Chaos series by Kristen Ashley

“I… you…” I shook my head. “You’re working with the police?”

“Yeah,” Tack replied like that wasn’t totally insane. “We’re gonna do a sweep, make sure no eyes are on you or anyone who’s got our protection. But we still don’t want you goin’ to the cops or havin’ them meet with you here. We’ll escort you to a private location so you can share what happened with Slim and Mitch and no one will know. You good with that?”

Hesitantly, I nodded.

“You lived the life, darlin’,” he said quietly. “Been a while but you’re back and it’s not shit you forget. So you know our world. You know what he did earned him more trouble than he already had from us. Old ladies are untouchable.” He lifted a hand my way even though I made no move to reply. “We all get where you and High were at but I reckon Valenzuela thought different and he made his approach all the same. We’ll be makin’ moves to ensure he goes down but I want you to know from what’s just happened we’re also makin’ moves to protect our own. It won’t happen again. You’re good. We’ll keep you that way.”

Suddenly, I started trembling.

I had Logan back.

I had his family back.

They had an enemy, that enemy threatened me, and that was not good.

But I had Logan back.

I had his family back.

And they were going to take care of me.

And that was so overwhelming in a good way I could do nothing but stand there and take it all in.

Tack in my living room.

Boz. Hop. Pete.

I was in my home.

But I felt like I’d just come home.

Tack, either allowing me my reaction without noting it or missing it (the latter was doubtful), went on, “High’s gonna fill you in on what you need to know. What you need to know from us is what I told you. That shit could happen to you because the circumstances between you two made it so it could happen. And Valenzuela is greedy and insane, but he isn’t stupid. He chose well. But if he does get eyes on you, he’ll see you’re fully in the fold. I don’t figure he’ll be that stupid again. Won’t matter, we’ll make sure he isn’t.”

I managed to nod and then something struck me and I looked to the side of my cuddle chair.

The crate was gone.

Like Valenzuela, in all the time shared with Logan, I hadn’t thought of it.

And it being gone freaked me out.

“The crate,” I whispered.

“What, babe?” Logan asked.

I tipped my head to look at him. “The crate. He took it from the Dumpster. He brought it back.” I pointed to the floor by the chair. “It was by the chair.”

High’s mouth got tight, his eyes cut to Tack, then back to me.

They came back in time for me to say, my voice rising in hysteria, “It’s gone. Do you think he came back and got it?”

“Millie, beautiful, shit was intense with us and I wanted that to play out with no distractions so I moved the crate to the closet in your empty bedroom.”

I sagged against him for two reasons.

The crate was home and safe.

And that crazy man hadn’t been back.

“Four, nine, one, three,” Logan said quietly.

The security code.

He saw my panic.

And he had me covered in a variety of ways.

“Four, nine, one, three,” I replied quietly.

He shifted his arm around me so his hand cupped me under my jaw.

Then he bent in for another kiss. No lip brush but also no tongues. However, this one lasted longer than the one in the foyer.

And when he lifted his head, my panic was gone.

He let go of my jaw when a presence moved into our space.

We both looked that way and I saw Pete standing there.

I held my breath at the bright in his eyes as he looked between us.

Those eyes landed on me.

“Fuck, sweetheart, so good to have you back,” he whispered.

I made a noise as I choked back the tears and moved out of Logan’s hold toward Big Petey.

His arms closed around me tight.

Folded in the arms of Chaos.

Oh yes.

I’d come home.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

It’s Chaos

High

HIGH SAT IN Bonnie Brae Tavern with the remains of a huge-ass pizza on the table between him and his girls in their booth.

Cleo was on her ass, munching.

Zadie was on her knees, leaning into the table, devouring.

It was rare she didn’t sit like this, his baby girl. He figured she did it because she always had to be ready to launch herself into any adventure that came her way.

Same with how his Cleo was sitting. Life would be what it would be and she’d face it on her own terms.

As planned, he’d picked them up from school. He’d taken them home. He’d made sure they did their schoolwork and straightened up the breakfast dishes in the kitchen so their mom didn’t come home from work to face that shit. Ditto with their rooms.

Then, before Deb got home, he took them out.

He and Deb limited the amount of time they spent in each other’s presence. Not that they didn’t get along. Just that any of that kind of thing could get Zadie’s hopes up.

They didn’t make a habit of avoiding each other so the girls wouldn’t worry that things between them were deteriorating. They just didn’t spend much time together—the occasional dinner and the usual hand-off of visitation being the exceptions—so the girls would know it was cool but wouldn’t think anything beyond that.

Now, the occasional dinner would stop. Deb would be okay with that. But any time he had the girls outside his weekends¸ that time would be spent with Millie.