I know you will. I have faith in you and your brothers.
“If you two are finished sending telepathic kissy faces,” Garrett said dryly.
Before, Shea would have likely blushed, ducked her head and felt horribly conspicuous. But she was growing more comfortable with his family all the time, which thrilled Nathan.
She raised her chin and smirked in Garrett’s direction. “I was just telling Nathan that I needed to remember to tell Sarah how many F bombs I overheard you dropping yesterday.”
Garrett sighed while everyone else dissolved into laughter.
Sam grinned and then dropped into the chair across from the couch while Nathan settled beside Shea. The others gradually chose spots to sit, but Swanny hovered in the background. He still hadn’t reached his comfort zone but he was fitting in nicely. He was going home in a few days, but Nathan knew Sam had extended a job offer, and while Swanny had said he wanted time to think about it, Nathan figured he’d go home, settle things, and be back. He hoped so at least. Swanny was adrift. He needed KGI. He needed a purpose just as Nathan had when he’d returned from Afghanistan.
“Resnick asked if you’d be willing to meet him, Shea,” Sam began.
Shea’s mouth dropped open and she automatically inched toward Nathan until she was pressed tightly against his side. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed.
“Is he crazy?” she demanded.
“There’s a lot you don’t know, but know this before we get into all the whys and wherefores. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Period. If you say the word, the man will never set foot in this compound. Understand?” Sam leveled a look, catching her gaze and holding it. “You’re in the driver’s seat. We’ll only do what you want us to do, okay?”
She smiled and nodded.
“Now, he wants to meet you because he was conceived in the same lab where you and Grace were born.”
Shea went completely still, so still that for a moment Nathan worried they’d upset her already.
“Then why?” she whispered. “Why would he do that to me? Why would he allow it? He knows. He has to know what went on there, doesn’t he?”
Nathan kissed her temple and stroked a hand down her hair. But he remained silent so Sam could give her the details as unemotionally as possible. Nathan couldn’t be objective. He still couldn’t even think about Resnick without wanting to kill the bastard. He couldn’t forgive the fact that, if not for Resnick, Shea wouldn’t have been captured a second time.
“He wasn’t the one who handed you over to the people who hurt you. I know it seems that way. He took you from us because he wanted to protect you. It was stupid. But I don’t think he ever meant for you to be harmed. There’s more. He believes there’s a good possibility that he’s your brother.”
This time, Nathan felt her shock roll through him. Their pathway was open and he could feel all the conflicting emotions. Her anger. Sadness. And her confusion.
“He was an experiment too. A failed one, by his account. He doesn’t have special abilities like you and Grace. He’s the one who helped the Petersons when you moved to Oregon. He finally tracked them down after they disappeared with you and Grace years earlier. He funded their efforts and directed them to call on him if help was ever needed. He asked them to tell you and Grace the same but evidently they didn’t trust him or maybe they just didn’t want you to know the truth about their roles in your birth and the fact that they weren’t your biological parents.”
“Does he know who wants Grace and me so badly?”
“He hadn’t given us all the information, but Donovan did a little hacking and we have access to all his files,” Sam said with a satisfied grin.
Shea glanced to Donovan, her eyes wary.
Donovan sent her a reassuring smile. “I don’t want you to worry. Okay? Promise me that.”
“Tell me,” she said softly.
“He spoke of two Russian scientists, so I went in search of information regarding them as well as anything else I could find out about the purpose of the experiments and their intended uses. I was able to track down one of the scientists, who still lives here in the U.S. despite Resnick thinking or at least saying that he’d returned to Russia.”
Shea went still and leaned forward, her eyes narrowed in concentration.
“In the beginning this was solely a military-funded and -backed research subject. Highly classified. Furthermore, there were other successful test subjects besides you and Grace. There were other children born with psychic talents. But once they discovered that they’d been able to produce the ability to heal, the others were discarded, adopted out, dropped from the program.”
“Grace,” Shea whispered. “It was about Grace all along. Why keep me then?”
