* * *

The younger man, who I recognized once his face came into the light as Track, came to stand next to his dad.

It was more like he shielded the older man with his body, but he did it in such a smooth strategic way, that someone without my training would’ve missed it.

I wasn’t sure until now how I felt about the kid, seeing as he was a damn criminal. But that move solidified him in my estimation.

That and the way he sized up the rest of us without seeming to. And there was no fear in him. He kinda reminded me of a younger me after I’d got out from under my uncle’s thumb. Puffed up with my own strength.

I moved forward while the others hung back a bit still having that feeling in my gut like something was awry. I didn’t feel like we’d walked into a trap, but there was definitely something nagging at me.

“Did you explain things to him?” I kept my eyes on the old man but could feel the tension coming off his son. He wasn’t saying shit, but his body said a lot.

“He’s not the one you’re here for.” I sensed as much as heard Lo move behind me.

“I’m sorry? I was under the impression that you spoke to the admiral…”

“Of course I spoke to Mac. Had I not you would’ve gotten a completely different reception. But like I said, my son’s not the one you’re here for.”

“I don’t understand, the pattern here is kids…”

“Yes I know but….” Before he could say more his son all but placed himself between the two of us and got in my face.

“What the fuck do you want with my sister?” I didn’t let the surprise show in my eyes, but I’m gonna gut Mancini’s ass for sending us in blind. I knew some shit was wrong with this picture.

First off, until his name showed up in those codes we’d never heard of Terrence Samson. We knew the other men or had heard of them in some way over the years, this guy was a complete surprise.

If we’d had more time we probably would’ve learned more, but there was no use going over that shit again, we were here now.

I finally switched my attention to the boy while the rest of the team came to grips with this new turn of events. I didn’t have to hear them to know what they were thinking.

At least it made sense now that he had a daughter, but why hadn’t we seen anything about her in the search? Another question for later.

“Calm down young blood we’re not here to hurt her.” I played it off like we’d known about the girl. Maybe she was one of the warm bodies upstairs and wasn’t off somewhere that we’d have to go hunt her down, my ass was tired.

Just as I was about to ask, Mancini uttered the word ‘incoming’, and there was movement at the top of the stairs.

There was another shift in the room as everyone went on alert and all eyes turned in the direction of the footsteps.

“Track, dad, what’s going on?” Shit, that voice sent chills down my spine. It was one of those distinct voices that do shit to your insides and I wondered if the others felt it too. Not good!

It’s just a voice Devon for fuck sake chill. But I knew, even before I laid eyes on her, I knew that something was going to change for me in the next few seconds. Maybe Quinn’s woo-hoo shit was rubbing off.

I flicked my eyes up and over towards the stairs and she was just there. Her eyes flew open in surprise and there was a hint of fear in them when she saw us. I sensed more than saw her body tense up and had the strong urge to go to her.

She stared back at me and the lightest of smiles crossed her lips before she looked at her family. Her eyes went around the room before coming back to me.

I felt the attraction in my gut even as I told myself it wasn’t real. It’s not like she was the first woman to get a rise out of me. So I told myself that there was no great mystery.

She just happened to have one of those faces. Like a beautiful movie star that you admire from afar but know you’d never meet, never have. She packed a punch I’ll give her that.

I didn’t have a ready explanation for the sudden heaviness that seemed to permeate the air and suck all the oxygen out of the room.

Or for the fact that for the barest of seconds it seemed like we were the only two people in that room. I couldn’t look away and it seemed neither could she.

I looked at her for so long that my head grew light, and something hit me in the gut. It felt like time stood still, what a cliché.

In the back of my mind I knew what was happening to me, I’d heard my brothers describe this very thing a time or two. But I still couldn’t accept, refused to accept that this corny shit was real.

When she finally broke eye contact with me it was as if I came out of a fog. I could hear and feel the others again and my body slowly relaxed.

I knew that no time had passed. That it had only been a matter of seconds, but it felt like half a lifetime.

What the fuck is this? What’s going on here? I felt something I hadn’t felt in too many years to count just by looking at her; I felt, peace.

My vision blurred and I was shocked to realize there were tears in my eyes. “Fuck me!” I looked back at my brothers. “I’m fucked.”

Something must’ve came across in my tone because Lo and Quinn moved to flank me while I felt my other brothers crowd around me when I turned back to look at her.

Once again I didn’t see or hear anything else, in those few seconds, there was just her. Like she had an almost uncanny ability to take me out of myself. I swallowed and tried to get my heart to go back to its place.

She couldn’t be real and this couldn’t be happening. My life wasn’t a fucking Lifetime movie. I’d safeguarded myself against things like this. This isn’t supposed to happen to me.

I’d built a wall around myself, a wall that only had room for my brothers and now their families, but that is as far as I am willing to go.

Besides, look at her, she’s so feminine, so delicate. There’s no fucking way I can go there. The thought hurt so fucking bad it was like a physical pain. Like I’d taken a beating from a battalion.

I opened my mouth to speak but the words wouldn’t come. Before I could say anything the boy headed towards her on the stairs.

