Page 48 of Always Been Mine

“If someone is still after Caitlin, we need to bring Travis into the loop.”

Porter’s lips thinned.

“We are not using her as bait,” Gabe said. He was sick and tired of doing things for the greater good at the expense of people he cared about. Gabe scrubbed his face with his hand in frustration. “I’m trying to make sense of who Ryker is after. Me or you?”

“I have a theory,” the admiral said. “You’ve been in Grigori Zorin’s inner circle. You’ve been present in several of his meets with his associates. Whoever his contact was in the CIA fears that you could identify him and is siccing Ryker on you.”

“Why not kill me outright?”

“He wants me as well. I’m not always in plain sight. Taking you out is going to put me on alert, so he’s messing with us the way he knows will get our attention.”

“Beatrice.”

“Exactly.”

He locked stares with Porter. “Now is the time to tell me to stay away from your daughter.”

Porter sighed. “Will you?”

“Fuck no. Even if I stay away from her now, there’s no guarantee Ryker won’t go after her,” Gabe said. “This is where we’re different, Admiral. I can’t change my past, but I’m changing myself now to be the man she deserves. She deserves a man who will love and cherish her.”

“Or get her killed?”

“Fuck you,” Gabe snarled softly. “Fuck you.” He repeated even louder.

“All I ask, Gabriel, is give her a choice to walk away. She deserves to know what she’s signing up for.”

Porter handed him a phone. “This is an encrypted line.I’ve uncovered some troubling intel and may not be able to meet with you for a while, but I will keep you apprised of what you need to know.”

Gabe wondered how much the admiral knew and wasn’t telling him.

The admiral straightened his suit and walked to the door. “By the way, the tox screen report for Eric Stone came back from our labs.”

“And?” Gabe held his breath.

“It was Hybernabis. He was murdered.”

“.. . so, babe, that’s most of the story that you need to know.”

Beatrice’s face remained stoic as the details poured out of Gabe. Eric Stone, Kelly Winters, Luisa Delgado, and her friends were possibly murdered because of an op Gabe had been involved in. Someone was seeking revenge on him and her father, and she was in the center of it all. Her dad left him to tell her everything. She had the sinking feeling that she wouldn’t be seeing her father very much in the near future. Same old story. Deep inside though, her heart was singing because Gabe hadn’t walked out. He stayed and was adamant that he wasn’t going anywhere. There was that wee fact this could get her killed.

“So you’re saying it’s better for me to stay away from you. Not see you at all?”

“In theory, yes.” Gabe said. His jaw was taut, and the planes of his face were etched with frustration and a hint of helplessness.

“And if I tell you I don’t want to ever see you again because I don’t feel safe, you’ll respect my wishes?”

His jawline hardened further, but he nodded jerkily.

Beatrice pursed her lips, walked to the wide picture window, and stared at the Washington DC skyline in troubledcontemplation. She heard faint movement and watched Gabe’s tall form approach from the window’s reflection before his heat hit her back.

Two warm hands rested on her shoulders, pulling her into him.

“Take a chance on me, poppy,” Gabe whispered. “Please. I promise to protect you, guard you, and shield you from everything that would harm you until there’s no breath or life left in me.”

She exhaled deeply, slightly shaking her head. His arms came around her, hugging her tighter. “If you need me to crawl and beg you to take me back, I will.” Desperation dripped from each word. She was terribly conflicted.

He turned her in his arms, his whiskey eyes were dim in the limited lighting, but their intensity was drilling right into her soul. “The sane part of me tells me to give you a choice,” Gabe whispered, “but this crazy part of me that just needs you . . . wants to lock you up and not let you leave me even if you try.”

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