He had a good life now. No, he wouldn’t ever have a wife or children, and he was okay with that on most days. Every once in a while when all the Kellys got together and he was surrounded by so much love, the Kelly wives and the children, he was instilled with a fierce sense of longing, but he’d long discovered it did no good to dwell on what would never be.
Most women couldn’t even look at him without fear, disgust or pity. Pity was the worst. He’d take fear and loathing over their pity. Although it pained him for a woman to fear him just because of his appearance. He’d cut off his right arm before ever hurting a woman. It made him sick just to think about it. He’d seen enough violence in his life to know it would never be part of his makeup. Except when it came to taking out assholes who deserved what was coming to them.
He was a killer and he suffered no qualms about meting out justice where it was merited. As long as he could look at himself in the mirror every morning with a clear conscience, he could continue to do the job required of him as a member of KGI.
“You ready?” Joe called out, shaking Swanny from his thoughts.
“Yeah. All packed up. You call Nathan and Sam?”
Joe nodded. “Nathan’s on his way over and Sam is calling Garrett, Ethan and Van to meet us there. I told him there was no need to call in Steele or Rio. This is our mission. Sin is our friend and I’m not letting anyone else head this mission.”
“Agreed,” Swanny said. “I don’t know what kind of trouble Eden’s in, but if Sin is worried then it has to be serious.”
Joe nodded. “Let’s get on the road. Nathan can fly us so there’s no need—and we don’t have the time—to call up one of the other pilots.”
Swanny grinned. “Kind of nice now that we have a landing strip on the compound. That drive to Henry County was a pain in the ass. Not to mention it makes for a hell of a quicker response time when we get called out on a mission.”
Joe slung one of the bags over his shoulder and then bent to snag the straps of the two rifles he shouldered. They carried their gear to Joe’s truck and carefully placed it in the back before sliding into the cab to head the few miles down the lake to the compound.
CHAPTER 5
WHEN Joe and Swanny got to the compound, Nathan, Sam, Garrett and Ethan were already there. Swanny walked inside the war room and laid his gear on the floor next to the door. When he looked up at the others, he had to stifle a grin of amusement that would likely get his ass kicked if noticed.
Sam and Garrett were both holding their new babies. Well, not so new. They were a few months old now, but according to Joe, they were both in teething hell and had been giving their parents a lot of sleepless nights. Swanny could only guess the dads were giving their wives a breather and had hauled the infants to the impromptu meeting.
“The tykes keeping y’all up at night?” Joe asked with a grin he didn’t disguise.
Sam and Garrett shot him disgruntled looks and Garrett made a quick shhhh and waved his free hand to quiet the others.
“I just got her to sleep,” Garrett whispered. “She hasn’t slept the entire goddamn night!”
Ethan chuckled, which earned him another glare from Garrett.
“Welcome to parenthood,” Ethan said in a loud whisper. “I’m glad to say that we’re past that stage with the twins. They’re sleeping through the night completely now. Mason is even almost potty trained! Not bad for an almost-two-year-old.”
The proud note didn’t go unnoticed by the rest. Sam rolled his eyes and made a rude gesture with his free hand.
“If only your wives could see and hear all the profanity and gestures y’all are making,” Nathan drawled. “Sarah wouldn’t be happy to hear your cursing around Kelsey.”
“Fuck you,” Garrett said in a low voice.
Sam shifted his son in his grasp and then thrust him toward Ethan. “Here. Since you’re so adept at this now, you can hold Grant while I conduct this meeting.”
Ethan happily took the infant and immediately began cooing to the gurgling baby.
Joe, Nathan and Swanny all exchanged eye rolls since they were the only ones without kids. Nathan and Shea were in no hurry to add to the growing pile of kids the Kellys were accumulating, and Joe and Swanny showed no sign of settling down any time soon.
Still, Swanny couldn’t help the surge of envy as he surveyed the room of burly warriors, all making twits of themselves over their progeny. It was hard to imagine these men as the ultimate badasses when they were talking teething, babies and potty training. And yet they ran a tight operation. They were the best. And they employed the best.