Page 11 of Frosted Hearts

"Everything okay?" I ask when his phone vibrates in the cup holder for about the tenth time since he pulled me from my thoughts a few seconds ago.

"It's fine," he grunts, silencing the phone again.

"You sure? It seems like someone is really trying to reach you," I push, trying to find something else to focus on instead of my thoughts.

"Do you honestly care?" He snaps. "I mean, come on, Illeana. You know my phone is blowing up due to your actions. It was my job to watch over you and keep you protected. Your photos are all over the internet because I failed to protect you. My phone is blowing up with my partners asking me what happened and trying to do damage control. We've managed to get some of the photos taken down, but not all of them. Your father is furious and thinks that we are incapable of doing the job he hired us to do. So yeah, my phone is blowing up while we try to clean up this mess. This is exactly why I didn't want this job. I didn't want to play babysitter, but I was the only person available for the job. I read your file and figured it wouldn't be that hard to babysit a little goody two shoes whose only focus is on school, but you've managed to try to fight me every step of the way."

"Okay, clearly you're mad," I answer calmly, not really sure what to say. I don't want to make this situation any worse, and I know I'm the one to blame for this. I fucked up and now he is taking the blame for it as well. I doubt there is anything I can say to make this better. "I'm sorry that I caused issues for you.You're right, I was making this more difficult than it needed to be. I didn't want to change my routine for something that wasn't an issue at all. My father's career has touched so much of my life, but at Westhill University, it never felt like I was living in his shadow. At school, I'm able to be myself. This is the first time something like this has ever happened."

"Did you think that it never would? It was always a possibility. You've gotten lucky so far, Illeana, but luck always runs out. I told you when we met I didn't want to interrupt your life any more than was necessary. You may not know everything about why I was hired to protect you, but you should have trusted your father’s reasons and respected them. You made all our jobs ten times harder with this. I knew I should have stopped you, so in the end, this is on me. I was responsible for you, and I still let you go out." He shakes his head, making his blond hair drop into his face and cover part of his eyes as he sighs.

Not only is he disappointed in me, but also in himself. Shit, I really made a mess of things with this. He's right. It is my fault that I pushed him about going out. He's also right that I've been lucky. Having spent the last almost three and half years, having no one besides Morgan and the Dean know who my father is has been a miracle. Eventually, my identity would come out, especially at graduation when my dad showed up to watch me walk, but I've gotten lucky so far with being able to live my life hidden from the public eye while at school.

"I'm sorry, Steel. I fucked up. Badly. I'll make sure my father doesn't take it out on you. This is my mistake, and I'll take the heat for it." It's not much, but it's all I can give him right now. Steel has been a lot nicer to me than many of the guards my father has had on us throughout the years.

I should have thought about how my actions reflected on Steel. I took advantage of his niceness toward me, instead focusing on what I wanted and trying to ignore how hot the manwas. He stayed out of the way in classes, not drawing attention to himself or me. He even helped me with my homework from time to time and brought me coffee when I was studying for long hours in the library. So yeah, this one is on me.

"It's fine; just talk with your father and do what he asks of you. I can handle myself and my job," he grunts as he slows the car down on our approach to the front gates of what I think is the entrance to the Rockport Security offices. "Illeana," he pauses, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. "Listen to your father and try not to cause too much of a fight. You have no idea what's going on right now, and I just want you to be safe, with or without me watching over you."

"You sound like once you drop me off later today, this will be the last time I see you," my voice cracks as I turn my whole body to look at him. Panic rises in me at the thought of him losing his job over me. "I won't let you lose your job, Steel."

"Don't worry about me or my job, Illeana. There are plenty of people who need security. You need to stay safe. There's a lot more going on behind the scenes than you were told. Don't go looking for trouble, promise me," he finally turns to look at me, waiting for me to promise him.

"Steel," I shake my head, worried. I know we still have a couple of hours before we confront my father, but it already feels like he is saying goodbye, and I don't like it.

"Promise me, Illeana. I'm going to do everything in my power to protect you, but you also need to protect yourself," he pleads, not bothering to step on the gas to proceed through the open gates until I answer him. "Illeana, I'm serious. I need you to promise me."

"Fine, fine, I promise," I answer, hating what he's asking me to do. I don't like being kept in the dark, and that's exactly what everyone is doing right now.

