Steel Hearts: Oopsie Daisy

"Ian's right," Jack interrupted. "The man returned the girl when Marco tried to ransom her. It seems obvious that he can see the perils of reneging on a deal with you. Maybe we should consider seeing what he can do rather than make another enemy."

"No," Saxon said emphatically. "I'll give him the chance to get him and his son out of the way for returning Daisy, but the Vecchio empire will die with its idiot leaders. Those loyal to us can go in and mop up anything worth salvaging of their illicit trade. You forget that while he wasn't here at the time, he was part of the family that attacked us in our own house. The best offer he will get from me is only a small margin of warning to get out," he warned Ian, who nodded sombrely.

Saxon's phone chimed with an incoming text, and he swore as he read the brief heading and examined the photo accompanying the message.

"Call the generals in Jack. We move within the hour," Saxon hissed. "Angus and his son returned a traumatised, damaged girl who barely resembles the girl we met. Still think they're worth saving?" He narrowed his eyes at Ian and slid his phone with a photo of the badly bruised and teary Daisy being examined by nurses doing forensic kits. Grace had accompanied her to the emergency room as Teddy couldn't be in the room while they did the exam and took samples. She had discreetly taken the picture because she had been horrified by how Daisy had been treated and knew words would not have conveyed the brutality she must have suffered.

"If he's as smart as I think, he has already left. He doesn't need my warning," Ian shrugged after seeing the photo. The man would have to be stupid to believe there wouldn't be retaliation after they saw what had happened to Daisy. He sat back, happy to let the chips fall where they may.

The room filled with six more men, and the plan of attack was outlined. Saxon had generals closely aligned with his allies in the underworld and one or two who straddled the world between both as he did.

"I want it known through each capital city that the Vecchio's are no more as soon as we are done removing that stain from the world. Tell them that the head of the family has been eradicated, and the family fortune is gone. Any agreements made with the family are null and void. Their piece of the underworld is up for grabs as of today," Saxon dictated.

"If Angus, Marco's right-hand man, is as smart as Ian thinks he is, they will be targeting Saxon and the six," Steve said.

"I would think he would be distancing himself from Marco and the mess he has made of this deal. This fuck up was all Marco. His men looked surprised when he asked to renegotiate Daisy's return," Ian said. "I doubt Angus's loyalty outweighs his leader's stupidity."

"Doesn't matter what he thinks or doesn't at this point either he gets out of the way or he doesn't. Jack will be our man at arms today in Mitch's absence. It will be his job to gather Marco, alive, for us. Heed his warnings and keep your men alive." Saxon nodded at the big man, who, while tall and solid, was not the indestructible force of nature that Mitch was known to be. He needed Mitch to recover. The quicker, the better.

*****

"You fucking idiot! I knew you weren't the sharpest tool in the shed but fuck me! You just signed all of our death warrants!" Angus Mulhern raged at the man he had served faithfully for years.

"You're the fucking moron. We finally had something over the fucker. So why wouldn't we use it?" Marco raged back.

"Your uncle and Morrison went into Steele's home, shot his men and took a woman he considered family. Our hands were clean, and we would have been the heroes of the story and reaped the rewards by returning that girl along with the bastard who took her. You could have taken over the whole family without a shot being fired, but instead, you had to sucker punch the guy who would have handed you the whole Vecchio outfit. Fuck!" Angus raked his hands through his hair, wondering how he would make this right.

"What are you talking about? The Vecchio outfit is mine by right!" Marco was practically frothing at the mouth in his rage.

"Don't be fucking stupid for once in your life. Your uncle's men were loyal to him and the Morrisons. Trust me, the Morrisons will be planning their takeover, and now you have lost the backing of the one ally who could have forced them to back down with this stunt. Instead, they will come for you and annihilate everything to do with the Vecchio name. Probably the Morrisons as well. There will be no empire to inherit now, and that's on you."

"So, we give her back," Marco spat, not accepting that he had fucked anything up.

"I already did," Marco sighed. His anger had run its course into acceptance that everything he had worked towards had just been taken away because he backed the wrong man. He'd thought he could control the moron. Manipulate and use him. It had been so easy for so long and mistakes made had never been so decisive before.

