He mounted the few steps into the plane, and when he stuck his head in, he saw Donovan in the cockpit along with Ethan. He glanced to the right to see Swanny sprawled in one of the seats.

Swanny sat forward and motioned back to the sitting area. “Joe’s back with Shea.”

Nathan pushed down the aisle past the seats and into the lounge area, where there was a sofa, a table and two other armchairs. Joe was sitting on the couch, Shea cradled against his chest.

Her shirt was pulled up just over the wound on her side, and Nathan sucked in his breath at the shock of seeing his wound on her flesh.

Joe looked up and their gazes met. Joe’s lips tightened and he silently shook his head. His heart about to split wide open, Nathan went forward and gently took Shea from Joe and then crossed to one of the armchairs to sit.

A moment later, Sam and Garrett walked back, and Joe spoke in low tones to them, giving them his report. Nathan tuned them out, his concentration solely on the woman in his arms.

He smoothed his fingers over the lines of her forehead, wanting to ease the strain. He touched the softness of her cheek, traced the delicate line of her jaw.

She was so much a part of him. As much as breathing, eating or sleeping. She was there in every thought, every part of his heart and soul.

“Rest now, baby,” he whispered against her brow. He didn’t want to drain any of her flagging strength by speaking telepathically to her. She was so fragile and infinitely precious. So very precious to him. “We’re going home. I’m taking you home, where you’ll get better. I’ll take care of you. I’ll be with you every minute of the day, and we’ll put our demons to rest together.”

She seemed to relax and he cradled her close, tucking her head underneath his chin. Her breathing evened out, and he sensed for the first time that she was actually resting.

Donovan pushed his way through Sam and Garrett and squatted beside the chair where Nathan sat. “You’re getting this whether you want it or not. If we control your pain, we control hers. You both need rest, so don’t fight the effects.”

Nathan didn’t offer any protest. His side was screaming, and for Shea, he’d do whatever it took to make her more comfortable.

When Donovan was finished, he stood and told the others to prepare for takeoff. Nathan remained where he was while the others took their seats and belted in.

The drug didn’t take long to take effect. His muscles seemed to uncoil and he relaxed as the pain’s edge was tempered. He held Shea tightly as the jet taxied down the runway and then lifted off.

Home. To Tennessee. He was bringing Shea home. He just hoped to hell that she trusted him enough to stay.

He dozed lightly, Shea’s warmth as soothing as the drug that Donovan had given him. His eyes flew open when he heard footsteps.

Sam, Garrett, Joe and Swanny came through and sat on the couch and the other armchair.

“Is she doing any better?” Sam asked in a low voice.

“She’s resting,” Nathan said. “Really resting.” He glanced down at her eyelashes resting on her cheeks and his chest tightened all over again. “They broke her. Whatever they did, they broke her.”

“Bullshit,” Joe said. “She’s down but she’s not out. I don’t believe for a fucking minute that they completely broke her. She saw you through hell. She’s fierce. She’ll be okay.”

Nathan smiled at his brother’s staunch assessment of Shea.

“I’ve spoken to Resnick,” Sam said. “Things are a mess right now. A lot of fingerpointing. A lot of denial. He’s collecting evidence before it can be destroyed.”

“What about Grace?” Nathan asked quietly.

Sam shook his head. “No one knows. She wasn’t there. Resnick’s putting out his feelers. Rio hasn’t reported in, which means he’s turned up nothing yet. My guess is she’s lying low somewhere.”

Nathan tried to control the rise of anger. Where the fuck was Grace? How could she leave her sister when Shea needed her the most? How could she just fall out of contact when the two sisters were so deeply connected?

He knew his anger was unreasonable. There could be any number of reasons why Grace wasn’t communicating with Shea. But right now Shea needed to be surrounded with people who loved her. She needed her sister.

“Resnick feels like they’ve been unable to locate Grace and were focusing for now on Shea,” Sam continued.

“Who is they?” Joe demanded. “Do we even know who the hell is behind this? It’s pretty damn hard to fight a nameless, faceless enemy. Those bunch of damn science nerds aren’t the masterminds of this. They’re following orders. Even the security was lame. Someone is fronting the money and the manpower. The question is who and why?”

“That’s just it,” Sam said. “Everyone is denying involvement. We have to face the possibility that we’ll never know. I don’t fully trust Resnick. His ass is on the line. He won’t be completely honest with us unless it suits his purposes.”

“Do you believe that shit about why he took Shea?” Nathan asked. “Do we have any proof that he didn’t make everything up so I didn’t kill him?”

“How would we ever know differently?” Garrett asked.

“Let’s put nerd boy on it,” Joe said. “There isn’t info Van can’t find when he wants it.”

Garrett chuckled. “I wouldn’t let him hear you say that. He’ll kick your scrawny little ass. He’s got moves that I don’t think there are names for.”

“What about those two Russian scientists Resnick mentioned?” Swanny spoke up.

Sam frowned. “Resnick said they were back in Russia.”

“What if he’s lying? What if he doesn’t want them to be found? Or maybe that’s what he was told. Maybe he thinks he’s telling us the truth. Either way, it bears looking into because they’d know a lot of answers to our questions,” Swanny said.

Garrett suddenly grinned. “With Resnick so busy doing cleanup in New Mexico, he certainly won’t be at his office. Van and I could take a little trip so Van can do some hacking. Van would cream himself over getting into Resnick’s secure files. Can you imagine the shit that man has buried in his computer?”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Sam said slowly. “As soon as we land, you and Van take the jet and head for D.C. I want whatever information you can find and then we’ll know exactly how straight Resnick is being with us.”

