Ana shakes as Damon carries her upstairs. "Help me, Damon?"

"Sorry, Little One, " Damon whispers softly. "You're too old for me to help you in your bath. I'll have Gemma come and help you. I'll be down in the back living room." 

Gemma comes in a short time later and helps her get cleaned up, she helps her go back down the stairs as well. 

Ana notices that the dead and wounded have been taken out of the entry way. The blood has been mostly cleaned up, but the maids are still busily cleaning that and the mess the bullets made.

Ana makes her way past the maids and picks her way carefully through the still wet floor that the maids have already mopped.

"Ana, come on in. They should be here soon." Damon waits for Ana to join him, he stares unseeing at the night darkened garden.

"Damon, you know I won't be able to hold Hawk group together. I need help," Ana says, but she's not upset.

"Do you really want to keep it, Ana?" Damon asks her as he watches her intently.

"If I don't then I'll be a target even more than I am as your ward." Ana says tiredly to Damon.

"If they know who the new Hawk is." Damon replies to her. 

The only problem is, she is right. There are those that would go after her to take over the group.

"If the men don't give me their loyalty they do know, Damon. It's no longer a matter of whether I want it or not. I have to take control and keep it, at this time I'm not able to do so. I need your help and it will help you out as well." Ana argues with Damon. 

Damon looks at her in amusement, she never fails to amaze him at her perspicacity.  "How is that, Ana?"

"Right now you are roughly equal to both Hawk and Spider in man power. Should you help me out to retain Hawk, then that doubles your resources. That gives you, a boost over Spider." Ana reasons with Damon succinctly.

"There is still the problem of you becoming a target." Damon points out the young girl.

"Once I have the loyalty given to me from the men and reinforced by yours that will keep that problem locked up. I won't be a greater target than I already am." Ana goes over to the couch and sits down. She sits and waits for Damon's response.

"I see you've thought about this since you found out your new title." Damon leaves the window and goes to a chair and sits down facing Ana.

"I didn't ask for this, Damon, that bastard came after me."

"Ana," Damon waits for the downcast girl to look at him. "I'm not going to let you be hurt. I've promised you haven't I?"

Ana looks at him with tears in her eyes, "I'm going to give you Calum. It's time he's had more responsibility. He'll be absolutely loyal to you, he can run the day to day operations and talk to you about necessary decisions. He'll also make reports to you at least weekly. The men, however, will swear their loyalty directly to you."

Ana's eyes get large and wide, "But-he's your body guard and second."

"He's the only one that I trust to take over Hawk for you. He'll do whatever he needs to, to make sure that you will be safe on that end." Ana gets up and runs over to him and gives him a hug.

"Thank you, Damon," Ana is crying again.

"Hey, there, I promised you I would protect you, Ana. I'm going to do just that. Tonight-I'm sorry I wasn't here." Damon holds the crying girl in his arm and holds her tight.

"Not your fault, Damon. I'm sure that perv picked a time he knew you wouldn't be here. If it wasn't tonight it would have been another time you wouldn't be here."

Ana settles down and there's a knock on the door. "Sir, Ana, the wife and daughter of the late Hawk are here."

Calum sticks his head in and tells them and Damon tells him to bring them in.

"Ana, do you want my help with the slaves?" Damon asks softly before they come in.

"I need help having them evaluated, how much I should expect to have paid for them."

"I'll be happy to help you, but I thought you didn't hold with slavery, Ana?" Damon asks.

"I don't. I won't be selling them, unless that's what they choose. I just want to know what they are worth."

Damon looks at her with confusion evident on his face. "Why then do you need to know how much they are worth in the auction?"

"So I can figure how much he was getting from this filthy trade. I know, you don't understand."

"Ana, I may not understand, but I will help you." Damon finishes saying before the door opens once more and the others enter.

Calum comes in with Hawk's widow and daughter. Ana watches closely and sees the girl as she watches Calum. She gets an idea. She goes to Damon and whispers in his ears. He raises an eye brow at the idea, "If you can get him to agree."

"Calum will you go with Damon so he can talk to you for a minute?" Ana asks and Damon rises up from his chair. Calum looks questioningly at Damon and follows him out the room.

"I want you to think about this as we go through the process. I'm sorry this will be a bit humiliating for you." Ana takes a breath, "I'm giving you a choice, the first two choices aren't my preference, but I have no choice. The men, your father's men have more loyalty to you, I have to get you out of the way to get their loyalty.
"I need you to choose either being sold as a slave, kill you mercifully, or marry Calum since he'll be taking over the operation of the Hawk group for me."

The two females look at her in horror. "I won't force you to marry him and I'm not going to force him to marry you."

"So if I'm willing to marry him and he's not willing to marry me, I still have to choose one of the other options?" The girl asks in horror.

"Yes," Ana says as the other two return. She knows that Calum heard the girls question.

Damon comes back to stand next to Ana, "I'll need you both to strip."

