"a daughter," he whispered, the words choked and broken.

then he lowered his gaze to maren and she was struck by the depth of emotion in his eyes. not just for the image of their daughter. but for her. his love for her shone like a beacon, so unmistakable that she was overcome.

he leaned down and kissed her, sweet and infinitely tender. as soon as the tech wiped the gel from her belly and began putting away the equipment, steele slid his hand over her belly, cupping it possessively. then he broke away from her and bent to press a kiss to her abdomen.

"a daughter," he said again, so much awe in his voice that she smiled.

"what in the world are you going to do with a daughter?" she teased.

steele straightened, a panicked look entering his eyes. "oh shit. boys. oh hell no. she's not dating until she's thirty."

maren laughed. "don't you think you're being a little overzealous?"

he was utterly serious when he shook his head.

neither noticed when the tech rolled the sonogram out of the room and shut the door, leaving the two alone.

steele pulled the chair back to the side of her bed, positioning it as close as he could manage, and then he leaned over the bed, grasping her hand in his.

"i love you, maren. you scared the hell out of me. i love you more than i ever thought it possible to love another person. i care deeply for my team. i care about kgi. i respect them and they have my loyalty. but nothing compares to what i feel for you. you have my love, maren. you'll always have it."

she breathed in deep, savoring the heartfelt words. he said them in an almost awed tone, as if he didn't quite understand it himself and marveled at the idea of feeling so deeply for another person.

"i love you too," she said softly. "so very much, steele."

"this isn't the way i wanted to do this," he said in a gruff, uncertain tone.

she cocked her head, studying his expression, the sudden unease and the uncertainty that crept into his gaze.

"i'm not good at romance stuff. i don't have a lot of experience with it. i'm not in touch with what women want or expect when it comes to this stuff. i can only tell you what it is i want more than i want my next breath."

her pulse bounded and her heart leapt. "and what do you want, steele?"

"you," he said bluntly. "forever. mine. with me. wherever life takes us. i want my life to be with you. marry me, maren. let's make a family together. let's make it official and have a wedding that will make me want to crawl out of my skin and invite your family and my team and all of kgi. the details don't matter. i want you to have whatever it is you want. all i want out of the deal is you. and our daughter."

she sucked in her breath, staring in awe at the sincerity blazing in those intense blue eyes. he wanted forever. he wanted her. he wanted to get married.

the longer she took to answer, the more agitated he looked. she swallowed back the huge knot growing in her throat and nodded and then finally found her voice. "yes. oh yes, steele. i want that more than anything."

"thank fuck," he muttered. "i was scared to death you wouldn't want the same thing i wanted. i was scared to death of losing you. of me not being what you wanted. or you not needing me as desperately as i need you."

she reached to touch his face, lightly running her fingers over the firm cheekbone and then down to his jaw.

"i love you, steele. i want to be with you. but what about our jobs? what do we do?"

his expression grew serious. "home is wherever you are, maren. i'd like for us to stay at my place until after the baby is born and is old enough to travel. then, if you want to go back into the field, i'll go with you. i never want to hold you back. you're a damn good doctor and i want you to be happy doing what you love. if that means relocating to be with you, then i'd do it. no regrets. i'd never look back."

"and kgi? what about that?"

he hesitated a moment but then looked her squarely in the eye. "you are more important to me than kgi. you and our child. i'd walk away in a heartbeat if it's what would make you happy. if it made you feel more secure. my job is dangerous, maren. there are no guarantees when i leave on a mission that i'll come back. if you can't live with that uncertainty, then i'll give it up. i never want you to feel that you come second to anything else in my life."

"oh god, you have to stop," she said with a sniffle. "you're going to make me cry!"

"i only want you," he said quietly. "everything else is meaningless unless you're with me."

she continued to stroke his face, fanning out her fingers as she gazed lovingly at him.

"i know how much you love your job. it's a calling. just like my job is. it's who we are and it's not fair for either of us to change who we are just to be together. for now, and for a while after our daughter is born, i'd like to stay with you. in tennessee. i want my parents and my brother to see my daughter and spend time with them. i want to go visit them and have them visit us. i want to be a bigger part of the kgi family instead of being on the periphery and only seeing them when they come to me for medical treatment. i'm sure i can find something to keep me occupied while you're off saving the world."

"you could open your own practice in dover," steele said. "i talked to sam, garrett and donovan about it. kgi needs a doctor. we have three teams now and we need an onsite doctor. also, doc campbell is talking about retiring, but he's a hands-on doctor. he still makes house calls. he has a rural clinic. i think you and he have a lot in common. you could talk to him about working with him and maybe taking over his practice when he retires. the possibilities are endless. i don't want your talents to go to waste. you're too good a doctor for that, and i know you wouldn't be happy not practicing medicine. it's who you are, just like kgi is who i am."

excitement crept up her spine. the idea of practicing medicine and working with and near steele was hugely appealing. plus she liked the members of kgi. and working in a rural clinic and even making house calls was precisely what she'd been doing for the last several years of her life.

