The Loneliest Stars || EDITING

Chapter 30

"What is it Gabe?" Her voice strained with worry and she rose from the chair.

"You should know, my wife...when she was diagnosed, she didn't tell me. She kept it to herself until I returned from deployment and by that time it was too late."

"Oh, Gabs." She rubbed his arm. "I'm so sorry."

"That's the context — "

"— Thank you for telling me." When he looked into her eyes there was no pity. There was just understanding. Her eyes told him that he didn't need to explain any further. She got it.

"Do you think you can give me a ride to the doctor's? I was going to take an Uber but..."

"Of course." He knew what she was doing. She was placating him and showing him there was nothing to worry about, he was grateful for her generosity. Her appointments were none of his business, truly but she was indulging him.

"I'm going for a checkup and to get a prescription for birth control, I was embarrassed, especially since we haven't discussed it..."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, I'm sorry that I pried, you didn't have to tell me that."

"It's okay, I wanted to, it would have come up anyway when we..." her cheeks were tinged red and she stared at the floor.

Gabe pinched her cheek and then drew his knuckles down the soft skin, he couldn't help himself, she was a seductress and sweeter than a pen of kittens at the same time.

"We can talk about it whenever you're comfortable."

Gabe waited in the car park as Natalia went to her appointment. He hated doctor's offices, clinics and hospitals. He tried to avoid them as much as he could and he was sure she would want privacy anyway.

"Can we get some food now? I'm wasting away," Natalia announced when she was back in the truck. Gabe involuntarily found himself perusing her entire body head to toe. She wore a plain black T-shirt with tailored trousers, she somehow managed to be demure and sexy at the same time.

"How did it go?"

"Fit as a fiddle."

Gabe shook his head. "Too easy," he said at all the possible dirty jokes he could make. "Hey, where's Lima? Should we go pick her up before we eat?"

"She ditched us."

"For who?"

Natalia raised an eyebrow in answer, and Gabe knew she meant Ty.

"I feel like I've acquired a wayward teenage daughter."

"That's funny, the other day she said she wanted to be adopted by us," Natalia giggled.

Gabe froze. Until then he had never considered the prospect of having children, he always thought he'd missed his chance when his wife died. That was before his world had collided with Nat's. The deeper their forged bond grew, the more possible things he had closed himself off from became, like falling in love and having children .

"He took her to the gun range. Isn't that wild?" Natalia chatter broke him out of his thoughts. "She's deffo gonna have her US visa revoked after this."

Gabe wheezed out a laugh. "What?"

Natalia pulled out her cell phone, showing him the Snaps Lima had sent of her throwing North West London gang signs at the gun range with an amused Ty in the background. Gabe laughed long and hard.

"She's on that CIA most wanted list for sure."

Natalia gave him a haughty look. Her curved eyes narrowing even more.