Chapter 21

I asked her to do one simple thing. Stay inside. It really wasn't that hard of an order for her to follow. This is exactly why I had been debating bringing them with me or not, but I thought she would listen. If she had just listened, then everything would be fine. We wouldn't be in this mess, and we wouldn't have gotten into a fight. If she had just stayed inside, the men who showed up wouldn't have gotten a good look at her, and that's what I'm concerned about. If you pay attention to the news, then you will most likely recognize her. Senator Granger likes to put his daughters on display for the whole world to see for large events, forgetting that it puts them at risk. If the men who were here paid any attention to the news, then they would know exactly who they were speaking to and that worries me.

Earlier when Illeana was explaining what happened, she said they were looking for someone but never gave her a name, not that she asked for one. That's what has me on edge even more. My bet is they could have been here looking for her. Why they didn't do anything before, I'm not sure. They were probably just the scout team, sent to see if she was even here. Once confirmed, then they would bring more men with them. That leaves me at a disadvantage. It would already be a rough fight, one against four, but I could do it if prepared, but against who knows how many? Yeah, I'm fucked. Really fucked. Knox is going to lose his shit, not to mention what Trevor might do if they find out. Not looking forward to that conversation.

I spent a good twenty minutes outside after I stormed away from Illeana checking the perimeter for any and all leads I could find. I took some pictures of the tire tracks and already emailed them over to Sky and her team to begin looking them over. Now, I'm back inside and have been scouring through the security cameras in the office. I locked myself in here when I stormed back inside. The last thing I wanted was for the girls to come and try to talk to me. Grace was innocent and didn't deserve my wrath, not like her older sister. Damn girl was driving me insane. This is what I get for getting involved with a younger woman. A damn headache.

"We literally hung up just a little bit ago," Knox states as he answers the phone. "What do you need now? Did you call to apologize for hanging up on me?"

Fucker. Since when have I ever called to apologize for hanging up on his ass. I swear it's a weekly occurrence at this rate. And he does the same shit to me. It's our brotherly love language.

"Never gonna happen, Asshole," I snort, keeping my eyes locked on the camera footage I began sorting through. I need to get it all saved and emailed over to Sky as well. I told her to be on the lookout for a follow-up email after giving her the briefest of explanations with the first set of photos and told her to get me answers pronto.

"Then why the hell are you calling?" he grunts at the same time a loud bang sounds in the background of the call. I'm tempted to comment on the noise but figure we have more important stuff on our plate then me giving him shit right now.

Yeah, I know, who am I?

"While I was out shopping, an SUV stopped by the house asking questions," I begin. He doesn't give me any time to finish before he cuts me off with a string of curses and questions. I swear the man doesn't take a breath for a good minute or two. "You done?" I ask when I can finally talk. When he doesn't make a comment, I finally continue. "If you hadn't cut me off, I'd have saved you the trouble of asking most if not all of the damn questions." I take a quick breath before diving into the rest of the story. "Despite me telling Illeana to stay inside, the damn stubborn woman opened the door when she heard a car pull up and didn't check the window, though according to her, the SUV looked like mine. I've been going through the camera footage and confirmed whoever it is was driving a similar vehicle to what we brought. Four men got out of the vehicle, but only three approached her. The camera got a good look at the three who came close to the cabin, and the pictures matched the descriptions that Illeana provided me. I hate we didn't get a good look at the fourth man, but hopefully, these three will be a good start. I'm sending the pictures to Sky now for her to look over and identify who any of these fuckers are. Only one male spoke to Illeana, asking her questions and saying they were lost trying to find someone but never said who they were looking for. Thankfully, the woman has some brains and never left the porch, and when the man got closer, she backed up to the door to make a quick escape. I guess she has some sense of self-preservation. My bet is that they were looking for Illeana, which means we need a game plan. Damn woman is too recognizable thanks to her father."

Knowing I just tossed a bunch of information at Knox, I pause to give him a minute to catch up but not long enough that he's going to take over this whole conversation, the last thing I need is him spewing a bunch of shit at me and blaming me when I'm already pissed enough at myself for letting this happen. I got sloppy and that's on me, I accept my fuck ups.

