They were good. They had a long way to go, but they were led by the youngest of the Kelly brothers, Joe and Nathan. Twins who’d served in the army until recently. Both had been discharged under less-than-ideal conditions. Joe had been injured but had returned home to heal. Nathan, however, had been kept a prisoner and tortured for months. His journey home had taken much longer and had come about in a highly unorthodox—and unbelievable—manner. Shea—now his wife—was a telepathic empath who’d reached out to him in his darkest hour and had saved him. Literally.

It was still hard for Steele to wrap his head around, but he’d witnessed the extraordinary abilities of Shea firsthand. He knew it wasn’t bullshit. Just as he’d witnessed her sister Grace’s amazing healing abilities.

The Kellys attracted all kinds, but they were good people. The very best. Steele wouldn’t work for them otherwise.

He stared at the two newest recruits, Skylar Watkins and Zane “Edge” Edgerton. They, along with Nathan and Joe Kelly and Swanson, or “Swanny” as he was called, all made up the third KGI team.

Steele led his team, and the other team belonged to Rio. It was an adjustment to have another team that shared missions with them. Steele wasn’t altogether sure he liked it. True, KGI was now able to take more missions than before, now that they had the extra team, but Steele was reserving judgment until he knew how much the new team was going to infringe on his team’s action.

Steele didn’t have a family to spend down time with. He had no wife. No loved ones. When he wasn’t on a mission, he retreated to his farmhouse. Until P.J. and Cole had hooked up, his team hadn’t had outside emotional ties either. They spent time with family, but for the most part, the team was their family. It was what made them perfect for the team. Their first loyalty was to KGI and to one another. Having no emotional baggage enabled them to give one hundred percent to their clients.

Already Steele sensed a deep thread of camaraderie within the new team. They were close knit. They’d trained together sixteen hours a day in the beginning. By the end, they were spending every hour of every day together. Steele firmly believed in the mantra Live and die by the team. It was something he had pounded into every one of his team members and a philosophy he’d tried to enforce on the new team as well. By the looks of it, he’d at least been partly successful.

Giving a nod of satisfaction to Sam Kelly, who was also eyeing the newest team, Steele relaxed and leaned back against the wall as he waited for the meeting to begin. Already he was plotting his escape to his home, where he could enjoy peace and solitude.

Thoughts of Maren invaded again, and his lips tightened. So maybe having sex with her hadn’t been the best idea. In the back of his mind, he’d known that once wouldn’t be enough, but he’d reached the point of desperation. He couldn’t function for thinking about her. Once it had become apparent his team needed to stop in for medical care, he’d been consumed with images of her. Of him being inside her. Of what she’d look like naked. Of how she’d taste.

God, he could still taste and smell her.

Oh, he could have gone elsewhere for medical treatment. He could have flown stateside with his team and had the girl taken care of on U.S. soil. Her parents would have likely preferred that option over waiting another day before they saw their daughter safe and sound.

But Steele had seized the opportunity to finally address the attraction between them. He hadn’t known whether it was reciprocated, but he’d been determined to lay it out and get her into his bed. Or rather her bed. It was stupid to think having sex with her once would actually satisfy him and get her out of his head. He’d thought of little else ever since crawling out of her warm bed several days before. Thank God she was thousands of miles away and not readily accessible or he’d likely be on her doorstep the minute he got out of this damn meeting.

He had to get it under control. This obsession sucked. He prided himself on having iron control. Being cool and unflappable in any circumstance. He damn sure hadn’t been in control when he’d finally gotten her naked. He’d acted like an eager rookie seeing action for the first time.

He shook his head, cursing his inability to focus on the matter at hand.

“Steele?”

He looked up to see the others staring at him. Sam had a peculiar look on his face, and it was then Steele realized the meeting had long since started and Sam was evidently waiting on his report.

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?”