Page 89 of Her Ruthless Protector

“Yes, you can,” Liam said.

“Okay,” she got up from her chair. “No rest for the wicked. By the way, how’s Zed?” she asked.

“They flew him home last night,” Hunter said. “He’s mending faster than they expected.”

“That’s good.” She opened the door and headed out.

* * *

“Come on,you know you can’t talk about that kind of political shit in front of civilians,” Kane admonished Asher.

Asher sank down in his chair and looked around the room, “Sorry.”

“Fine. Ash is sorry. But he’s wrong.” Cullen said. “It would have been good if the Sultan had given us any manpower, let alone some. Liam, does the Sultan have his head out of his ass now? Now that he knows we’re on the side of the angels, does he believe that we’re not working against him?”

Liam paused. “Somewhat. The Sultan has to look at facts, and the fact is that we saved the day, so he’s seeing that we’re here to help. Unfortunately, he still has an asshole whispering in his ear that we’re in league with the Saudis. I’ve identified who the mole is, but he’s family to the Sultan. There’s no way he’ll ever believe that this man is working with al-Qaeda.”

“Seriously?” Max asked.

“Seriously.” Liam looked disgusted.

“So al-Qaeda is going to continue to stir up shit with Oman,” Gray sighed. “Great. Wonderful. Christmas in the desert again.”

“Kind of a shitty attitude, don’t you think, considering it’s only April?” Liam raised his eyebrow.

“Cut him some slack, he’s a newlywed,” Max grinned.

“Sorry. Tired I guess,” Gray agreed.

“You’re all tired,” Liam looked around the room. “I can’t tell you just how proud Captain Hale and I are of you.”

“How about Rear Admiral Anders?” Kane asked. “Is he proud?” He watched Liam intently. He noticed that Max and Gray turned to watch Liam as well.

“The Rear Admiral knows what a fine group of men serve under him,” Liam said.

“That’s a bullshit answer,” Max said.

“Leave it.” Liam gave him a hard stare. “Guys, you’re going home.”

Asher raised his hand. Kane sank deeper into his seat because he knew what was coming.

“Yes?” Liam nodded at him.

“Can I take leave and stay and watch the rest of the performances?”

“Asher,” Max growled.

Liam gave Max the side-eye and smiled. “Sure,” he said to Asher. “If anybody else wants to take some R-and-R and stay here until the grand finale, it’s fine by me.”

Kane perked up. Hell, yeah he was staying. He noted that Cullen was sitting straighter too.

Cullen and Asher immediately glommed onto Kane as he filed out of the room. “What’s the skinny on you and A.J.?” Cullen asked as soon as everybody walked by.

“Cullen only wants to know so he can swoop in if you haven’t sealed the deal,” Asher said in a solemn tone, but his eyes were twinkling.

“Cullen, I dare you to try to swoop in,” Kane said. “In fact, I want to be there to watch.”

“It’s like that, is it?”

“Oh yeah.” Kane thought about those moments in the control room. He might not have gotten a life-long commitment, but Aphrodite was his woman.

“Come on, let’s see what we can do to help A.J. and her team for the next Semi-Final,” Asher said.

Kane gave a slow smile. He was going to get her into his hotel room tonight if it was the last thing he did.