Chapter 28

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Just wanted to thank everyone that has been reading, voting, commenting and adding this story to their reading lists. We somehow reached 13k reads. I did think that would happen. I appreciate each and every one of you :)

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Meeting Natalia's best friend felt like a peek into her psyche. As reserved as Natalia was, her friend was the exact opposite. She barely paused to process her thoughts before she was sharing them.

Gabe knew that Natalia had spent almost a decade living abroad in the UAE, and he could tell that her and Lima had wreaked havoc across the small city-state. They were a striking pair, physically different but both beautiful. He had no doubt that they commanded attention in any room they entered.

He had been based in the Gulf for several deployments too and had often gone to Dubai often to decompress after a mission. Life was funny that way, that their paths may have crossed unaware of each other.

"So we've won two games and y'all starting to get a little cocky and complacent with the basics. All I want you to do is focus on the basics, I need it to be a hundred percent each time, and the rest will follow," Gabe reminded his team.

"We're doing suicides, get to it."

He could hear the groans and the protests coming from the team. They needed to work on their speed and stamina, more so than working on fancy plays and techniques, that could always be taught later, but without conditioning they wouldn't get anywhere.

"Embrace the suck, Gentlemen," he borrowed a phrase from the Marine Corp. It wasn't his first time trying to turn crying boys into young men full of piss and valour.

"You see that?" Gabe pointed out to Jimmy, his coaching assistant, "His running technique is off. Work with him on that before he injures himself."

Jimmy approached the player, pulling him to the side and explaining what he was doing wrong. He took direction well, and had great leadership skills. The boys respected him. Gabe was giving himself a mental pat on the back for choosing well.

Soon, it was time to wrap up the training session and head back to the locker rooms. Gabe visited his office for some paperwork before driving himself home. Nat was insisting on going out for a birthday dinner later that evening despite his protests that his birthday wasn't a big deal, after her surprise the night before and the thoughtful present she had given him that morning, he was starting to come round to the idea of celebrating birthdays. Nat had the uncanny ability to cut through the ennui.

"Wow."

"I told you," Nat's friend said smugly, arching an eyebrow at Natalia.

She was a vision in an emerald green dress that came down to her calves, with a modest slit showing some of her shapely legs. It had thin straps and was in some sort of shiny, satin material. It curved around her body in expert tailoring and Gabe guessed he had Lima to thank for that.

He was simultaneously stuck between wanting to protect her from undeserving eyes and showing her beauty off. Sitting through dinner would be pure hell, but he was committed now. They were all ready to pile into his truck and drive to the restaurant.

"You look..." He didn't have the words. Natalia blushed under his direct gaze, seemingly knowing the words he was unable to express. "And you look beautiful too," he said, addressing Lima.

"Yeah, yeah, nobody ever notices the designer," Lima waved him off with a smile.

In his truck, with the radio providing the background setting, Natalia and Lima were bickering like siblings. The language they spoke in sounded like English, but the words sounded foreign. He had noticed that ever since Lima had arrived, Natalia was sounding more and more British.

"I don't want to be a bait face on insta," Natalia groaned.

"I won't show your face, I just need an artsy shot of the dress, it's some of my best work."

"But I get veto rights."

"Of course."

They had come to an agreement, as Gabe was pulling up to the address in the GPS that Natalia had given him.

Natalia went ahead of him through the entrance and he had a great view of her soft, swaying movements and how the fabric stretched deliciously over her ass. Would it be overkill if he draped his jacket over her? He couldn't function knowing that every man would be zeroing in on what was his.

The restaurant was strangely empty and dark. The sixth sense he had been trained to develop and that he had worked hard to disarm in civilian life, was telling him something wasn't right. He wished that he had made a habit of carrying a weapon instead of stashing them in a safe, but he had fought for the right of people to walk around safely in his country and not be beholden to bearing arms.

"Surprise!"

The lights turned on and the first person he saw was his sister-in-law Ella, the closest thing he had to a sibling. He glared at her in shock and surprise but she gave him a big, cheesy grin and came over to hug him. Natalia was to his side smiling widely in excitement, watching his facial expressions. He hated surprises, but the look on her face made him plaster a benign look on his own.

Looking around the room, it was full of people that he knew and considered dear, some he hadn't seen for years and some he hadn't seen outside of battle dress clothing. It was a mish-mash of his military and civilian life - two places he had often felt isolated from in the past years since leaving the service, like he was stuck in some purgatory limbo.

