After the Storm (KGI #8)(113)

“Fuck it. We’re going to have to call in a shit-ton of favors by the time this is over with. I’m going to end up owing a kidney and all of yours as well. We’ll be in debt to our eyeballs and you can bet every single person we involve will call in those markers.”

“I don’t give a f**k,” Sam said, resolve marking every word. “No price is too high to pay to save your family, Van. Just like no price is too high to pay for any of our family. We’ll get it done. We always do. Now let’s go get your family back.”

“Christ, we’re already hours behind,” Donovan said in disgust. “They both have too far a head start and we’re flying blind.”

“All the more reason not to waste another single minute,” Joe piped in.

Donovan glanced up at his brother and his team. All at the ready. Silent until now. But answering resolve was in each of their faces. He’d worried they weren’t ready even though they’d proved themselves capable.

“This is the single most important mission you will ever go on,” Donovan said, addressing Swanny, Skylar, Edge, Nathan and Joe. “Nothing you will ever do will be more important than what you’re doing now. I need you to know that. You also need to know that I trust you—I am trusting you. With the most important things in my life. Eve and those children—my children.”

Every single member of the team was instantly on alert. They recognized this important step in their progression in KGI. This wasn’t just any mission. It was the mission. And Donovan was trusting them to pull it off. He could see their resolve. No, they wouldn’t fail him.

Some of the horrific terror that had gripped him by the throat for the last hours eased. If this were anyone else, a client, Donovan would be the first to reassure them that KGI was the best and they would get the job done. And now he had to tell himself that. Place his trust in the team he’d had a hand in training from the ground up. It was time to let them go. And hope to hell that they were as capable as he believed them to be.

“We won’t let you down,” Skylar said softly. “We’ll do this, Donovan. It’s a mission, yes. But this is more than that and we all realize it. It’s personal for all of us. And we’ll get your family back or die trying.”

Just like that. Answering determination was etched in the faces of every single member of her team. They’d all put their lives on the line for Donovan. For Eve and Travis.

“You will never know what this means to me,” Donovan said quietly.

“Let’s go kick some ass,” Edge growled.

“That gets a hooyah from me,” Ethan said.

This time there was no good-natured ribbing from his non-Navy brothers and team members. Everyone gathered up their bags, their rifles. Donovan grabbed the laptop, Hoss 2, as it was termed. A more portable version of Hoss, the mainframe computer that ran KGI. And then they all hurried from the war room and sprinted double time to the airstrip, where the jet was already fueled and ready for takeoff.

CHAPTER 39

DEFEAT tugged mercilessly at Eve. It was over with. It was done. She was done. She stared up at her stepfather, shivering at the calculated way he looked at her. There was no mistaking the lust in his eyes. The triumph. He knew he’d won and he was relishing every moment of her helplessness.

“Ready to concede defeat, Eve?” he asked mockingly. “Are you ready to give me what I want?”

“Go to hell,” she bit out.

He backhanded her, dropping her in her tracks. She hit the floor as pain washed over her body. He kicked her, knocking the breath from her. Agony splintered through her ribs as he kicked again. God, he’d kill her. She knew it. Even embraced it.

Only the thought of Travis and Cammie in his hands gave her the courage to continue. Made her want to live to ensure that they’d be safe.

“Poor Eve,” he murmured as he bent to haul her roughly to her feet. “Did you know your lover was prepared to hand you over to me in exchange for backing off of Cammie and Travis?”

Eve closed her eyes, hurt welling up in her soul. A hurt far more agonizing than the physical pain she endured at his hands. This was soul deep. Her heart hurt. Yes, she’d known of Donovan’s plan, but hearing it from her stepfather’s lips, getting confirmation of what she already knew, sent pain to the deepest recesses of her soul.

“You must have been lousy in bed if he was so willing to give you up,” Walt mocked.

He walked around her in a tight circle, pacing the living room of the cabin he’d taken her to. Her knees wobbled but by sheer grit alone she managed to remain standing. Defiant.

He paused and let a finger trail down the curve of her cheek. She turned away, not wanting him to touch her, and he issued another slap.

It wasn’t as hard as the last. She stumbled back but managed to regain her footing before she hit the floor again.

Her entire face ached. It was on fire from his repeated abuse. But this she could manage. It was only pain. What she couldn’t face was him touching her. Him being intimate with her. Nausea curled low in her belly and her mouth watered. She swallowed, choking it back.

He wouldn’t break her. He wouldn’t!

“Are you prepared to give me what I want?” he asked.

Her gaze snapped to his, fire in her eyes. “Go to hell.”

Rage burned a trail though his eyes, and then they turned cold.