Hot Shot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#5) by Lynn Raye Harris

he had to get his kid back safe and sound.
    And then what, asshole?
    Was he going to sue her for custody? Demand his rights as a father?
    “You don’t fucking have a clue, do you?” he asked his reflection. An hour ago, he’d known who he was and what he was doing—now, he was as lost as if someone had stuck him on a raft in the middle of the ocean and left him adrift.
    He picked the phone up and dialed. Matt answered on the third ring. “Hawk. What’s up?”
    “Got a situation, Richie.”
    He could hear the other man mentally brace himself. “All right. What is it?”
    “Gina Domenico’s in town.”
    “Yeah, saw that on the news. Evie’s going to the concert with Georgie and Olivia.”
    It didn’t surprise Jack that Lucky wasn’t in that group. She was a bit more reserved than the other three. And she was one of the team now, in spite of her recent marriage to Kev. Married soldiers didn’t go into battle together, but HOT was able to bend the rules any way they wanted these days. A good thing, or Kev and Lucky would have both left.
    “Her kid’s been kidnapped.”
    “Holy shit. Are you sure?”  
    Jack gave him a rundown of everything that had happened up until now—with one important exception.  
    “All right, so she called you and you want to help her. I get that. But man, she needs to let the FBI get involved.”
    “I’ll talk her into it. But I’m going to need a leave of absence.”
    “Hawk, I don’t think—”
    “There’s something else.” Jack’s throat was closing. Was it fear? Desperation? Old wounds threatening to choke him? He didn’t fucking know. Since he’d walked into this hotel room earlier, his whole life was upside down.  
    “Okay. Am I going to like it?”
    “I doubt it.”
    “Let me have it then.”
    “The kid’s mine.”
    There was silence on the other end for a long moment. “I’m not even going to ask how that happened.” Matt blew out a breath. “But you aren’t in this alone. We’ll be there in an hour.”
    “You can’t get the team involved—”
    “Fuck that. Did you guys back out when I needed you to help me find Evie’s sister? Did we let Georgie handle her problems on her own? Or Olivia? Did we walk away when she came to Billy for help? No fucking way, Hawk. We’re brothers. And we aren’t leaving you to deal with this alone, you copy?”
    Jack pulled in a deep breath. “Yeah, copy.”
    “Be there in an hour.”
    * * *
    Half an hour after Jack came out of her bathroom and started pacing the living room, asking her about her routines, about the threats she’d received, and about how many people knew her schedule, there was a knock on the door. He went over and looked out the peephole—and then he yanked the door open and a phalanx of tall, muscled men with serious expressions strode into her suite.
    Gina’s heart kicked up at the sight of all that muscle and might, but this wasn’t the first time she’d seen these men. She didn’t really remember them individually since she hadn’t spent much time with them, but they were familiar in a way that made her heart jump. Jack had told her they were coming, but she hadn’t really known what that would mean.
    She still didn’t, but already she felt as if her son’s life was in better hands than if she’d gone to the FBI. A knot of tears pressed against her throat, but she held them back and concentrated on breathing.
    The big surprise, however, was the four women who came into the room with the men. Three of them were dressed in heels and looked ready for an evening on the town. The fourth looked, oddly enough, like a soldier. She had a mane of dark blond hair and her arms were crisscrossed with fine scars. But it was her tough expression that put her into the column with the men. She didn’t look like the sort of woman who would take any shit from anyone. In fact, she made Gina think of a blond Lara Croft.
    Gina stood and wrapped her arms around her waist.  
    “Gina, you remember