"We need somewhere to move the girls. They aren't going to like it but they also aren't going to have a choice if we are to keep them hidden and safe. I also need to figure out how the fuck we were tracked here. I told the girls to not use their phones and made them shut them off when we left Granger mansion." That's the part that is driving me insane even more. Which one of them went behind my back to use their electronics? If they didn't then what the fuck is tracking us. I've limited how much the girls can do on their laptops to only school work. I'm sure Sky could figure out if they were hacked somehow. Is that even possible to track someone's location through their computer? Fuck, I don't know enough about this tech shit, it was never my area of expertise.

"Steel," Knox almost shouts through the phone pulling me from my thoughts.

"What?" I grunt, trying to remember what the hell he just said.

"Get your head in the game," Knox scolds. "We have no idea how long it will be before those men come back with even more men to collect the girls. We need to move them. It's not going to be today, despite how much I wish it was."

"What do you mean not today?" I cut him off before he could continue. "Did you miss me saying that we need to move the girls?" Damnit. This is not how I expected this to go at all.

"No, Asshole, I didn't. But didn't you say that there was a snowstorm up there? You all are stuck, and you know it. It's going to take a day at least a for those men to return back to the cabin. It gives us time to figure out who they are. Keep the girls calm, but have them pack their bags. I'll call Shadow and tell him to expect you all late tomorrow afternoon depending on the weather. I didn't want to involve the Chaos Brotherhood, but it looks like we have no choice. They are the only ones we trust closest to you. It'll take too long for any of us to get there." Knox explains.

I don't even have to ask why he didn't want to involve the Chaos Brotherhood anymore than we already have. If word spread that we were working with a one percenter motorcycle club, we would lose our reputation and no one would give us security contracts. I wish that wasn't the case but that's just how the world views things. All the guys I've met in the MC are some of the nicest ever, even if they are scary as fuck to look at and coming from a guy who was special forces in the military, that's saying something. I'm sure we'd be able to maintain some of our contracts, but if word got back to Senator Granger that we allowed both of his daughters near the MC, I'm sure he'd have all our heads on a spike outside his mansion doors in a heartbeat.

"Alright, just give me the word and I'll take the girls there. We can't stay there long though. We're going to need another spot to go and hide out at. No one can know the girls were ever at their compound." Honestly, I'd rather have taken them there to start with but it’s too late now.

"I'll keep you posted. Remind the girls to stay inside, and make sure you question them on their cell phones, or better yet take the cell phones from them and maybe their laptops too. Lock them in the Faraday bag so no service can even try to get through while we figure out how they were tracked," Knox instructs firmly. I'm not going to fuck around arguing with him. Not on this now. "Also, send me everything you sent to Sky. I'm going to ask the Senator if he recognizes any of the men. He probably won't and if he does he won't tell me but it's worth a shot. We need to use all our resources for this. Keep those girls safe!"

"Yes, Sir," I answer, already shooting off the emails he asked for. "We will be ready to move as soon as the snow is clear. You're right the roads are impassable. I could barely see any of the tire tracks from the other SUV when I had gone outside to look for them due to how much snow had already fallen. I'm sure by now they are completely gone."

"Be safe, Steel, and keep those girls safe. They are your responsibility." He doesn't give me a chance to answer before hanging up on me. See, Asshole, it's our brotherly language.

I love how he leaves me with the hard shit to do. Illeana and I are pissed at each other. Grace is going to be pissed I'm making them move, and I'm about to piss them off more by taking their electronics. Yeah, this is going to go over swimmingly. Fuck me. I guess there's no time like the present to go deal with the disaster I'm about to walk into. I suppose we should be thankful that we had almost a whole week out here before anyone found us and stirred up trouble. I'm thinking we need to find a new cabin to use as a safe house at this point.

Locking the computer, I rise out of my seat and head to the door. I think I'm going to start by talking to Grace. At least to get her packing. She should be easier to talk to than Illeana. Okay, and maybe I'm trying to avoid the fight that is bound to come from her. She has a damn temper on her, though you wouldn't know it upon first meeting.

Well, that definitely went better than I had planned. Grace easily agreed to pack when I promised there would be other kids to play with where we were going and it wouldn't just be the three of us. The way her eyes lit up when she found out she would get to socialize again, was something I hadn't expected to see. I thought she would be mad that she wasn't going home yet and back to school, but nope that barely came up in the conversation. Whether it was because she knew the answer already or just didn't care I'm not sure.

