Chapter Three
Willow
“So you think it’s fair to leave me out of these conversations?!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. It happened again, only this time I caught them talking about Ronald and his health care without me present.
Even though they knew I wasn’t stripping, I was still as much a part of this than they thought.
“Willow, we just don’t want to stress you. We’re the head of the—”
I cut my mother off, storming into the hallway from the living room. “I don’t care!” my voice echoed off the walls.
My father just sat in his recliner with his head hung down.
“You two are despicable!” I hissed, marching towards the door.
What did they want? For Ronald to just up and die, would that be easier for them?
I swung the front door open and charged outside. I wasn’t looking at where I was going and ran straight into someone.
Stumbling back, I looked up and saw that familiar face.
I forgot his name, but it was the man who drove me back the other night ago.
“You…” I said, trying to find my words.
He looked surprised and concerned. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I um. Why are you here? I don’t do private dances and well, my parents don’t need to know…”
The man shook his head and waved his hand. “No, I’m not here for that. I needed to ask you for a favor.”
“What do you need?”
The rush of the argument with my mother still had adrenaline pumping through my veins. He took me by the back like a gentleman and walked me towards his car. There was a little girl sitting on the inside.
“I need you to look after my daughter. I have and extremely important meeting that cannot be missed or rescheduled.”
“Watch her here?” I asked, pointing back at my family’s townhouse.
My parents would nosey their way into my business. Honestly? They didn’t need to know I was making any money at all.
“No, my place. It has everything you’d ever need. And I’d pay you well.”
“How long do you need it for? And why ask me?” I lowered my voice. “Who asks a stripper to watch their daughter?”
For the most part, that was sarcasm, but I was curious. He didn’t keep himself like the rest of the screwballs that came to the bar.
He was more mature, business like, and the scent of that cologne, that mix of sandalwood and coffee… damn.
“Well, I like your vibe. You’re gentle, and obviously new to the dancer world. You shouldn’t have to stay there either.”
“I know but…”
He didn’t understand… One good look at his car and I knew that he didn’t know what scraping for money was like. Add on to that that you had a brother in a coma you had to support because insurance wanted to be so fucking cheap.
“But what?”
“That job pays really good money. And I need that money…”
He sighed.
“How much,” he asked in a straight voice.
“Do I get paid? I don’t know it’s not a set thing, but my first day brought in like four hundred dollars.”
“I’ll pay you eight hundred if you watch after my Dahlia today, please?”
That look in his eyes, he had that touch of father on him, and his plea was genuine.
I moved my mouth to say yes when my mother opened the door and waddled out to see who the handsome man was standing in front of their home with their daughter.
“Willow? Is this a friend of yours?” she asked.
I could see her nose growing all the way over here.
“Yes, mom.”
“I’m her boss,” he added. Wow, I felt bad for forgetting his name… What was it again?
He shook her hand. “My name is Darien, I’ve hired your daughter to baby sit my daughter today.”
He looked back at me with a grin. I nodded my head. One day off and getting paid eight hundred was a nice boost of money. Slowly but surely I felt the security of being able to provide for Ronald’s health care.
“I’d love to stay longer to chat, but I have a very important meeting to go to.”
I followed him over to his car and got inside. I looked in the backseat and saw Dahlia give me a curious look.
“Willow, meet Dahlia, my daughter.”
She spoke in a cheery voice, “Hello, it’s nice to meet you!”
“Hey, Dahlia, you’ve got a princess’ name!”
We went through many winding roads, the scenery that passed us in flurry of green and yellow hues was calming and reassuring. My heart fluttered when I took a chance glance at Darien.
He was handsome and obviously didn’t have a care in the world about money.
But since he had a kid, that meant he had a wife or girlfriend, right?
I didn’t want to seem too nosey, so I kept my mouth shut. God knew I didn’t want to have that attribute of my mother rub off on me.
After a fifteen minute drive, we pulled up to a large house that looked like a mansion.
Okay, maybe not that large, but his house could easily take up a whole row of town houses.
“Oh my god, like how many rooms are there in your house?!”
My mouth hung open.
“Seven of them. That doesn’t include my office and conference room.”
I cocked an eyebrow and turned to him. “Since when did houses need conference rooms?”
“Since I run a very important business.”
“Oh…”
Darien met my eyes for a few more seconds, and I felt the heat trickle up my cheeks.
“You’re not going to ask what business?”
“No, I don’t want to seem nosey.”
He chuckled. And I looked out the window to hide my face.
“I’m the owner of Thrilling Enterprises, we do a lot of contracts for tech companies and provide computer engineering for high end companies.”
“I’ve heard of Thrilling Enterprises!” I chirped. Holy shit, he was the owner?! That meant that this man sitting in arms length of me was a multi-billionaire.
Impossible.
How did someone like me end up next to him?
“You look shocked.”
I tried to speak, but the words went out my ears, not cooperating with my brain.
We got out the car and Dahlia raced past me, grabbing my hand to drag me along.
“Dahlia, no running!” Darien warned, reaching into his pocket for his keys.
I was standing at the doors of a wealthy man’s house. His personal life that barely anyone got to see.
Wow, this was what it looked like to see the life of someone super wealthy, not a care or worry in the world…
I fell into a daze until Darien shoved a roll of bills into my hand along with the keys.
