Page 65 of Centurion

“And Switzerland?”

“Still working.” They walked across the foyer hand in hand. When her father saw her, he bolted out of his node. Con stepped back as they hugged.

Her dad hugged her and sighed. “I can’t do that again.”

“Exactly what I said,” Con said from behind them.

Gabby nodded. “I’m done. I promise. No more.” A two-thousand-pound weight lifted from his shoulders, and he swore he saw the same relief from Gabriel. Gabby pulled away from her father. “I’m going to go clean up. I’ll be back.”

Con and Gabriel watched her walk back to her room. Gabriel turned to look at him. “Don’t fucking hurt her.”

“I couldn’t do that, sir.” He’d cut off his left ball before he hurt that woman. He was pretty fond of his left ball, so hurting her wasn’t an option. “Pretty damn fond of the right one, too,” he said out loud.

“What?” Gabriel frowned at him.

Con blinked and realized he’d spoken out loud. “Ah, talking to myself.” He pointed to his head. “Up here. Sometimes, it erupts.”

“You hold conversations with yourself?” Gabriel lifted an eyebrow.

He frowned at Gabriel and asked, “All the time. Don’t you?” Didn’t everyone? He was pretty sure others held conversations with themselves. He wasn’t the only one who did that, was he? Damn, he’d have to ask Brando if he ever did it. It was an assumption, but still, who would have thought to ask?

Gabriel shook his head slowly. “No, I can’t say I do.” He tipped his head and indicated the last screen that was up and active. “They found the lab. You should probably offer some help.”

Con jolted. “They did?” He sat down and flipped on the communications feed to that operation. “Con reporting as available.”

CHAPTER 26

Gabriel picked up the phone in his node and called Anna, who answered immediately. “Is she okay?”

“A little banged up. But she’s home, and she’s done.” Thank God. He couldn’t put her in the line of danger like that again. And no, it wasn’t because she was his daughter. He hated the thought of any of the people he loved in the line of danger. He was thankful the Kings were all in management positions now. He loved those kids like his own. Hell, he’d helped raise them and had accepted them into Guardian, finding positions for all of them. Not that that was a hardship; they were all exceptionally talented.

“When will you be home?” Anna yawned, and he glanced at the clock.

“Shit, babe, I didn’t realize it was this late.”

“You mean early? You’ve been gone almost two days, but I’m going to get up, take a leisurely shower, and then make you a big breakfast. It must have been some operation.”

“So many problems, you wouldn’t believe.”

“After all these years, I would believe anything you told me.” She yawned again. “After you sleep for a bit, I might be convinced to give you a back massage,” she purred.

“Vixen, you can’t offer things of that nature when I’m at work.” He smiled as he spoke to the woman who still sparked the hottest fires after all these years.

“Really? I wish you would have told me that years ago.” She laughed, and damned if that sound didn’t make his day.

“I have one more call, and then I’ll be on my way home.”

“Hmmm … maybe I should just be lazy until you get home, and we can shower together.”

“I think you should doze for an hour or so,” he agreed with her.

“I’ll see you then. I love you.”

“And I will love you until the world no longer exists,” he said softly and hung up the phone. That woman was his solid ground. When the rest of the world seemed to be falling to pieces, she was the one certainty he could always count on. He hoped Conner was that person for Gabby. Not that he was rushing the relationship. He’d be happy if they dated for ten or twenty years to make sure they were compatible.

He glanced out at Conner, who was assisting with the requirements of the Switzerland mop-up. They’d found ten missiles that were finished and four more in the stages of assembly. The payload was constructed to the point the nuclear and explosive materials were needed to complete the assembly. Two of the payloads were complete. Where Abrasha had gotten the components was yet to be determined. When the payloads were disassembled, they’d be able to track the materials and parts.

He picked up his direct line to Jason. “I’m here.”

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