Aiden's eyes sharpened drastically at his words. A statement as grave as that one was not one to be taken lightly.
"What do you mean a rat? Our men are not only heavily monitored, but hand picked and trained to the point of absolute loyalty. They wouldn't easily put their positions, or better said their very lives at risk by betraying us." Jacob was quick to feel bewildered by such an idea. After all, it was between his and Lucas' combined efforts that their people were they way that they were.
And after Aiden's estate fiasco he, as well as the Villan duo, were especially sensitive on the topic of their men's capabilities.
"I mean exactly that." Colton wasn't trying to be rude, but his girl's lives were put at stake. And he left no stone unturned to figure out exactly how it was possible that they got so close to them in the first place. "I obviously know that last night's events were brought on by our connection to the piece of trash behind it. But the fact that your property was so easily infiltrated was not because your men were drastically lacking in skills. It was because somebody among them provided the invaders with precise information about their shifts, rotations and a number of other facts that played key roles into being able to get so close to their intended target."
His words were absolute. There was no doubt in his tone and absolutely nothing other than seriousness in his eyes. He wasn't lying or simply insinuating. That much they could all understand.
"It was THE Aiden Villan's estate that was targeted. It doesn't matter how many resources they or anybody has. Without insider information, it's no a easy task to even be able to gain access to the property itself. Let alone manage to cause any damage. Hell, even we wouldn't have been able to gain entry so smoothly without it." Colton finished his reasoning as he continued to study Aiden's stoic expression.
The three men were silently staring at him for a few seconds before Aiden's deep and humorless voice was heard. "How did you figure it out?" He tried to contain himself as best as possible, but his pent up anger had not stopped trying to boil over for the past eighteen hours or so. How he had managed to keep his composure for so long even had him surprised. And the sudden news of a traitor within the men that were supposed to safe guard his property, and more importantly his girls, was threatening to make him burst at the seams.
The hand he had over his leg clenched into a tight fist. So much so that his knuckles were rapidly turning white. He could practically feel his inner fury start to reach it's limit. A thousand different plans and ideas of how he would hunt down and terminate any and all other weak links within his entire network were drowning every thought out of his head. And whatever it was that consumed his thinking, was consequentially making the air around the group drop lower and lower by the second.
It wasn't until the warm and soft hand of the angel he so bountifully adored caressed the top of his hand that he snapped back to the present.
Claire had felt the air around him drastically shift and felt like pulling him into a tight hug. But seeing as it wasn't the time or the place, she opted to simply caress his hand in a soothing manner. And as soon as she did, Aiden swiftly opened his palm and grasped her hand in a tight, but gentle hold.
"I understand the mere idea of this being true is beyond infuriating, but I need to know that my sister and my niece's safety isn't going to be further compromised because one of your men decided they liked being a double agent better than simply following your command." Colton knew his words were sharp and borderline disrespectful due to them being the real reason behind their own predicament, but he didn't care. He had no interest in being just or reasonable when it came to the very reasons he kept on living for. He would forever love and protect them. And he would do it unapologetically so. Regardless of who said otherwise or felt offended because of it.
The conversation stopped immediately once they noticed Lily was about to reach the table. She was already getting ready to climb into Claire's lap again when she noticed everybody's faces were much more serious than when she left.
'Why is nobody happy?' She signed with a confused and slightly worried expression on her face. Making her look as adorable as ever.
Standing almost completely between Aiden and Claire's chairs, her big dark green eyes scanned them in search for an answer until she felt herself being picked up. Aiden had lifted her from the ground and gently placed her on his lap. After giving her a kiss on the top of the head, he looked down at her with a wide smile. The fact that it didn't reach his eyes was something that Lily didn't manage to notice.
"Don't worry Princess." He said to her as he reached over to Claire's lap and held her hand in his again. "Everything is fine." Lily wasn't completely convinced, but nonetheless signed 'okay' to him. Once he saw that, he used his free hand and hugged her against himself as he looked up at Colton. "And I'm going to make sure that it stays that way."
Having understood the underlying message hidden in his words, Colton simply nodded in his direction. He then turned to his side and yelled with a mischievous tone in his voice. "Hey Rosie! I'm starving!"
-----------------
After their lunch, Colton escorted both Lucas and Jacob to where the meeting was gong to be held. Aiden and Claire on the other hand, accompanied Lily to her classroom where she would be in for the next couple of hours.