"i like that idea," she said. "it would be perfect. we could stay in tennessee until our daughter is older and then decide whether i want to go back into the field. who's to say that i won't have another child after this one?"

a look of savage satisfaction crossed steele's face. his eyes blazed and utter contentment settled over his features.

"never thought this would ever come out of my mouth, but i'd love to have more than one. i loved having an older brother."

pain briefly registered in his eyes as he thought about his own brother. maren touched his face again, and he leaned into her palm, turning so he pressed a kiss to the inside of her hand.

"our daughter would need a playmate. not that she wouldn't have plenty of those with all the kellys popping out children. by the time our daughter is born, who knows how many more kellys will be scheduled to make their appearances."

maren laughed. "you're probably right about that. i know sam would love another child. and it's only a matter of time before garrett and sarah start thinking about babies. i've seen sarah with charlotte and she's hooked."

"so you'll marry me and move into my house? or would you prefer to live closer to the compound? i can sell my place and build whatever you want."

god, she loved this man. and it was obvious he loved her just as much. he was willing to make so many sacrifices because he wanted her happy.

she shook her head. "i love your house. it's perfect. the perfect hideaway when we want to escape the world and just be together."

he leaned in and brushed his mouth softly across hers. "i like the way you think. but you still haven't given me my answer."

"i did too!" she said in exasperation.

"tell me again," he said, his expression growing serious. "i need to hear it, maren. give me the words again."

"yes, i'll marry you, steele. i love you so much. i'll marry you whenever and however you want. i'll elope to vegas if that's what you want. as long as the end result is that you're my husband and i belong to you, nothing else matters."

he captured her lips in a long, seeking kiss. it wasn't as gentle as before and he poured the depth of his emotion into it. his love with every breath. their tongues tangled and he sucked and licked at her lips, tasting and nibbling as he explored every inch of her mouth.

"i love you," he said hoarsely. "i'll never love anyone else the way i love you."

"that's good, because i plan on keeping you around for a very long time. i did the impossible."

he reared back, giving her a puzzled look.

"i took down the ice man," she said with a smile.

he grinned back. "damn straight you did."

chapter 43

"why'd you do it, hancock?" steele asked bluntly.

he was standing by hancock's bed, and the man looked like shit. he'd already been beat to hell and back by maksimov's henchmen, and that was before taking a bullet and then being pulverized in the helicopter crash.

hancock slowly trained his gaze on steele, steadily regarding him. steele engaged in the staredown, neither man speaking as they felt each other out.

"you complaining because i saved your woman?" hancock asked mockingly.

"i owe you," steele said grudgingly. "and i'm sure you'll collect."

"oh, i'll call my marker in. one day," hancock said. "but for now you can rest easy. i'm out of commission for a while, and then i'm going after maksimov."

"who do you work for, hancock? i can't figure you out. one minute you're a flaming asshole and the next you're captain fucking america."

hancock made a derisive sound. "i leave the captain america crap to your kgi. we all have the same job, steele. we just have different ways of getting it done. you think your missions are righteous. i think mine are. who's right? who's wrong? does it really fucking matter who i work for? it probably sticks in your throat, but we're on the same side. we just have different methods. and while you work strictly for uncle sam and the private sector, i work for the greater good. that's not always uncle sam. vipers are everywhere. your government isn't immune."

"my government? it's your government too," steele pointed out.

hancock's face became stony. "i don't claim a government that when it decided for political reasons that they no longer wanted to risk titan becoming a liability, we became expendable. they labeled us traitors and did their damnedest to take us out. but they were the traitors. selling out and fucking over the american people. my government? no fucking way."

"and yet you take missions to bring down people who are a direct threat to national security," steele said.

"i don't give a fuck about politicians and bureaucrats. but i do care about innocent lives, american and non-american. the world is a better place without farnsworth. without caldwell. and it'll sure as hell be a better place without maksimov. you may not agree with my methods, but in the end, our goals are the same."

steele frowned, not liking that hancock had a point. steele was no boy scout, and he could hardly point the finger at hancock when he himself had made choices steeped in shadows.

"take care of yourself," steele said grudgingly.

hancock cocked an eyebrow. "you and the doc out of here?"

"yeah, i'm taking her home."

something flickered in hancock's eyes, but it was gone almost before steele registered the slight reaction.

"i'll look you up when i want to call in that marker," hancock said.

"just make damn sure you don't bring trouble to my doorstep," steele warned. "i won't hesitate to take you out if you pose any danger to my family."

"duly noted."

steele turned and started to walk out and then paused at the door. he swiveled around to find hancock still watching him.

"you got a way out of this place when they cut you loose?"

hancock's brows rose mockingly. "you offering me a ride?"

"don't be a dick. you're a lone wolf. if you need a place . . ." steele broke off, indecision gripping him. but the man had saved maren. three times if you counted the fact that he'd gotten her out before caldwell went completely off the deep end. "if you need somewhere to crash until you recover, you're welcome at my place."

hancock stared back at steele for a long moment, and steele could swear that he'd actually caught the other man off guard.