquilizer. Only it wasn’t as effective as it was supposed to be, Brooke was only out a few hours. Then again maybe it was only supposed to work long enough to maybe transport a body? At least it would have no permanent damaging effects on Brooke. For Owen that wasn’t the case, it was another thing on the list of reasons to exterminate him.

            The police were searching for Owen but one thing the guy could do was hide. His family had no idea what he was up to or where he was. Even if they did families tended to lie for each other. As useful as the police could be for some people, they moved too slow for Nicolas. So he was doing his own investigating that was more accurate and a lot less legal. But the choice between what was and wasn’t legal wasn’t relevant when he was protecting the ones he loved. Eventually the police would catch up, by then they would probably be looking for a body. Once he found Owen he was going to choke the life out of him, and that thought kept him calm.

            Brooke was only going to stay the night in the hospital, after that her and Jay were coming to stay at the mansion. She of course didn’t exactly feel safe at their apartment so Wildflower offered for her to stay awhile and Jay wasn’t going to be away from her. Nicolas had expected that maybe Ivan would stay too but he was going to stay with Ricky a few days. He had a feeling that the reason Ivan wasn’t going to stay there, even though he was concerned for his sister, was because of Allie. But since at the moment she was staying out of trouble and actually behaving like a 17 year old girl, he was going to focus on more important things. And the girl was completely obsessed with Tony, at the moment. However if he ever saw him anywhere near his niece doing anything inappropriate, nothing would save him.

            At the moment Nicolas was at his office, it had been the first time for him to step foot in this building since he came back from New York. It was a good strategical move the assist the police in their investigation and offer his services. He was also going to donate some nicer newer equipment to their lab. Doing nice things for people did tend to help distract people from some of his not so nice activities. There were a lot of things for him to do, but work came second to Wildflower, everything did. His father didn’t seem to understand that, Emilio wanted him back in New York. Nicolas tried to speak with his father like he was an adult or a rational person; his father had a one track mind. Once Nicolas would have listened and done what he was told, but things were very different now. And sooner or later he was going planning to suggest that his father should retire. Or at least work only part time, he had the power to enforce that.

Maybe if Emilio understood the importance of putting your family first he wouldn’t be on his fourth wife. Rosa left him because he valued work more than family. Number two left him after multiple miscarriages and his lack of caring about it, she had been the young one. Three wasn’t really into being a stepmother or grandmother and eventually not a wife, she needed attention and the gardener and pool boy gave it to her. And now there was Martha, their relationship was mostly for show, while Emilio spent all his time devoted to work, she spent time with her children. Her family was mostly kept separate from the insanity of the Caprianis. Why they stayed together nobody really knew, but they had been together for the last 5 years. Some times Nicolas suspected that his father had wives out of habit and not out of love.

As if called by his thoughts, his father appeared in the doorway. So much for making it out without a fight, at least he managed to avoid him this long. It was eleven at night; Nicolas just wanted to go home. Unlike his father there were people at home that cared if he came home or not. And he knew from experience that a house with five teenagers was a chaotic place to be. Emilio looked tired, like a worn out old man, of course that would never stop him from working 16 and 18 hour days. Not that there was a reason for the old man to work so many hours, he just wanted to prove that he was useful. His brown eyes were never warm or friendly, but they were intense, just not quite as intense as Nicolas’. It amused him that his father thought after all these years he could stare him down, maybe it worked with the others and he could guilt them but not him.

“I thought you were only working from home?” His father asked with a hint of a challenge in his voice. One day the old man was going to have to learn his place.

“Something came up and I had to do some work in the lab,” Nicolas replied.

“And how is your bride-to-be doing?”

“Not so good, her friend was attacked this morning.”

“Really? There seems to be a lot of that going around,” Emilio said.

“If you are planning to ask me to go to New York, don’t waste your time,” Nicolas said staring his father straight in the eyes. For a second they stared at each other, of course Emilio looked away. Something about the blue eyes seemed to unnerve everybody, and it was nice to play that to his advantage.

