Maya Banks - Forged in Steele

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.”

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!”

As if any newborn was ever cute.

They were wrinkled, red and noisy.

They were definitely not cute.

“Uh, well, I’m still kind of deciding,” she said in a low voice.

Even as she spoke, she glanced around as if she were worried they would be overheard and she was bringing up a sore subject.

“You have plenty of time. Freshman year is more about getting your feet underneath you and figuring out the lay of the land.”

She blinked in surprise. “That’s kind of what I thought, but . . .” She broke off and jerked her thumb in the direction of the Kelly brothers. “They don’t exactly see it that way. They think I’m a fuckup because I didn’t know what I wanted to study before I ever set foot in a university.”

Steele lifted an eyebrow at her choice of words. Not that he was remotely offended by profanity—as if! But the Kelly men had thawed considerably in their treatment and opinions of Rusty. He doubted they’d voiced those exact words or called her a fuckup just because she hadn’t declared a major yet. It was more likely she was sensitive—overly sensitive—about the issue and worried that they looked down on her for not being more decisive.

“Have you narrowed your choices down at all?”

Rusty bit her lip and again shot a glance to the side, but this time her gaze lighted on Sean. When she spoke, it was in lowered tones as if she didn’t want anyone to overhear.

“I’m really interested in criminal justice, but Sean thinks it’s a terrible idea and I can’t imagine the guys would like it either. They’d probably have a cow at the thought of me doing anything remotely dangerous.”

There was a note of frustration in her voice that told Steele she was serious, even if the way she said it was meant to be flip, like she didn’t care or that she wasn’t strongly considering a career in law enforcement. She just didn’t want to be shot down and was already steeling herself for the possibility. Nobody liked to look stupid or to be made to feel stupid.