Page 31 of Love and Chaos

“Huh?” Alexei choked out.

“I got a call from Marilyn the other day. She mentioned that your last client was unexpectedly delighted with your last contract and even offered a bonus.”

Alexei cleared his throat and forced some lightness into his voice that even Soren could hear was fake. “Oh, yeah, well, of course. I always deliver.”

“Except for the fact that you told me that last job was a bust.”

“I did?” Alexei’s voice jumped high enough to shatter glass.

“Fuck,” Soren muttered under his breath. “He knows.”

Gabriel huffed an almost silent laugh. “Dicks and ducks?”

Alexei snickered. “It couldn’t have happened to a nicer man.”

After they were done, there hadn’t been an inch of the man that wasn’t covered in tiny dicks and ducks. Any potential evidence would have been lost in the cops’ efforts to remove them and the superglue. It had taken them almost two hours, but it had been worth it.

“Your uncle wants some. Send me the name of your distributor. Have a pleasant time in Paris.”

Gabriel ended the call, and they both succumbed to giggles.

Ducks and dicks indeed.

SIX YEARS LATER: A WESTIN AND PRINCE JIN SHORT STORY

Late August, 2036

West kneeled and peered under the sofa in the front parlor, for what he was sure was the third time, but still came up empty. Before he could straighten, he heard the patter of small footsteps and the rustle of clothing across the carpet. He turned his head to see a small dark head resting on the carpet next to his, along with a pair of long braided pigtails.

Ming Xia lifted her sweet, smiling face toward him. “What are you looking for, Baba?”⁠1

A quiet sigh escaped him, but he was also laughing on the inside. “We’re looking for your other shoe. Remember?”

The four-year-old sat up on her knees, both her hands covering her mouth while her eyes went wide. “I forgot!”

West wanted to roll his eyes. He wasn’t sure how she’d forgotten. As he sat up, he was at least relieved to find that she still had a shoe on her right foot while a bright yellow-and-green sock covered her left foot. That was a good start.

He pressed a kiss to the center of her forehead. “Go search your room again. We need to find your other shoe. Yeye⁠2 will be here soon, and we need to leave.”

“Yeye!” she shouted, thrusting both fists into the air. She scrambled to her feet and raced through the apartment to her bedroom.

He almost asked where her brother was, but the words never left his tongue. Her cry of grandfather was answered by another cry of grandfather from a different room. A little boy of three zoomed into the parlor and stopped in the center, his head whipping about.

“Where’s Yeye?” Qiao demanded.

West sighed with relief this time when he saw that Qiao-er⁠3 was wearing both of his shoes. But his shirt was missing. What was it with these kids and their clothing? Keeping all of them dressed so they could walk out the door on time was impossible. He’d worked missions far more complicated, and they’d come off without a hitch. Keeping his wild heathens clothed? Impossible.

“Yeye is not here yet,” West replied, dropping to sit on the sofa he’d just searched. “Where is your shirt, Qiao-er?”

“I don’t want to wear that one.” The boy slapped his bare chest with his hand. “Tiger one.” He then made claws with both of his hands and growled.

“The T-shirt Lexi Shushu⁠4 gave you?”

Qiao nodded several times.

“We packed that shirt so you can wear it when you see all your shushu. First, we’re going into the mountains with Yeye. We don’t want to get the tiger dirty before we see Lexi Shushu,” West bargained. Plus, he didn’t want to dig the T-shirt out of the packed bag, which should be in the van right that second.

“Shushu and the grapes!” A stomp followed that excited declaration, reminding West that he needed to strangle Alexei Shushu when he saw the man. At least he was pretty sure Alexei was the one who told Qiao-er wine used to be made by stomping on grapes. Naturally, that led to a need to practice stomping on the grapes at home.