Page 55 of Always Been Mine

“You be reasonable, Sullivan.” Beatrice now had both hands on her hips. His annoyance escalated if it were even possible. She totally looked fuckable. His dick was tenting his pajamas, and he couldn’t do a damned thing.

“I am. Before I become truly unreasonable, have me discharged.”

Her jaw, which was set stubbornly since the beginning of his rant, slackened. Her lips trembled, and suddenly, to Gabe’s horror, she burst out crying.

“Babe, what the—”

“You almost died!” she yelled. Tears spilled from her eyes, her fists were now balled at her sides. “I watched you bleed all over the pavement. There was a puddle of your blood, Gabe. A puddle! Can you even imagine how I felt when I realized Iloved you and I wanted you back and all I could do was watch you die? Can you?”

His frustration and anger evaporated. “Babe, come here,” he whispered softly.

“Seven hours in the waiting room. You had a hole in your head. You died on the OR table. I thought I would go crazy because they wouldn’t let me see you. I’m not your next of kin, and Dad wasn’t returning my calls so I couldn’t have him do whatever magic he does to fix your records. And you had no family. You had no one.”

“But you did get in to see me, babe,” he said gently.

“Thank goodness for Senator Mendoza.”

Gabe scowled at the mention of the senator. “I hope you ripped him a new one.”

“He lost his uncle, Gabe,” Beatrice quietly reminded him.

“It’s still no excuse for putting a lot of people in danger,” Gabe said darkly. “There are protocols for a reason. Was it even worth the information he got from his uncle? Wait. How did you miss the uncle on your background check? Even if he didn’t list him down, he would have popped up.”

“They use the term uncle loosely. He’s the”—Beatrice paused, as though working something in her head—“husband of his mother’s second cousin. His cousin—the uncle’s son, and I’m using the term cousin also loosely here—is the head of the leading paramilitary force in the country.”

“The purpose of the trip was a directive from POTUS though. That’s already a conflict of interest right there. Even with the degree of blood separation, family ties in South America are very close.”

“True, but Senator Mendoza already knows how to work the bureaucracy of the Colombian government.”

Gabe leaned against the pillows, suddenly tired. Maybe he did need to stay longer in the hospital. He held out his hand. She curled her fingers with his as he tugged her closer.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” he whispered. “I know I would lose my mind if something like this happened to you.”

Beatrice gave a small smile, and with her other hand, she stroked the side of his jaw. “Just another week, okay? Please? I don’t want anything to happen to you, Gabe.”

“I love you, Beatrice.”

“I love you, too.”

Three weekslater

There wassome truth that an idle mind was the devil’s playground. He had been home for two weeks after almost spending a month in the hospital, and he was extremely restless. His brain was working through several theories, none of them making sense. He wanted to do his own investigation on Steve Ryker. But since the police were involved, all evidence had been sequestered and inaccessible. BSI was able to get some information because the attack affected their client. Domingo Ventura, who was the leader of the Fuego gang’s northeastern chapter, maintained that Steve Ryker, who Ventura knew as Vladimir Volkov, was a Russian mercenary hired by an enemy of the senator. Ryker/Volkov bribed some gang members who were sympathetic to the groups fighting the Colombian government and who didn’t want the armed conflict to end.

Somehow that didn’t add up, because the Skulls already confirmed that Ventura was aware of Ryker/Volkov’s previous plans.

Did Ventura double-cross Ryker/Volkov and tip off the Skulls?

Was it about money? A cut in the drugs?

Why did they kill Senator Mendoza’s uncle? They could have easily taken out the senator instead.

Unless the senator was dirty.

“Fuck,” Gabe muttered, rubbing his hand over his face. Rhino whined, got down from his dog bed, and shuffled over to Gabe. Laying his head on his lap, Rhino looked up at him with concerned dark eyes.

“I’m okay, boy.” He scratched Rhino’s head affectionately. “Just a little frustrated and feeling helpless.”And useless.

Rhino’s ears perked and turned his head toward the door. Gabe really wondered about his dog’s deafness because it appeared he sensed his surroundings very well, or was it just a sixth sense?

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