“So all I have to do is agree not to tell her where I am and you’ll let me talk to her?”
Rio nodded. “I, of course, will sit in on the conversation. If at any time you venture into forbidden territory, I’ll
shut it down immediately.”
She opened her mouth to argue but remembered that this was a take-it-or-leave-it situation. Rio showed no sign whatsoever of being able to be talked into anything.
“All right,” she finally conceded. “I agree.”
Rio rose from the bed and stood at the end. “Okay then. Why don’t you come out, get something to eat and then we’ll make the call.”
CHAPTER 16
GRACE walked down the hall shoeless, flexing her toes into the plush carpet. When she reached the living area, polished wood replaced the carpet and was cooler on the soles of her feet.
She paused just a few steps in, staring at the array of men slouched in chairs and on the couches across the room. They were watching a football game on the big screen and arguing about point spreads and fantasy football picks.
It all looked so…normal. Like she’d stumbled into some bachelor pad. Not like she was surrounded by mercenaries hired to protect her.
Terrence looked up and saw her first. He raised a beefy hand—one that was nearly as big as her head—and waved her over.
“Come on, Miss Grace. You don’t want to miss the big game.”
She glanced around, automatically looking for Rio. She found him behind the island bar in the kitchen, obviously preparing something to eat.
He dipped his head in Terrence’s direction. “Go on over. They don’t bite.”
Wiping her hand down her jeans, she walked hesitantly toward the mass of testosterone. There was a mad scramble as they sat up straight and made room for her on the couch next to Terrence.
She took the corner, grateful to have a guy on only one side of her, and leaned into the arm.
“How you feeling?” Terrence asked.
Grace nodded. “Better. Thank you.”
Diego cast her a sideways glance, studying her for a long moment until she was ready to fidget right off the couch.
“Your color is better,” he finally said. “Still a little pale but you’re getting there.”
“Thanks, I think,” she mumbled.
“You care if I ask you something?” Browning called out.
She blinked and looked in his direction. He was sitting sideways in an armchair with one leg dangling over the arm, beer in one hand, his other propped on the back of the chair.
“Uhm, I don’t guess so.”
“That healing thing you do. How do you do it?” wane cD;
She was so used to being highly guarded when it came to any mention of her abilities that she immediately tensed and became wary.
Terrence frowned in Browning’s direction. “Don’t be an ass.”
Diego shrugged. “He’s only asking what the rest of us are wondering. We’ve all met Shea. We know what she did for Nathan. According to Shea, Grace here is the one who helped Swanny when he and Nathan were escaping in Afghanistan. I’d say that makes us curious.”
Grace turned almost in panic, her gaze seeking Rio. He stood in the same spot as before, tending to something on the stove. But he was looking at her, his gaze steady and unreadable. Almost as if he was telling her that she was on her own. Fight her own battles.
For a moment, it irritated her that he wouldn’t come to her rescue, but then realization was swift that he saw what she didn’t want to. That she needed to toughen up. She needed to regain her confidence and spirit. How could she do any of that if she was always leaning on him?
She glanced back at Rio’s men and forced herself to relax. Of course they’d be curious. Any normal person would be. And they likely thought she owed them some sort of explanation given they’d risked their lives to save her ass.
They’d probably be right.
She took a deep breath. “I don’t know how I do it. I just always…have. The first memory I have of healing is when I was very young and I found a bird fluttering on the ground with a broken wing. I picked it up and I can remember wishing with all my heart that I could make it better.”
The rest of the men tuned in, leaning forward in their seats.
“Did you? Heal it?” Browning asked.
She nodded. “For a long moment it remained completely still, cupped in my palms. Then it started flapping and struggling, trying to get away, so I opened my hands and it flew off. But the next thing I knew, I felt this awful pain in my arm. I could literally feel my own bone breaking. I was terrified. I went running to my mother, who told me I was never to do such a thing again.
“Shea was with her and she took my pain. I can remember being on my mother’s lap and having Shea put her hands around my arm. Her face was so solemn. I can still remember what she said. ‘I’ll make it better, Grace.’ And she did. At least temporarily.”
“Wow, that’s heavy,” Decker said. “It’s incredible what the two of you can do.”
“As I got older, I was able to focus my ability more. Direct it. I don’t know how to explain it, really. I could be a great distance from someone, but if I had a connection to them, I could still heal them. As I did with the man you called Swanny through Shea’s connection to Nathan.”
“It’s no damn wonder there are people so eager to get their hands on you,” Terrence said in a somber voice. “The possibilities are endless. You’d be of vital interest to the military or any radical group.”