Kiera gasped as Jake turned, caught her by the shoulders, and pulled her forward into his broad torso. She was too stunned to protest as he wrapped his hands around her upper back and then walked her backward, well behind the couch. No piece of furniture would stop Hunt. That much was clear.
Jake’s clenched grip digging into her skin hurt, but she didn’t complain, given the alternative raging across the room. She peeked over his shoulder. She swallowed, her mouth dry, body burning up. Why was she having another hot flash?
Gonzo and Rodeo kept a firm hold on Hunt for a few minutes until the man’s breathing had slowed and he returned to his previous stature.
What the heck? Imagine what would happen if…
Kiera wanted to throw up. Whatever caused the reaction in Hunt … somehow existed inside of her child. Air would not move through her chest.
Had she glimpsed her child’s future?
If it survived.
Bile burned her throat.
She looked up at Jake. His gray stare narrowed. His nostrils flared and his shoulders flexed and broadened.
Oh, God, was he changing, too? Was everyone? She peeked around the room. Each team member was frozen in a state of tight readiness.
Jake clamped his hand on her arm. The pain brought tears to her eyes, but she didn’t move. Didn’t dare move. His rasping breaths next to her ear echoed Hunt’s desperate heaves and muttered number repetitions on the other side of the room.
“Jake?” she whispered.
He squeezed his eyes closed as he moved his hand to rest on the back of the couch in a fist he clenched and unclenched over and over. “It’ll be okay. A heightened need to protect or fight can trigger the virus activation. Give me a second.” When he swallowed, the thick cords on his neck shifted. The wild expression calmed until his body finally relaxed. “I’ll make sure you and the baby are safe. Mateo made me promise in his letter.”
She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to regain her own control. No way would she go to pieces in front of these men.
While everyone was taking a moment, she stewed on that tidbit about Jake helping her because of a mandate from the grave. No sir. She squared her shoulders and raised her head. She was no one’s burden. The baby wasn’t an assignment. And they sure as hell wouldn’t hang around here solely because of Jake’s sense of duty.
Hunt took a deep breath. At his gravelly voice, she warily focused on him.
“Okay,” he rasped.
Jake stepped to the side. As irritated as she was with Jake, she had to admit she felt a little safer with him standing next to her. But damn Mateo and his kind soul. He had no idea the situation he’d created for Jake and Kiera.
“I’m good now,” Hunt said. It wasn’t much of an apology but more of a status update. “Thanks, men.” He shrugged off Rodeo and Gonzo. “As you can see, the Morpheus Virus is no joke. Your … situation puts all of us in a bind.” His frame had gone from abnormally massive back down to normal. Which was to say, still huge. “Finish your story.” He motioned to her, as if he hadn’t tried to attack her a minute ago.
Jake rested his hand on her shoulder again.
As a shudder rattled through her, he gave her a gentle squeeze. But it didn’t feel gentle anymore, given what she’d learned. What he was capable of—what they all were capable of—terrified her.
“Does this, um, change, happen to all of you?” She gestured toward the silent group.
“If we don’t stay on top of the antidote doses or if certain buttons get … pushed. Yeah, we go over the edge pretty quickly.” Hunt blinked. “It varies from man to man and also depends on the situation. Reactions become unpredictable. One of the many issues with the virus.”
“Can’t wait to hear about the rest of it.” Later. She could only deal with so much awful information at one time. Her baby? A sob lodged in her throat, and she swallowed a hard lump. Soon. She’d deal with that fear soon. Damn it, she couldn’t process everything right now.
She braced her hands and leaned against the back of the couch. “Okay. Here’s the rest of the story.” Anything to move this discussion along so she could get out of here. Anything to stay upright. “I mentioned about Beau’s revolving door of women and how he didn’t like to hear the word no?”
The men nodded.
“So, Beau wanted me to … participate,” she said. Nothing like talking about sex practices in a room where every guy was a walking testosterone overdose.
Jake ground out, next to her ear, “I can’t believe Mateo let you work there.”
She craned her head back to scowl at him. “Hey, Mateo knew everything going on. If needed, he could have pulled me out of the situation immediately.” Pointing at the dangerous statues in front of her, she added, “Now I know why he felt so confident. Actually, it wasn’t until Beau started making serious moves on me recently that we got concerned.”
“The fuck?” Stumpy spat. “He went for you while you were clearly pregnant?” He dropped a curled fist on his knee.
The other men grumbled.
“Yep. He’s quite a piece.” With more time to think about it, it was remarkable she’d gotten away unscathed. Tremors rolled through her body. During the mission, she had focused on revenge for Brady and making his death mean something. The risks hadn’t seemed unreasonable. Then.
Jake planted his legs wide, supporting her with his massive frame. His thumb rubbed against her upper arm as he eased her back against his chest. As if he could absorb her fear. Transmute it.
Swallowing again, she finished the story, describing how she crawled through the exploding house’s escape tunnel and how Mateo bought her freedom with his life.