Now, it's time to go face the music of the mess I made earlier. The anger that had settled earlier, upon speaking to Knox and then Grace, has completely returned with every step I take down the hallway to my room. Ii probably shouldn't expect to find Illeana waiting for me, but I'm really hoping she's where I left her.

I note the door to her room is shut, same as mine. That's really not looking good for me. Continuing past her room, I reach my door, turning the handle and pushing it open. The bed in the center of the room is made, no one would even suspect we had slept there last night. All the lights are off, the only light in the room coming in from the windows. The door to the bathroom ensuite is open and the light is off in there as well.

Well shit. Of course the Princess wouldn't make it that easy for me. Now here's to hoping that she doesn't have her bedroom door locked, or I'm about to have to grovel through a damn door.

Turning around, I exit my room and walk back down the hall coming to a stop outside of the room I gave Illeana when we first arrived. I contemplated just trying the handle and invading her space but I'm sure that will just cause even more of a fight and I need to get her to listen to me. So instead I lift my hand and knock three times, waiting for her to come to the door.

"Can I help you?" she snarks, her green eyes flare with her anger as she stares me down.

"Can I come in? We need to talk." I place my hand on the doorframe but make sure to keep my body out of her space. It takes everything in me to not demand her to speak with me, despite how pissed off I am at her. I need to stay calm so this conversation doesn’t get derailed.

"Depends. Are you here to tell me that last night was a mistake? That we should never have fucked? That we don't need to speak of it again? If so, then yes, it was a mistake that I plan on forgetting ever happened." Ouch okay, that stung and is the complete opposite of how I feel but that can wait until after our other conversation. "If you're here to apologize to me for yelling at me about how I fucked up and how stupid I was then, you can do that from right there. I see no reason you need to set foot in the room either way."

"You're right," I state pointedly. A small gasp leaves her but I continue before she can say anything. "I should have calmly talked to you instead of yelling at you. You aren't trained the way I am and it was my job to be here to protect you both. I fucked up by leaving and that's on me. You were doing your best and I can't fault you for that. Now, can we please talk inside your room about your first accusation?"

It was a conversation that needed to stay between us and not one that Grace should be over hearing. The last thing I'm sure either of us wants is for her little sister to hear that we slept together. It would sure make things awkward and I don't think I'll ever hear the end of it.

Illeana stares at me in shock before stumbling back a step or two. It's enough to let me push my way into her room and shut the door behind me. I make sure not to touch her, at least not yet until her mind catches up to what happened. I hadn't entirely planned to apologize nor take the blame on myself but when I saw her standing in front of me like a pissed-off Princess ready to throw the gauntlet down, I knew that was a battle I could concede for now. We would still discuss how reckless she was but I can recognize that I fucked up as well on that front.

"You. What? I...," she mumbles, shaking her head as she tries to form words.

"I'll wait until you're ready for the rest," I state, leaning back against her door and crossing my arms over my chest. My words seem to do the trick and her confusion and shock are quickly replaced with her anger once more. The anger I can handle, hurt not so much.

"I told you that we didn't need to talk about what happened. It was a mistake and it won't happen again," she snarls, crossing her arms in front of her chest to mirror my own stance.

"And I told you that we do," I retort with some added snark. "Last night was not a mistake. It was the best damn night of my life and if you think a little fight between us is going to change my mind, then Princess, you need to reevaluate who you're speaking to. We're going to fight. It's going to happen. But you know what," I drop my voice as I stare at her. "The make-up after a fight is one of the best damn parts of a fight."

"How dare you?!" she shouts, stomping toward me and reaching out her hand. I saw the slap coming, but it still stung when her hand connected to my cheek.

"I don't think I deserved that, Princess," I smile down at her. "If anyone deserves a good smack then it's you, right on your ass for disobeying me. I can't wait to see how rosy red your cheeks will get. I'm sure they will look amazing with my handprint on them."

"You are disgusting," she snarls, holding her hand against her chest.

I'm going to need to teach her how to slap someone if that hurts her hand. She barely had any power behind the move.

"That is exactly why what happened was a mistake. You need to leave, Steel. Now!" she snarls, placing her hands on my chest to grasp my shirt as she tries to pull me forward. I don't move an inch as I chuckle at her, watching her struggle to move me.

