Page 31 of It's Always Been You

Porter’s jaw tightened as he regarded her. Not backing down, she continued, “Well this, Admiral, is Greek to me.”

Ben Porter looked like a man who wasn’t accustomed to being denied. He was a high-ranking officer in the United States Navy after all, and the CIA. She wasn’t a part of the CIA anymore, so she wasn’t about to roll over or be brought to heel. Caitlin could have been more accommodating if Ben Porter didn’t brusquely introduce himself and commanded her directly to work to decrypt the files. She wasn’t expecting words of sympathy for her amnesia. Hell, for all she knew, it was still the CIA who had her and Jase hunted down. She bristled at being told what to do. A nagging feeling told her she had always been this way. A rebel. She still didn’t know whom to fully trust, especially with a hundred million locked in her head.

But Travis trusted this man. And she kinda liked his daughter, Beatrice.

“You don’t remember anything at all?” Porter asked.

Caitlin sighed and looked at the screen again. The automated decryption videos that were endlessly run during her reprogramming sessions certainly helped trigger some awareness. Her fingers were getting restless and started tapping on the table. Finally, she sat down and said, “Whose files are these? I will need birthdays, names of spouse, children, and pets.”

Porter smiled triumphantly. He pulled a piece of paper from the front pocket of his suit jacket. “Here you go, my dear.”

Huh!So he reserved his endearments for when she complied with his wishes.

Caitlin resisted the urge to shake her head and started hammering away at the keyboard.

Two damned hours later,her head hurt, and she wasn’t freaking anywhere close to decrypting any of the files. The admiral stayed in the room, finishing an entire pot of coffee. He would occasionally walk to the window and look outside, but he would turn back, sit in front of her, and scroll through his smartphone.

“I can’t do it,” Caitlin said finally. She rubbed her face, before staring the admiral straight in the eyes. “Not right now. I’m not applying the algorithm right.”

“But it will come to you.”

It was more a statement rather than a question.

“Yes.”

Porter inclined his head. “Good. Take the laptop home with you and continue hacking your way through the files.”

“You’re handing out homework now?” Caitlin groused.

A ghost of a smile passed through Porter’s lips.

“I don’t get it, Admiral? What’s your stake in this?”

“Travis is like a son to me. I don’t want your problems to get him killed.”

The bluntness felt like a sucker punch. She inhaled sharply.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have helped him get me out of the embassy.”

“Listen, Ms. Kincaid, maybe you should be grateful for being given this second chance with Travis, relearn your tradecraft, and stop being a pain in the ass.”

Duly chastised, yet still defiant, Caitlin shutdown the laptop. “Are we done here?”

“Yes. You’re dismissed.”

Before Caitlin could get out another word, the admiral punched a number on his phone and turned away from her—clearly getting in the last word.

He was takingher out on a real date tonight. In between the Kennedy contract, getting caught up at work, and getting Caitlin settled, Travis forgot the basic rules of courtship—because there was no question what was going on here—taking the lady of his affections out to a nice romantic dinner. Instead of parking his car in the garage, he pulled up to the front of the house since they’d be leaving soon anyway.

He had left a message with Sam to let Caitlin know that they wouldn’t be dining in tonight. Travis smiled briefly. Although Caitlin loved to eat, she was a terrible cook. One evening he came home to the smoke alarms blaring and found Sam and Caitlin laughing over a burned roast. They ended up having pizza that night, but Travis was heartened that she was attempting to create a likeness of a home life for them. All that was missing was the ultimate intimacy. That was about to change.

When Travis entered the house, he was surprised to see Caitlin preoccupied with a laptop. He did not recognize the computer. Where did she get it?

Sam met him at the foyer. “I reminded her a few minutes ago to get ready.”

“Thanks, Sam,” Travis responded absently as he made his way into the dining room where Caitlin sat at the head of the table, a frown creasing her forehead, eyes narrowed intently on the screen.

“Cat—”

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