Once again he was putting himself between his family and us and I couldn’t help but admire his guts. I had no doubt every man in the room was sizing him up.

“Daddy, I’m sorry, you didn’t tell me we were having guests.” She started to walk back upstairs but his words stopped her.

“No sweetheart don’t leave, come here to me.” She came shyly down the stairs and did not look at any of us as she walked to his side. She even walked pretty, like her feet didn’t touch the ground.

He patted her hand and she put her arm through his and kissed his cheek before leaning her head on his shoulder.

The move was so innocent, so intimate, it reminded me of something baby Zak would do when she was conning one of us out of something she knew she shouldn’t have.

She was closer now, close enough for me to reach out and touch. I could smell her scent, like a Mediterranean garden at night.

Just looking at her made me want things I know I can’t have. In all the times I’ve heard the others speak about how it had been for them when they found their women, I never once believed that shit was real.

That sense of knowing, it was there. It was the wrong fucking time though. I needed to put it aside and do what we came here to do.

But some shit was happening to me in real time, something I couldn’t deny. And I’m fucked if I didn’t want to turn tail and run.

Had they also felt this fear in the gut the way I now did? Had they questioned everything they’d ever known, ever believed? Just from that one look into their woman’s eyes?

And there you have it. The reason Tyler’s been calling them all bitch made. I sure wasn’t feeling very manly right about now. But if he knew what it was then it was obvious that he felt it too. Idiot!

I was waiting for one of the others to say something, ask the obvious questions anything, since I seemed to have lost my damn senses. But it looked like they were still letting me run the show.

Maybe they hadn’t picked up on the fact that I was losing my shit, and I didn’t want them to. So I got my shit together and tried to remember at least some of what I’d been trained to do.

But then she looked at me with the most open smile I’d ever seen, and the dimples in her cheeks were the last fucking straw.

I wanted to reach out and touch her, just dip my finger into that pit in her cheek. Dimples are like my weakness. I’ve always been a sucker for them and hers were fucking perfect.

I shook my head to clear it before I felt Quinn’s hand on my shoulder. I steadied myself, wondering the whole time what the fuck was wrong with me.

“Honey, remember what we talked about earlier? No, there’s no reason to be afraid.” He calmed her when she became flustered.

“These men are here to take you to somewhere safe. I’ll come get you soon, it won’t be long okay little one? I promise.”

“Dad, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Not now son I’ll tell you later.” The young man didn’t seem too pleased with that answer but he had enough discipline to hold his peace.

She looked around at us and there were tears in her eyes. She was obviously an adult, maybe nineteen-twenty, but she seemed way more innocent than someone her age.

There was still one glaring question hanging in the air. How come she didn’t show up on the radar?

“And you are?” I reached out my hand for hers and she finally focused on me up close and personal.

My gut went into a spin and I nose dived right into the abyss. She was fucking gorgeous. The tears in her eyes made them shine like some otherworldly creature.

There was a look in them that made my heart melt in my chest. Sadness, fear, confusion. I drew her towards me before I could help myself.

“Ariel!” She said her name like a whisper on the wind and I heard chiming bells and waterfalls. “Ariel!” I didn’t realize I’d said it out loud until I heard it come back to me on a whisper.

Behind me the others were putting her name into one of our little toys to look her up. I only heard Mancini say one thing, “nothing”, which was all the answer I needed. She wasn’t in anyone’s database.

I looked back at the others again as my mind tried to process. I don’t think any of us had expected this twist. There weren’t many people who could be off the grid like this, and not many reasons why someone would need to be.

“We gotta go!” I didn’t look away from her when I said the words to her dad. Her brother made a move but his dad checked him. “No Track! I’ll explain everything but your sister has to leave now.”

He wasn’t happy when he pulled her away from me and into his chest. He towered over her and it was only then I realized how little she was.

She barely came to his chest and I had a good two or so inches on him. He whispered something in her ear and she nodded against his chest while tightening her arms around him.

Next it was her dad’s turn to hold her before she turned and ran up the stairs. “If you gentlemen would give me a minute of your time.”

He headed to the other side of the room and we followed. “I’m sure your commander left information at his place as to what’s going on here. I won’t say any more for now, not sure how secure this place is anymore.”

“There’s a lot that I know and some I don’t, whatever the CO left will explain it all. Once she’s safe let me know and then no contact until everything is done. You’ll understand!”

The look he gave me said he knew a hell of a lot more than we did and my fear for her only grew because of what he wasn’t saying.

She was back in about five minutes, looking nervous as hell. I passed her luggage to Quinn and took her hand in mine and headed for the door as she looked back at her family one last time.

“Wait!” Track came out the door behind us and stepped in front of me. He actually studied me like he thought he could take me or was giving it some serious thought.

“You take care of her. Anything happens to her I will find you. Come here baby girl.” He pulled her away from me again and kissed her forehead before letting her go again.

“You’re going to be okay, you know how to reach me no matter what.” It was the way he looked at her, like there was some secret only the two of them shared.

The way she clung to him before letting go told me more than words about their relationship. She might be older, but he was a big brother all the way.

I almost felt bad for the little shit when we walked away.