"Why would you do that without telling me?" Marco almost screeched as his general.

"Because you declared war on Steele by keeping her when he had specifically asked you to get her while he dealt with the chaos in his own house. What don't you get about that? He didn't ask you because you were bigger or stronger than him. He asked because he needed time to get his men organised after the attack, and you just gave them an even bigger target. I'm going to make sure our men are ready for what's coming because I guarantee Saxon will not take your stunt back there as anything but a declaration of war," Angus said. "He offered you an ally, and you gave him a new enemy."

"He won't touch us," Marco said, his ego driving him. "Our men won't let him close enough even to try."

"I hope your right," Angus said flatly, then turned and left the man to his fate. He knew Saxon would come. It would be what he would do if the positions were reversed, and he didn't blame him. All he could do now was save as many of his men as he could and make a go of it somewhere else. He walked into the oversized garage where men loyal to him waited and drew a breath to speak to them about how royally fucked the house of Vecchio was now and give them an alternative to fighting a war they couldn't win.

*****

"Well, that went well," Steve frowned as he watched Jack and another man drag an unconscious Marco to the van. "Too well, probably."

"As I said, Angus saw the writing on the wall. So I'd say he gathered anyone loyal to him and as many assets as he could plunder and left Marco to his fate," Ian nodded.

"Alright, then stage two of the annihilation," Steve said almost gleefully. In his opinion, this had been coming for twenty years, but until they crossed the line, Saxon had no reason to finish the war this family had begun so long ago.

Without the old man leading the family, it had split into factions who raided the assets and put-up small pockets of resistance as the Steel Heart Brotherhood rolled over what remained of the underworld operation. But, like Angus, the leader of the Morrison clan distanced themselves as much as possible from the attempted abduction of Daisy and the attack on the Steel Heart Brotherhood's home.

Content that he and his brotherhood had shaken the underworld to the point where even the most braindead gang member would know not to underestimate his power, Saxon recalled his men and returned home to count their losses and the gains made. The surprising discovery that Connor Morrison had lived after the raid to reclaim Daisy and take Thomas Vecchio had been welcomed after Teddy's phone call to say that was who had taken her from the apartments upstairs.

The three men remained in the specially prepared storage rooms on the basement level of the Dross House for over a week until Mitch returned home from the hospital. While not fully recovered, the big man was not one to remain idle, even with his injuries slowing him down. Beau admitted to Saxon that he was happy that Daisy had managed to keep him resting in the hospital for as long as she had, but they were both home now, and it seemed life would return to normal again. Or as normal as it could be with the changes the last few months had wrought.

Daisy had begun accepting that she was not only cared for by each of the six but was family to them, just as Mitch had always been. She began to consider what being part of this family and staying in one place for longer than a few months could mean. More than a few ideas continually swam inside her brain. So, when they asked her to face her attackers one last time, she drew herself up and agreed, knowing Mitch would be at her side and that she could finally move on with her life.

"It's about fucking time," Marco raged as the door swung open and Saxon stepped into the room. Saxon said nothing as Ian, Mitch, and Daisy followed him into the room. "This is all your fault," he aimed his accusation at Daisy. "Tell them I didn't hurt you! That you were safe with my men."

"Would that be before or after you choked me into unconsciousness?" Daisy asked calmly.

"You, stupid bitch," Marco spat. "That was your chance to make it right with us! You will never be able to claim the Vecchio name now!" He still hadn't realised that no one was coming for him, that his men had been more loyal to Angus than him, and he had lost his right-hand man by double-crossing Saxon Steele.

"I was never a Vecchio, nor did I ever want to be one. My mother made sure of that. I was a Steele from the day of my birth, and while my father may not have known of my existence, his brothers do and accept me for who I am," she stated, being sure of that fact now.

"Your mother was a slut who couldn't keep her legs closed long enough to get married," Thomas spoke awkwardly, and Daisy realised he'd had his jaw wired shut as if it were broken. "Your father knew about you and why your mother had gone into hiding. He knew he started the war by defiling my daughter!"

