put his hand on Shea’s shoulder. “We’ll send a team. I promised you we’d protect her. I made you that promise and I’m going to keep it. We have to find her first, but we’ll do it.”
He turned in Steele’s direction, but before he could open his mouth, Rio stepped forward.
“I’m going.”
Sam’s eyebrows went up. Garrett turned to his team leader in surprise. Rio’s gaze was riveted to the screen where Donovan had paused the replay of Grace standing in the living room.
“I’ll find her. I’ll protect her,” Rio said shortly. “These assholes won’t get their hands on her.”
To Nathan’s further surprise, Shea hurried over to where Rio stood and she stared up at him, her expression pleading.
“She’s special. She’s never done anything to hurt anyone. Just the opposite. Don’t let them take her and use her. They’ll kill her.”
Rio’s gaze softened as he stared down at Shea. Then he took her hands in his and offered a gentle squeeze. The rest of the room seemed locked on to the strange vibe emanating from Rio and now the rest of his team as they stepped forward.
“I’ll find your sister, Shea. I’ll bring her home to you.”
She leaned up on tiptoe and kissed the big man on the cheek, and then as if getting over whatever fear she had of him before, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
“Thank you,” she said fiercely. “I’ll never be able to repay you for this. She means everything to me.”
Rio looked a little befuddled as he stepped away and extricated himself from Shea’s hold. Then he smiled down at her. “I can see why Nathan is so enchanted by you.”
But as he glanced back up at the monitor, where Grace was frozen on the screen, a look of fear in her eyes, his gaze hardened all over again.
He looked over at Sam and Garrett. “Any problem?”
Sam slowly shook his head. “No. No problem at all.”
“Then get me all the intel you have on Grace. My team will move out immediately.”
CHAPTER 30
BY the time Rio was satisfied that Shea had given him every pertinent detail about Grace she could possibly think of, Shea was exhausted. But at the same time, hope bubbled inside her chest. These men were confident that they’d locate Grace and that they’d bring her back.
Shea was surrounded by warriors. Men who put their lives at risk to protect and help others. They’d made her a promise, and she knew they didn’t make them lightly.
Rio and his team fascinated her. Quiet, determined. They seemed to stand back and study what went on around them. The giant of a man who seemed to serve as Rio’s right hand was named Terrence, and as big and as terrifying as he should have seemed, to Shea he resembled a big teddy bear. Not that she’d ever breathe those words where he could hear her. He might snap her like a twig.
But he’d been kind and understanding with her as they’d questioned her about her sister, and he, like Rio, had made a solemn promise to bring Grace back to Shea.
All too quickly, they were gone. Shea had no idea what they were using as their starting point or even what they’d been able to glean from talking to her. But they packed up their gear and said they were bugging out. And then they were simply gone, leaving her slightly baffled. How was she to know what they were doing? But then she doubted they’d be reporting to her. She just hoped they reported to someone, because the prolonged silence between her and Grace was making Shea sick with worry.
She closed her eyes and reached out to her sister as she’d done so many times over the past days. Don’t worry, Grace. Someone is coming for you. We have help now. I wish you’d talk to me so I could explain. These men will help you. Like they’ve helped me.
The void was nearly her undoing. It was like not having the gift of telepathy at all. Like she was talking to herself.
She tried to shake off the melancholy direction of her thoughts. She focused back in on the happenings in the war room.
It seemed everyone was doing something. The entire room was abuzz with activity. It made her anxious and on edge. She stood, no longer able to bear sitting so still when everyone was moving around her.
Her legs were wobbly, but then she felt completely off balance by everything. She hated