Fallon

“Where the hell is she?” My voice bounces off the kitchen walls, where I find Emmerson, Salinger, and Giles.

Huxley and Banks both left early this morning and haven’t returned, but I know she wasn’t with them. And after scouring the house, including her bedroom, Tia is nowhere to be found.

“Who?” Salinger asks, taking a bite of his apple as he leans against the counter, grinning.

“Don’t be an ass. You know I mean Tia. Where is she? She can’t get out of the house without a key card, so which one of you idiots let her out?”

Giles raises his brows at me, and says calmly. “Talking about her like she’s a prisoner isn’t going to help your cause.”

“My cause is to keep her safe.”

“Did you check her bathroom?” Emerson asks, a smirk playing on his lips as he leans his forearms on the table.

“Yes, I checked her fucking bathroom. I wouldn’t be this upset if I thought there was a chance she was here. Did she say anything to any of you?”

I look between the three of them, and see Emerson flinch, then reach into his pack pocket and curse.

“What?”

“She mentioned going to see one of the women who came in with her on the boat. I didn’t think she meant she was going then. She must have taken my key card.”

I mutter a curse under my breath, and storm out the room. I don’t even bother grabbing my jacket before I’m headed out the front door, ready to bang on every door in this damn compound to find her.

I don’t have to look far. Dressed in the dark gray, fur trimmed parka Huxley gave her, Tia saunters down the road towards me. There’s a slight pause to her step when she sees me, and a flash of concern in her eyes. But just as quickly as it’s there, her expression turns to one of defiance. Her chin juts up and her eyes look past me.

“You shouldn’t have left the house,” I growl out.

“I went to see a friend.”

“You stole Emerson’s key card.”

“I borrowed it.” She walks ahead of me, up the path to our home. “And I wouldn’t have to if I had one of my own.”

“You don’t need one. There’s six of us ready to take you anywhere you want, whenever you want.”

She struggles with the key card opening the door, and curses.

“Here.” I take it from her and swipe it, and the system immediately turns green, letting us in.

“Maybe what I wanted was some time alone.” She glares at me as she tosses her mitts and hat aside and takes off her jacket.

“You can be alone all you want in your bedroom.” I hover over her, the fear I initially felt when I’d found her gone, now bristling anger.

“You did not seriously just say that to me.” My own frustration is mirrored in her eyes.

“Do you know what the men out there would do to you-”

“No. I don’t.” She jabs a finger into my chest and I can see the tears she’s fighting to hold back. “Because you won’t show me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You won’t touch me. Any of you. You treat me like I’m some exotic animal in a zoo to be ogled but not touched.”

I can feel eyes on us, and I have no doubt that the other men have come into the room behind me to watch the show.

“That’s what you’re upset about? We’re trying to-”

“Let me guess...to protect me. I’ve heard the speech.” She throws her hands up, and starts to walk away.

I grab her wrist as she passes and turn her towards me. “That’s why you came here, isn’t it? To be safe. Protected. Let us do our job.”

She lets out a small hysterical laugh. “I had all the protection I needed back home. I came here because...” Sucking in a shaky breath, she looks away.

“Because why?”

“Because I wanted freedom. I wanted to choose who I’d spend the rest of my life with. To be treated like an equal. But I guess I just traded one prison for another.”

She jerks her wrist back and I release her. She spins on her heels, and marches past the guys who are glaring daggers at me, before disappearing up the stairs.

We all wince when a door slams shut above us.

“Well done,” Salinger says.

“Screw off,” I mutter, ready to start after her.

“You think that’s a good idea?” Giles asks.

“It’s my mess. I’ll clean it up.”

Giles sighs and roughs a hand over his beard. “Just try and be a little more...understanding.”

Oh, I’ll be understanding all right. In fact, I won’t leave her bedroom until she understands.