“Twenty-eight years of unwavering loyalty and devotion to business and all of that changes for a woman,” he shook his head. “I tried to understand your obsession with this girl; I sided with you when everyone was concerned about your behavior and the power you gave her. It was fine because you still worked hard and you were not distracted. Now you are distracted and you want to sit by her side day and night. Maybe if the girl was more careful she would not have these problems.”

“It isn’t her fault if a guy she went out with in high school has become obsessed with her,” Nicolas replied calmly. Somehow his ability to give off a calm façade also seemed to unnerve people.

“Obsessed? Do you worry that this man is just as obsessed as you are? Maybe you see yourself in this man and that bothers you.”

“And maybe your old age is affecting the way you think. Love is not obsession; you wouldn’t know anything about that of course. I protect the ones I love, but I guess that is why I’ve owned everything since I was sixteen,” Nicolas said. “If you need somebody to go to New York then you better hop on a plane, it’s not like you have anything left here for you.”

“I need you to be in New York,” Emilio said after awhile.

“Why?” He asked, there was a bit of a desperate look in his father’s eyes.

“Because it is a huge investment and I do not trust anybody else. I need you to be there,” his father said. He dropped a folder on the desk; of course there was something more to it.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Nicolas said. As always it was his job to clean up everybody else’s messes. October couldn’t get there fast enough.

When he got home it was after midnight and the house was silent. He came in through the garage and set the alarm before going into the kitchen. His good liquor he kept upstairs, but he needed a drink now so he settled for something less expensive. Having a liquor cabinet in a house where teens were everywhere a necessity. Not that he would have been surprised if they figured out his combination, but at the moment he didn’t really care. After his drink he dragged himself up to his bedroom, it surprised him that the light was on. Which probably just meant Wildflower just fell asleep waiting for him, he hadn’t called because he assumed she was asleep. And he didn’t want to tell her he had to go to New York.

Slowly and quietly he opened the door and was surprised to see her awake. Lately she slept a lot and he wasn’t going to complain after what she’d been through. Ever since he got back he had been drinking a little more than he usually would, he needed a distraction from plotting murder.  Tonight it seemed that Wildflower needed a distraction too. She was wearing lingerie which was a very rare thing because he was an impatient man and he just preferred her naked. But he liked this little barely there black lace top with matching panties, she looked amazing.

“What’s this?” Nicolas asked, he shut and locked the door behind him. It had been a little too long since he’d last had her.

“Well, I want you,” she said. She was lying across the bed watching him; her wild black curls framed her face perfectly. This woman, his woman, was the perfect picture of Heaven.

“Are you sure?” He asked when he was standing in front of the bed. For one reason or another he knew it had been 12 days since the last time they had sex. That was on the morning he left for New York. It had been 288 hours since he made love to her.

“Since when have you ever turned me down?” She asked, now she was up on her knees twisting the hem on his t-shirt in her hand.

“No man could ever turn you down,” he replied.

“Yet you are still dressed,” she said looking him in the eyes.

“I have to go back to New York,” he told her. And it wasn’t surprising when she sat back, her playful mood gone.

“Why? You promised to stay with me,” she said looking hurt. This was what he wanted to avoid. When she had finally become completely vulnerable with him, here he was leaving her.

“Trust me when I tell you I do not want to go, but I have no choice,” he said slightly bitter. He was sick of cleaning up everybody else’s mess, but this mess was too big for him to ignore.

“Will Jose be here while you are gone?” She asked, the way she wasn’t making eye contact with him made his suspicious. Half curious about that question and half seriously annoyed, he lifted her chin to make her look him in the eyes.

“Why would you want to know that?”

“Because he was here when you were not,” she replied glaring at him.

“He has to come with me,” he told her.

When she said that and with the way she was looking at him, it made his heart feel like a hand was squeezing it. What the hell did that even mean? His brother made her feel safe when he didn’t. Jose was there when he wasn’t. And here he was leaving her again.  He wanted to kill his father and Delanoz for this, at least with them gone he could have peace and quiet. That thought was so tempting but he just had no choice, if he didn’t do this then Delanoz was going to make it pretty fast on to death row. Even though that was exactly what he deserved, especially for his latest crime, this had to be done.

“Fine,” she shrugged like it didn’t matter. “Why do you need to go back again?”

