Echoes at Dawn (KGI #5)(69)

“Makes sense,” Diego agreed.

“Plus we’re a man short,” Alton said grimly.

“Doesn’t matter,” Decker said. “We’ll get the job done.”

“We’re good,” Rio said matter-of-factly. “But not that good. Against a group like Titan, we’re going to need all the manpower we can get. You can bet your asses they aren’t coming to a fight with only a few good men. They’ll come with the best and they’ll come to win. Which is why we’re going to rendezvous with Sam. He’s calling in all we’ve got on this one.”

Grace’s brows came together in confusion. She put a hand up to massage her temple because this whole thing was making her crazy. Rio made it sound like they were going to schedule a damn war or something. On the count of three, everyone starts shooting. That sort of thing. It sounded…crazy.

“I don’t get it,” she said. “You make it sound so organized. How do we know when or where this happens. I mean, are you actually going to pick a place and start shooting each other?”

She couldn’t keep the horror from her voice. The very last thing she wanted was people to die because of her.

She turned to Rio, her expression pleading, but she used telepathy because she didn’t want the others to hear.

Let’s go away, Rio. Just you and me. Why couldn’t we go someplace where they’d never find us? Why do we have to involve so many people? I don’t want them to die for me. I don’t want anyone to die.

Rio used the spatula to remove the last burger from the pan, then put it aside and walked around the bar to where Grace sat. He framed her face and stared down at her, his eyes intense and sincere.

“This doesn’t just involve you, honey. If it did, then what you suggest might be the best option. But it involves Shea and, by proxy, everyone at KGI because now you and your sister both are part of us. We don’t run from a fight. It’s not what KGI is about. KGI is about family. It’s about protecting what matters the most to us. It’s about never letting anyone take what is ours. You and Shea are ours now, and we’ll protect you with our last breaths.”

“That’s straight-up righteous,” Terrence rumbled out.

Diego, Decker and Alton all nodded their agreement.

Grace shook off Rio’s hands but kept hold of one, lowering it to her lap. It was comforting. Just being able to touch him calmed her more than she could have imagined.

“I’m scared,” she admitted. “Not just scared. Terrified. For the last year, I’ve lived my life day to day, never looking ahead, never knowing if I had a tomorrow. But now…I look to the future. It’s a future I want more than I can express in words. And I’m scared to death to trade someone’s life for that bright shiny future I now dream about.”

”Diego stared at her for a long moment. “If you hadn’t already won my respect and admiration, you would have just now. It’s an unselfish person who can acknowledge that they value someone’s life over their own dreams. But here’s the thing, and maybe you already know this. Nobody made us take this mission. Rio is our leader, yeah, and we follow him. But we do it because we want to. We can walk away anytime. No one owns us. We don’t give our loyalty blindly. It’s earned, and he and KGI have earned ours. And now so have you. So while it’s admirable that you don’t want one of us to sacrifice anything for you, we’d prefer you just shut up and deal with it because we aren’t backing down from this.”

Decker grinned and Alton slapped Diego on the back. Even Terrence laughed.

“You know, Diego doesn’t always have a whole lot to say, but when he does, it’s usually something epic,” Alton said with a laugh.

Rio was smiling when Grace turned back to him, completely befuddled by their reaction.

“See?” he said. “You’re one of us, Grace. We wouldn’t leave any one of us to fight alone and we’re damn sure not going to bail on you. So get used to it. You’re not getting rid of us, and you sure as hell aren’t getting rid of me.”

Relief, light and bubbly, flooded her heart and soul. She smiled, her smile growing bigger and bigger as she glanced around to all of Rio’s men sitting at the bar.

“So when do we leave?” she asked.

RIO made the call to Sam that afternoon. He wanted to give Grace more time to rest, and he put her to bed to ensure she did just that. But his gut was screaming that they needed to move now. They didn’t have a few days to wait for Grace to rebound totally.

She’d made it out of the mountains by sheer grit and determination. She’d basically been a walking corpse. If she could do that, then she could handle what was ahead.

“Here’s the plan,” Sam said. “We’ll rendezvous at the airstrip in Virginia. We’ll take both jets to Kodiak and then boat over to Afognak Island. If they show, we’ll know. We’ll fight on our terms, our turf.”

“And your family?” Rio asked gruffly.

“I’m stashing them at Fort Campbell under heavy guard. No one in their right mind would stage an attack at a U.S. military base. It’s the safest place I can think of for them to be. Shea will be staying behind too. You may want to consider sending Grace to her.”

As much as it went against his every principle to trust Grace’s safety to anyone but himself, he also knew that it was, in fact, the safest, securest place for her to be. She wouldn’t like it, but he wouldn’t give her a choice in the matter. Plus, he’d dangle a reunion with her sister in front of her, and she would have a much harder time arguing with him then.