Nathan eyed his older brothers even as his hold tightened around Shea. “What are we going to do?”

Garrett stared back, his blue eyes steely with resolve. “We do what we always do when there’s a threat to the family. We close ranks. We protect. We built that compound for a reason. Resnick breached it because he damn well knew how to, but we won’t make that mistake again. From now on, we trust no one. We’re not going to let a bunch of crazy-ass nut jobs pick Shea apart because she’s gifted. She belongs to you so now she belongs to us. We’re going to protect you both.”

“So eloquently said, Mr. Smooth,” Sam teased. “But I couldn’t have said it better myself. Stop worrying about us, Nathan. You focus on Shea. We’ll do the rest.”

“I don’t know if I ever thanked you,” Nathan said quietly. “All of you. Not just for Shea, though I’ll always be grateful for the risk you put yourself through for her. She means everything to me. She’s…my life. But thank you for not giving up when I was being such a hard-ass and so unreachable.”

A glimmer of a smile lit Joe’s face. “Now maybe we can stop tiptoeing around you and start beating your ass again.”

Nathan held up his middle finger. “You can sure as hell try.”

CHAPTER 44

IT was time to force herself back into the real world. She knew it. Embraced it. Sort of. But at the same time, lingering fear and terror paralyzed her whenever she made the effort to shake off the shadows that surrounded her.

Shea liked Dr. Scofield. There was a kindness to the young woman that put Shea at ease. At first, she’d been terrified that this woman was like all the others. There to study her. Hurt her. Treat her like a specimen.

But she was achingly gentle with Shea. She talked to her in soft tones as if she knew that Shea could understand exactly what she said. She’d smile and tell Shea not to hurry, that she’d come around when she was good and ready and when she felt safe.

It was odd, how disembodied Shea felt and how she could function and yet exist in a vacuum. She could process simple things like going to the bathroom. Eating. Drinking. Acknowledging simple requests. But it was as if her mind had been damaged, perhaps more damaged than her body, and both were taking time to heal.

The Kelly women fascinated Shea. Her quietness gave her the opportunity to study the women who’d married into the Kelly family as well as spend more time with Marlene Kelly and even Rusty, who she understood wasn’t a blood relation but a Kelly all the same.

Every day, one of the women visited her. Usually they’d sit on the back deck of Sam’s home and enjoy the warm weather and the view of the lake. Sam had insisted that Nathan and Shea stay with him and Sophie, since the home where Nathan had been living was outside of the compound.

At night, Nathan would tuck Shea into bed and then wrap himself around her, holding her, just holding her. He was a constant comfort to her. Rock steady. Unwavering.

Each day he took care of her, seeing to her every need or just sitting quietly with her. He didn’t push, but she could sense the growing disquiet within him. She knew he worried. She hated that she was the source of his unhappiness, but she didn’t feel ready to bridge the gap that existed between the world she’d retreated to and the world where Nathan waited.

Fear was a powerful inhibitor.

Today Shea sat on the deck, huddled in a blanket despite the warmth of the summer afternoon. She vaguely wondered who would come today, since not a day had passed that someone hadn’t come to sit with her since she and Nathan had come here.

Dr. Scofield would be back this afternoon as she was every afternoon. In the first days that Shea had come home, the doctor had been a constant presence, and Shea idly wondered if there was concern that she was a threat to herself. But then the doctor had told Shea that she was recovering nicely and that she’d look in on her in the afternoons.

Shea found herself looking forward to the company of the other women. She missed Grace, and worry for her sister weighed heavily on Shea. The other Kelly women and even Dr. Scofield filled an emptiness left by Grace’s absence.

With a sigh, she settled into the comfortable chair and focused her gaze on the sparkling waters of the lake and let her mind roam free, blanking out everything but the present. No past. No future. Just this moment. She closed her eyes and inhaled, letting the sun dance across her cheeks and spread warmth through the lingering coldness in her veins.

“SHE’S not getting better,” Nathan said, his voice thick with grief. He stood where he could see Shea through the window, watching as she sat, just as she did every day, staring over the lake.

Donovan and Garrett had returned from their fact-finding mission. There was a lot to process. There were plans to make. But he could do nothing until Shea recovered enough to sort out all that had happened. She was his priority. Always.

“I don’t agree,” Sophie said firmly.

“I don’t either,” Rachel said.

Nathan turned to where his sisters-in-law and Sarah stood a few feet away. Sophie was holding Charlotte on her hip. The baby was a miniature Sophie. All blond hair and big blue eyes. Beautiful just like her mother.

How he loved these women. They’d rallied around Shea, accepting her and sweeping in to care for her. Every single day they sat with her, talking to her, making sure she wasn’t alone. They bullied her into eating. They treated her just like she was normal. Already a part of the family. It was as if she’d always been there.

His throat knotted because he wanted to tell them how much he loved them for what they were doing, but he couldn’t even get the words out.

“She is improving, Nathan,” Sarah said softly. She put a gentle hand on his arm and squeezed. “At first she didn’t even acknowledge us. I wasn’t even sure she knew we were here. But then I noticed that she’d look at us. She’d listen to what we were saying and even respond. Not overtly, but I could tell she knew what we were saying.”

“She’s waiting for us even now,” Rachel said. “Look at her, Nathan. She knows we should have been out there by now. She keeps turning her head, just slightly, but she turns so she can see the door because she’s expecting us to be here just like we have every day.”