"I'm going to say this one more time, Princess," I growl. "Last night was not a mistake. If you keep saying it was then I'm going to show you just how very wrong you are. I bet your panties are soaked right now as you stand in front of me. I bet it turned you on how excited I am to see your ass red with my hand print. You like the possessiveness of it. You like that I'm going to mark you for only me to see."

Her breath catches at my words and her eyes widen before her hands drop away from my chest and she takes several steps back until her knees hit the bed behind her, causing her to sit down upon it. A normal person would probably leave well enough alone, let her stew with her thoughts before trying to talk to her again, but I never assumed I was normal. No, instead I stalk forward, pushing her legs apart as I move to stand between them and lean down over her body. Both my hands are on either side of her head, holding myself up barely above her.

"You are mine. I won't give you up and I won't share you." I softly nip her lips before moving up to place a kiss on her forehead as well. Look at that, I know how to be tender. "I'm sorry for making you think that I used you or that you weren't worth anything to me. You, Illeana, are everything to me and that terrifies me. I wasn't supposed to fall for you. I was supposed to protect you and that's it but you have a way of getting under my skin. A way of forcing me to go against all the damn rules. It's going to take time for us to find a happy medium that works between us. It's not going to be there overnight."

I watch the fight leave her as I tell her exactly how I feel. I'm almost positive I'm falling in love with her but that's not something she needs to hear just yet. Pretty sure that will cause her to go running for the hills. As a frosty woman once said, you can’t fall in love with someone you just met. Or was it get married, whatever, it works.

"You hurt me, Steel," she whispers, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. They don't fall but I see them there.

"I know Baby and I'm sorry that I did. I need to think before I speak sometimes but this is going to be a learning curve. And you need to to listen to me. Do you know what could have happened to you? Do you know what could still possibly happen?" I sigh, leaning forward until my forehead touches hers as I breath in her scent to calm me. She smells like vanilla and I'm starting to become addicted to it. "I can't lose you, Illeana. Not because you're my responsibility, but because you are mine. If you get hurt under my watch it will utterly destroy me."

"Then why didn't you just say that?" she questions, her hands coming up around my back so she can hug me. "I know I messed up. I know the risk I put myself and Grace in. If I could go back and change it I would, but I can't. I didn't mean to upset you or hurt you. That was the last thing I wanted to do. I just wanted to come out and help you with the groceries."

"I know you didn't mean to," I whisper. Well, at least we weren't fighting anymore. For now. "We're going to have to get better at communicating and working through things."

"You think?" she chuckles, the tears I saw forming disappearing. "I don't expect it to be easy between us, Steel. Hell, if anything I think this will be the easiest thing we are going to face together. But I need you to talk to me, communicate with me. Not bite my head off when I piss you off, which let's be real is going to continue to happen. I won't always lay down and take what you say as the word of god. I'm my own person with my own thoughts and ideals. If you can accept that then you can stay."

"Oh? Only then can I stay?" I taunt, moving all my weight onto my left hand to balance myself as I use my right to wrap lightly around her neck. "No, Princess, I think you'll find that my word is law. You'll learn soon enough." I give her neck a light squeeze before letting go and sliding my hand down the side of her body. Lifting myself up slightly, I push my hand into the waistband of her sweatpants, past her panties and right to her core. "Told you that you were wet for me." I smirk, pulling my hand out and bringing it to my lips as I suck her juices right off my fingers. "Damn, do you taste good, Princess. I can't wait to feast on you later tonight."

"Ugh, you suck," she pushes against me and this time I let her. Rising up from the bed, I take a step back, holding out my hand to help her up. She looks at my offered hand warily before placing her own in it so I can pull her to her feet.

"Go shower, Princess. We still have a lot to discuss tonight before we can go to bed later and I plan on sending Grace to bed early so I can have plenty of time with you." I don't wait for her to start moving, as I pulled her behind me and yank her bedroom door open, dragging her down the hall to the bathroom. "Come to my room when you're done," I slap her ass right as I push her into the bathroom. Her gasp leaves me chuckling, as I begin to whistle and head back to my room. I need to pack now because I definitely won't have time later. Plus I want to check in with Sky and see if she has an update for me on who any of those guys were. It's about to be a long afternoon and an even longer night.