“If I tell you that then you will be an accessory the crime,” he seriously. That won him a different look from her. “All I can say is that I know where Delanoz has been.”

“What did he do?”

“I’m not even sure about the whole thing but from what I know you don’t want to know,” he assured her. He in fact did not want to know and he was sick to death of this.

“How long are you going to be gone?” She asked she still looked annoyed.

“We’re leaving in the morning and we should be back by the weekend.”

“Ok whatever,” she said.

“I don’t want to leave you and I can’t take you with me,” he said.

Silently he stood there watching her; she was now sitting there hugging her knees with her head resting on top of them. How could he tell her that his father was forcing him to go clean up after what looked like a murder. The pictures he’d seen showed a house with blood all over the walls and a woman’s bloody lifeless body. And the last one showed Delanoz cleaning blood off his hands. This was why Emilio had Delanoz under constant surveillance but with everything that had been going on the last few months somehow Delanoz disappeared. And when he was found the P.I. took the pictures and sent them to Emilio. Whatever Delanoz had been doing for the last six weeks was not good and had obviously cost some poor girl her life. Maybe it was time he left his brother deal with his own problems.

“Know what?” Nicolas said suddenly. “Screw it, I’m not going, I made a promise to you and I’m going to keep it.”

“I didn’t say you had to stay,” she said without looking at him.

“Delanoz is too old to still be doing this crap; I don’t care if he is arrested again or if they skip the trial and just hang his a*s. It’s not my problem anymore,” he told her.

“Nick,” she said but he kissed her so she couldn’t say anything.

“My number one priority is you,” he said.

“Are you sure about that?” Wildflower asked finally looking him in the eyes.

“Yes,” he nodded. And first on his list of things to do was get her naked.

 

Wildflower smiled when she woke up in the morning in Nicolas’ arms. Maybe it was selfish but she wanted him here with her. If Delanoz had done something criminal then he deserved to be punished for it. She’d given it some thought; it was time for Nicolas to stop rescuing his horrible brother. For awhile she watched him sleep, she didn’t like it that he traveled so much lately. That was probably selfish too; he had responsibilities outside of their home. But she wanted him with her; it made her feel safe if he was here. It also made her feel weak and pathetic. She was depending on him way too much; she needed to get her independence back.

That would be the first thing on her list after they got married. For now she was going to let him take care of her and protect her because it actually felt good. She was pretty much being just like Daisy. Her sister always had a boyfriend so that they could do everything for her and then eventually the guys all broke her heart. Then Daisy would be devastated and cry for days. Thinking about that made her want to stop depending on Nicolas before he broke her heart. But this wasn’t like Daisy’s relationships; her sister had been clingy and needing. She felt guilty for thinking about it but she had always vowed not to be like Daisy. Though Daisy had never been almost sexually assaulted by a stalker and she never shot anybody.

Today she was planning to have Nicolas teach her to shoot better, next time she saw Owen she was going to hurt him. There would be no fear, she was over her fears. Owen needed to be punished for what he did to her and for what he did to Brooke. With that in mind she got out of bed to go make sure the kids were awake. Sammie was up, Evan and Corey were not and Allie was asleep in bed with Tony. Having teenagers in the house that were not related to each other made her life complicated. Especially since most of them were sexually active. At least this time she just found them sleeping and sleeping with clothes on wasn’t really a big deal. There needed to be more rules in this house with the little couples.

After making sure everyone was up she went down to the kitchen, Tammy had already made breakfast and went back to bed. Aside from the summer she wasn’t use to having people in the house all of the time. It was an adjustment for everybody and she had told Tammy she didn’t have to make breakfast every morning. But Tammy never listened to her when it came to thinks she did around the house, which mostly was just giving orders to other people. Not that Wildflower would really be ok barking orders, so she didn’t mind that Tammy did all that.

“Hey,” Sammie called when she came in the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Wildflower replied.

“Do you know how weird it is to wake up to breakfast everyday?”

“For you probably very weird, have you talked to your mother lately?”

“She sent a text to say that she’s going away with her new rich boyfriend and she’ll call me when she gets back,” Sammie said. “So how is Brooke?”

“Well enough to text me this early in the morning so I can come rescue her,” she told her. “It’s going to be interesting having her and Jay here.”

