Brighter Than the Sun

“Holy fuck,” Steele breathed when the hoopla died down. “She’s pregnant. Again.”

Everyone laughed, but Steele’s expression was one of complete seriousness and . . . fear. He rubbed his hand over his face as the others exchanged amused glances. Before Maren, Steele’s nickname had been the Ice Man. Unemotional. Antisocial. Living only for his job and his team. Terse and not overly communicative in the least. He was more of an “actions speak louder than words” guy. Not an unappreciated quality in their organization.

“Hey, she’s tough,” Garrett, Joe’s second-oldest brother, said in an effort to console the befuddled team leader. “After all she’s survived, kicking ass while doing so, giving birth again will be a walk in the park.”

“I don’t think I’ll survive another pregnancy,” Steele burst out, the crazed look in his eyes intensifying.

Another round of laughter sounded but he was given looks of sympathy and understanding from the fathers in the room. And Jesus, but it had become a regular baby factory in the ranks of KGI. Joe sent his twin, Nathan, a nervous look, and Nathan, who would normally give him shit about being the last remaining bachelor and their mother setting her sights on him, shot him back an equally queasy look.

“Trust me, it doesn’t get better after you’re married,” Nathan muttered. “I thought that would get Ma off my back and permanently onto yours until you succumbed and found ‘the one,’ but now she’s dropping hints about when Shea and I will provide her with a grandchild. Geez. She already has nine by blood or adoptive family bond. I thought she’d lay off by the fifth at least!”

Joe gave his brother a disgruntled look. “Great. So you’re telling me that in addition to Ma hounding me day and night about finding some nice young woman to marry, that once that happens, and I’m not saying it’s going to occur anytime soon, she’ll just move on to filling a fucking nursery?”

Some of his horror must have been reflected on his face because his twin laughed until he started wheezing. “Yeah, that’s about the way it goes.”

“And obviously it doesn’t end after one either,” Joe pointed out. “She was on Sam and Sophie to have another. She’s already hinting about Sarah having another baby, and Kelsey is barely over a year old! Poor Sam and Sophie are probably hearing about baby number three now that Grant is fourteen months old.”

“Oh, I don’t feel sorry for Sam,” Nathan said wryly. “Sophie gets my sympathy because there’s nothing Sam would love more than for her to spend the next several years popping out babies. He and Ma probably coordinate their offensive and tag-team the poor woman.”

“Maybe the news of Maren’s pregnancy will appease Ma and distract her for a few months at least,” he replied sarcastically.

Nathan scoffed. “As if!”

They tuned back in to the goings-on in the room just in time to see Steele slump into a chair that another team member, Renshaw, had hastily pulled forward and positioned near his team leader.

“She went through so fucking much during her first pregnancy,” Steele said raggedly. “Kidnapped, intimidated, manipulated, controlled, living in fear for our child’s life every single day of her captivity. She constantly feared the son of a bitch would rape her. She didn’t eat or drink properly because she feared he would harm our baby. Then she damn near falls to her death from a helicopter and miraculously survives the ensuing helicopter crash. Then there’s the fact she had me hovering over her twenty-four-seven after all of that because I was scared shitless if she was out of my sight for even a minute I’d lose her all over again. And the delivery. Jesus, the delivery took forever! She was in so much pain, and now she’s going to go through it all over again? What if something happens to her or our child? I wouldn’t survive it. She’s my life.”

The entire room was rendered incapable of speech and all stood staring agape at the team leader who’d often been deemed more robot than man. He’d said more in the last few minutes than he’d spoken in nearly the entirety of his leadership of one of the KGI teams.

“And you wonder why I avoid the fine institution of marriage,” Joe drawled in a low voice. “Look at him. He’s a fucking basket case and that man never loses his shit. Ever. Except when it has anything to do with Maren or Olivia. Who the hell would willingly sign up for a lifetime of constant worry, stress and anxiety?”

Nathan gave his brother a look that immediately made him feel inadequate, ignorant and, if he were completely honest, envious as hell.

“Because I can’t imagine my life any other way,” his brother replied simply. “The knowledge that Shea is mine, that she loves me and that I love her more than life? Well, it makes every worry, every fear, every paralyzing moment of terror worth it. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a single thing. I’d go back to hell and be tortured by those sadistic sons of bitches, because if not for that, I wouldn’t have Shea now.”

Joe went silent at his brother’s quiet, impassioned vow. He had seen Nathan at his very lowest point and at his very highest. Shea had brought him back. Had given Joe back something priceless. His twin, that bond stronger than ever now, especially since the very special telepathic bond Nathan and his wife shared extended to Joe. It had startled the hell out of both Joe and Shea, but now he wouldn’t have it any other way. It made him feel all the more close to his brother when otherwise he would have felt left behind, excluded from something so very precious and life changing. It comforted him to know that Shea could reach out to him if she or his brother were ever in danger or needed help.