“Because you have that ability too, Shea,” Donovan said gently. “Yes, it would seem that your abilities differ, but think about what you did for Nathan. Now consider how you and Grace could operate as a team. Remote healing. We talked about this before, remember? You could communicate with and take the pain and suffering from someone. Grace healed Swanny through you. Now think about how the military would use gifts like these. Indestructible soldiers. They get injured on the battlefield and are healed telepathically. They get captured and tortured for information? You take their pain and suffering and shield them from it. They’d be like machines. Never breaking. Imagine it from a rescue perspective. Just as you did for Nathan, you could communicate with the prisoner and lead a rescue team to him. These are talents that, yes, the military would kill for.”
“But you work for the military. All of you. Or at least you did,” she said in bewilderment. “Don’t you still?”
“This is a part of the military that no one ever sees. Not even the enlisted themselves,” Sam said. “ ‘Funded by the military’ is a code word for a top-secret project that only a few very high-ranking people even know about. The men and women out there serving aren’t monsters. They’re doing their jobs. Research like this is done for black op groups that don’t officially exist. We’re telling you this because you deserve to know. We aren’t supposed to know all we do, but we’re arming ourselves with knowledge so that if there’s ever a need, we’ll go public far and wide in order to protect you and Grace and any others who are targeted for this kind of research.”
“So there’s nothing we can do? I—we—just have to live with the knowledge and never be certain whether they’ll come after me again?”
“Resnick is very determined to blow this operation from the top down. I don’t entirely trust him anymore. But I also understand where he’s coming from. He’s playing the game just like we have to play the game. If he’s successful in pulling the plug, this will all quietly go away. It’ll be like it never existed.”
“If only it were that easy,” Shea murmured.
Nathan laced his fingers through hers. “You’ll never be alone again, Shea. You’ll never have to live your life on the run. We take a stand here. Together.”
“Hooyah,” Ethan softly called.
“Fuckin’ A,” Garrett said emphatically. “And the first one of you who rats me out to Sarah gets their ass kicked. That includes you, Miss Shea.”
Shea smiled and Nathan nearly folded in relief. She was going to be okay. He felt it.
“Shea?” Sam said.
She turned her attention back to Sam.
I know you will. I have faith in you and your brothers.
“If you two are finished sending telepathic kissy faces,” Garrett said dryly.
Before, Shea would have likely blushed, ducked her head and felt horribly conspicuous. But she was growing more comfortable with his family all the time, which thrilled Nathan.
She raised her chin and smirked in Garrett’s direction. “I was just telling Nathan that I needed to remember to tell Sarah how many F bombs I overheard you dropping yesterday.”
Garrett sighed while everyone else dissolved into laughter.
Sam grinned and then dropped into the chair across from the couch while Nathan settled beside Shea. The others gradually chose spots to sit, but Swanny hovered in the background. He still hadn’t reached his comfort zone but he was fitting in nicely. He was going home in a few days, but Nathan knew Sam had extended a job offer, and while Swanny had said he wanted time to think about it, Nathan figured he’d go home, settle things, and be back. He hoped so at least. Swanny was adrift. He needed KGI. He needed a purpose just as Nathan had when he’d returned from Afghanistan.
“Resnick asked if you’d be willing to meet him, Shea,” Sam began.
Shea’s mouth dropped open and she automatically inched toward Nathan until she was pressed tightly against his side. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed.
“Is he crazy?” she demanded.
“There’s a lot you don’t know, but know this before we get into all the whys and wherefores. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Period. If you say the word, the man will never set foot in this compound. Understand?” Sam leveled a look, catching her gaze and holding it. “You’re in the driver’s seat. We’ll only do what you want us to do, okay?”
She smiled and nodded.
“Now, he wants to meet you because he was conceived in the same lab where you and Grace were born.”
Shea went completely still, so still that for a moment Nathan worried they’d upset her already.
“Then why?” she whispered. “Why would he do that to me? Why would he allow it? He knows. He has to know what went on there, doesn’t he?”
Nathan kissed her temple and stroked a hand down her hair. But he remained silent so Sam could give her the details as unemotionally as possible. Nathan couldn’t be objective. He still couldn’t even think about Resnick without wanting to kill the bastard. He couldn’t forgive the fact that, if not for Resnick, Shea wouldn’t have been captured a second time.