“Brooke is fun though,” Sammie said.

“Morning,” Allie said when she came in smiling.

“Guess it was a good night for you?” Wildflower asked and at least the girl looked slightly embarrassed.

“I had a fight with Markus,” Allie said. “Tony was just comforting me we didn’t do anything, we just slept.”

“We need to have rules and boundaries in this house,” Wildflower said. “I’m betting Nick would have reacted differently. Sleep in your own beds, please.”

“Rules are boring, Mommy,” Allie pouted at her.

“If you were living with your mother even she wouldn’t let you have boys sleeping in your bed. I know it’s different here but pretend the boys aren’t here if you must date them,” she told her.

It was weird to be in charge of teenagers when she was just barely not a teen. Maybe it was mostly odd to parent teenager girls. She’d been taking care of her brothers forever, but of course never girls. There was definitely more to worry about with girls than boys. These two girls couldn’t be more different and she saw herself and Daisy in them. Sammie was there in jeans and a t-shirt with her hair in a ponytail, which was how Wildflower dressed most days of school. And Allie had on a long magenta skirt and a cherry print tank top that had magenta colored lace around the top and the bottom. Her espresso colored wavy hair was worn down with a silver headband. That was so Daisy, the high maintenance pretty girlie girl. But she saw herself in both girls, which some times worried her, especially where Allie was concerned.

“Point taken,” Allie surprisingly agreed. “Are you taking me to my appointment tomorrow?”

“Yup, so you’ll have to miss cheer practice,” Wildflower said. She saw pieces of Daisy in both girls too. Her mother got so lucky that she mostly had boys, and that was proven when Tony came in and he kissed his girlfriend.

Wildflower stayed to have breakfast with the five of them and sent them off to school. Having kids in the house that went out with each other was just too weird. But she couldn’t exactly tell any of them they couldn’t stay. Though her brothers were old enough to take care of themselves for the most part and Van was still staying at the house. The girls had nowhere else to go, Angel was gone and Katrina was still a wreck. If she sent the boys away because of the girls she was going to cause problems between them. And if she was honest with herself, she didn’t want them to leave. She was just so use to taking care of people that it would be weird if she wasn’t taking care of them.

Before she went back upstairs Markus came to grab breakfast on his way out. That meant aside for Tammy who was probably going to sleep until well at least noon, her and Nicolas were pretty much alone. So she happily claimed the stairs and went down the hall to their bedroom. Unfortunately he wasn’t still asleep, he was staring out the window on his cell phone arguing with his father. She knew of course it was Emilio, who else would call at 6:45 in the morning? And of course Emilio was going to blame her for Nicolas’ decision not to help his brother. The old man in fact was yelling so loud she could hear some of what he was saying. He said that Nicolas wasn’t loyal to his family anymore because of her.

Instead of going to lay in bed, like she planned to she went over and took the phone. She hung it up and turned it off, problem solved. Why did Emilio think it was ok for his criminal son to keep getting away with things? Her concern was for Nicolas and the female population of the world since no woman was safe from Delanoz. And if Nicolas kept helping his brother than eventually he was going to go down with him. She took his hand and pulled him back over to the bed.

“You are off today,” she told him.

“If it makes you happy nobody is going to rescue Delanoz from himself, unless the old man is going to do it himself,” he shrugged.

“I was thinking and if you want to go back to work its ok, as long as its not today,” she said.

“Why not today?” He asked with a mischievous look in his eyes.

“Because I have like 4 or 5 hours until I have to go get Brooke, so we can be alone and we are going to practice shooting today.”

“You’re different today,” he said. “What changed?”

“I want my life back, I’ve been completely pathetic lately and way too needy,” she said honestly.

“I kind of liked it that you let me take care of you,” he admitted. “It doesn’t make you weak to need someone; I know your true nature.”

“Says you who has been trying to get me to let you take care of me since the day we met,” she sighed. “For me not to hate myself I have to be able to take care of myself. I love you and I appreciate everything you have done for me. But if you know my true nature then you know I would go crazy if I kept this up.” She was behind him with her arms around him; she traced one of her nails up his torso.