Connor said nothing. His fault was not in harming the girl. It was in coming into the Steel Heart stronghold and taking her from her family with the plan to marry her and strengthen his hold as the Vecchio heir. His fate was sealed by that act alone, and he knew it. He hadn't raged, bargained, or wept like the other two men who were pitiful at best without their men around them to prop them up.

"My grandfather beat me the most, Marco threatened and choked, Connor took me from here by threatening to kill everyone I cared about but didn't hit me or anything," Daisy said, pronouncing their parts in her abduction and injuries.

"I apologise," Connor spoke up. "I was misled about why you were here. It was only after I found you upstairs reading a book that I realised you weren't a prisoner here," it wasn't the whole truth, but he knew the only way out of this mess was to distance himself from the man who had promised him power and wealth with the girl who now looked at him like a monster.

Daisy looked at him in surprise. She hadn't expected an apology or the sincerity in his voice when the other two men had railed at her despite their circumstances. Instead, she turned to look up at Mitch, who seemed equally surprised by the contrite words.

"They won't ever hurt you again," Mitch said in a soft rumble. "Go with Ian now."

"Okay," She agreed, wanting to be out of the small room and away from the three men who had hurt her. Ian shadowed Daisy as she left the room and walked into the speakeasy where Grace was rehearsing.

"Will they kill them now?" Daisy asked.

"Not directly, but I would guess that two of them will die, and the other will be held up as an example of what happens when you cross the Steel Heart Brotherhood," Ian explained.

"What does that mean?" Daisy asked with a frown.

"Those men will turn on each other to survive. They don't understand loyalty or family. They only understand power and money, and that was how they ruled. Your grandfather wanted you, and he took you when he got the chance. That is on us because we didn't hide that we had given you a new home with us," Ian explained. "As for Marco and Connor, their only crime is stupidity. Neither of them had a future that didn't end this way. Saxon has worked hard to make all of his business dealings legitimate, but that doesn't mean he turned his back on the men and women who helped and protected him during the war that killed the rest of his family."

"I'm not sure I understand any of that," Daisy said honestly. "But don't explain it again. I will ask Mitch later." She looked over her shoulder to where they had come from and began to lose her balance. She flailed her arms as Ian tried to reach out and steady her. But unfortunately, his knee had been injured in the battle with the Vecchio family, and he wasn't as steady as he had hoped. Daisy's momentum toppled him onto the carpeted area beside the stage as she grabbed a nearby table and managed to stay on her feet.

"Ow, Fuck," Ian hissed as he felt his knee give way and twist.

"Oh, my God! I am so sorry," Daisy exclaimed for once, finding herself on her feet instead of being the one sprawled on the ground.

"Shit!" Grace cried and leapt from the stage to help Ian. "Geez, Daisy, you really do live up to your name. You just about killed Ian that time," she laughed as she tried to probe at the injured knee.

"It's fine, Grace. It's no worse than it was before the fall," he grumbled.

"Gosh, Ian, I'm so sorry. I was just trying to see where we had come from and wasn't looking where I was going," Daisy tried to explain as she apologised.

Ian looked up, and it was like he was seeing Daisy, genuinely seeing her, for the first time. She was adorable when she got all flustered like this. She wasn't sex personified or anything like that, but he could see where Mitch's obsession with the girl had come from as she tried to help him to sit up. She was delicately small and sweet, fragile even. He wanted just to pick her up and put her in his pocket to keep her safe. But instead, her big, luminous golden-brown eyes, pouty lips and delicate features gave her a face that reminded him of a fairy or pixie, a fairy who looked utterly horrified that she had made him fall and hurt him.

"Oh my God, Ian," she cried. "I am so sorry! I'm such a klutz. Are you sure you're okay?" She apologised again.

"I think I'll live," Ian said, struggling to his feet with both Grace and Daisy fussing over him. Daisy grabbed his arm and wedged herself into his side, determined to help him hobble to a chair. Except his knee twinged as she bumped it with her own, and he lost balance again, taking not only himself this time but Daisy to the floor, where she landed on top of him as he tried to protect her from the fall. Ian could hear the people around him laughing.

"Sorry! Sorry! I'm so sorry!" Daisy kept repeating as she pushed up on her hands to hover above him, looking totally mortified.