“He wasn’t the one who handed you over to the people who hurt you. I know it seems that way. He took you from us because he wanted to protect you. It was stupid. But I don’t think he ever meant for you to be harmed. There’s more. He believes there’s a good possibility that he’s your brother.”
This time, Nathan felt her shock roll through him. Their pathway was open and he could feel all the conflicting emotions. Her anger. Sadness. And her confusion.
“He was an experiment too. A failed one, by his account. He doesn’t have special abilities like you and Grace. He’s the one who helped the Petersons when you moved to Oregon. He finally tracked them down after they disappeared with you and Grace years earlier. He funded their efforts and directed them to call on him if help was ever needed. He asked them to tell you and Grace the same but evidently they didn’t trust him or maybe they just didn’t want you to know the truth about their roles in your birth and the fact that they weren’t your biological parents.”
“Does he know who wants Grace and me so badly?”
“He hadn’t given us all the information, but Donovan did a little hacking and we have access to all his files,” Sam said with a satisfied grin.
Shea glanced to Donovan, her eyes wary.
Donovan sent her a reassuring smile. “I don’t want you to worry. Okay? Promise me that.”
“Tell me,” she said softly.
“He spoke of two Russian scientists, so I went in search of information regarding them as well as anything else I could find out about the purpose of the experiments and their intended uses. I was able to track down one of the scientists, who still lives here in the U.S. despite Resnick thinking or at least saying that he’d returned to Russia.”
Shea went still and leaned forward, her eyes narrowed in concentration.
“In the beginning this was solely a military-funded and -backed research subject. Highly classified. Furthermore, there were other successful test subjects besides you and Grace. There were other children born with psychic talents. But once they discovered that they’d been able to produce the ability to heal, the others were discarded, adopted out, dropped from the program.”
“Grace,” Shea whispered. “It was about Grace all along. Why keep me then?”
“Because you have that ability too, Shea,” Donovan said gently. “Yes, it would seem that your abilities differ, but think about what you did for Nathan. Now consider how you and Grace could operate as a team. Remote healing. We talked about this before, remember? You could communicate with and take the pain and suffering from someone. Grace healed Swanny through you. Now think about how the military would use gifts like these. Indestructible soldiers. They get injured on the battlefield and are healed telepathically. They get captured and tortured for information? You take their pain and suffering and shield them from it. They’d be like machines. Never breaking. Imagine it from a rescue perspective. Just as you did for Nathan, you could communicate with the prisoner and lead a rescue team to him. These are talents that, yes, the military would kill for.”
“But you work for the military. All of you. Or at least you did,” she said in bewilderment. “Don’t you still?”
“This is a part of the military that no one ever sees. Not even the enlisted themselves,” Sam said. “ ‘Funded by the military’ is a code word for a top-secret project that only a few very high-ranking people even know about. The men and women out there serving aren’t monsters. They’re doing their jobs. Research like this is done for black op groups that don’t officially exist. We’re telling you this because you deserve to know. We aren’t supposed to know all we do, but we’re arming ourselves with knowledge so that if there’s ever a need, we’ll go public far and wide in order to protect you and Grace and any others who are targeted for this kind of research.”
“So there’s nothing we can do? I—we—just have to live with the knowledge and never be certain whether they’ll come after me again?”
“Resnick is very determined to blow this operation from the top down. I don’t entirely trust him anymore. But I also understand where he’s coming from. He’s playing the game just like we have to play the game. If he’s successful in pulling the plug, this will all quietly go away. It’ll be like it never existed.”
“If only it were that easy,” Shea murmured.
Nathan laced his fingers through hers. “You’ll never be alone again, Shea. You’ll never have to live your life on the run. We take a stand here. Together.”
“Hooyah,” Ethan softly called.
“Fuckin’ A,” Garrett said emphatically. “And the first one of you who rats me out to Sarah gets their ass kicked. That includes you, Miss Shea.”
Shea smiled and Nathan nearly folded in relief. She was going to be okay. He felt it.
“Shea?” Sam said.
She turned her attention back to Sam.