“What are we going to do to pass the time until you have to leave?” He asked and she could hear the lust in his voice.

“Well after last night, I think we are both very dirty,” she said. He stood up suddenly so that she was on his back; she giggled and wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Shower or bath?” He asked when they were in the bathroom.

“I don’t know,” she said once she got down. She sat on the edge of the tub and looked at him. “Maybe we aren’t dirty enough.”

“Really, what has gotten into you?” Nicolas asked while pulling off the shorts she put on to go mother the kids. Next he pulled off her t-shirt.

“I’ve been neglecting you,” she said. “A good wife keeps her husband satisfied.”

“Is that so?” He asked watching her with a bemused expression.

“Yes,” she replied leaning forward to pull on the band of his boxers.

One thing that was never a problem between them was sex. Wildflower crawled on top of him and kissed him. Sometimes she liked to be in control. So she road him on the bathroom floor, it was probably kind of a dirty thing to do. But today she didn’t feel like being a good clean girl. And it wasn’t like he was complaining.

 

 

Nicolas was tired, so he was lying on the couch in his office when Jose came in. He figured his father would come before his brother, but surprisingly Emilio hadn’t come by. What he should have done was go back to bed, but he had come in here to get some things done. Having sex most of the night and most of the day was kind of exhausting. Never in his life did he think he could have too much sex but maybe he had. Jose came over and stared down at him looking a little too amused.

“Princess wore you out?” He asked with a laugh.

“At least I’m getting some,” Nicolas replied closing his eyes again.

“I met a chick in bar last night, guess that’s how I missed your call about D,” Jose said going over to sit behind the desk.

“I was going to call you this morning with the time that our flight was leaving but I had a change of heart and decided not to go,” he told him.

“Change of heart? Since when do you even have a heart?”

“Probably around the time I met Wildflower,” he said thoughtfully.

“Of course, the princess and she is the reason that we are still here?” Jose asked while typing on the computer.

“I’m done being the cleaning crew for Delanoz, he needs to grow up and understand the definition of the word ‘no’. I have a life of my own now and too much to lose for his issues,” he said.

It annoyed him that after all these years they were still doing the same thing. The first time he “helped” Delanoz cover something up he was 15. No wonder he was so messed up now, maybe if he didn’t have to help bury a body he wouldn’t have been thought of as heartless. And maybe everybody wouldn’t depend on him to clean up their messes. Maybe the real problem was that he was definitely too good at covering things up. But that first time had haunted him for a long time, now he felt nothing. That was proof that he was this way because of Delanoz and their father. If he remembered correctly his grandfather had been pissed at Emilio for that whole thing so maybe that was why he decided to punish and humiliate him.

“I talked to him before I got here, you know after daddy dearest called to complain about you. By the way he thinks that you’ve gone soft with the princess in your life. Anyway D called me because he couldn’t get in touch with you, he was actually crying. Said he doesn’t know what happened, he just woke up after a night with a woman and there was blood everywhere and she was dead,” Jose sighed. “When I asked what he did with the body he said he cleaned her up and the house and put her in her bed like she was sleeping. I think he has finally cracked, said he’s on his way back.”

“Think he is telling the truth?” Nicolas asked opening his eyes to see his brother on his laptop.

“Who knows? I’m just as sick of his crap as you are,” Jose paused looking at him. “Keep your hands clean for awhile, I wouldn’t put it pass the old man to frame you for something. You have no idea how pissed he is right now.”

“Guess what? I’m pissed myself and I think that it is time for him to retire.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“I’ve been ready for this for years, I tried to play nice but he’s getting to be annoying. So once D gets here and he gets a stiff drink and gets over whatever he did this time, we are going to have a meeting,” he said.

“Oh little brother,” Jose shook his head. “I have been dreaming of this moment I swear, take the old man down.”

“We’ve indulged him for far too long,” he said with a smile on his face. He did love his father but love had no place in business.

“Whoa,” Jose said staring at something on the laptop. “No wonder she has you wrapped around her finger.

“Get the hell off of my computer,” Nicolas told his brother.

“She does live sex shows for you? I need to get me a woman like that,” Jose laughed. Wisely he closed down the laptop.

“Look at her again and I’ll kill you.”