"You, okay?" Ian asked.

"Oh my god! I can't believe I did that to you again!" Daisy yelled as she got to her feet.

"Need a hand up?" asked Taylor putting his hand out to Ian, who grabbed the offered hand and leveraged himself up without any trouble.

"Thanks. Not sure I could have taken another tumble with Daisy or explained to the big guy why his girl was lying on top of me." Ian chuckled, reminding himself why he felt so protective of this girl and had the urge to wrap her in cotton wool to keep her safe. "Are you sure you're okay?" Ian asked Daisy.

"Am I okay? I just crashed into you and then landed on top of you. I almost killed you! Or at least your leg," she said, accusing herself of far worse than she actually did.

"He's been almost killed by heavier things than you. He's fine," Mitch's rumble sounded behind them. "Jack is finishing the job he started, so let's get you somewhere where you won't hurt yourself or my brothers," he chuckled as she blushed deeply.

"I'm so sorry, Ian. I never meant to hurt you like that. Will your knee be okay?" she asked.

"I'm perfectly fine," he gave her a wide smile. "Go with Mitch; he will answer your questions much better than I did."

Mitch raised an eyebrow at them both but said nothing as he took Daisy's hand and led her away from the speakeasy to their rooms upstairs. He wished he could have taken her somewhere special, maybe back to Kieran's place, but until the doctor gave him a clean bill of health, his brothers had insisted he didn't ride his bike or drive alone. Still, he needed to do this for his own peace of mind.

*****

Mitch sat in the large armchair in their sitting room and pulled Daisy onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her and feeling her smaller body snuggle into his large frame. He breathed her in and found that sense of contentment that only she had ever given him.

"Did you kill those men?" Daisy asked quietly.

"No. Those men have a high profile people, and their simultaneous deaths would have been obvious retaliation from Saxon, to both the police and their cronies," Mitch said. "The raids on their families have provided more than enough evidence for each of them to go to jail for a very long time even if you choose not to testify about your kidnapping."

"Won't they just get out again and come back to hurt you?" she gasped.

"They have far more enemies than us, some of which are also in prison and will not make their time there easy," Mitch explained. "I imagine they will turn on each other once they realise there is nobody and no money left to support them or hire good lawyers. Connor might have an easier time because his family survived the day, but I doubt they will be in any hurry to support him in this and cross Saxon again. Those three men will all turn on each other and their friends to get a deal from the state. Then their fate will be their own."

"I'm glad you didn't kill them," Daisy said quietly.

"Baby, we live in a world between the good and the bad and some of the things we have to do, like Saxon destroying that family, their businesses, and their alliances, are necessary evils so people don't think they can come in here guns blazing to hurt us, and the people we care about. We try to stay on the right side of the law, but you need to know that we will cross that line when necessary," Mitch explained.

"I guessed that much already, but I didn't want to think of you shooting them like Marco shot Sabrina as if she was nothing more than a cockroach that annoyed him," she tried to explain. "He shot her in the head without even looking at what he was doing, and her brain splatted all over him and me, and he didn't seem to care."

"Shush, Baby, he can't hurt anyone anymore. I'm sorry you had to see that, but we will make sure nothing like that ever happens again," he said confidently. "We have stood our ground and not only taken down the people who threatened one of our own, but we have also wiped their outfit and wealth from the underground. The scavengers have been picking at the carcass of that business for weeks now. People will not mess with the Steel Heart Brotherhood again any time soon. You can trust me on that."

"I do trust you," she said anxiously, peeking up from beneath her lashes. "I want to be here with you and to stop running. If you still want that?"

"Why would you think I didn't want that?" he chuckled, tilting her face to his. "It's all I want," he murmured. He bent his head to kiss her, feeling her pull back to break the kiss after only a few seconds.

"This was all my fault, and you are out of the hospital now and need your room back so you can continue recovering," she spoke tentatively. "I would understand if you changed your mind about me after what they did...."

He'd questioned her about refusing the rape kit and knew she had felt violated enough, so he hadn't pushed her to have the exam in the end, but he seethed, thinking that she would believe he would hold that against her.