The females start undressing, they are so humiliated that they are unable to look up after they are done.

Damon and Calum both walk around the females, well Damon walks around both, Calum just walks around the girl.

"Age?" Damon asks. What the mom answers is uninteligible to Ana, but Damon hears it and nods. The girl answers, "Seventeen almost eighteen, next month."

Damon focus's his next question to the girl, "Are you a virgin?" The girl is unable to answer vocally and just nods. "Any special abilities?"

The mother answers this one, "I was a stripper before I was married." The girl shakes her head. The mother is still young, she looks like she hasn't even hit forty yet.

"When did you have your children?" Damon demands.

"I was a stripper at the age of fourteen," at her response Ana jumps, "Hawk saw me and took me as his lover. When I got pregnant with Trinity and Trina, he married me." At their inquiring looks, she explains further. "Trinity is my son. He was Hawk's third. Please, is he still alive?"

Both the mother and daughter look at Ana and Damon, waiting for their reply. Ana answers as Damon nods at her. "He was injured, last I saw of him he was being worked on. Since there were many of Phoenix's men injured I'm assuming that he was hurt fairly badly to take precedence. I don't know if he'll make it."

This news makes the two try to hold back sobs. Calum runs his hand down the girls back, "What is your name?" He asks as he sees her shudder. Ana isn't sure if it was due to liking or loathing his touch.

"Trina," the girl replies. Calum and Damon look at each other and hide grins. Trina and Trinity.

The girl saw Damon's grin and became defensive, "My father has a thing for names that start with TR."

Damon still amused responds, "Had, Trina. He went after the wrong person."

Ana is getting upset with Damon at this point. "Enough, Phoenix." Damon stiffens at her command. Ana has never called him by his title before.

Trina and her mother are devastated. Trina finds her voice, "H-how did he die?" She stutters out.

"He decided to wait until I was gone to go after my ward here." Damon turns from the females and motions to Ana. "Why don't you tell them what happened when he found you, Ana?"

Ana gives Damon an intense look of dislike, then she answers the question. She doesn't believe in lying. "Hawk cornered me in Damon's study. I was able to grasp a letter opener, as he threw my body guard across the room into the wall knocking him out. Then he grabbed hold of me and started touching me. I didn't like it so I used all my strength to take out his gonads. With the pain from that he let me go. He hurt my body guards so I eviscerated him and to end the fighting I slit his throat. With the help of my other body guard, suffering from two bullet wounds, we cut off his head and I threw it down on the floor where everyone could see it. It was after the fighting was done that Damon came in and the wounded were able to be taken care of. Do you have any further questions?"

The two females look at Ana in horror, it's the mother that manages to speak, "You're the new Hawk?"

"Yes," Ana replies.

Calum nods his head at Ana, "Yes, I accept."

Ana looks over to Damon, "I have what I need. They can get dressed now."

Ana gives them permission and the females get dressed as fast as they can.

Ana looks at them, "Trina, you'll need to have your answer by breakfast tomorrow." Trina nods to show she heard Ana and follows Calum from the room. Her mother stays by her side.

"Calum, they will be staying in the room across from me." Ana instructs and Calum nods. That is the most secure room in the house.

"How much, Damon?" Ana demands after they leave.

"The mother, although older could still potentially bring in upwards of seven hundred thousand. The girl, at least seven fifty, if she could dance than it would easily be a million. Ana what are you playing at? There is no way in hell you'll sell either of them."

Ana gives him an annoyed look, "I might if that is what she wishes. I would prefer to have her marry Calum though. He's agreeable, although he might not be once he hears what I have to tell him." Ana gives a small smile.

"Fine, but what about the mother and Hawk's son?" Damon demands.

"The son, Trinity right? I think I'll make him a body guard if he's amenable. As for the mother, I'm not sure. It would be best to take her out of the picture as well. Do you have a suggestion?"

"A quick, clean shot with a twenty-two." Damon replies without even thinking.

"You claimed your father was wasteful with his resources," Ana says glaring at him.

"She's a danger to you, Ana. Unless you plan on selling her, or putting her in a brothel she's going to be a danger."

They glare at each other until Calum comes back. "I thought Trina was going to be an non entity. She's got some spunk in her though." Calum is chuckling to himself.

"Calum, what do you think I should do with the mother?" Ana demands.

Calum immediately stops chuckling, "Normally I'd say shoot her. But we need to solidify the men behind you as soon as possible. The best way to do that is to have both the children be loyal to you. There is no way in hell that will happen if you kill their mother. She's a very beautiful woman, many of Hawk's men would take offense if that is the way you go.

"So you either have to do what you want to do with Trina, marry her off, or sell her. I know you don't like the idea, but it's the only way. Your best bet would be to marry her off."

Ana tries to think about who she can marry her off to when she gets a smile on her face. Damon and Calum both go on alert, they don't like that look at all. "Calum, would you be a dear and bring me Hawk's second? I need to talk to him before I can wrap things up for the night."