Joe, Nathan and Swanny all exchanged eye rolls since they were the only ones without kids. Nathan and Shea were in no hurry to add to the growing pile of kids the Kellys were acc.u.mulating, and Joe and Swanny showed no sign of settling down any time soon.

Still, Swanny couldn't help the surge of envy as he surveyed the room of burly warriors, all making twits of themselves over their progeny. It was hard to imagine these men as the ultimate bada.s.ses when they were talking teething, babies and potty training. And yet they ran a tight operation. They were the best. And they employed the best.

Swanny had no false modesty when it came to his skills and abilities. He'd been good before he'd come to KGI, but KGI had made him better. He was at the top of his game, or at least he was getting there. He'd been a mere sh.e.l.l of himself when he'd returned from Afghanistan after months of imprisonment, starvation and torture.

But with the help of good friends, the Kelly family, the KGI organization as a whole, he'd put the pieces together again. At least the physical aspects. He wasn't sure he'd ever be the same mentally. He still had nightmares. Or night terrors, since the dreams he had weren't likely considered normal nightmares.

Most people didn't have nightmares involving being carved up with a knife, stripped of their clothing and being held-and treated-like an animal. h.e.l.l, most animals were afforded better treatment than he'd received at the hands of his captors.

One day he'd make peace with it all. He hoped. And in the end, that was all he could do. Hang on to hope that his past didn't forever rule or tarnish his future. Maybe he'd live with his demons forever. But at least he was becoming more adept at surviving them.

But he didn't want to survive life. He wanted to live it. He'd die before ever becoming a victim again. Never again would he be stripped of his humanity, his very soul. When he thought back on the many times during captivity when he'd wanted to give up-had given up-it shamed him. Nathan had been stronger than Swanny, a fact that still bothered him after so many months. But never again. Nothing and no one would ever bring him that low again. It was a vow he'd made the moment their rescue had become reality and not just a seemingly impossible dream.

The door to the war room opened and Donovan strolled in unhurriedly, a smile on his face. As the newest brother to get hitched, he was in a perpetual good mood. Though Eve, his wife, hadn't become pregnant, she had two younger siblings that lived with her and Van. Travis was sixteen and enrolled in the local high school while Cammie, Eve's precious little sister, was now five years old and would be starting kindergarten in the fall with Charlotte, Sam's oldest child.

Donovan lifted one eyebrow when he saw the babies Ethan and Garrett were holding.

"Teething still?"

"Your day is coming, little brother," Sam warned. "And don't think you'll get an ounce of sympathy from the rest of us when you and Eve have babies."

Donovan grinned. "I'm looking forward to it. The kind of s.h.i.t y'all b.i.t.c.h and moan about, I can't wait for. But we are going to wait a while. Eve is still young and she's been taking care of her brother and sister for a long time. I don't want to saddle her with added responsibility for a while. We both want kids. Lots of them. But we have plenty of time and I want her, Cammie and Travis to myself for a while before we add to the family. I don't want Cammie or Travis to ever think they come second to any children Eve and I have together."

Joe made a sound of impatience. "Not that I don't love all the domesticity that oozes from the walls, but we have a mission to focus on. Can we get on with it?"

"Spoken like a free man," Ethan drawled.

Swanny too was growing impatient. The phone call from Sin was still weighing heavily on his mind, and like Joe, he was ready to get moving on this.

The door opened again and Edge and Skylar walked in, looking focused and ready.

"Okay, everyone's here," Joe said. "Let's get started."

"Going to tell us what's up, or are you just absconding with a jet and taking off?" Sam asked dryly, subtly reminding them that though this was a family-run organization, he was still in command. Or rather he shared dual command with Garrett and Donovan, but for the most part, Sam ran the show, though he did include his brothers in all the decision making. Ethan was steadily coming into his own, but he had a lot of ground to make up, having only joined KGI when his wife, Rachel, had been rescued a few years earlier.