He did the rounds, greeting people and making small talk with Natalia tucked into the crook of his arm. She made the process easier, taking much of the attention. Her dress, her radiant face, the crisp accent and easy likeable charm made her the centre of attention.

"I know he would talk me through it. I just know he would." Lima said in a comical frantic whisper that had Natalia taking a choking spit take of her drink. She clutched Natalia's arm, digging her fingers in. "Tell me who that is right now."

"I don't know, I'm literally seeing him for the first time too."

Lima sighed. "Girl, the spirit of Tamera is calling me, go ask your man who that is."

"Ask me what?"

"Your hot friend."

Having to figure out which one of his friends was considered hot was not on his list of things he wanted to do at a party where he should be getting drunk and having a good time. Natalia, of course, found it hilarious.

"Both of you are useless. I'm going to ask him myself." Lima stalked off.

"Who is she talking about?" Gabe asked when she was out of hearing range.

"The big bad blond."

Gabe craned his head to see his former team mate, Ty in conversation with another Marine.

"Oh, we need to see this. He eats little girls like her for breakfast."

"I dunno I have my money on Lima, she's a bad bitch in her own right."

They watched the tall woman approach Ty with a mischievous smile. Whatever she said to him, had him throwing his head back in laughter and getting her a drink.

Natalia turned to Gabe with a smirk. "Pay up!"

"I was hustled, I had no idea she had game like that."

Natalia rolled her eyes, before her expression took on a more serious countenance. "Are you okay with this? I know you don't like surprises." She worried her lip with her teeth.

He rubbed her bare arm in reassurance. "This is good. I'm good."

Natalia left him to his own devices, he navigated the room conversing with people he hadn't seen in years. He was coming to the uncomfortable realisation that he had pushed these people away, his isolation was of his own making.

He wondered how Ella had pulled this off, without his knowledge and how she got in touch with so many people from his past. The fact that so many of them came, made a solid lump in his throat.

"So what did y'all do in the Marines?" Natalia could be overheard asking a group of his former unit. He groaned internally, they weren't going to sugarcoat anything, so he went over there to intervene.

"Well, we did the actual work and Pretty Boy..."

"Pretty Boy?" Natalia asked, suppressing a laugh.

Gabe shook his head, he thought he'd outgrow that nickname in his 39th year on Earth but evidently not.

"I was an officer, there's an ongoing joke that I didn't pull my weight in the unit because I was doing paperwork or operational planning, but I like the record to show no one has more CKs than me and how many times did I save your ass Mulley?"

"—He's humble too, just like an officer," someone quipped.

"Too many times too count," Mulley replied in good nature, saluting Gabe with the tip of his beer bottle.

When they had broached safer topics, other than rehashing their lives on deployment Gabe joined Ty for a chat, leaving Natalia to be entertained by them. She was currently explaining how horrible Gabe had been to her on her arrival.

"Thanks for coming, brother."

"Ah, I was in the area. Hey, what's the story with —" Ty tilted his head towards Lima, who was laughing uproariously at someone's joke.

Initially, Gabe had been worried as he watched her mingle with a room full of battle hardened US soldiers, he was worried someone would say something to offend her but she was all-smiles and was having fun. He wondered how someone could have so much energy and good vibes without touching a drop of alcohol.

"That's my girl's best friend. Whatever she says she's full of shit. She's a good girl, she's not for one of your debauched weekends."

Gabe was good at reading people and Lima was an open book. She was all talk and no action. He wasn't an expert but since she didn't drink and observed her own version of a head covering, he'd wager that she was a practicing Muslim and didn't do the type of activities Ty was offering.

"Is that right? That's a damn shame, I could have done with some fun before spinning up."

"You still looking for a contractor? I can introduce you to Dan, he was in SEAL Team 3, we did Ramadi together. He's good." he paused before adding, "Clean." Operators that accepted bribes or had their own agendas on missions would more often than not be a danger to the whole team.

"Yeah, man that would be great. There's still a place for you if you've changed your mind?"

"Thank you but I have commitments here."

"Anything to do with that little lady over there?"

Gabe was silent but his friend could see the answer in his eyes. Ty slapped his friend on the back. "I'm happy for you man." And so was he. For the first time in years he felt the comforting hum of contentment in his life.

"Dan's not here, but he's local. Why don't you both come over sometime and we'll shoot the shit?"

"Roger," Ty agreed.

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