Page 212 of Assassin

He grinned.

“Yeah, Chris and I swam, Callen had a meeting on the phone with his publisher, Wyler cursed you to a life of damnation for running, but other than that, nothing bad. How are you?”

She was honest.

“You know. The same old.”

Gene sighed.

“Well, be safe. That city is a shithole, and I can’t tell you how happy I am to be home. I missed DC. I’m never going back. Oh, and if you see ‘you know who’…”

She waited.

“Yes?”

“Don’t tell him anything about me. I’m glad to be free and back with my family.”

She hoped Tommy got it.

Gene had moved on, and he was in love with the man he’d always loved.

“That’s good to hear, Gene. I’ll check in later,” she said. “Hold down the fort with the minions.”

He laughed.

“Easier said than done. Be safe. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

She hung up the call, and stared at him, hoping he got the picture.

“Did you hear him?” she asked. “For the first time in a long time, he was calm. He was happy. If you loved him at all, Tommy, you’re going to let him go and stop trying to rekindle something he doesn’t want.”

“NO! What if he’s my soulmate?” he asked, despite what he’d heard.

“What if he’s not?” she asked. “Would you damn him here to a life he told you he didn’t want, and you insisted on him having?”

“He’s only saying that because Ethan is likely there on the couch with him.”

She sighed.

Not.

Even.

Close.

“Ivan, bring him in.”

“Copy,” he said over the com.

When they heard someone coming, it was Ivan with Ethan.

“Hello, Thomas,” he said, keeping his distance.

The man tried to get away from Raphael and Michael. He tried to pull away to get Ethan.

“You stole my fiancé. You ruined my life!” he raged. “You’re nothing but a man stealing whore!”

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