“Who is changing their diapers or helping them onto the potty chair? Who’s givin’ them bottles at night?” Wyatt asked aloud, a lump in his throat.

“Don’t think about it, Wyatt,” Ezekiel said. “That will only make you crazy. We can’t get them out until we know their prison inside and out. We’ve got the rest of tonight and all day tomorrow to strengthen our plan. We’re going to get them out.”

Pepper turned in his arms and buried her face against his chest. Wyatt felt a tremor run through her body and knew instantly she’d been holding herself together by a thread. She knew those babies. She’d been with them from the time they were three months old. She loved them. She might not think she knew what love was, but the children were hers, biologically or not, and she loved them.

As much as it was hell for the team – and him – to think of the babies locked away in cells, it had to be sheer torture for her. He felt the hot tears on his shirt and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him.

“I’m callin’ it a night, boys,” Wyatt said. “Trap, I don’ know what to say but thank you. You know I’ve got your back.”

He turned his body to prevent them from seeing Pepper’s face. They knew. They all knew. They were GhostWalkers. They wouldn’t like her tears any more than he did. She would be embarrassed that she cried in front of them, but she would never know that someone would be paying for those tears. She was one of them whether a part of their actual team or not, and none of them liked anyone messing with a GhostWalker.

He caught the grim exchanges the men had over her head. If Nonny caught them, she didn’t say a word. She leaned over and kissed Pepper’s cheek.

“She needs care tonight, Wyatt,” Grand-mere said.

He nodded his understanding and, sweeping his arm around Pepper, walked her out of the kitchen and down the hall. Only then did he dare to look down at her. Tears streamed down her face. She cried in utter silence. Ginger had done that. His baby. His heart stuttered in his chest. He opened the door to the baby’s room and let her look in on Ginger. There was a baby monitor, with a camera inside so they could see her while she slept and hear her when she woke. Still, both liked to peek in on her before they went to bed.

He closed the door and took his woman down the hall to his room. Once inside she moved away from him to stand in the center of the room, wiping at her eyes. He locked the door and leaned against it.

“You should never have to cry, Pepper,” he said softly. “That’s wrong.”

She tried to smile. “I’m sorry. I can’t stop thinking about them locked away. I’ve tried to put it out of my head. I know we couldn’t just get them without the house prepared for an assault, but still, to just leave them. They really must think I’ve abandoned them. They’re so little, and I know they’re scared.”

She burst into tears all over again and threw herself on the bed, pulling her knees to her chest in a little ball that broke his heart almost as much as her tears did.

Wyatt sank down on the end of the bed and reached for her left foot. He dragged her shoe off and tossed it across the room with a little more force than he meant. His hands massaged her foot for a moment before he removed the other shoe. Both legs curled back to her chest.

“Babe, we’re goin’ to get them. Tomorrow night we’ll have them with us.” He took off his boots and set them aside before he rubbed her hip and bottom. “One more night. They’ll be home.”

“But still, Wyatt, it’s one more night in that horrible place. They give them one blanket. They’ll be so cold and frightened. Without me there, I don’t know if anyone is even making certain they have food. I shouldn’t have left them. I couldn’t get them through the fans. There wasn’t enough time.”

She sobbed, took a breath and continued. “I tried to go back, but they had security beefed up and I was afraid Ginger would follow me inside. If I was caught and she was on the outside, who would look after her?”

It had been a heartbreaking decision to leave the others behind. The only thing she could do was warn Braden she would expose them and what they did there if he terminated the other two babies.

Wyatt tossed his clothing aside and crawled over her to reach the other side of the bed. Sitting with his back to the headboard, he reached down and pulled her into his arms, uncaring that he was naked and she was fully clothed. He only wanted to comfort her. To hold her.

She snuggled into him just like Ginger did, curling up small and fitting into him without hesitation. His arms closed around her, caging her in, holding her tight. His chin dropped down on top of her head and he just let her cry.

The storm lasted longer than he anticipated but he was patient, dropping kisses into the center of her thick, silky hair and nuzzling the nape of her neck.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, her voice muffled by his chest.

“Sometimes cryin’ is necessary, sugar, everyone does it. You need it, you cry. I’m right here and I’m not goin’ anywhere,” he reassured her.

“I don’t cry in front of people.”

“Fortunately, Pepper, I’m not people. I’m your man. You cry in front of your man. You tell him what’s wrong and he fixes it. That’s how it works. And if it doesn’t need fixin’ or I can’ do anythin’ about it right at that moment, I just listen.”

She lifted her head to look at him. “Is that what you’re doing right now? Listening?”