“Huh?”
“I have to go. I’ll leave it to Dahlia to show you around. She’s a smart kid. Lunch will be in about thirty minutes. I have chefs put out the food in the dining room.”
The warmth of his voice and the scent of his authority lingered around me, making my knees feel faint.
*Stop it, Willow. He’s only your boss. Nothing else. He’s obviously got a woman stashed around somewhere.*
“Okay. Thank you Mr. Darien.”
He held up his hand. “Just call me Darien.”
He bent down to Dahlia, hugging her and planting a kiss on her forehead.
“Where are you going daddy?” she asked, sadness in her voice.
“Daddy has a super special meeting with some powerful clients. Be a good girl and don’t try to stray too far from Willow. She’s a nice lady.”
Darien flashed me one more grin before he turned around and headed for his car.
Wow.
“You won’t be mean to me, will you?” Dahlia asked, pouting.
“No, of course not, we’re going to have a lot of fun! Come on, show me around, maybe instead of regular lunch we’ll order a huge cheesy pizza!”
Dahlia jumped up and down with a bright blinding smile on my face. “Yay! Pizza,” She exclaimed.
This house was amazing.
Dahlia and I ran down the halls, peeking into all the rooms and the best part? The back yard. The pool was covered, but there were fruit trees and a garden back here with all my favorite flowers.
“I love the purple flowers!” Dahlia said as she picked one and gave it to me.
I knelt down and slid it over her ear into her hair.
“This is called Liliac, it’s pretty and smells really good. It even matches those cute light brown eyes.”
“You’re nice!” Dahlia giggled.
“How old are you Dahlia?”
I stood back up and walked back towards the house.
“I’m seven years old. Daddy says I’m mature for my age!”
I held her hand. “That you are.”
“Hey, wait.”
She slipped out of my hand and ran into some bushes. I looked, but the bushes covered her up and I didn’t see where she was going.
“Dahlia?”
She didn’t respond. Okay, I gave the kid a few seconds.
“Dahlia?”
Now I started to worry, anything could’ve happened. A bee could’ve stung her, a kidnapper may’ve grabbed her—then a flash of that night… When I heard that Ronald was in an accident.
I yelled, “Dahlia, this isn’t—”
She tackled my waist from behind and held her hands out with three huge strawberries inside of them.
I sighed. “You worried me, no running off like that unless I know where you’re going.”
“Sorry,” she said, pouting. She sure knew hot to put that pout on.
“Well, come on, it’s time for lunch!” I said, taking Dahlia’s hand and popping a strawberry in my mouth. “Let’s not disappear like that again, okay?” I reminded her.
“Okay, Ms. Willow!”
She skipped alongside me as we made our way back into the house.
Dahlia ran to her mini-playground and sat on some swings.
“Push me, please, Ms. Willow!” she requested.
I sighed and went over to push her. Looking after Dahlia was like a dream. She brought me peace during this time.
Maybe when Ronald wakes up, I could push him on the swings too. Yeah, he’d think I was corny, but I’d sit his ass right down here and push him.
Dahlia’s bright blond hair swayed in the wind as she went up and dipped back down.
Airy chuckles and laughs, they made my day. Darien had such a nice kid.
It made me wonder, would I ever be a mother one day?
I wasn’t paying attention, and when Dahlia came back towards me, I was knocked back.
“Agh!” I cried out. Oops, that was my bad.
“Ms. Emma!” Dahlia jumped off her swing and knelt down next to me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, pulling myself up. Dahlia hung onto my arm and tried to help.
Sweet kid.
“Come on, after a fall like that, you need to eat. Daddy always said that if you ever get hurt, make sure you eat to regain your strength!” she sat her hands on her hips, confident in her father’s wisdom.
Dahlia brought me into the dining room, it looked like something out of a magazine that showcased expensive furniture for homes just like these.
It was insane. He had so many bedrooms, but it was only him and his daughter. Unless some of his workers lived here?
I sat down next to Dahlia, and she pointed at the seat at the end of the table.
“That’s where Daddy sits!” she said. “He’s like the king, and I’m the princess.”
“Definitely seems like something fit for royalty.”
The chefs came out with their plates of food and sat it down on the table in front of us.
Wow, I forgot real food smelled like this. With my busy lifestyle, all I’ve known to eat was a cheap hamburger and french fries.
I took up my fork and was ready to chow down until my phone rang and vibrated against my hip.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hi, is this Ms. Reign?”
“Yes, who’s calling?” I asked.
“Hello, Ms. Reign, this is the Adventist Hospital, we’re calling to notify you that the expenses quoted to you were wrong. That was only applicable to insurance coverage.”
I straightened in my seat and moved the salad around on my plate while Dahlia chowed down.
“So does that mean it’s actually cheaper?”
“Um, actually it’s a twenty percent raise.”
I dropped my fork. “What?!”
…
This was insane. The numbers she rolled off a list on the phone, they were too much. I’d have to strip twenty four seven in order to bring that in…
And to add insult to injury, if they didn’t get the first payment of thirteen thousand dollars in two weeks, then they would be ‘forced’ to no longer be able to treat him.
They’d just let my brother die? Over money?