Shades of Gray by Maya Banks Read Free Book Online Page B

vehicles.
    Baker and Renshaw were obviously already there.
    Dolphin turned with a lifted brow. “What’s this? Concern from my teammate?”
    She scowled. “Of course I’m concerned. Did you get clearance for this?”
    He shook his head and got out of the truck and then politely opened her door for her.
    “I’m fine,” he said, when she stared up at him.
    He held up his fist and she smiled and bumped it. Cole tossed her the bag that he
     got out of the bed of the truck, and they headed toward the doorway.
    “About time you two got here,” Steele said from the front porch. “Where you been,
     Coletrane? I figured you’d be here long before now.”
    “Was out of town,” Cole said easily. “Thought we were getting some R and R. I caught
     up with P.J. at the airport and Dolphin gave us both a ride in.”
    Steele grimaced. “Yeah, sorry about having to call you up.”
    “So what’s going on, boss man?” Dolphin asked. “Why did you call us up so quickly?
     Must be some heavy shit going down, right?”
    Steele turned and motioned them inside. “I’ll give you the report with the others.
     We don’t have a lot of time.”

CHAPTER 6
    THEY stepped inside the spacious foyer of Steele’s home, and P.J. curiously took in as
     much as possible as he walked the two steps down into the sunken living room.
    It was all male, rugged and outdoorsy. It had the look of a hunting lodge. Rustic.
     Something you might find in the mountains alongside a trout stream.
    Wood floor, cedar furniture, huge stone fireplace. There were several taxidermy pieces,
     from a huge elk over the fireplace to the mule deer mounted directly across the room
     facing the elk.
    A bear rug covered the floor in front of the fireplace, and several other animal hides
     were either pinned to the walls or covering the backs of the furniture.
    It looked like a hunter’s paradise. And, well, Steele was essentially the biggest
     badass hunter there was. He just happened to hunt men along with what other big game
     he hunted.
    To her surprise, when they entered the living room, Donovan Kelly was seated with
     Baker and Renshaw on one of the far couches.
    Van, as he was called by those close to him, ran KGI with his brothers Sam and Garrett.
     More recently their younger brothers, Ethan, Nathan and Joe, had joined their ranks,
     but the three older Kellys essentially ran the show.
    Donovan was the computer geek, and while some people would look at him compared to
     his hulking Neanderthals for brothers and immediately think
nerd
, Donovan was a badass through and through. P.J. had a lot of respect for him.
    He was quiet. Didn’t need to be loud to get his point across. Plus he was smart, and
     for P.J. there was nothing sexier than a smart man. And if he happened to be a complete
     badass too? The perfect package.
    “Hey, there they are,” Baker called out as he scrambled off the couch.
    There was a moment of fist bumping and grasping of hands as the team reunited. One
     would think they’d been separated forever instead of just three days. But they also
     knew that in their line of work, there was always the possibility that one of them
     wouldn’t come back from a mission.
    It was a reality they lived with, and it made them closer. While P.J. might cringe
     at the thought of having people close to her, this was essentially her family. A whole
     bunch of big brothers. Well, except for Cole. She’d pretty much axed any chance she’d
     ever look at him as a sibling. Not that she ever had anyway.
    Steele and Donovan were both looking at her oddly, and she couldn’t shake the sensation
     that somehow everything she and Cole had done the night before was on her face for
     the world to see.
    Donovan moved to her side, gave her a greeting, but it seemed grim. Alarm prickled
     up her spine. This had nothing to do with any silly self-consciousness she was feeling.
     Donovan wouldn’t be here at all if this weren’t a pretty damn important mission.
    “Have