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for the help.” He pushed free from under the rubble, ignoring the pain that shot up his leg.
    Troy nodded, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t you ever knock me out again.”
    “ Sorry about that.” But his attention was on Jasmine who still stood in the same spot, her eyes riveted on the blood flowing around her feet.
    Brent had grabbed on to her as he’d fallen. His lifeless fingers still circled her ankle.
    “ I’ll make sure we have a clear path out of here.” Troy took off.
    Gabe kicked Brent’s arm away and pulled Jasmine into his arms. Nothing ever had felt more right.
    “ I have the envelope,” she whispered as she lifted her face to his. “Are we okay now? Is it over?”
    He wanted to kiss her more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life. And then he did, just a slow brush of his lips against hers. He needed to go easy on her. She’d just been through hell. But she tightened her arms around his neck, and kissed him right back.
    A long, life-altering moment passed before they pulled apart.
    “ I’m here. I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he promised. Ever.
     
     
    ~~~***~~~
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Ten
     
     
    His room at Camp Darby in Livorno seemed more and more like a cage with every passing day. He’d brought Jasmine here to catch up with her brother and sister after the showdown with Brent three days before. They’d been separated for Gabe’s debriefing and he hasn’t seen her or her brother since. Nobody seemed to be able to tell him where they went.
    He wasn’t allowed to leave. He was to wait for the colonel who wanted to speak to him in person and was due at camp any minute.
    So when the door of his room opened, Gabe pulled his spine straight and put his heels together out of habit. But instead of the colonel, Jasmine walked in.
    “ Hi,” she said, her Bourbon eyes fast on his face, a small, shy smile on her amazing lips. “How is your leg?”
    The rubble that had buried him had done some muscle damage. He’d been limping the last time she’d seen him.
    “ Fine.” He was used to getting banged up, didn’t see why everyone wanted to make such a big deal out of it. He’d been checked and rechecked by medical personnel in the camp.
    She linked her hands together in front of her in a nervous gesture. “I didn’t get a chance to thank you. You saved my family.”
    “ No thanks necessary.” He wanted something else, something more. He wanted her not to walk out of his life. He wanted to be able to kiss her again. And again. “How is Mandy?”
    “ Much better after some IV fluids and antibiotics.”
    “ And Jake?”
    “ Has a new cast.” Her smile grew a little. “Looks like the Army is going to clear him of all wrongdoing.”
    “ Good. Excellent.”
    They faced each other in silence for a long minute, both of them clearly uncomfortable. He hated all the awkwardness between them.
    To hell with that. He smiled at her. “So do I get to know what’s in that diary?”
    She blushed crimson. “That diary got you into this mess. You could have been killed. How can you joke about it?”
    “ No joke. I’m sincerely interested.” An understatement. He would have given his antique baseball bat collection to know what she’d written about him ten years ago.
    “ I was a foolish teenager.”
    “ And now?” He stepped closer.
    She didn’t answer.
    He held out his hand. “My life is a mess. I don’t know if I have anything to offer to a woman like you. I’m pretty sure you’d be a lot better off without me.”
    She gave a lopsided smile. “Are you asking me out?”
    He held her gaze. “I’m asking a lot more than that.”
    She stepped into his arms.
    “ I’m going to kiss you, if that’s all right.”
    She lifted her mouth to his without hesitation.
    She was soft and sweet, the most amazing woman he’d ever met. He wanted to know more of her, all of her. Need surged through him to feel those soft curves of hers, to hear her soft breath hitch in his ear