Edge and Skylar moved to the planning table where the others were gathered, but not before Skylar stopped to coo at Grant, who was still in Ethan's arms.

"Here, hand the little guy back to Sam so we can start planning," Ethan said, handing the baby to Skylar. "I think it's time for a diaper change and I've paid my dues in that department."

There were simultaneous looks of amus.e.m.e.nt-from the men who had children-and something akin to horror from the men who didn't.

Skylar didn't seem at all bothered by the prospect of a soiled diaper. She reached to take him from Ethan and bounced him gently in her arms before finally pa.s.sing him back to Sam.

"He's adorable, Sam. And he looks so much like you! It's weird looking at your children because Charlotte is an exact replica of Sophie, and Grant looks exactly like you," Skylar mused. "You've totally got a Mini-Me!"

"Poor kid," Nathan muttered.

"h.e.l.lo? Mission time?" Joe said in exasperation.

Garrett shifted Kelsey carefully in his arms like she was a bomb about to go off. He tensed and stared down at her, strain evident on his brow. Swanny saw the evidence of many recent sleepless nights in the big man's face, saw him visibly sigh in relief when his daughter squirmed once and then settled back to sleep, nestled in her father's arms. But there was also so much love and adoration in the big man's eyes that Swanny would have to be blind or completely oblivious not to notice it.

That little girl had brought Garrett to his knees, and she'd continue to do so for the rest of her life. One thing was for certain, though, and it held true for all the Kelly children. There wasn't a child on earth who'd be more protected and watched over than those babies. Swanny pitied the poor fool who ever tried to date the Kelly daughters. Being met on the front porch by a surly, overprotective father? Swanny would pay money to see that.

"So what are we looking at here?" Garrett asked in a low voice. "You didn't give us much to go on."

Joe glanced at Nathan. "Ryker Sinclair called. Said his sister was in trouble. He wouldn't go into detail. Said someone took a shot at her, but I have no clue what that means exactly."

Nathan frowned. "Isn't his sister a supermodel, or something? He used to show us pictures of her. She was chosen as the world's most beautiful woman by that magazine a few years ago. He showed it to us when we were on our last tour."

"Yeah, that's her," Swanny supplied.

Just the mention of that magazine cover-glossy, silky blond hair flowing as though she were out in a gentle breeze, eyes glowing and a megawatt smile-brought back the first time he'd seen her photo. He felt like an idiot for having nearly an identical reaction just from the memory.

"So you know this Ryker Sinclair?" Donovan asked.

Joe nodded, as did Nathan and Swanny.

"We served with him," Nathan explained.

"He saved my a.s.s," Joe interjected. "Shoved me down and took the bullet intended for me. I owe him."

"We all owe him, then," Sam said simply.

And that was Sam. In his eyes, what debt one of his brothers owed was a debt the entire family a.s.sumed. That extended to the rest of KGI as well.

"He didn't go into a lot of detail," Joe continued. "But he sounded worried, and if he's worried then we should be too. His father served and his older brother is a cop. They likely employ a security company to protect Eden because I can't imagine Big Eddie leaving his daughter's safety to chance. So the fact that they've called us up tells me this is something big. Sin told me Eden's holed up in a hotel and they're flying out immediately to get to her. He said he'd be in touch as soon as he knew where we needed to meet them, but he asked that we get going in that direction."

Sam pinned Joe with his stare. "You'll let me know the minute you have more intel, and if it's something your team can't handle on their own, don't be stubborn. Call me for backup, and I can have Steele's or Rio's team in the air within a few hours."

"You guys in?" Joe asked, turning to look at Edge and Skylar.

"h.e.l.l, yeah," Skylar said in a tone that suggested Joe's question irritated her. "We're part of this team. If you're going, we're going."

Edge grinned, the action erasing the hard lines of his face and lighting the brooding shadows in his eyes. "Couldn't have said it better than Sky."

