Page 15 of Harboring Shantae

Herewas a private hangar at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. For the briefest of moments, Shantae was afraid that Camron had betrayed her, but then she remembered one of their many conversations. Camron's boss had money. Lots of it, apparently, but from what she had been told, the man was nothing like the other rich men she knew. He was humble. An asshole, but humble, from the way Camron described him.

"How does it feel having your own pilot?"

"Falcon is no one's pilot but his own. And sometimes Trista's, because of the whole 'what's mine is yours' thing, but otherwise, no one else claims him. Wes knows by now that it is best to ask Falcon rather than to order him to do anything."

She thought about the silent man she met earlier. She could understand why people didn't order him around. Falcon looked like he could eat most other people for breakfast.

Speak of the devil.

Out of nowhere, Falcon appeared next to her door and nearly scared the shit out of her. It took physical restraint not to cover her heart with her hand. She didn't want it to be obvious that she found the man intimidating.

"Does he always just appear like that?" she asked Camron, before Falcon had the chance to open her door.

"Actually, yes," Camron admitted. "For someone so big, he moves like a lion on the hunt."

Yeah, she could see the similarities. There were probably many people who thought they were the prey when Falcon was around.

"We need to move. I want out of this area."

Falcon's statement came with him, gesturing for her to get out of the vehicle. Her first reaction was to move, so she didn't piss the mountain of a man off. She doubted he would hurt her, but he didn't look like someone who was used to hearing the word no. Not when he was in work mode. Shantae scrambled out of the vehicle and quickly followed Falcon onto the plane. She was about to dash to her seat when Falcon stopped her.

"While I appreciate you doing as you're told when the situation calls for it, don't cower. Not for anyone. Especially not anyone on my team. The women in our lives aren't meek. We don't expect them to be. So yes, you can follow the orders given, but next time at least tell me to fuck off for not saying please or something."

Shantae could've sworn she saw the faintest hint of a smile before Falcon stalked off in the direction of the cockpit, but she couldn't be sure. She was too busy being stunned by what he said to really grasp anything else.

"High praise from my team leader."

She almost jumped out of her skin when Camron's words fanned across her ear.

"You scared the shit out of me."

Camron merely chuckled. "That's because you were too busy thinking about what Falcon said."

"He told me to tell him to fuck off."

"Yes, he did."

Camron didn't seem the least bit surprised by what his team leader said to her. It had her head spinning, and she wasn't sure in a good way.

"Why would he do that?"

She had to be missing something major. That, or she was just confused because things were moving fast and she barely knew some of these people. Not to mention they didn't have a plan, at least, not one she knew about anyway. Her thoughts were flying in so many directions she was sure this was just one of those things that, on a regular day, she would've understood.

"For the exact reason he gave you. None of the women my teammates met are timid. Even Ember, who is more on the quiet side, gives hell when needed. Falcon wants to see you come out of your shell, and so do I. The last thing we want is for you to allow people to walk all over you."

She couldn't even argue the simple fact that she didn't allow people to use her as a doormat. That was exactly what her parents and friends always did. And since she went out of her way to be nonconfrontational, she accepted it as part of her life. But these people didn't want that for her. They wanted her to be stronger. It was surreal.

"I'm not sure I know how to be that person," she finally admitted.

"Trust me, you will after a couple of days with Trista and the gang."

Shantae looked around for the woman in question.

"She snuck in and went straight to the cockpit."

It was scary how well Camron could read her after only a few hours together. She always knew the potential was there. It was why she pulled back in the first place. He had the potential to break her heart, and he didn't even know it.

"Oh, so she'll ride up there?"

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