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 shit y’all bitch 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 amusement—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 passing 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.
“Hello? 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 ass,” 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 assumed. 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.”