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 fucked 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 fuck 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.”
“And who the hell authorized all this?” Ryker demanded.
“I did,” Swanny said calmly, bracing himself for the fallout that would likely ensue.
Eddie and Raid gave him puzzled looks before Eddie finally found his voice again.
“Why was I not consulted? I’m her family. I should have at least been kept in the loop, and I damn sure should have been the person to grant permission for any treatment or surgery. What the hell do you even know about this surgeon? Did you research him?”
Swanny held up a hand, his harsh expression stopping the tirade in its tracks.
“I love your daughter, Mr. Sinclair.”
He included Eden’s brothers in his gaze as it swept over Eden’s family.
“And she loves me.”
At that, shock registered in her family’s eyes. Eddie’s lips parted as though he were about to say something, but Swanny ruthlessly continued on. He wanted to draw the line in the sand right here and now just in case Eddie got any ideas of taking over and leaving Swanny out. Like hell that was going to happen.
“I made the decisions. I told the staff I was her husband. I may not be right now, but I certainly plan to be if Eden will have me.”
He fingered his scar, purposely drawing attention to it, something he would have never done in the past.
“You see this? Is this what you really want for your daughter? Your sister? There is no way in hell I’ll ever put her through having her face permanently carved up and scarred. Her career is important to her, and I’d never do anything to take her choices away. It’ll be up to her what she wants to do afterward but by God, she’ll have choices.”
There was grudging acceptance in Eddie’s and his sons’ eyes.
“How long has she been in, and do you know when she’ll be out?” Ryker interjected.
Swanny sighed, frustrated because it had already been hours. And there was still yet another issue he had to address.
“They came out half an hour ago and said she was still in surgery but doing well. The surgeon is taking his time and being extremely careful to ensure there will be no permanent scarring. After she’s taken to recovery, someone can go back to see her. And just so you know, that person’s going to be me.”
He stared down Eden’s family unflinchingly, as if he dared them to argue.
“When she’s moved to a room you’ll all be able to see her,” he said.
Eddie looked like he wanted to argue. There was obvious conflict in his eyes as he weighed the matter and decided whether he wanted to protest.
Then he looked up at Swanny. “You love my daughter? And she loves you?”
“Yes, sir,” Swanny said without hesitation.
Eddie’s shoulders sagged a bit as if all the air escaped him at once.
“All right. I won’t object to you going into recovery. But I’ll want to see her as soon as possible.”
“There’s another thing you should know,” Swanny said as Eddie took a seat in one of the chairs. “Eden knows everything. I told her the night her vehicle was attacked. I needed her to understand the magnitude of the danger to her, and she deserved to know what the hell was going on when her car was blown up, killing the driver.”