Fuck.
“You with us?” Garrett Kelly asked dryly.
Steele bit back the urge to tell him to fuck off and cleared his throat instead.
“Where are we?” he asked calmly, ignoring the surprised looks from his own team, much less the looks from the rest of the assembled members of KGI.
Donovan arched one eyebrow. “We were waiting for your rundown of the mission.”
“Not much to tell. We went in, got the girl, we got out.”
“And the dead bodies?” Garrett asked pointedly.
“Collateral damage,” Steele replied. “It was unavoidable. Garza got stupid. It was either him or one of us. We gave him every opportunity to stand down. I was clear that all we wanted was the girl. He was equally clear that he didn’t give a shit about her. That should have been the end, but his ego took a hit because we made him and his security look like amateurs. He pulled a gun. Dolphin had no choice but to fire.”
“And the girl?” Sam prompted. “How did she end up with a bullet wound?”
Steele’s eyes narrowed at the question.
“She threw herself in front of Garza. Winged her but hit Garza.”
Dolphin nodded and started to speak up, but Steele silenced him with a look. Steele was responsible for the mission. He was responsible for his team. He and only he answered to the Kellys.
Sam sighed. “Her parents are thrilled with her safe return, but they’re less than thrilled over the fact that their daughter got shot by the people charged with her extrication.”
Steele shrugged. “She’s alive.”
Donovan bit back a chuckle. “That’s true enough.”
Garrett nodded. “Considering the situation, we’re damn lucky she didn’t get killed. I’m satisfied with the mission and the results.”
Steele lifted an eyebrow in Garrett’s direction. “Was there any doubt?”
“No,” Sam broke in. “I just wanted your side. Her parents have asked for a full report and I wouldn’t provide one, or an explanation as to how their daughter was injured, until I heard directly from you. As far as I’m concerned it was a righteous mission and it was successful. But I also wanted to be able to provide her parents with in-depth details so they know what kind of man their daughter was mixed up with. Maybe she’ll make better choices in the future once she realizes Garza didn’t give a shit about her or whether she took a bullet for him.”
Garrett snorted. “Not likely.”
Sam glanced Steele’s way again. “You up for training team three a few more weeks? Our schedule is clear for the next while, and I wanted to take advantage. Rio is heading back to Belize for some R and R.”
Reading between the lines, Rio was going back to his wife, Grace, and their adopted daughter Elizabeth, and he’d be off the grid for a while. Which meant Steele pulled training duty. Again.
“As long as the rest of my team gets some time off,” Steele said.
The frowns on his team members’ faces told Steele they weren’t happy with his directive, but he also knew they could use some more downtime. Cole and P.J. were newly married and still working through some heavy shit. He’d never offer P.J. disrespect by saying it in front of the others, but she needed more time to focus on her healing and her relationship with Cole. A happy, well-adjusted team meant a more focused, competent team, and in their line of work, they couldn’t afford fuckups.
The rest of his team could use the downtime as well. They were a tight-knit group and Baker, Renshaw and Dolphin had taken the shit that had gone down with P.J. hard.
Sam nodded. “Done. Time off. Next mission will be drawn by Rio and his team unless we get something on the fly in the next few weeks, and then, depending on what the situation is, Nathan and Joe can take the assignment with either you or one of us as team lead.”
Steele nodded. Though Sam, Garrett and Donovan didn’t officially lead any of the teams, they’d taken the lead plenty of times, often taking missions with Steele and his team or Rio and his. With the addition of the new team, it was doubtful Sam would send them off on their own for some time. Which meant the oldest Kelly brothers would head the newest team on any missions they were assigned.
“We can help with training,” P.J. spoke up, a frown knitting her brows. “We’ve had enough downtime.”
Cole slid an arm around her in support as he looked in Steele’s direction. “You haven’t had any downtime, boss man. The rest of us have. We could help with training while you take some R and R.”
Steele shook his head. “Training is downtime. You don’t get a choice in this. You’re off work until I say differently.”
P.J. rolled her eyes, but there was something else there when she looked at Steele. Gratitude. Loyalty. And shadows still lurked in their depths. Steele wanted those gone. It would take a while. It wouldn’t happen overnight. But he worried about P.J. Even as he understood what she needed most was normalcy. A routine. Working with her team. That was the best medicine. But even the best medicine had to be given in moderation.
“Take a few weeks off,” Steele said. “We just came off a mission. You’re due. I don’t want to see any of you until I call you up again. We clear?”
Dolphin grinned. “Yes, your almightiness. We’ll bug out and get out of your hair.”
“Thank fuck,” Steele muttered.
“Good God, the man is cracking jokes again,” Renshaw said in horror. “What’s this world coming to?”
“If we’re done, I’m bugging out. Got a flight to catch,” Rio said, speaking for the first time. But then that was Rio. Quiet. Reserved. His entire team kept to themselves, quiet and moody just like him. The rest of KGI often joked that Rio and his team were cave dwellers. But Steele could definitely see the positives in that. Everyone had their own version of their caves. Steele’s just happened to be his farmhouse on his hundred-acre spread not far from the KGI compound.
It paid to stick close. It was a bitch having to fly in every time they pulled a mission. It was why he’d bought the acreage in Tennessee. He could have his solitude but never be far from the action. Now that P.J. had married Cole, they lived at Cole’s place just a thirty-minute drive from the compound.
“Give Grace and Elizabeth our love,” Donovan said to Rio.
“And Shea wants to know when you’re bringing Grace for a visit,” Nathan interjected. “She’s been hounding me for days.”
Rio smiled in Nathan’s direction. “Tell her soon. I want some time with them before I share her with the rest of her family.”
Nathan nodded. “I’ll let her know.”
