All too quickly, they were gone. Shea had no idea what they were using as their starting point or even what they’d been able to glean from talking to her. But they packed up their gear and said they were bugging out. And then they were simply gone, leaving her slightly baffled. How was she to know what they were doing? But then she doubted they’d be reporting to her. She just hoped they reported to someone, because the prolonged silence between her and Grace was making Shea sick with worry.

 She closed her eyes and reached out to her sister as she’d done so many times over the past days. Don’t worry, Grace. Someone is coming for you. We have help now. I wish you’d talk to me so I could explain. These men will help you. Like they’ve helped me.

 The void was nearly her undoing. It was like not having the gift of telepathy at all. Like she was talking to herself.

 She tried to shake off the melancholy direction of her thoughts. She focused back in on the happenings in the war room.

 It seemed everyone was doing something. The entire room was abuzz with activity. It made her anxious and on edge. She stood, no longer able to bear sitting so still when everyone was moving around her.

 Her legs were wobbly, but then she felt completely off balance by everything. She hated how out of control her life had become. She valued order and quiet. Growing up the way she had, always moving at a moment’s notice, had made her appreciate the sudden peace that she and her family had enjoyed when they’d moved to Oregon. She’d craved it. Normalcy. And above all, she liked to feel in control at all times.

 In the last year she’d become a paranoid, panicky mess of a woman and she hated every minute of it. She wanted her life back. No, not back. She just wanted a life. A new one. Devoid of all the fears of the past.

 She may have been some damn lab experiment, but she was a human being with feelings. If the bastards who’d created her thought she was expendable, that she was only destined to be some lab rat they poked and prodded on a regular basis, they could all fuck themselves and go straight to hell. She would never go back to that.

 “Shea.”

 Donovan’s soft address broke through her dark thoughts. Some of the rage abated and she blinked to bring him into focus. He was standing in front of her, a look of concern on his face.

 “I want you to meet the team that will be responsible for your safety.”

 Her brows drew together and the panic was suddenly back, knotting her throat until she had difficulty breathing.

 “What do you mean?” she croaked. “What about…”

 She glanced over to where Nathan stood with his brothers and bit her lip, determined not to blurt out what she’d been about to ask.

 She returned her gaze to Donovan and the group assembled closely around him. The team leader stood closest to Donovan and stared coolly at her, his eyes like blue ice. His hair was blond—muddy blond with lighter streaks through the short-cropped strands. It was easy to tell he was the authority figure. He commanded respect and it was obvious he got it from every member of his team.

 “This is Steele.”

 “Miss Peterson,” Steele said in acknowledgment.

 “Behind him are Cole, P.J., Dolphin. To his left are Baker and Renshaw.”

 Shea tried to smile but she couldn’t contain her dismay.

 Across the room, Nathan turned to look at her and he frowned. Their gazes connected and then she felt him explode into her mind, so different than when she connected with him.

 His presence was forceful. Indomitable. Overwhelming her and yet filling her with his very essence.

 What’s wrong? It was a quick, impatient demand. She felt his resolve to fix whatever it was upsetting her.

 For a moment she couldn’t even formulate her thoughts. It was ridiculous. She was being ridiculous. She should be on her knees giving thanks, but she didn’t want this team to protect her. She wanted Nathan. She didn’t want to be separated from him. Not even for her safety.

 “Jesus.”

 She heard Nathan across the room. He stalked over, looking angrily at Donovan even as he pulled her into his arms. For a long moment he simply hugged her to him and then he pulled her away, grasped her shoulders and stared hard into her eyes as if willing her to not only hear him but to feel him as well.

 “I’m not turning you over to Steele and his team. I’m going to be with you every minute of every day. Do you understand that? Yes, Steele’s team is assigned to your protection. We need them. But it doesn’t mean they’re going to take you away somewhere and that I won’t be with you. Where you go, I go.”

 Relief made her weak, and worse, her eyelids burned with tears.

 “Well, Christ,” Donovan muttered. “That wasn’t what I meant for you to think, Shea. I’m sorry.”

