Read Online Always Been Mine by Victoria Paige - Free Book Online Page B

balls?”
    Porter froze; then his eyes crinkled at the corners before he burst out laughing.
    “Glad you find it amusing,” Gabe grumbled. “I can take it from here, Admiral. I’ve done some soul-searching so to speak. I’d appreciate it if you let me handle Beatrice from here on.”
    “Handle?” The admiral quirked a brow.
    “The woman needs some wooing and a firm hand. I’m handling her with care this time, Ben.”
    The admiral’s brows shot to his hairline. “This should be interesting. You may still be the right man for her after all.”
    “What the fuck, Ben? I don’t care what you think, especially since you didn’t give a shit for most of her life.”
    “Tread carefully, Gabriel,” Porter warned.
    “No. You need to come to terms with a few home truths,” he shot back. “Your fuck-ups as a father are not helping my cause with your daughter at all. I’d prefer it if you stay away from me while I’m trying to get Beatrice to take me back.” Gabe felt pain lance through his chest, thinking of the girl she used to be. “I don’t get it, Admiral. She’s beautiful, intelligent, and larger than life. How can you not cherish and protect someone as precious as her?”
    The admiral paled, his face was a mask, but the tension rolling off him was palpable. Gabe knew he’d gone too far, but someone had to say it. Someone had to fight for Beatrice, for the girl she had been who needed the love of a father.
    “You think I don’t cherish her?” Porter said softly. “The second biggest mistake of my life was getting in too deep with the CIA and then realizing I’ve made enemies. Having personal attachments had suddenly become more complicated. Protect her? Why do you think I’ve hooked her up with so many security firms? Do you know how many allies she has made, willing to protect her?”
    He regarded the admiral skeptically. “No matter how you emotionally detach yourself from Beatrice, the threat will always be there by association. Are you sure this is not a defense mechanism on your part, so if anything does happen to Beatrice, you would be as you are—apathetic?”
    “I’m warning you, Commander.” Porter’s face was etched in tense lines.
    “I guess I’ve made my point.”
    The admiral sighed in resignation. “It’s too late for me, Gabriel, but not for you. Be the man you used to be. Protect her because I can’t do it forever. One of these days, my enemies are going to catch up with me. She will get caught in the crossfire.”
    It chilled Gabe that nothing had happened as yet. He knew several missions the admiral had orchestrated that threatened serious blowback.
    “I’m sure Beatrice knows this. She’s not obtuse.”
    Porter nodded and walked to the door. “She’s at the condo right now—”
    “I don’t get it, Admiral, why are you helping me so much?”
    “I don’t want you to make the same mistake I made.”
    “What?”
    “The greatest mistake of my life.” An expression of regret flashed across the admiral’s face. “I didn’t fight for the woman I love. I let her go.”
    “You divorced her when you had seventeen years to fix your marriage,” Gabe scoffed, angry and confused at the admiral’s words.
    “I’m not talking about Beatrice’s mother.”
    And with that bombshell, the admiral left. Gabe stared at the door for a while.
    “Well, hell,” he muttered.

CHAPTER FIVE

    The intercom buzzed in her kitchen.
    Beatrice hurriedly wrapped herself in a robe. It was 11:00 p.m. Travis, Caitlin, and Nate had just left. They didn’t waste time showing their solidarity with her current situation. Before they had arrived, she spent almost an hour on the phone with Doug, who wanted to fly back from Florida tonight. Beatrice convinced him not to change his flight and just return the next day as he originally planned.
    “Yes?”
    “Hey, babe, buzz me in.”
    Gabe.  
    “It’s almost midnight. I need some sleep, and I’m in no mood for a booty call.”
    “I won’t