Page 14 of Frosted Hearts

"Alright, Princess, we need to get on the road to go see your father. Now that the girls have hopefully done their job of cheering you up, are you ready to go?" Steel questions, holding his hand out to me as he stands beside the loveseat I'm sitting on.

"If we have to," I sigh, placing my hand in his so he can help me up. I really don't want to go face my father, but there's noavoiding it. The longer we take, the worse my punishment from him will probably be. "Let's go face the music."

"It was nice meeting you, Illeana!" Sky states as we begin to walk away.

"Don't let Steel keep you away. If he does, you text me and I'll put him in his place!" Valentina adds.

"You take care of our girl, Steel! If she gets hurt, I'm coming for you!" Emma adds sternly. I'd almost be afraid of the threat in her voice if it wasn't for the fact that I knew how much she cared about him.

"Princess, how did you get the girls to like you that much in less than an hour?" Steel lifts an eyebrow as he guides me back through the same hallways we walked earlier.

"No idea," I shrug, keeping my eyes focused on the path ahead of us. How does he make that look sexy?Ugh!I really don't know why the girls decided to include me as one of their own, but I'm not going to say no to it either. It's nice to know I can have more friends outside of Morgan who don't care who I am or who my father is.

It was still another two-hour drive from the Rockport Security offices to Coventry, where Senator Granger's house is located. Illeana was still pretty quiet for the drive, but she wasn't crying anymore, which I considered a win. This time, she focused intently on reading a book. I couldn't tell what the book was, but it didn't look like it was one for the classes we were in. Whatever it was, she was enjoying it.

"Ileana," I call out softly to get her attention as I begin to slow the car down. "We're about to pull up to the gates at your house." Knowing what her father is like, I fully expect him to be waiting at the front door for us when we arrive and give a lecture on timeliness despite the fact that we were four hours away in Westhill to start with. He probably would have wanted me to break traffic laws just to get here faster.

"Thanks," she states, placing her bookmark in her book and tucking it back into the purse that's been sitting at her feet for most of the ride. "I'm sorry for whatever my father is going to say to you," she states softly, almost ashamed of what is going to be said.

"Don't ever apologize for your father or his actions, as they are not yours. I can handle him. Just remember what you promised me. Don't you dare go looking for trouble. You need to stay safe," I demand. I can tell how similar she is to all the other women at Rockport Security. It's no wonder she fits in so well with them, but she can't do the things that they all would. Not because I don't think she's capable, but because she has even more at stake than many others. She hasn't even had any sort of training.

"I know, I promised Steel," she sighs, shaking her head. "Shit!" she calls out when she looks through the front window and sees her father standing on the front step waiting for us. He’s clenching his hands at his side as he stands there waiting for us. It almost looks as if Senator Granger has aged even more since the last time I saw him, and not in a good way. The stress of everything going on must really be eating at him. That or he just isn't taking care of himself at all.

As I slow the car down further before carefully putting the SUV in park, I can make out just how angry the Senator is. His face is almost beat red, and he is already storming over to the vehicle. Thank god I chose to park where he'd reach my door before his daughters. I can only imagine what he would do if he reached her first.

"YOU!" he shouts, getting into my face as he waves his finger pointing at me. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE PROTECTING HER AND YOU FAILED!"

"Dad!" Illeana shouts as she comes around the car. I can see the minute his anger increases even more when he turns to face his daughter. His hand is shaking as he storms in her direction, forgetting about me for the moment, which is a mistake. I won't let him blame his daughter for this. She did nothing wrong except try to live her life as best as possible, considering she’s a popular senator’s daughter. "It's not Steel's fault. Usually, thereis never an issue there. I've gone with Morgan before and no one ever knew who I was."

"You've been there before!?" he snarls, getting into her face.

Nope. That's it. I won't let Illeana get hurt or blamed for something that was completely out of all of our control. Stepping around the vehicle, I slide between Senator Granger and Illeana, making sure to keep my body blocking her from her father's view. "Sir," I demand, drawing his attention to me.

"Steel, I suggest you move." His tone is stern as he stares me down. "This is a family problem. You brought her here as was your job. Now you can leave."

"Excuse me, sir, but I'm not going anywhere. My job is to watch over your daughter at all times. I'm doing that job. She is not to blame for what happened and those pictures being taken. I was with her all night, ensuring no harm came to her," I calmly explain, trying to keep this as professional as possible. I need to get him to see reason and agree to the plan I and the others came up with. If I piss him off right now, he isn't going to even hear me out. That I can't have. Before I can say anything further, I feel Illeana press her hand to my back. The movement surprises me and it takes everything in me to not turn around and ask her what she’s doing. I'm hoping she is just trying to provide some silent support and not try to get into the middle of this, as that will only make things worse.

"You're right. I did hire you to look after my daughter, but we have plenty of security here on the grounds that your services won't be needed. You should be out there figuring out who is," he pauses briefly, "doing all of this instead." That was a good save on the Senator's part. I'm not sure how much he has told Illeana, but I've tried to only tell her the bare minimum.

"My team is working on figuring that out, and we have a few things that I want to present to you and discuss. It's something that shouldn't be talked about while we stand in the middle ofyour driveway, in the freezing cold. How about we move this conversation inside? Illeana can say hello to her sister while you and I go into your office to talk." I word it as a suggestion, but it's anything but. It's freezing outside and I won't have Illeana standing out in the cold, risking getting sick all for her father's ego.

"Fine," he finally relents, taking a step back before turning and walking toward the house. "Illeana, go freshen up for dinner and make sure your sister is ready as well."

"Thank you," Illeana calls out softly as she moves to step around me. "You didn't need to do that."

"I did, and I always will. It's my job to protect you no matter what," I answer. There was no way I was going to let her father yell at her for something out of her control.

I watch as she walks away and heads into the house, completely forgetting about the two bags of luggage she has in the back of the SUV, as well as her backpack. Whelp, looks like I'm bringing those in along with my own.

It doesn't take me long to collect the four bags and head into the house. I'm not sure where to place them, so I settle for leaving them in the open doorway, and I'll take care of them later. I place them down gently. I don't want to be accused of scratching the white-tiled floor in the entryway. As soon as I stand up fully and begin to look around, a short older woman with gray, almost white hair enters the room wearing a black and white maid outfit. The white apron has a couple of spots on the front of it, giving away that she's probably just coming from the kitchen.

"Don't worry about the bags, Mr. Steel. I'll get them taken up to the rooms for you. Mr. Granger is waiting in his office. I'd hurry. He isn't a patient man, especially when he is stressed," she explains quickly, before reaching down to grab the bags.

"Uh, thanks," I smile hesitantly. People with money really do live a completely different life from the rest of us. "Care to tell me where his office is exactly? I don't want to wander around and take any longer trying to find it."

"Oh yes, of course, dear," she smiles softly. "Go down this hall on your right. It will be the second door on the right. Just knock once before entering and wait for him to let you know to come in. And you can call me Mrs. Francine. I'm the cook and handle most of the daily house affairs for the Granger family. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask me. Good luck, dear."

"Thank you, Mrs. Francine. I'll keep that in mind, though I hopefully shouldn't need anything," I answer, before turning and heading in the direction she pointed. I had half expected their housekeeper to be a rude old man to fit Senator Granger's personality. How anyone like Mrs. Francine could work for him is beyond me, but good for her. I hope he pays her well.

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