“Such love little brother; I would never touch her anymore than I already have. I’m her hero,” Jose said.

“If I kill you what will my percentage be?”

“Not as much as if you keep me alive. Its obvious your girl only wants you, I still don’t get why.”

“How is Cheyenne doing? See your son lately?” Nicolas challenged.

“That kid ain’t mine; I swear I didn’t pay the DNA lab off. Liam can have the kid and her; I’m done with her for real this time. And remind me that I’m off actresses too,” Jose said with a smile on his face.

“Sister?” He asked knowing his brother too well.

“Twin cousins, it was a good night, but she threw a brick at me this time. Some women are so easy, I talked her down and had sex with her one last time,” Jose sighed. “They keep ending badly; I need a challenge, someone different. But of course I’m on a short leash here, even shorter with you hostile take over. And the longer I’m here the clingier Cheyenne is, she’s always calling me but I’m tried to tell her that nothing is ever going to happen.”

“Better be careful she is potentially a loose cannon, she could do something crazy,” Nicolas warned.

“I know, that is why I am not going anywhere near her. Maybe if she didn’t marry him or have a kid, then it would be ok but I don’t do women with kids.”

“Why? Too afraid to be somebody’s daddy?”

“Hell yeah, D’s dumb a*s has eleven kids we know about and probably a few he doesn’t know he has. I don’t need no kids tying me to a woman I probably don’t want to be with anyway.”

“You’ll find a woman, sooner or later and she will bring you to your knees.”

“Maybe,” Jose said thoughtfully. “Until then I’ll just spread my love around.”

“Oh I bet you will,” Nicolas shook his head.

Maybe it was because he was so focused and driven that he never really had time for women in the past. His brothers both played with women for fun but he had never seen the point. It could have been after watching the disastrous relationships his family members got themselves in he just didn’t waste his time. Just because he had sex with a woman didn’t mean she would ever potentially be with him long term. There was always something missing until he found Wildflower. At first he just thought it was a physical attraction because she was beautiful, but he saw something different in her. That was why he took sex out of the equation even though it damn near killed him. Now he had more sex with her than he ever had in the past with all the women he’d been with.

Nicolas had always known he was different from his family. He always knew there was something more to him, but he was never sure what that was. For a long time he just thought it was his blue eyes and his drive to be somebody. His siblings were all sort of flaky and unreliable so he always strived to be the most reliable person in the family. When he was eight he remembered Delanoz seducing a young nanny and that ended in her being deported back to a country where she had nothing and no one. He could see flaws in others and he did everything he could to be different. And he was different; he gave up parts of his soul for his family. Whatever was left of it, what was left of him belonged to Wildflower.

Some times he thought of telling her the truth about things from the past. But if he told her or she somehow found out, she would leave him. And that just caused him to think up scenarios of reasons she would leave and how to get her back. There were a lot of reasons she probably should leave him, but she was his and he was going to keep her. Maybe his father was right that he was obsessed with her. What was it about her that had men obsessed? She just seemed like a good sweet caring person who would do anything for the ones she loved. But there was also something more to her she was fierce and demanding and she got whatever she wanted, especially when it came to him.

Part of him didn’t blame Owen for wanting her so badly, he sure did. The other part of him wanted to kill any and all threats or competition. Not that he ever saw Owen the med student and ex-plaything as any competition. By her own admission she never loved the guy and just had a sexual relationship with him. Still she was too nice and now this Owen thing was a huge problem. Nicolas was going to enjoy killing this man, death never made him happy in the past but this piece of trash needed to die. Only death would keep him away from Nicolas’ bride-to-be. He needed to marry her, make his claim on her official and permanent.

“We hear anything about the stalker?” Jose asked drawing him away from his thoughts.

“Not yet,” he said. “But when I find him there won’t be enough of him left for them to identify his body.”

“I would expect no less from you,” Jose nodded. “There is some guilt factor or something missing from every member of this family. We are all severely damaged and deranged. Poor little princess she has no idea.”

“Let me worry about her, you just worry about not getting bricked to death,” he said with a laugh. His broth glared at him.

“Remember that I know the password to your laptop and I can make the princess a porn star.”

“You would never do it because you value living a lot more.”

