Page 40 of Frosted Hearts

"Think very carefully, Illeana. Did you or did you not send a text message when we got here?" his body pushing me backwards as his hands pin my shoulders to the fridge. His grip is tight, but it doesn't hurt. If anything it's just to hold me in place so I don't bolt from him the way I'm wanting to do right now. "Do not lie to me, Princess," he demands, giving my shoulders a slight squeeze before loosening his grip.

Did I send a text? I seriously can't remember if I did or not. I don't think that I did. So far I've followed almost all of his rules,but then again he did piss me off a lot when we first got here. I don't think I would have done something like that but I'm not sure. Instead of answering him, I keep my mouth shut. I don't want to piss him off any more than he already is.

"Let me refresh your memory," he snarls, his breath hot on my face.. "Did you send a text to your friend Morgan when we got here? Saying something about being gone for a week?"

Oh Fuck!My eyes widen as the memory comes back to the surface. I did. I turned my phone on, checked it and saw all her calls and texts of her freaking out. I sent her a quick text trying to keep it vague so she wouldn't worry. I didn't think anything of it. It was a super quick message and I turned my phone back off right after I sent it. There's no way they could have tracked us from that right?

"I see you remember what I'm talking about." His body pushes against me as he leans down next to my ear. "They tracked your phone. Turns out your little best friend has ties to the Silent Death Mafia. Her father is second in command."

"No," I shout, pushing him away from me. "You're lying! There's no way that Morgan is related to them. Her parents live in the suburbs. Her mother is a nurse and her dad works in corporate. Banking I think it was." No, no, no he has to be lying. Morgan would never betray me like this. She's my best friend. Since we got roomed together in the dorms during our freshmen year she has been there for me. She's the only one who knows my real last name and what my father does. She knows everything, all my secrets. Just like I know hers. She wouldn't betray me. It's not possible. "There has to be another connection. Morgan would never betray me."

"Never say never, Princess," Steel answers, his hands dropping to his side. "Fuck, I think you tore my stitches open some when you pushed me away."

"Let me see," I demand, stepping forward and trying to shove his hand out of the way so I can take a look.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. I need you to tell me everything that you know about your friend. And I mean everything that she has told you. You may not think it's relevant but leave that up to me to decide," Steel demands as he stops me from looking at his side.

"No, I'm not telling you shit. Morgan would never betray me. End of story," I grunt, crossing my arms over my chest. He may not believe me, but I know that I'm right about this. I trust Morgan with my life.

"Knock, knock!" a male's deep voice calls out at the same time he knocks on the front door. The sudden noise has me spinning to stare at the door, ready to tell Grace to run, terrified that these mafia guys are back again. "Steel! You in there, it's Shadow!"

"Come...," Steel starts to answer before he trails off. It sounded like he was having a hard time answering which makes me turn around to look at him. The second I do I see his body drop to the ground again, his head narrowly missing the kitchen counter.

"STEEL!" I scream, terrified as his body falls.

Watching Steel collapse in front of me a second time in less than an hour has me terrified. I told him he was doing too fucking much! He needed to rest and take it easy. I also know that it's partially my fault. I'm the one who hit his wound when I was pushing him away in my anger. If I had been more careful, maybe it wouldn't have happened. Damnit! Why the fuck was I so stupid?

"I'm coming!" the man from the door shouts.

"Grace, come here," I yell, panicking thinking of how we are going to get out of this mess. It seemed like the guy at the door knows who Steel is but I don't trust it. Not after everything that has happened, and of course, I don't have the gun on me that Steel gave me. In fact, I have no weapons on me at all. My eyes search the kitchen looking for something, anything I can use as a weapon to defend us. Ah, perfect! My eyes catch the block of knives on the counter. They're close enough for me to grab one before the man gets in the door. "Stay with Steel," I tell Grace, as I dart to where the knives are. Grabbing two handles I pull them out, holding the knives in front of me as I take up a protective stance in front of Steel and Grace. I may know absolutelynothing about fighting, but there's something to be said about adrenaline. I will do whatever it takes to keep them safe.

"You must be Illeana," the man states as he steps into the kitchen doorway. My hand tightens around the knives as I stare him down. The man is huge. Like way bigger than Steel. He has to be at least six foot six, his black hair is on the longer side but it's pulled back out of his face. His beard is on the shorter side, a direct contrast to his hair. "You can put the knives down, little one. We won't hurt you. I'm Shadow, president of the Chaos Brotherhood. Knox called us to come get you all. I hear you had a run-in with the Silent Death Mafia. They are some ruthless fucks."

"Knox sent you?" I question wearily. After everything, I'm not quite sure that I trust him. I remember Knox telling me about the Chaos Brotherhood coming to help us, but he didn't tell me how I would know who they were. Damn, I should have thought to ask him about that.

"He did. You got a phone? Why don't you call him? I'll stay right here, I promise," he answers with a smile. The man stands in front of me completely relaxed. Almost like he is trying to show that he's not a threat but I don't trust it. "I promise, little one. No harm will come to you all. Call him."

Knowing that he's right, I take a couple of steps back toward where Steel is lying and grab his phone where he left it on the counter. Pulling up his recent calls, I hit Knox's name and wait for it to ring. It doesn't take long before he's answering the phone. "What?" Knox asks as he answers the phone.

"It's me, Illeana, uh there's some guy standing here in front of me claiming to be part of the Chaos Brotherhood." I pause waiting to see what he's going to say. My eyes don't move off the man in front of me, as I keep one knife in hand ready to defend us if I have to. The man just continues to watch me, not moving an inch.

"Is his name Shadow?" Knox asks carefully.

"Said so," I answer. Well that's a good sign he knows him, I think.

"And he told you that I sent him but you're still weary about it?" Knox questions, already knowing exactly what I was getting at. He doesn't even let me answer before chuckling. "Good. I'm glad you're being cautious and not just trusting what he says. How about we make him sweat for a moment?" Knox laughs. "Ask him his wife's name. It's Rachel."

"What's your wife's name?" I ask the man, like Knox told me to.

"My old lady is Rachel," the man, Shadow, answers with a hint of a smile. "I expected a harder question than that, come on Knox," he raises his voice enough that he will be heard through the phone.

Knox laughs at his answer. "That's him, but if he wants a harder question then ask him how he got the scar above his eye. I kicked the shit out of him when I found him hanging out around my little sister when I got back from deployment."

"How did you get the scar above your eye?" I ask next, trying not to think too much into the answer Knox gave me. It's not any of my business to ask what happened.

"Knox beat the shit out of me when he found me with his sister. Fucker still owes me a fair fight. It's hard to fight back when the fucker makes his special forces buddies hold me down while he wails on me," he laughs with his answer shaking his head. "Is that all? Do you trust that he sent me to help you?"

"You can trust him, Illeana. Tell him to start cleaning up the bodies. I'm ten minutes out." Knox hangs up before I can say anything. Pulling the phone from my ear, I stare at it for a minute, pissed he hung up on me like that.

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