At the city's center base.
After Claire guided the three men into the base, both Lucas and Jacob were left stunned. They were baffled by everything they saw as they strolled through the hallways of the giant base that they never knew existed. Of course they had heard her mention it, but only a building or maybe a sketchy looking office came to mind when thinking about the location she could have been referring to. Never in a million life times would they have suspected Claire of having so many resources, people and territory quite literally buried under the very ground they lived, worked and walked on.
Aiden was ahead of them by a few steps as he stayed close to his little lady. Since he had seen the place multiple times before, and he was convinced that her small nap on their way there wasn't enough to make her feel completely herself again, he decided he would stick as close to her as possible and leave the site seeing for a later time.
Claire on the other hand, had already pushed anything and everything other than looking and acting completely composed out of her head. As soon as she had set foot inside the base, all of her tiredness and needs became irrelevant. She had things to do, and more importantly, people to see.
Quickly making their way through the labyrinth of strategically designed hallways, Claire guided them to what all three men assumed was some kind of dinning hall. It was a cafeteria styled space that seemed to be able to fit about a hundred people at a time. There were serving areas like that of a school lunch room to each side and long rows of tables going all the way down the middle. And seeing as it was completely empty, they could all notice exactly how massive the room was. The air was filled with mouth watering smells as they walked to the far end of the space where Claire gestured for them to sit in what seemed to be the only single round table there. It had enough space for about ten people to sit comfortably, but it was obviously separated from the rest of the tables by a few feet.
Lucas and Jacob began to sit down as she had silently suggested. And just as Jacob was about to ask about the people they were supposed to meet, the same doors they came in through squeaked open. Granting enough space for a shy looking little girl to peek her red head through.
A soft smile immediately spread across Claire's lips. The sight of her little flower was always the perfect remedy for the heavy weighing thoughts on her mind.
Lily scanned the space in a brief second before her eyes landed on Claire. Making her own lips stretch into the exact same smile she saw on hers. Pushing the door to open it even wider, she sprinted towards her with haste. Her eyes shinning with happiness as she reached her already open and waiting arms.
"Hi Sweetie." Claire said with a soft and warm voice. She lifted her in her arms and began to hug her tightly as she showered her adorable little face with love. "I missed my silly Lily so much this morning." She said between kisses.
Lily's sweet giggles echoed in the empty space as she enjoyed the very wanted attention she was receiving from her. As she did, the door at the entrance squeaked again and in came those Claire's little flower had left behind without a second thought.
"Hey Cece!" Colton's voice filled the room as he loudly called for his sister's attention. "Save some of those for me too!." His signature silly grin was spread across his lips as he slowly made his way towards them. He was walking a his own pace with the help of his crutches, while Ben made sure to match him step for step.
"There's always enough for both of you." Claire smiled as she shortened the space between them and immediately sank herself into her brothers arms with Lily in tow. Completely expecting that to be her reaction, Colton wrapped them both in his embrace as Ben helped him keep his balance by holding one of his shoulders. His other one being held steady by Aiden who was as quick as the butler once he noticed what his little lady's intentions were.
Colton kissed both of his girl's heads as he squeezed them as much as his body was able to. Lowering his face enough to be able to reach Claire's ear, he whispered. "We're all okay Cece. No need to panic." Knowing his little sister as well as he did, he knew exactly what she needed to hear to make her tight grip on his shirt loosen. He felt her slightly nod, and that was all he needed. Looking at Aiden with a sly grin on his face, he continued to speak in his usual playful tone. "See this? This is exactly why all the men in the base are jealous of me."
"I have no doubt." Aiden replied as he grinned back at him. They all laughed a bit before making their way towards the table where two pair of new faces were wide eyed for whatever reason.
Everybody settled down in the table before Ben excused himself and left. It was a large circle shaped table with enough space for them all. But even so, Aiden continued to stick to Claire like glue. Colton on the other hand, decided to sit next to the people he was about to meet.
"Well judging by that wound on your face, my Cece's still got it huh?" Colton spoke to Lucas as he gesturing his cheek. Stretching out his good arm he shook his hand. "Colton Collins. It's a pleasure to finally meet the supposedly competing uncle."