Ididn't mean to snap at Illeana or get extremely serious with her, but she needs to understand what's at stake here. There's a good chance her father is going to fire the company, and honestly, that's fine. I couldn’t care less about that, even if we could use the clients he could bring to us. My only care is for Illeana. She doesn't understand the danger she's in. I agreed to keep it from her, but now she needs to know. Those news articles only show half the story. She doesn't know anything about the threatening notes that were received before and even after those pictures were posted.

If her father has an issue with me allowing her to keep her life as normal as possible, then fine, I'll accept that. I did my job, and she was safe while at school. The club was a one-off. I agree she needs to not be on campus for a little bit, but going all the way home? I feel that may be too much. One of the texts Knox sent while we were driving said they had gotten more threats about Illeana and he would fill me in when we got here. Depending on what those threats say, will determine how I respond to her father when we arrive later.

"I need to meet with Knox and Trevor, my partners here at the firm. I'm going to leave you with the women, and you can talk and hang out with them, okay?" I ask, hoping she doesn't fight me on this. I know I spooked her with how serious I am while I parked the car. I didn't mean to, but it needed to happen, just like this meeting does.

"Is the meeting about me? If it is, I want to be involved," she retorts with a huff. Already, I can tell she's digging in her metaphorical heels, ready for a fight.

"It is, but you don't need to be there. It's mostly stuff on our end with the company, and we will be covering more topics than just you. If there is something you need to be aware of, then I will make sure that you know. Now, get yourself out of that seat, and let's get inside. The sooner we finish up here, the sooner we can make it to your father's." I don't give her a chance to argue, instead putting the car in park and getting out. Thankfully, she follows my lead and gets out as well, so I can lock the SUV behind us. Silently, we enter the office. I don't bother with having her sign in or get a visitor badge. Sky, Valentina, and Emma know to keep her with them the whole time, so no one will give her any issues.

"So, who are these women you are leaving me with? Will I like them? Will they like me?" she asks as we wind our way through the office.

"They will probably love you," I answer, making one of the final turns to the little relaxation room we created, or, well, the women created after demanding we needed to have one. They are the only ones who use it. I'm almost positive I only step foot in here when I'm trying to find them. "Here we are," I state, opening the black wooden door.

"She's here!" I hear Emma call out excitedly as I open the door. The second I texted the girls about them sitting with Illeana, she was the first to agree, getting excited abouteverything they could do and talk about. I had to warn her to behave, or I'd tell her man. I don't need Illeana getting any sort of ideas from them. All the women in this room are strong-headed and like to face their problems themselves. I know Illeana is the same if the way she faced me down the first day in the dean's office is anything to go by, but this time she can't face this problem alone and win. No, she needs me, us, to protect her.

"Oh my god! You are even more gorgeous than in your pictures!" Emma squeals, pushing me aside to reach for Illeana. "Come join us. We have so many questions and want to know everything about you."

"Emma!" I scold, trying to get her attention. She completely ignores me and continues to pull Illeana further into the room. "When I come back to get her, she better be in one piece. I don't want a single hair out of place. I mean it!"

Emma just waves her hand at me, and Valentina completely ignores me. Sky is the only one to pay me any sort of attention. "We make no promises, Steel. Go do your thing and leave us girls to chat. We don't need any guys here. Illeana is safe with us."

"She better be, Sky. Don't upset her," I demand, giving one last look in Illeana's direction before turning to leave the room. I'm not sure when I started becoming more serious, but Illeana brings that side out of me in some ways. I don't want to fuck this up and she gets hurt.

Knowing that she is going to be safe with the girls, I leave her there and head toward Knox's office. We have a lot of ground to cover before I go to meet with Senator Granger. I know he wants to fire our company, but he always realizes that we are the only chance he has at keeping his family safe. Now, we need to prove it and have some sort of lead for him to show we are doing the job he hired us for. Men like him expect action immediately. They don't understand that things take time. We can't just be like this. This is the guilty party after five minutes.

"Knock, knock," I call out, not bothering to actually knock as I open the door to Knox's office. "Were we waiting on me?" I smile as I move to take the open armchair across from Knox's desk. Trevor is sitting in the matching one beside me as Knox is buried in a pile of paperwork on the other side of his desk.

"You're late," Knox grunts, lifting his head to stare at me. "Is she here?"

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