"All right then, y'all get in the air and holler when you land and get a better handle on the situation," Donovan said.

"I'll alert Steele and have him on standby," Garrett said in hushed tones, though he was still staring at his daughter as if afraid any noise would awaken her. He winced, obviously seeing something he didn't like.

Then sure enough, a wail sounded and a panicked look entered Garrett's eyes. He blew out a weary sigh. Swanny could almost summon sympathy, but how did you feel sorry for a guy who had the world at his feet? A beautiful, loving wife. A new daughter. The promise of future children. A future he didn't face alone. No, Swanny didn't feel sorry for him. He realized the internal flinch was . . . envy. Was this how Donovan had felt before Eve had come into his life when his brothers were falling one by one? Forging their own, separate path. Still firmly ensconced in the fold of the Kelly family but striking out on their own as well. Branching off, though all forks led back to the same place. Home. Kentucky Lake.

"s.h.i.t. I should probably head back home. She's probably going to want to nurse. I was hoping to give Sarah a longer nap," Garrett said with a grimace.

Without waiting for a response, Garrett all but ran for the exit, laughter in his wake. He only paused to raise his right hand and extend his middle finger before disappearing from the war room.

"I meant what I said," Sam said in a serious tone, turning everyone's attention back to him. "If this is something you think you need backup on, you call me immediately. Garrett and I are out of commission for the short term, but Van and Ethan as well as the other two teams can bug out on short notice. I'll put them on alert just in case we need them."

"We got it, big brother," Nathan said dryly. "We're big boys now. It's time to wean us off the t.i.t and let us out into the world."

"d.i.c.k," Sam muttered. "It's my job to worry about y'all. I'm the oldest, so that falls within my job description."

"As long as you don't claim to be the brains of this operation," Donovan drawled. "That's my t.i.tle. Super geek, remember?"

The others rolled their eyes, but then Joe picked up his pack and motioned for the others.

"Let's. .h.i.t the road. We're wasting time. Sam, is the jet fueled and ready?" Joe asked.

Sam nodded.

Joe slapped Nathan on the shoulder. "Okay, little brother. You're flying the jet."

"With permission this time," Sam said dryly.

"Y'all are never going to let me live down the time I stole the company jet, are you?" Nathan asked in exasperation.

"It was a righteous cause," Swanny said sagely.

Nathan had commandeered a KGI jet and left home like a bat out of h.e.l.l, but he'd returned with Shea. With a new lease on life. Swanny could see the difference in Nathan. He'd come a long way from the man who'd been rescued from the same h.e.l.l Swanny had endured. Swanny had no doubt Nathan still dealt with his past, but there was a peace about him that was evident. He was . . . happy. Content. Wasn't that what everyone wanted in the end?

Donovan smirked. "Truth, but that doesn't mean we aren't going to give him s.h.i.t about it whenever we get the chance."

"f.u.c.kers," Nathan grumbled.

Skylar and Edge hauled their packs up and headed for the door. Swanny stooped to retrieve his bag while Nathan and Joe raided the KGI a.r.s.enal in a room just off the main staging area.

They walked briskly in the direction of the hangar. It was a pretty good distance from the war room, but by the time they shoved all their gear into multiple SUVs and drove to the airfield, they'd already be there just lugging it themselves.

Though pet.i.te, Skylar kept stride with the much taller men and didn't even look winded. She kept herself in impeccable shape. One thing Swanny had noticed from day one of her joining the new team was that she hadn't come in with a chip on her shoulder, nor had she seemed to think she had anything to prove just because she was a woman in a predominantly male organization. She was sharp as a tack, smart and confident. And the few times Swanny had actually not looked at her as a teammate-as just a part of a whole-she was beautiful in an effervescent way. But confident. Yeah. That was an attractive quality in a woman. Maybe some men didn't agree, or perhaps they felt threatened by a woman fully capable of taking care of not only herself but others around her, but Swanny didn't think there was a more beautiful woman than one who knew her mind and dared the world to take her on.