"She sure has one hell of a an aim, I'll tell you that much." Lucas chuckled as he too shook his hand. "Lucas Villan. The pleasure is mine." Gesturing towards Jacob he continued. "This is our other brother Jacob Patterson."
Even though the two always bickered and fought like a toxic married couple, they both considered each other to be family. A person of immeasurable value in their lives. The title of 'brother' wasn't one they could use out in public, do to the major uproar it would cause, but at times of importance Lucas would always make it a point of highlighting exactly how the seemingly simple title of personal assistant to Aiden Villan wasn't enough to describe Jacob's position to the Villan siblings. He had always been and would always continue to be one of them.
Colton already knew how important Jacob was to them, due to how much he had investigated the entire Villan network, but even so. He found it reassuring that Lucas wasn't one to be driven by others perceptions of how they should act, and instead decided to make his stance on his life long friend as clear as day. It spoke well about his character. Something that Colton was always pleased by.
"A pleasure to meet you as well." Colton said as he shook Jacob's hand as well.
"Likewise." Jacob replied before he took a peek at the three in front of him.
Lily had been polite in shyly waving at them as they sat down, but as soon as Claire took her seat, her entire concentration was focused on her mother. While sitting in her lap, she was signing so fast that Jacob's eyes couldn't keep up. It was astonishing to him how such a little girl could memorize and use so much of the silent language, while he had been struggling to even get the basics down for a few weeks now. He could understand why everybody kept raging about how smart she was.
With that in mind, he glanced at Aiden and couldn't help but feel like smiling and crying at the same time. His life long friend had an expression on his face that he hadn't seen in a long time. It was one of utter fondness and love. The kind of love that didn't pain him, but fill him up with warmth. In the past, he could only manage to see him with painful smiles and longing looks in his eyes. But there was none of that now. It was as if looking at that little girl enthusiastically talk was enough to make all of his life worry's go away.
And it was precisely because of the look on Aiden's face that Jacob finally understood why he was acting the way that he was.
He wasn't lost amidst the lust and passion of his newly found lover. Neither was he losing his touch and turning into some kind of naive fool. His recent behavior was because of the fact that whatever the two red heads by his side possessed, helped him finally catch a glimpse of what made him truly happy. Truly satisfied. And most importantly, truly whole. Not being as quick to decide on things, Jacob had truly struggled with the idea of his best friends being so open and trusting of complete strangers. But he could see it now. He really could. No horrible person or group of people would have been able to raise such a bright and happy child. There was just no way.
"Good afternoon gentlemen." Anna's voice pulled Jacob from out of his thoughts. Without giving any of them a chance to greet her back, she turned to face Claire as she continued to talk. "Everything is set and in place. As soon as you're finished here I'll let the rest know."As soon as she was done informing Claire that everything was going smoothly, Anna slightly bowed in everybody's direction and left as well.
"She won't be joining us?" Aiden asked Claire as he silently noticed Lily was uninterested with anything other than his little lady's face. It was as if she was closely studying her. Again making her look well beyond her actual age.
"No." Colton replied to his question. "But we'll see her in a bit." He looked at Lily and continued."Hey Kiddo." Once he saw she was paying attention, he gestured towards the serving areas that stood in front of the busy kitchens. "Can you please let Mrs. Bessie know that I don't want any carrots in my meal? I'd go myself, but my leg is hurting right now."
Being the good girl that she was, Lily simply nodded yes before letting Claire know she would be right back. Ms. Rosie was one of the few people she had no problem communicating with inside the base thanks to being as sweet as the cookies she constantly baked for the base's favorite flower. So she hopped off of Claire's lap and left the grownups on their own as she went to make sure her uncle didn't stress his legs by going himself.
As soon as he made sure she wasn't at a hearing distance, he turned to face the group again. "Before our lunch, and more importantly before our meeting, there's something I need to ask."
Everybody immediately focused their attention due to the drastic turn in his voice. Both Jacob and Lucas were slightly taken by surprise seeing as not only five seconds before he couldn't seem any more friendly while talking to his niece.
Looking directly at Aiden he continued. "Were you aware that you have a rat among your men?"