 She shook her head and forced herself to get it together. “I was being stupid. I’m the one who’s sorry. I should be grateful. I just panicked for a moment.”

 Nathan pulled her to him and silenced her with a long, deep kiss. It amazed her that he gave so little thought to where they were or who observed. He never seemed to care.

 She shivered as his tongue swept over hers, rough and yet so gentle and caring. He was a fascinating mix of intensity and patience. He was fierce and demanding and yet he always demonstrated such loving tenderness with her.

 He loved her.

 She reminded herself of that fact. He’d given her the words. Very pissed off words but all the more meaningful for the frustrated way he’d expressed the emotions he felt toward her. It seemed to make him crazy that he couldn’t make everything perfect, that there were so many obstacles confronting them, and yet he refused to let anything deter him.

 “This is better than a romance novel,” P.J. said with a wistful sigh.

 “You read that stuff?” Cole demanded.

 Shea pulled away from Nathan but he still held her close, tucked into his side as they faced Steele’s team.

 “Why the hell do you ask the question like that?” P.J. said, annoyance evident in her tone and expression.

 “You just didn’t seem the type,” Cole mumbled.

 She flipped him the bird, and Shea had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. P.J. was easily half Cole’s size but she also looked like she had the confidence to take on the much larger man. She might even kick his ass. The idea intrigued Shea greatly.

 “I’m tempted to shove one of my romance novels up your ass,” P.J. said sharply. “But I love my books too much to desecrate them like that. I’ll settle for my boot.”

 Cole held up his hands in surrender. “I won’t say another word. Romance novels are great. I love romance novels. I think everyone should read them.”

 Dolphin snickered behind Cole, and Cole whirled to glare at him. P.J. smirked and sauntered back to the couch, where she flopped down.

 “So what do we do now?” Shea asked anxiously. “Are we leaving? Do we know anything more than we did before?”

 “For today we’re going to stay put,” Donovan said. “I’m going to ring Resnick’s bell again. Sam’s trying to reach him now. I know that bastard probably knows more than he’s letting on. There isn’t much that goes on that he doesn’t at least have the resources to find out about. He’s got his fingers in so many dark holes and crannies that half the world is probably afraid of ever pissing him off. He could probably bury any number of world leaders and military brass.”

 “You think he can help us?” Shea asked.

 “Do I think he can? Yeah, I do. The question isn’t can he. The question is will he. We were polite before. Now we aren’t going to be so nice. We’ve done Resnick plenty of favors. It’s time for him to pay up.”

 “Can we trust him?”

 Donovan looked surprised by her question, but then his lips turned up into a half smile. “As much as we can anyone who has dirt on everyone who has ever worked for Uncle Sam either officially or unofficially.”

 She nodded. “If you trust him, then so will I.”

 Nathan kissed the side of her head. “I know you’re worried, baby. But you don’t have to be anymore. Rio will find Grace. Resnick will give us information on who or what headed the experiments on you and your sister and then we’ll go after them.”

 “You make it sound so simple,” she said wistfully. “I want it to be that easy, but God, nothing in my life has ever been easy. I’m afraid to believe it could be now. I feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop and something horrible is going to happen.”

 “We want you to feel safe, Shea,” Donovan said softly. “And not just because you’re someone who needs help. You’re family now. We look out for our own.”

 She blinked in surprise and then turned her gaze up to Nathan in bewilderment. He merely smiled down at her and then kissed the tip of her nose.

 “Everyone has accepted the inevitable except you. You’re it for me. They know it. I know it. It’s time you start believing it too. I’m not going to let anyone or anything change that. You’re mine. I’m yours. It’s as simple or as hard as we make it.”

 Her knees wobbled as a ridiculous giddy sensation stole over her. The room was closing in on her and she desperately wanted to be in the sun for a few moments. Breathe in fresh air. Process everything that had been said over the last few hours. It all seemed so unreal and yet it was real. Very, very real.

 “Let’s get you to the house,” Nathan said. “It’s been a long night and an even longer morning. You have to be on overload by now.”

 “Let me holler at Sam, and Swanny, Joe and I will go with you,” Donovan said.