Perhaps not being the only woman in KGI had helped in that regard-though Swanny acknowledged that probably had little to do with it. Sky was her own person. She wouldn't have needed P.J. to break ground for her. She could do plenty of groundbreaking and a.s.s kicking all on her own. She and P.J. both, for that matter.

P.J. Rutherford . . . d.a.m.n it, Coletrane now. He had to correct himself every time. She and Cole were married now but it was hard to start thinking of her as P.J. Coletrane. At any rate, P.J. was a kick-a.s.s female warrior who could easily take down a man-or men-twice her size. Skylar wasn't any less of a bada.s.s and none of the guys treated her like . . . well, a girl.

Like P.J., she was one of the guys. As he'd already mused, both women were more than capable of taking care of themselves, and more importantly, perfectly capable of backing up their male teammates. Swanny had no qualms about having Skylar-or P.J.-at his back. He trusted Sky with his life just as she trusted him with hers.

It was the way it worked in KGI. The chemistry had to be just right within each team in order for them to perform and function as a well-oiled machine. Their lives-and those of others-depended on that fact.

As they boarded, Swanny was contemplating Eden. Her image swam in his mind. Impossibly beautiful and sweet natured, and she had a heart of gold by all accounts. He used his phone to study up on her recent activities, curious about the woman her brother used to talk about so much. And where she was now in her career. If she'd been one of the world's most beautiful women a couple of years ago, what about now? Had she changed?

But as he stared at recent photos, courtesy of Google, he realized that if anything she'd grown impossibly lovelier than ever. Lovelier. The word amused him. He couldn't remember a time that word had ever been a part of his vocabulary, and he d.a.m.n sure hadn't ever used it in actual speech. And yet he couldn't think of a more appropriate word. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Those were common. Tossed around with enthusiasm. But lovely? Somehow it seemed more elegant and timeless. Like her. Her kind of beauty never went out of style. She would have been beautiful in any time period.

He flipped through other shots of her: professional poses, advertis.e.m.e.nts and some that looked as though she'd been caught in an unguarded moment. Those were the ones he studied the closest, looking for clues, insight into her character. What was behind the makeup, glamour and glitz. Not that it made any difference if she was a chameleon, her smile forced and her good heart only visible in public. He'd do the job because that was what he was paid to do. Whether he liked or approved of a potential client didn't mean s.h.i.t if his team took the mission.

He couldn't make up his mind about her. But then how could he, having not met her and formed an impression? He was huge on first impressions and gut instincts. They rarely failed him.

He skimmed through various articles, some legitimate news sites, others nothing more than online gossip rags. But they all had one thing in common. She read like she was utter perfection. Donating to charity, helping to raise funds for charitable organizations. She visited sick children in hospitals and donated her time to various good causes.

It was a rare thing indeed for there not to at least be speculation or even blatant made-up s.h.i.t published for hype and to sell lies. His cursory read didn't bring up a single negative thing about her. No secret pregnancies, drug use, crazy exes and for that matter no love interests. He frowned at that. A woman that beautiful or, rather, lovely would have no shortage of men trying to get in her pants. He was starting to wonder if the woman was a d.a.m.n saint. He nearly snorted at the thought. No one was that perfect. Everyone had their faults. He wondered what hers were.

He wondered if everything he was reading was an extremely well put together and rigid public persona and what she was really like behind it all. Ryker would have him believe that Eden was everything the news reported and more, but he wasn't exactly an unbiased party. But he'd never heard Ryker utter a single bad word about her. He grumbled about Raid, his older brother, and even his father, calling him a set-in-his-ways old fart who still liked to bark orders like a drill sergeant.

