Chapter 1

" Y ou have got to be kidding me," I groan, dropping into the seat across from Knox. "We literally just finished rescuing this one's ass." I point to Sky, our computer tech genius, sitting in the chair beside me. "We deserve a break. I'm demanding a break; no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You can't make me."

"He can't make you?" Sky laughs. "That's a good one, I almost believe you. We don't get breaks in our line of work." Ever since she got her men back, a new light has shone in her eyes. She's become a real jokester trying to take my place.

"Says the one who is taking time off to help her lovers with their own record label," I grumble, crossing my arms over my chest and pouting in my seat. All of us have been working our asses off for a few months now. Before things got crazy, we worked regular security missions at events and even a few full-time security gigs for some powerful people. It wasn't until Trevor decided we had enough power to go after his ex-girlfriend and her father that things became hectic. He found out that he had a daughter he never knew about and won his ex-girlfriend back, all while taking down her corrupt father in the process. It turned out that the father ended up having ties to The Silent Death Family, a local but powerful mafia operating in our neck of the woods.

I wish I could say that's everything that happened, but sadly, it's not. Shortly after things began to settle down with the crew, it was Sky's turn to bring chaos to our company. When our shy computer tech genius joined Rockport Security, she did so to hide herself from a stalker who was not only threatening her but also the three men she loved. For a few years, she remained hidden working with us. When her stalker grew impatient, he murdered the guitarist who had taken her place in the band, Damned Embers. He left a calling card on the body, and she knew it was time to face her past, even though she didn't want to. Her stalker kidnapped Sky after she rejoined the band. It all worked out, though, and she saved herself and got her three lovers back in her life.

The problem now... that was only a month ago if that. I'm not ready to deal with another shit show, which is exactly what this new case sounds like from the little I've heard so far in the office on my way here. Rarely am I the one to complain. I'd rather make a joke about a situation, but I just don't have it in me today.

"Enough. Both of you," Knox growls, leaning forward to place his elbows on his desk and pinch the bridge of his nose. "We run a security company. It isn't always going to be rainbows and unicorns. We also can't refuse this job."

"Did he just make a joke?" I fake gasp and turn to Sky. "I think he did."

"I think it was more of a comment than a joke," she snickers.

"Dear God, what did I do to deserve this headache today," Knox questions with a sigh. "Senator Greg Granger called me directly asking me to take this case. He has been receiving anonymous threats about both of his daughters. His youngest is still living at home, so he isn't worried about her, but his oldest is away at school at Westhill University. The campus is close to us."

"So what I'm hearing you say is… we're on babysitting duty?" I snark. Does Knox deserve my attitude? No, but as one of my best friends, I know he won't get pissed and will just let it go. Tensions have been high, and I'm sure he will just blame it on that.

"Should we be trusting him to watch her? I mean, Steel pretty much is a child himself," Sky adds before Knox can answer me.

"Normally, I'd be offended, but if it gets me out of this, I'll take the hit to my ego. I want a vacation far away from the snow coming our way," I chuckle, though I'm fully serious. I'm well aware people consider my joking childlike, and it doesn't bother me at all. If you're not having fun in life, are you really even living?

"Children!" Knox growls. "I never thought I'd have to call adults children today. That's enough out of the two of you. Steel," he gives me a pointed look. "You are to go to the college and watch over Illeana Granger," he hands me a pretty thin folder before continuing. "Everything about her is in that folder, including the few threats the Senator passed along. Read it. Memorize it. You'll be rooming next door and attending all her classes. You'll need to meet with the school's Dean before introducing yourself to Illeana. Understood?"

"Are you sure you don't want to take this one?" I inquire while flipping through the folder. There's very little to look at context-wise in the folder that will tell me something Knox hasn't already passed along, but there is a picture of the girl I'll be babysitting. The target is easy on the eyes. She'd be my type if she weren’t ten years younger than me. The picture shows off her big, round, hazel eyes, which look like they could see right through you. Her brown hair falls in soft waves around her heart-shaped face. It's winter in the photo, and I'm it looks like it was taken recently. She's wearing a rust-colored peacoat that brings out the greenish tints of her eyes and a white scarf around her neck. Damnit Steel, why are you checking her out?

"Can't. Out of all of us, you're the only one who can blend in at college. It has to be you. Plus, I need to visit Rachel. I'm overdue, and they have some stuff going on that Shadow wanted my opinion on," he explains as he hands Sky a second folder.

Rachel is Knox's little sister who got mixed up with the Chaos Brotherhood, a local motorcycle club. Mixed up is the wrong word since their president, Shadow, saved her when Knox and us couldn't. Shadow has done no wrong when it comes to her, and despite our being in different job fields, we have a good working relationship. We help each other out at times when situations call for a different set of rules. The Brotherhood stepped in when Trevor needed help and this may be our time to help them. "You know if you need help with the Brotherhood, I'm in. They did us a solid and they're family."

"Thanks, Steel. I'll let you know if it comes to that. Right now, I need you to focus on protecting the Senator's daughter. Sky," he turns to look at her. "Read that folder. I need you to see if any of these threats are credible and who is behind them. The Senator is worried. I glanced through those and didn’t see how any of them could rise to the level of his concern but he does, so just look them over and let me know. I know you're part-time right now but just do what you can."

"Will do, Knox. Do you need me for anything else, or can I go get started? I'd rather have a good lead before I head out shortly," she asks, clutching the folder to her chest.

