Page 126 of It's Always Been You

“We netted twenty billion dollars from the sale of the plutonium.”

“Are we going to keep the plutonium cache?” Dmitry asked.

“POTUS wants it destroyed. We were never meant to keep it. Just flush out the main players in black-market nukes. The risk of leaving the material out there is high. It could easily fall into the hands of terrorists who can build dirtybombs or simply drop 10-ounces of that shit into a city’s water supply. So, yes, it’s going to be destroyed.”

“I agree, Admiral. And the money?”

“We’re using it to fund ongoing operations,” Porter sighed. “Allocation is getting tighter. We need to take care of our own.”

“Understood, Sir.”

“You’ve been gone for too long, Gabriel. It’s time to come home.”

The admiral disconnected.

He couldn’t agree more.

After three long years, Gabriel Sullivan was going home.

Epilogue

Four monthslater

“Um,I can see the curve of my butt.”

“Well, if you bend a little, yes, but that’s the whole point.”

Caitlin was eyeing her tiny silver-champagne dress in the mirror. It was her second girls’ night out with Beatrice. The redhead told her not to bother dressing up at home for she had the perfect dress waiting for her.

“A little peek-a-boo?” Caitlin muttered. “Luckily, I wore a nice pair of panties and not my grandma undies.”

“From all the sun you’ve gotten from your honeymoon, you need to show off your long shapely legs,” Beatrice added.

“Says the woman who’s five-eight.”

“Seriously, Cat, wear these three-inch heels and you look like your legs could go on forever. I wish I had the shape of your gams.”

Caitlin turned around so she could see the right side of her body. The scar that ran the length of her leg from the top of her knee to the middle of her calf didn’t bother her any longer. She wore it proudly like the battle scar it was. The thinwhite line set against her tan did stand out, but she was so secure in Travis’s love that none of her blemishes mattered, including the new one on her back. They had gotten married again three weeks ago in a simple ceremony. She was officially Caitlin Blake. Two weeks in Fiji, wearing nothing but a tiny bikini almost the entire time with not a care in the world—it was liberating, exhilarating. And the best part was she had Travis. She sighed.

“Okay, quit daydreaming about your man,” Beatrice groused.

“I’m not,” Caitlin protested, heat creeping up her cheeks.

“Deny all you want. You’ve got that dreamy-eyed look on your face, and that sigh was a dead giveaway. Sheesh, it’s like you just didn’t see him this morning, not to mention having spent an entire two weeks with him on a deserted island.”

“It wasn’t deserted.”

Beatrice rolled her eyes. Caitlin grinned. They had become great friends, especially after everything that went down with the plutonium cache. This was ironic, because Travis had not spoken to Admiral Porter in all that time, refusing to take his calls. Caitlin knew he was hurting, and this discord between him and the admiral was the only wrinkle in their happiness. Caitlin had tried to talk to her husband about it, but he’d always shut it down, saying he wasn’t ready to trust the man again.

“Where exactly are we going?”

“It’s an exclusive club, not that you need a membership, but you have to look good so you can get in.”

“A club for beautiful people?” Caitlin frowned. “Not sure I want to go to one of those dance clubs with skinny models and shallow people.”

Beatrice giggled, “No. People who exude power.”

This piqued Caitlin’s interest. She narrowed her eyes at her friend. “Are we going there for work or pleasure?”

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