When Day Breaks (KGI #9)(77)
Author: Maya Banks

“She won’t be lifting a finger,” Swanny said gruffly. “And she won’t be facing those additional procedures alone. I’ll ensure she has everything she could possibly need or want at her disposal.”

The surgeon hurried out and in a matter of moments the nursing staff came back in and began the task of prepping her for surgery. After a few minutes, one of the nurses turned regretfully to Edge, though she included Swanny in her gaze.

“We’ll take her to the OR to finish prepping her. We have to make sure we’re in a sterile environment. I know it’s hard not to be able to see her or be with her, but I promise she’s in the best of hands. If you’ll wait in the surgery waiting room on the second floor, we’ll update you periodically, and then when she’s brought to recovery you’ll be able to see her.”

Swanny let out a strangled breath, fear and relief swamping him. What if the surgery wasn’t a success? Eden wasn’t a vain woman in the least. But there was no way in hell he wanted her to suffer as he had done with his facial scarring. Her face and body were her career, and he had no desire for her to be forced to retire early. He wanted her to have choices, even if those choices forced her in a different direction than him.

“Come on, man,” Edge said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go find the others and hit the waiting room. If I had to guess, Eddie and her brothers are already in the air flying over. They’re going to want to know everything.”

Swanny nodded and reluctantly allowed himself to be led from Eden’s room. They went into the emergency department waiting room where the others were sitting. Hancock surged to his feet, worry etched into every groove on his face.

Before anyone could ask, Swanny quickly relayed the situation to them all. Hancock swore and pounded his fist on one of the chairs in front of him.

“This is my fault,” he said furiously. “I took out the wrong person.”

“None of us were looking for the sister,” Joe said quietly. “We’d been told both mother and daughter had perished in the mission Eddie headed that went all to hell. It only made sense to focus on the brother after the threat Eddie received. We all carry part of the blame for not finding this out until it was too late. We accepted Eddie’s word since it had happened years ago, and we should have thoroughly researched the entire situation and broadened our scope beyond the son.”

But no matter who was taking the blame, Swanny knew in his heart that he and only he was responsible for Eden’s kidnapping and subsequent torture. He never should have left her. He should have insisted on being with her the entire time. The kidnapper posing as the maid would have never made it through the door of Eden’s suite if Swanny had been there.

It was a regret he’d live with for the rest of his life.

CHAPTER 37

THE hours stretched, seemingly days. Each minute ticked by with agonizing slowness. Swanny was unable to sit. He paced the small confines of the surgery waiting room while Hancock and the rest of his team sat on the sofas and chairs, their expressions somber.

They didn’t even try to force Swanny to keep his cool or sit down and try to relax. They all knew how he felt about her. They also knew, despite the fact that he hadn’t verbalized it, that he held himself responsible for Eden’s kidnapping and torture.

At one point, as if no longer able to contain herself, Skylar rose and went over to Swanny. To his surprise, she hugged him fiercely, and he had to lean his head down toward her much shorter frame to hear what she whispered.

“Try not to worry so much, Swanny. I know you love her, but Eden is strong. She’ll recover from this. You’ve seen the worst in so many situations, but you’ve also seen the close calls with the other wives. KGI hasn’t failed in a mission yet, and we damn sure don’t intend to fail now. We’ve eliminated the threat for real this time. All Eden has to focus on is recovering and getting well, and I know you’ll see that that happens.”

Swanny managed a half smile and then hugged her back. “Thanks, Sky. I won’t lie. I’m one beat away from completely losing my shit like I did earlier, but it does Eden no good. I could have f**ked up and not seen the necklace if I hadn’t calmed down and viewed the video objectively. And then she’d still be in that bitch’s grasp, likely dead by now. I can’t get that image out of my head no matter what I do. Bursting in and seeing Eden so bloody and defeated. I’m not sure I’ll ever get over that. Especially knowing it was my fault.”

An angry glint entered Skylar’s eyes. “The f**k it was your fault. Swanny, this was no one’s fault. We got bad intel and we acted on it. And because of you we were able to locate Eden before it was too late. Remember that and forget the rest.”

“Appreciate it,” he said in a choked voice.

He couldn’t say any more because he hadn’t lied to Skylar. He was precariously close to losing control. The longer they sat—or rather stood—waiting, the more fear and worry knotted his insides.

His thoughts were interrupted when Eddie, Raid and Ryker burst into the waiting room, Eddie’s eyes wild. He looked about ten years older. Exhaustion ringed his eyes and his hands were shaking.

“How is she? Where is she?” Eddie demanded. “I want to see her immediately.”

Hancock stood, placing himself between Eddie and his sons and Swanny and the rest of the team.

“This was my fault,” Hancock said in a low voice. “I took out the wrong man. The daughter you thought had died in cross fire survived. She’s the one who has been stalking Eden and trying to take her out.”

“That’s who was on the video?” Eddie asked hoarsely. “She didn’t say anything, though she sent a message afterward taunting me. Telling me that justice would finally be served, but I had no idea. I mean I thought maybe it was some crazy stalker who’d become obsessed with Eden. Goddamn it. I never even thought to focus on anyone except the son. Nothing else made sense!”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Hancock said. “We all share responsibility in not protecting Eden as well as we should have.”

“Where is she?” Raid asked bluntly.

At that Swanny stepped forward, no longer willing for Hancock to take the lead with Eden’s family.

“She’s in surgery,” Swanny explained. “A plastic surgeon—the best—was called in to repair the cuts to her face so there’ll be no permanent scarring. She had other injuries but nothing serious. They took X-rays and did a thorough exam. She took a beating but nothing is broken. The only issue is the cuts on her face, and the surgeon assured me that he could start the process of returning her face to its normal appearance.”