Shades of Gray - Maya Banks Page 0,54
None of you. I walked away.”
She saw Renshaw stir and she quickly glanced in Dolphin’s direction to see that he was already awake. He was sitting quietly, his mouth drawn into a pinch, his focus on the conversation between her and Cole.
“I have a mission to complete,” she said. “And I can’t accomplish it by sitting on my ass while I’m being babied by my former teammates.”
Cole’s lips curled and fire blazed in his eyes. “Former, my ass. Over my dead body will you go off on your own. You’re lucky you weren’t killed or that they didn’t get their hands on you again.”
Forgetting the others, she pushed herself forward on the edge of the couch and farther into Cole’s space, bristling with as much anger as she saw in his own expression.
“This isn’t a righteous mission, Cole. It’s personal.”
“Do you think it isn’t goddamn personal for me too?” he all but roared at her.
“I can’t involve you—any of you—in my mission,” she yelled back. “It’s not who KGI is. Never has been. I won’t drag this organization through the mud. This is bloody. It’s revenge, Cole.”
“I damn well know it,” he snarled. “And I want in. We all want in. If you think we’re just going to leave you hanging in the wind, you’re out of your goddamn mind.”
She covered her face with her hands and propped her elbows on her knees. She was exhausted and heartsick. This wasn’t what she wanted to happen.
Firm hands gripped her wrists and carefully pried her hands from her face. This time when she glanced back up at Cole, she could see Donovan and Steele in the background. Baker was standing behind Renshaw’s chair. All eyes were on her. Their expressions were grim and . . . determined.
“We—I—don’t give a fuck if the mission is righteous or whether the motivation behind us taking Brumley out is revenge or to prevent more women and children from being brutalized. We stand with you, P.J. We’re family. You aren’t doing this alone so get over it.”
“I’m going after Brumley,” she said. “He’s doing a deal in Jakarta in three weeks and I’m going to be there. I’m taking him out.”
“Not without us,” Cole bit out. “It’s time for you to suck it up and learn to lean on someone.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Steele interjected.
Surprised, she lifted her gaze to her team leader and then glanced at Donovan. It was one thing for her team to pledge such a thing, but Donovan represented the organization. Surely he couldn’t be in agreement with the others.
Donovan crossed his arms over his chest and stared challengingly back at her.
“If you think I’m going to toe the company line and lecture everyone on vigilante justice, you’ve got the wrong guy. That’s Sam’s job. I’m of the mind that taking Brumley out—however we take him out—will mean one less asshole in the world.”
“Hooyah,” Dolphin said emphatically. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
“Oh, and P.J.?”
She looked up at Steele when he said her name.
“You can take your resignation and stick it up your ass.”
Baker and Renshaw chuckled. Dolphin grinned and snickered and Donovan nodded his agreement.
“Looks like you’re stuck with us,” Cole said with clear satisfaction.
She blew out her breath, shaking her head the entire time. It had to be the medication that had her tripping like this.
“I don’t even know what to say.”
“How about yes sir, when I tell you that you’re going to take it easy and recover as much as possible over the next three weeks,” Cole said.
Her brow wrinkled in disgust even as her chest tightened with unexpected emotion. God, it felt good to be back with her team. All the ribbing. The smart-ass remarks. Cutting jokes and insults left and right.
“For God’s sake, don’t cry,” Cole said in disgust.
The others laughed and P.J. smiled through the pain, her eyes stinging with those unshed tears.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely.
“Now you’re just pissing me off,” Steele said. “You don’t thank us for doing our job. We live as a team and we die as a team, and you thinking you walked away is bullshit. You don’t take a piss without my say-so, you got that, Rutherford?”
She smiled, and it felt like the first time she’d truly smiled in a lifetime. God it felt good to be surrounded by the people she considered family. She’d never been as alone as she had in the last months when she didn’t have her team around her.
Her team.
“Yes sir,” she said briskly.
CHAPTER 23
IT was two