"You can leave," Knox dismisses her, turning his attention back to me. "We need this mission to go right. Senator Granger has a lot of pull and funding behind him. We can't fuck this up without risking losing contracts."

"I won't fuck this up Knox, I promise. Despite my not wanting to work on this at all, I know what's at risk. I'll do my job and I'll do it correctly," I answer. I can see how stressed Knox is. It's one reason when we were creating Rockport Security I didn't want to be the chief executive officer. I'm perfectly fine working under both Knox and Trevor. We all created the company but I let them take on some of the bigger responsibilities. I'm the muscle to their brains.

"You better not," he growls. "We have too much at risk and after the press that arose from the Damned Ember scandal, we can't afford to have our company's name at the forefront again. Despite none of that having to do with us, we were still involved. Thankfully, it was the record company being slandered and not us, but people are still blaming us for how things went."

"I thought that all started to die down?" I ask, surprised to hear it's still an issue. I hadn't seen any recent articles talking about what happened so I thought we were in the clear.

"It has for the most part but it's still swirling around. I don't want it to get brought up. We need to handle this quietly and efficiently. Which means that you need to get on the road to the school, you have a meeting with the Dean this afternoon. Good luck, Steel," Knox calls out as I stand up.

"I'm gonna need it," I mutter, leaving the room. I'm really going to need whatever luck I can get on my side. There's a reason I never went to college. I hate everything that comes with it, and now I'm being forced into this and going to school. Babysitting a senator's daughter as she goes class to class. I really hope that she is at least taking some interesting classes so I'm not bored out of my mind.

~

A literature and business dual major? You have got to be kidding me. How does this girl even have the time to handle the amount of classes a schedule like this requires? I've spent a couple of minutes staring over the schedule and the packet the Dean at the school gave me about Illeana. So far the Dean has been accommodating with this whole thing but I can tell he's as thrilled about it as I am. I had to promise to keep a low profile and try to blend in as a student as much as possible. Still don't know why they think I'm the best person to do this. I'm not exactly the college type.

"Is there anything else you need?" Dean James inquires from behind his large dark wooden desk. The whole room is exactly what I expected a dean's office to look like. Stuffy, full of bookcases that were for show, and dark wooden furniture.

"No, this should be everything for now. Do you mind setting up a meeting for tomorrow morning with Illeana? I'd like to meet her and explain my purpose for being here. I have a feeling her father didn't prepare for this." If I was her father, I'd want to keep her in the dark as much as possible. Keep to a normal schedule and pretend that everything is okay, I don't operate like that. It's easier if I have her on my side for this and that she understands what is at risk. I won't tell her everything, but just enough that she takes this seriously. I'd rather have her working with me than against me to keep her safe.

"I can set that up for nine tomorrow," Dean James states. "Please, take the rest of the afternoon to explore campus and move into the dorms what you need. Hopefully, your stay won't be too long."

"Thank you, Dean James. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Standing, I reach out my hand to shake his. This man is doing all of us a favor and I need to keep him on my good side. Note to self, keep my mouth shut and the jokes to a minimum. Dean James doesn't strike as the type that would appreciate humor right about now.

Leaving his office, I pull up the campus map on my phone and look for the English building. According to Illeana's schedule, she should be in a gothic literature class right now. Sounds utterly boring but I want to get an idea of what her classes look like. Nothing better than jumping in now to take a look. The map shows the building just across the quad. Following the directions, it doesn't take me long to make it to the building and up to the third floor where the class is being held. Looking at my watch, I see the class only started ten minutes ago, which means I have time to enter and take a seat in the back to listen and observe.

Quietly opening the door, I slip in and take an open seat in the back. The teacher pauses at my entrance but continues quickly without saying a word. I probably should have thought that through before entering but I supposed teachers are used to students entering late, or having someone sitting in on their classes at random. At least I hope they are.

I haven't even been in the classroom for five minutes and I can tell this is going to be a class that bores the hell out of me. I really hope she has some more interesting ones. If every class is like this, I'm going to need to bring something with me to keep me awake. Probably my laptop and some headphones to watch a movie while they discuss some old books that were already turned into movies. At least the one they are talking about today was. I'm pretty sure there are like six different Frankenstein movies.

It takes everything in me to stay awake for the next thirty minutes of class. By the time the teacher is done talking, I'm already bailing out the back door. I've seen enough of what classes are going to be like. I need to work on mapping the quickest routes around campus and then go take a look at the dorm room Dean James set up for me. It's supposed to be right next door to Illeana's. I'd rather have everything moved in so she doesn't become suspicious and asking questions just yet.

Thankfully, I don't have much that needs to be moved in. Just enough to make it look like a typical male's dorm room, so no one gets suspicious. Which means some bedding, a television, a gaming system, and a mini fridge. The essentials. I probably could have asked one of the guys from work to get that set up while I followed Illeana but I knew it'd be nice to do it myself, helps me to relax a little. Plus no one touches my gaming systems. I have a very particular way I like them set up. I even brought a few pieces from my home collection to make life a little easier in the small moments of downtime. I also need to get with dorm maintenance so I can sneak into Illeana's room and get cameras set up if possible. Nothing in her bedroom, just one or two in the main living suite area so I know when she is coming and going, a sort of alarm system since I'll be next door and not in the same room.

So much to do and so little time. Tomorrow morning, Illeana's life is going to change and I have a feeling she is going to see me as the demon in this situation. Usually, I would disapprove of that title, but this time around, I'll accept it. Just from seeing her picture earlier, I know she is going to be trouble. The more she hates me the easier it will be to get this job done. Or at least I hope so.