After the chorus of curses and fists-in-palms calmed down, she piped up again. “Guys, Beau knows I saw the ledgers. What he doesn’t know is that I have a nearly photographic memory. Also, I’m a CPA. I understand what I saw.”
“The hell you say?” Hunt barked.
“I memorized key numbers. I saw the sham accounts linking to Senator Lequire and Bratva. The transactions. By now, Beau’s probably figured out that I’m Brady’s sister. He may have discovered Mateo’s identity by now, which means he may find Mateo’s connection to Morpheus Squad.” Sucking in air, she said, “He already knows about Jake because Beau’s men tracked us down at his cabin.”
Silence.
She shoved damp hair behind an ear. “Guys. Don’t you get it? It means you all are in danger. You need to protect yourselves. He might come for you. Here.” Nothing. No response. “Your lives are at risk.”
Gonzo gave a derisive bark. Additional deep chuckles followed from around the room.
With a couldn’t-care-less shrug, Rodeo crossed his arms and propped his black cargo pants-clad hip against the foosball table. “You’re worried about us? What about the pudknockers who are dumb enough to take on Morpheus Squad?”
Hunt snorted.
Blowing out an exasperated breath, she snapped, “Really? Okay, fine. You all think you’re bulletproof and invincible because you’re big, bad, super-duper experimental soldiers? Newsflash: you’re not.” She pointed at the men. “Recall that a so-called indestructible warrior exactly like you was recently killed.”
All of a sudden, there was no posturing, no flexed muscles, and no swagger. Lots of studying the floor and ceiling.
That’s what I thought.
Rodeo tapped his knuckles on the table. “Well? So what’s the plan? We need to take down Fallen Comrades, expose a corrupt senator—yawn, take down the Russian mafia, and ruin Beau Lequire’s life? Sounds like a good couple hours’ work to me.”
Other voices chimed in with enthusiastic agreement.
“More than that. We need to do it in such a way so no one can trace the outcome to us,” Hunt added. “The U.S. military cannot find out about Kiera or the baby, either.”
Gonzo piped up. “Alrighty then, let’s get to it.”
Kiera groaned. These meatheads completely ignored the part where they were also in danger. She had entered an alternate reality, obviously. Her leg throbbed. Darn thing felt two sizes too big. She shifted her weight to the other foot.
“Not so fast.” Hunt raised his meaty hands. “Guys, we need more intel first. We can’t go into this one guns a-blazing and balls out.”
Guys snickered.
Hunt’s ears turned pink and his hard features twisted in a brief, wry smile. “Sorry for the language.”
Bless their macho, boneheaded hearts. She burst out laughing. “You’ve met my brother. He could cuss any of you out of the room. He didn’t save that language for his military buddies.”
“Good point.” The CO rubbed his angular jaw.
Gonzo scuffed the toe of his shoe on the floor. “So, boss. When do we get started? Patience isn’t my strong suit.”
“I hear you, but it’s required for this op,” Hunt countered. “Now, let’s circle up and lay out some options.” He turned his back on her, uncapped a marker, and unrolled a large piece of paper onto the big kitchen table as the men gathered around.
All Kiera wanted to do was relax against Jake’s warm chest. They had so much to discuss. But there was much more at stake here needing to be addressed right now.
“Excuse me?” she said. All heads swiveled back to her. “There’s another issue.”
“What else?” Hunt’s thick brows drew together.
She swiped at her damp upper lip. “Um, what about my sisters and my dad? If Beau knows who I am, and if he’s as pissed as I think he is, then it’s not a stretch to expect he’ll come after my family.”
A low whistle came from Rodeo as he pushed the brim of his hat up with his thumb.
“Protection is not a problem.” Hunt turned toward Stumpy. “Start working on new identities and full mission files for”—he scanned the guys in the room and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds—“Rivera, Pele, and Red.”
Stumpy settled in front of the banks of computers, already typing before he was fully in the chair. He lifted a radio and mumbled into it, and a muffled reply was undecipherable.
Hunt pointed at Curly and Gonzo. “You’re on watch for the rest of the night while we get those boys out the door.”
“Roger that,” Gonzo said as he headed toward the door, a sullen Curly on his heels.
She breathed a sigh of relief and sagged into Jake’s solid frame.
He leaned down to murmur, “Good job tonight.” His voice next to her ear sent a frisson of excitement straight down to her toes, and she turned to face him.
When she looked up, Jake’s dark scowl froze her in place.
She touched his upper arm. “Everything okay?”
“Fine. Just fine.” His nostrils flared. “Realized I’m going to be a father of a…”
“It’s a baby, Jake. You can say the word.” She sighed. “We should talk. In private.”
“Later.”
Before she could say anything more, Doc strolled up, a brief flicker of emotion rippling his otherwise inscrutable expression. “How about we do a checkup of junior?”
“Sure.”
He inhaled deeply, then studied her face for several seconds. “We can also take care of that infection spreading up your leg.”
Jake exploded. “What?”
All the strength left her body in a rush and her knees buckled.