“Maybe,” Jose agreed. “So you remember them Mandrake sisters?”

“I wish I could forget, why? That was like 16 years ago, and I thought we were never mentioning their names again?” Nicolas asked slightly concerned, this was one thing he really wished he could forget.

“D didn’t want me to tell you but he thinks he might have seen one of them.”

“By seen do you mean he had sex with her?”

“Yeah, but he thinks maybe she sought him out. Might have something to do with his current situation, he’s not sure though.”

“Damn, they go on our list of things to do. Them b*****s are probably plotting to ruin my wedding, they would do anything to get revenge. I swear if they do something to Wildflower because of him, I will kill him,” he said seriously.

“Let’s see we have a take over, stalker to kill, Alvin to locate and assess the threat he poses and locate and neutralize the Mandrake threat. All before we get you married and on a flight to Brazil. Guess I won’t be too bored,” Jose said.

“S**t,” Nicolas said looking at his phone. He just got a text from their mother.

“Oh damn,” Jose said looking at his phone. Then he reached over on the desk and turned on the TV to a news station. Somehow Katrina’s house was currently on fire.

 

 

“That can’t be a coincidence can it?” Brooke asked and Wildflower shrugged.

“Doubt it,” she replied. They were in the park eating ice cream and sitting on a bench, and they just heard about Katrina’s house catching fire.

“So does that mean we are going to go collect Allie from school?”

“Yeah, I think she’s at lunch now, it will be easier to find her once she’s back in class. Though I’m sure she might have mixed feeling about the whole thing.”

“Yeah especially since her crazy father set the house on fire.”

“At least no one was hurt,” she sighed. This family was getting a little too crazy for her.

“Why do you look so tired?” Brooke asked her.

“Because I didn’t sleep much last night or this morning,” she said. Thinking about that made her smile, even though she was exhausted.

“Oh you had a sex-a-thon, you are so funny,” Brooke laughed. “Did you break out the video camera this time?”

“Hell no, I should break that damn disc I still don’t feel safe even with it locked away. I would believe it if Jose knew the combination to that safe and he is so the type to take it out and watch it. That family is so weird, and soon they really will be my family.”

“Like your family isn’t already a little crazy, but I guess no attempted murder crazy. So what was it you said about our favorite rapist?”

“I’m not sure what happened but I told Nick before I left that I don’t want him involved in that anymore. Really I think he’s sick of covering up his brother’s crimes so he agreed with me. But his father absolutely hates me now, before he was willing to accept me to keep his precious Nicky happy now he is pissed. And I hung up on him when he was yelling at Nick. Am I crazy or does it just not seem right to pressure his sons into cleaning up after the oldest one that is just a criminal?” Wildflower asked, she did not understand what was wrong with both Emilio and Delanoz.

“Honey, you are thinking like a sane person and clearly that old man is not a rational person and neither is the serial rapist possible murderer brother. He’s still not in town, right? Or more like the question is, when he comes back is he staying with you?”

“He has a house of his own; I’d prefer not to have him at my house. It was one thing when everybody was there but not now. I can’t be worrying if the kids bring friends over that Delanoz might rape somebody,” she shook her head.

Yeah and I wouldn’t be able to sleep if he was there, I already got enough issues. I keep thinking Owen is watching us,” Brooke said looking around.

“I know the feeling, that’s why you are going to learn to shoot,” she told her.

“Aunt Kim is so anti-guns, you know that,” Brooke said.

“Well we apparently have a lot of weapons in the house, I knew he had a gun safe in his office but yeah we are like prepared for war. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were tunnels under the house to get away if something happened, they are paranoid people.”

“That would be amazing, we could go explore,” Brooke laughed.

“Let’s head to the school so that…” Wildflower trailed off when she saw Cody staring at her coming in their direction.

“Oh hell no,” Brooke said when she saw her too.

“Come on, we are going to get in the car and she can go jump in a river or something,” she said annoyed. If Cody came near her she was going to choke her and there were too many witnesses around. So she pulled Brooke back to the car. They managed to drive away before Cody could reach them.

Reviews

[deeps]

I thought this was a most enjoyable read.
Quite an exciting chapter here. Very well written.