Aiden was currently standing in the middle of an overwhelmingly colorful room. It was medium in size and had every single educational station imaginable. Each corner was designated to a different subject like math, science, literature and sign language. The floor wasn't all uniform, but instead an interesting mosaic of colorful mats, tiles and different textured rugs. And the ceiling was also as lovely decorated as the rest of the room with a full motion planet system as well as toy rockets and shining stars. It was as if any child's wonderland dream and every parent's ideal education environment collided with each other. Creating the perfect atmosphere for a child of Lily's age to not only learn, but enjoy the process as well.
Lily was running back and forth as she brought different educational toys and books for Aiden to see while Claire spoke to what he understood was his Princess' private teacher.
'And this one is about wolves!' Lily enthusiastically signed to him as he bent down to prevent her from straining her neck so much just to properly look up at him. 'I got it after our zoo adventure! The pictures of the wolves are my favorite!'
Aiden finally understood how it was possible for the adorable little red head to be so ahead of her age group in terms of knowledge. He had been a bright child himself, but Lily was obviously much more intuitive and smart than even he was at her age. It was all thanks to her caregivers making sure that fun was equivalent to learning for her. And judging by how in fact she was truly turning out to be nothing short of brilliant, their method was absolutely working. A very smart move on their part.
"Sweetie." Claire interrupted their little chat as she bent down next to him. "Miss Jasmine told me you have been doing very well in your classes. I am very proud of you." She smiled at her little flower, receiving an even bigger one in return.
"I guess we're going to have to go to the zoo again soon huh?" Aiden said making Lily's eyes shine even more.
"Time to practice our signing little Miss Lily." Miss Jasmine's voice was heard making both Aiden and Claire stand up.
"We'll see you later Sweetie." Claire said as she kissed the top of Lily's head.
Lily waved at them until the door closed behind them. Now standing in the empty hallway, Claire started walking towards the meeting room as well with Aiden closely by her side.
"You never cease to amaze me." Aiden said as he let her guide him."You truly never cut corners when it comes to her."
"Taking short cuts and cutting corners now will only hinder her in the future." She replied."I want her to have all of the tools she possibly can. That way even if I'm not beside her, she can manage to do whatever it is she wants to in life."
Aiden grinned. He was always pleasantly surprised by how his little lady would constantly think. She looked so delicate and petite, but in reality her mind was always sharp, alert and excessively concentrated. Which made his memories of her being vulnerable and bashful around him even more precious.
He took a side glance at her and couldn't hep but wonder. How on earth could just one woman mange to quite literally start to turn his entire world upside down so quickly. So unexpectedly. So easily. It was almost like she had stayed hidden all that time just to pop out in front of him at the precise moment he had given up on searching. Searching for something. For someone. For her.
As he was lost in thought, they both reached a large door. Pulling him out of his slight daze and forcing him to concentrate on the situation at hand. He began to reach for the door handle to open the entrance for her when he felt her slightly pull on his sleeve. Making him immediately stop and grant her his full attention.
"Even if you might not say it or justify it with something else, I know that the main reason for you being so calm about everything up until now has everything to do with how you feel about me and Lily." Her voice was soft and somewhat quiet. But her eyes were focused on his. "And I just want you to now that I will never be able to properly express how thankful I am for your patience. So um..."
She then let go of his sleeve and began to fidget with her fingers. The very tell that Aiden always relied on when he wanted to know if she was nervous or anxious. Gesture that always moved him into action. This time by taking a step closer to her and gently grabbing her chin with his thumb and index finger. Making her look only at him.
"So?" He asked her in an attempt of prompt her to finish her sentence.
"So can you continue to be patient a bit longer?"She responded as her eyes searched his face for a reaction to such an ambiguous question. Something Aiden easily noticed. "I know you must be eight different levels of mad since yesterday. And whatever you hear inside here will only serve as gasoline. But if you can, please let me and my people take the lead on the situation. It's unfair, I know. But we've been working for years for a sole purpose. So if you and our people intervene, all of our preparing will go to waste. And my people's efforts-"
Aiden interrupted her rant by lowering himself and giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Me and my men are here to learn. I may be an all or nothing kind of man, but I'm in no rush to take the lead Angel. So you do what you have to do. At the end of the day we're business partners as well aren't we?" He waited until she nodded in agreement before he continued. "Then I'll follow your lead for now."
At that, Claire sighed in relief. She tip toed enough for him to understand what she wanted. Giving her another peck on the lips, he straightened himself and once gain held the door handle.
"Shall we Angel?" He asked as her with a grin on his face.