“What do you want to do about Resnick? He wants to see you but he’s determined that you feel safe, which is why he wants to do it here, with all of us present. It might be good for you to talk to him. He could probably answer a lot of your questions.”
Slowly she nodded and then took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll see him. Maybe he has information that will help us find Grace.” She hesitated a moment and then looked back up at Sam. “When?”
“Whenever you want. Whenever you’re ready. You just say the word and I’ll make it happen,” Sam said.
“Thank you,” she suddenly blurted out. She turned to look at them all, her eyes glowing softly. “Just thank you. You all have risked so much for me, and now that I’ve met your wives, I know I couldn’t bear for anything to happen to you that would take you away from one of them because of me.”
“You risked everything for our brother,” Joe broke in. “How could we not do the same for you?”
“We should probably stop now, or I’ll get really mushy,” Shea warned.
That brought chuckles from the others, but they all stared at Shea with clear affection in their eyes.
Nathan smiled and pulled her tight against him, dropping a kiss on top of her head.
“That right there is why we’ll risk what we have to for you,” Ethan said as he stared at Nathan. “He’s smiling again. He’s himself again. You did that, Shea. You brought him home.”
CHAPTER 47
SHEA snuggled deeper into Nathan’s arms and watched as fireflies danced through the air and hovered close to the ground. They blinked through the tree branches and sparkled like Christmas lights in the dark.
“I love it here.”
“Hmm. I love you,” Nathan said.
She smiled as his arms came tighter around her. They were sitting in the swing on Sam’s deck as night fell around them. They rocked gently back and forth, aided by Nathan giving them a slight push every once in a while to keep them going.
“I wish Grace were here. She’d love your family. She’d love Sophie, Sarah and Rachel. Especially Sophie. Of all of them, I think she’s most like her.”
Nathan brushed his lips across her forehead. “She will be, baby. Rio will find her.”
“This is so perfect that I worry I’ll wake up and it will all be gone.”
Not going to happen. You’re stuck with me. If you ever do disappear on me, there isn’t a corner of this earth I wouldn’t look for you in. You’re mine, baby. And I’m never giving you up.
She hugged him close and then leaned up to kiss him, her lips moving possessively over his.
“That’s good because I hope you know that goes both ways. I’ll find you, Nathan. You’re mine.”
He kissed her back, his hands sliding up her arms as he pulled her farther onto his lap.
“There’s just one little thing we need to discuss.”
She raised one eyebrow. “Oh?”
He settled her astride him so that her knees dug into the pad of the swing on either side of his thighs.
“Yeah. I’m going to be working with my brothers from now on. There’s a possibility I could be injured. You and I talked about this, about the dangers I face working for KGI.”
She nodded solemnly.
“You can’t be butting in and taking my pain for me,” he said sternly. “You have to promise me, Shea. No more.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re so full of shit.”
His eyes widened and then he grinned. “Feeling feisty tonight, are we?”
“If you’d shut up and take me inside, I’d show you just how feisty,” she murmured in his ear just before she nipped at the lobe.
“Whoa, wait a minute. You aren’t distracting me from my original purpose. I want your promise, Shea.”
“You aren’t getting it, Nathan.”
He glared ferociously at her, but she merely smiled back and slid her hands down to cup him intimately. He was already hard and bulging against his jeans.
“So this is how it’s going to be,” he grumbled. “You distract me with sex anytime you don’t want to do something I’ve asked you.”
“Is it working?”
“Hell yes.”
He abruptly got up from the swing, carrying her with him as he headed toward the door. She reached out to open it and he shouldered his way inside.
He carried her into their bedroom and dropped her on the bed, coming down over her, covering her with his warm, hard body.
She stared up at him, all the love she felt shining in her eyes. It swelled in her chest and overwhelmed her with its power. She loved this man more than anything. He’d gone to the wall for her. He’d known and accepted from the very start that they were destined to be together. Not a day went by that he didn’t make her feel loved and cherished beyond measure.
Life was so very good, all the more sweet for everything they’d endured together.
She lifted her hands to his face and smiled up at him. “Just think. You’ll get a reputation as a pushover.”
He kissed her and then nibbled a path down her neck before pulling back to smile down at her with answering love and adoration. “I think I can live with that.”