He knew that Ryker had lost his mother when he was young and that it had deeply affected them all but his father had taken it very hard. By all accounts, Eden was a replica of her mother. Ryker said that his father bragged when they were growing up that she too could have been a model but hadn't wanted the spotlight. Her favorite place in the world was being at home taking care of her children and spending time with the family.

She'd been a military wife, and military wives were a very special breed of woman. They were often the unsung heroes when it came to service to their country. But they made sacrifices above and beyond what most women experienced in their lifetime.

When their husbands were away on a tour, they were at home by themselves, raising children, keeping the family intact and supporting their husbands. It took a special woman to unselfishly give up her husband for the protection of others. People those wives would never meet. People who would never be able to express their grat.i.tude to the soldiers, much less to their wives.

Swanny had infinite respect for military wives just as he held deep regard for the Kelly wives and the team leaders' wives. For all practical purposes, their husbands were still military even though they weren't still enlisted.

But KGI could be called up on a mission as quickly as they had been today, and they dropped everything to take on a mission to protect or rescue others and the wives remained behind, never knowing if their husbands would come back. Yet they took it in stride and stayed strong. Resilient.

He glanced again at his phone, where a particularly stunning photo of Eden was staring back at him. It wasn't a glam shot. She was laughing into the camera, down on one knee, her arms wrapped around a huge mastiff. Her eyes sparkled with happiness; her smile was wide and natural, displaying perfectly straight, ultrawhite teeth.

When Joe plopped down into the seat next to him, he quickly shut down the browser page where he'd been staring at the photo of Eden.

He was practically mooning over a woman he'd never even met, and she was so far out of his league it wasn't even funny. She wouldn't see him. Few people ever did. He was quiet and usually kept to himself. He let others on his team do the talking. Making sure the mission went off without a hitch was his job. As well as his teammates'. Doing his job didn't require him to be verbose, and he liked it just fine that way.

And if people did see him . . . Well, the reactions were typical. Horror. Revulsion. Fear. And pity. He shook his head, knowing Eden would be no different than everyone else even if she had a heart the size of Texas.

She was surrounded by beautiful people. Wealthy people. People who were polished and refined. She was abreast of the latest fashion and Hollywood gossip, in all likelihood. And yet . . . her family, her immediate family were ex-military and a cop. Did they keep her grounded in reality? The image of a delicate beauty among three men who'd experienced the worst of humanity, had blood on their hands and honor in their hearts, was incongruous. A rose among thorns. Jesus. Now he was getting poetic.

Her career took her to places that were miles above the places he'd been to. Having wine in Paris at a sw.a.n.k c.o.c.ktail party was a world away from being hunkered down on watch waiting for a five-second window of time to make a kill shot after going three straight days with no sleep, because if he lost focus, even for a tenth of a second, he might miss his opportunity.

No, Eden wouldn't look at him. And if she did, she certainly wouldn't look twice. But that didn't mean he couldn't look his fill of her. Somehow he imagined that just being in her presence would be like standing under the warm rays of the sun. He'd find out soon enough.

He could dream. No law against that. But he was pragmatic enough to know that for guys like him, dreams were an exercise in futility and inevitably led to disappointment.

CHAPTER 6.

EDEN dragged a hand wearily through her hair, wondering if she'd be bald before this was all over with. She patiently explained, for the third time, the events that had transpired when she, David and Micah had exited the building after her photo shoot.

Micah and David had given their own statements, identical to hers.

"I simply don't know anything more, Detective Gibbs," she said tiredly. "It all happened so fast. The gla.s.s shattered behind us and I was shoved to the ground. It was all a giant blur. I was scared. And then the car roared up and they shoved me inside and we drove here, to the hotel."

The detective exchanged a frustrated look with his partner, both with notepads in their hands taking down what they likely thought was perfectly useless information.

"I'm sorry I can't be of more help," Eden added, uncomfortable with the sudden silence. "Have you made an arrest?"

And then another thought occurred to her, shaming her because she hadn't considered it until now.