Page 18 of Waggs

Willow drew in a breath as reality and shock hit her full force. “AJ isn’t—”

Decker held up a hand. “Don’t lie to me. I won’t say a word but don’t try and pretend that child doesn’t belong to Aiden Wagner.”

Willow closed her mouth, her hand shaking as her fingers covered her lips. How could she admit that she just didn’t know which of the brothers was her son’s father? “I love him. I’ve always loved him, but I loved Aaron too, and I never cheated on him.” Tears hit her eyes, and she blinked them away under the scrutiny of the man before her.

“Don’ tell me, tell him. Be honest but for God’s sake, if you can’t give him what he needs, walk away now. I’ve seen my friends hurt before and I won’t let it happen again. I like you, Willow, you’re a survivor. If you make him happy, I’m your biggest ally, but if you hurt him…” He left the threat hanging, and she wasn’t sure how to respond. She kind of liked how honest he was and how much he looked out for Aiden.

“I won’t hurt him.”

“Good. Now that’s behind us, would you like a cup of tea before we start the meeting?”

Willow smiled and decided Decker may be a bit forward, but he was a straight talker and had just cut out a lot of the confusion and chaos from her mind. She had no idea if it was true about Aiden loving her but him seeing to the heart of who AJ’s father could be meant she had to find a way to explain to Aiden he might be AJ’s dad, rather than Aaron, who everyone assumed was. “Yes, tea would be great but only if you serve those cute little sandwiches with it.”

Decker shook his head, and as Aiden and AJ walked toward them, victorious after their trip around the assault course. She felt better about moving forward, if a little scared.

Chapter 7

Waggs had seen Decker talking to Willow, and his alarm bells started ringing. It had started friendly, but as he looked over when AJ went under the scramble net, he saw the tension bracketing Willow’s pretty face. He had to help AJ a few times, but the kid was good, agile, and strong for his age. When he glanced up again, Willow was laughing, and his anxiety levels eased.

Everyone knew Decker for his straight-talking, and he didn’t want Willow upset. He hadn’t lied when he said he wouldn’t treat her like a china doll, but that didn’t mean he wanted her upset either.

Finishing the course with him just a little behind AJ, who was whooping it up like he was a superhero, Waggs raced him to his mom, leaving him behind, and giving him back his humility. AJ was young, and it was the perfect time for him to learn that you didn’t always come in first in life.

“You guys headed inside?” He stood with his hands on his hips as he tried to read Willow’s expression. He didn’t even bother trying to read Deck; the man was a master at hiding whatever he was thinking. He was the original Iceman, and nobody was getting through the walls he’d built.

“Yes, Deck promised me tea and cucumber sandwiches.”

“Oh yeah? He tell Alex yet?”

“Alex?”

“Yeah, our resident chef.”

“I thought he was the second in command?”

“He is, but cooking is his passion. If he hadn’t lost Evelyn when he had, I think he’d be a famous chef in Paris now.”

“Lost Evelyn?” Willow was frowning, and her confusion was adorable.

“It’s a long story.” He swung his arm over her shoulders as they walked back up the hill to the back entrance of Eidolon. He stopped her just inside the door as Deck carried on with AJ. “Hey, everything okay?”

Willow smiled widely her eyes bright as she wrapped her arms around his neck, surprising him. “Yep.”

Waggs linked his fingers at the small of her back and stole a kiss, wishing he had time to do more and a private place to do it, but right now he needed a plan from his team. He could do this alone, but he’d seen first-hand the damage going it alone and keeping secrets could do. “You want to sit in on this meeting or hang with Autumn for a bit?”

Willow had told her story twice, but she may not want to keep going over what was sure to be a frightening time for her, plus he had some confessions to make to his team which he’d rather she wasn’t there for.

“Hang with Autumn. I don’t pretend to know the first thing about security and protection, so I don’t think I’ll be any help. I trust you to make the decisions on this.”

“Okay.”

He walked her down and left her chatting with Autumn about some new hair fad he couldn’t even pronounce correctly, let alone understand what it was. He was whistling as he made his way to the conference room, surprised to see Gunner walk in the room just in front of him.

“Shouldn’t you be on your honeymoon, wrapped in some sort of blissful romantic state of being?”

Gunner chuckled. “You’d think, but Lacey and I are waiting and going on a honeymoon after the royal tour wraps up in October.”

Gunner and he sat in their usual spots, and he half-listened to Blake and Alex who were talking with Liam and Mitch. “Makes sense, I guess. Is Lacey okay with it?”