They were interrupted by a cell phone going off. Everyone glanced around, but it was Ethan who scrambled for his phone. Usually they left their phones off during meetings and mission report, but Ethan’s wife, Rachel, was expecting twins, and Steele recognized the ringtone as being hers.
Ignoring everyone else around him, Ethan picked up the phone and stuck it to his ear.
“Everything okay, baby?”
He went silent and then his eyes widened.
“Holy shit. Okay, stay calm. I’ll be right there.”
Ethan disconnected the call and everyone stared expectantly at him.
“That was Rachel,” he said unnecessarily. It wasn’t like the big man called anyone else baby. It fascinated Steele how such big, badass men dissolved into putty around the women they loved. Four of the Kelly brothers had married and so had Rio. Dolphin and Renshaw had a betting pool as to who the next victim would be and who would fall head over ass in love next.
Steele let them have their fun just as long as his damn name wasn’t in the running. He didn’t begrudge the others their happiness if that was what did it for them. But he wasn’t in a hurry to make himself vulnerable by handing over his balls to a woman like so many members of KGI had already done. No thanks.
“Everything okay?” Garrett asked in concern.
Ethan took a deep breath and ran a shaking hand through his short-cropped hair. “Yes. No. Hell, I don’t know. Rachel’s in labor. She thinks it’s the real thing.”
Sam frowned. “I thought she was scheduled for a C- section next week? They aren’t going to let her deliver, right? Aren’t the babies still breech?”
“Uh, yeah,” Ethan muttered. “Tell them that, though. I gotta split. She’s at the house and I need to get her to the hospital.”
“Better let me drive you,” Donovan said, putting a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder. “You’re shaking like a leaf. Wouldn’t want you to end up in a ditch and having to deliver the babies yourself!”
Ethan paled. “Uh, yeah, maybe that’s a good idea.”
CHAPTER 8
THREE hours later Steele found himself standing in the crowded maternity waiting room with not only the rest of the Kelly family but also most of KGI as well. All waiting anxiously for the newest arrivals into the Kelly fold.
Excitement and an air of expectancy permeated the entire waiting area. Marlene and Frank Kelly were present, as was Rusty, the youngest Kelly adoptee into the family. She was home for the summer between her freshman and sophomore years of college and was currently helping out in Frank’s hardware store.
Even Sean, the local sheriff’s deputy and also an honorary member of the Kelly family, was in attendance. Tension was thick. Garrett was pacing as Sarah stood to the side, hands twisted in front of her. Sam sat with Sophie while Donovan distracted and teased their daughter, Charlotte. Nathan and his wife, Shea, sat off to the side while Joe, Swanny, P.J., Cole, Dolphin, Renshaw and Baker all sat on the floor against the wall. There were people everywhere. Far too many. Steele was itching to be gone, but he waited, just like the others, for news of the twins’ safe delivery.
This was a day long awaited by all of the Kellys. Rachel had been the first to marry into the Kelly family. She and Ethan had traveled a long, winding road back to one another. Rachel occupied a special place in all their hearts, and that extended to the teams as well. They’d all gone on the mission to rescue Rachel after it was discovered she was alive and held prisoner after everyone—including Ethan—had believed her dead an entire year.
Even if Steele was uncomfortable in this environment, surrounded by happy, rejoicing people who had an unbreakable bond, he wanted to show his support. KGI was his family. He was loyal to them above and beyond just being people he worked for. And he wanted to support Rachel. One of the strongest, most loving women he’d ever met. He had a hell of a lot of respect for her. And he’d go to the wall for her—and any Kelly who ever needed his help.
“How much longer will it be?” Shea asked anxiously.
Nathan rubbed his hand down her back and smiled. “It can’t be too much longer. They took her back over an hour ago.”
Steele had overheard enough of Ethan’s conversations with his brothers to know that he and Rachel had opted not to find out the sex of the babies before their birth. He’d also heard enough to know it was driving Marlene insane not to know because she was dying to go shopping for her newest grandchildren.
He sent a sidelong glance in Rusty’s direction. She was standing to the side, alone, but then that wasn’t anything new. She’d always been a loner. Steele liked that about her. She wasn’t clingy or needy, although she was more vulnerable than she allowed others to think. She’d perfected the “I don’t need anyone” attitude, but it had softened considerably since she’d loosened up and accepted the love and support of the Kellys—in particular Frank and Marlene, who considered her a daughter.
She’d grown into a beautiful young woman now that she’d gotten rid of the crazy neon colors and a lot of the sulky attitude. Though Steele couldn’t really fault her for either. She’d had some hard knocks very early in life. He admired her resiliency. She was smart and extremely loyal to the Kellys. But then no one he knew was anything but staunchly loyal to the close-knit family.
Rusty glanced up, as if she’d felt his gaze. She looked briefly alarmed, and that didn’t sit well with him. He might not give a fuck, as a rule, what people thought about him or what impression he gave them, but he didn’t get off on scaring teenage girls. Though she was barely a teenager anymore.
“How’s school?” he asked her.
It was a lame question, especially since her semester had ended weeks ago. But then he hadn’t seen her nor had he had the occasion to speak to her. Ever.
She smiled hesitantly, almost as if she were testing the waters to see if he was going to bite her.
“It’s going really well,” she said softly.
“What are you studying?” he asked politely.
Confusion crinkled her brow and she cocked her head sideways. Not that he could blame her. He wasn’t a polite guy. He also wasn’t into casual, polite conversation. But what the hell else was he supposed to do in a standing-room-only waiting area surrounded by anxious, celebratory people all waiting for newborn babies to ooh and aah over and say stupid shit like, “Oh my God, look how cute!”
