“When you finally speak you take no prisoners,” Sam said in a sour voice.
“Fuck!” Garrett exploded, knowing they’d been had. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK! And furthermore I don’t give a flying fuck who tattles to Sarah. If this doesn’t call for a hundred F-bombs, then what does?” He made a show of pulling the hair on the sides of his head. “Goddamn fucking Hancock. Swear to God, if even one of us gets killed saving his sorry ass, I’ll undo all Maren’s handiwork and kill the bastard myself.”
Donovan held up his hand. “No one ever implied we would turn a blind eye on this matter. The decision will be who goes and who stays. Not whether we act or not. That’s a given. What I won’t do for anyone or any mission is make taking part in the mission mandatory. No one is going to be sent into a situation with sketchy intel with no idea just what we’re up against.”
Maren had resumed giving instructions to the man tending Hancock in a quiet voice, but she kept a wary eye on the proceedings around her, as if not trusting them not to take her along. As if she were staying behind under lock and key when Hancock had saved her life three times. She owed her entire world to him and it was a debt she could never hope to repay in a thousand years.
“This mission will be volunteer only,” Donovan said quietly. “I’m going.”
“I’m in,” Rio says. The rest of his men quickly followed suit. Terrence went back far enough with Rio that he had been part of Titan when Rio had trained a new recruit called Hancock, though not many people were privy to that information. Rio doubted even Sam knew it. With everyone ever associated with Titan marked for death, it would be a death sentence to the members and families of KGI.
Rio wasn’t stupid, though. He had an insurance policy of sorts. A get-out-of-jail-free card. He had enough damning information on high-ranking government officials, domestic and abroad, and he’d made it very clear that if he were to ever die under any circumstances, the information would be made public and entire countries would crumble. This card he held could come in very handy in just this sort of situation and could very well save Hancock’s ass, provided he kept his nose clean in the future.
“I’m in,” Steele said. “My team makes their own decisions.” He no longer looked to P.J. when missions involving such horrific circumstances came down the pipeline. He respected that she knew herself well enough to know what she could handle and what she couldn’t after her ordeal at the hands of three rapists.
And it was equally clear she was grateful to her team leader for not singling her out and drawing attention to her past.
“I’m in,” she said firmly. “I will never allow another woman to endure what I had to endure if I can stop it.”
Her team—and the others—looked at her in surprise. Pride shone in her husband’s eyes. Cole. For so long, she never spoke of it. It was an unspoken rule. It was there. Always there. But never acknowledged aloud. Until now. Cole squeezed her hand and whispered softly in her ear so only she could hear.
“I’m so damn proud of you, P.J. I thank God every day that you chose me. That you love me. And that I’m married to the strongest damn woman I’ve ever known.”