“And he’s not watching me.” Chelsea shot Damon a grumpy look. She was nearly lost behind a mountain of computer equipment she was hooking up. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”

“I’ll make sure Simon knows he can let you die,” Taggart said.

Chelsea sent him her middle finger. “When I hack into the CCTVs, if I see you being horribly murdered on one, I’m just going to watch, asshole.”

Charlotte rolled her eyes. “You two make my life complete.”

God, she hoped her brother and sister got on with Damon. “I really would be all right here with Chelsea. I can help her monitor the CCTVs. I promise I won’t try anything crazy.”

Candice looked up from her computer. “I would feel better if we had a man with us.”

Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Why isn’t she at the airport?”

“Because Walt wanted to talk to her,” Brody replied. “And I don’t like the thought of her being on her own, what with that boyfriend of hers up and leaving like he did. She cried all day when she found out he left the boat in Helsinki. We have to protect her. That bastard in Finland knows what she looks like.”

Candice smiled the Aussie’s way. “At least there are some real gentlemen left. Like I said, I would actually feel better with two guards. I think you’re going to scare Walter off if he sees too many of you.”

“He won’t realize we’re not tourists. Now if you’re all done complaining about the plan, let’s go over it again,” Damon said.

The room groaned collectively.

“I just think it’s a little sexist,” Charlotte said. “You’re leaving the women behind. What if Walter Bennett would feel better talking to a woman? We’re far less threatening.”

“And far more unpredictable,” Ian said. “No. You stay, Charlie. After that shit you pulled with the van last time, it’s going to be a while before I let you go into the field alone again.”

Charlotte stood up. “We wouldn’t have Brody if I hadn’t pulled that shit with the van.”

The Taggarts squared off. “We damn near lost Damon because of it. And you and Penny are staying behind because Damon and I can’t think about a goddamn thing but our women when you’re in danger.”

Charlotte softened. “Oh, sweetie. See, you can learn.” She went on her toes and kissed her husband. “Fine. Penny, Candice, and I will get in-room massages. I didn’t even get to go to the spa on the boat. Oh, and let’s order room service. SIS is paying, right?”

Penny needed to calm her Dom down. She put a hand in his and nodded to Charlotte. “Why don’t you go ahead and call for tea? Simon takes his with milk and sugar. The least we can do is properly feed our poor guard. I’m going to say good-bye to this one.”

The men had to leave in fifteen minutes. She didn’t like the thought of Damon out there, but she had to get used to it. He wasn’t going to stop working anytime soon. She would spend every day they were apart worried that he wouldn’t come home, but she was determined to not waste the time they did have.

She led him back to the bedroom. He was dressed in khakis and a polo, ready to blend in with the rest of the tourists who would throng around Berlin’s sights. “Calm down.”

He stopped, staring down at her. “Is that any way to talk to your Master?”

Oh, he was on edge. She gave him her big sub eyes and bit her bottom lip. She’d noticed it seemed to do something for him. He’d kept her in bed for almost two days. She’d learned a lot about how to distract him from his troubles. “I’m sorry, Master.”

He sighed, his head shaking ruefully. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

She hated that word. She wrapped her arms around him, praying she didn’t have to hear the word “death” for a long while. “You’ll be careful?”

His heart beat against her ear. The steady sound had become her whole world. His hand soothed down her back. “I think it’s going to be all right, love. Carter is sure he can talk Walter into coming in. He called Candice because he got it in his head that they couldn’t touch him if he went public. We’re going to convince him there’s another way. He can talk to the press without giving away the information.”

“I just want you back safe.”

He tilted her head up. “I will be back before you can finish your tea. And dear god, don’t let Charlotte bankrupt me. I don’t think Nigel will let me expense personal masseuses.”

A long moment passed between them.

“I love you, Penelope.” He said it without prompting now. She’d read somewhere that it took a human being about eight times to memorize something, to commit it to memory. Damon seemed to be well on his way.

“I love you, too.” It was so easy now. He’d been tentative at first. His face would tighten every time she said it, ask her to say it again. Now he often said the words first.

He was educable, her Dom.

There was a knock on the door and Taggart’s voice came through. “Damon, we need to go.”

His eyes closed briefly and he put his forehead to hers. “I won’t be long. In a couple of hours this is all over, and we’ll get on a plane for London tonight. We’ll be back in The Garden before you know it. You’re living with me now, you know.”

She smiled. He couldn’t help but be a bit bossy. “Well, I better because I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

His arms tightened. “Your place is with me.”

She nodded. Her place was with him for as long as they had. She didn’t mention that if he kept it up, she might be a widow before her time.

Her arms wound around him. She wouldn’t think that way.

He kissed her again and then he was gone, walking out the door with Brody Carter, Taggart, Jake, and Jesse. He would stay close to the Aussie. The others would be in the area, staking the place out.

And she was going to spend the entire afternoon worrying.

There was nothing for it. This was the way her life would be from now on. She would kiss him and send him off and pray he came home to her. Women had been doing it from the beginning of humanity. They sent their warriors off with a heavy heart. Unfortunately, her warrior had a damaged one, but that wasn’t a fight she could win.

She stood by the window overlooking the magnificent Brandenburg Gate. The Platz surrounding it was mobbed with tourists out on a lovely summer day. The sun shone, making everything around it seem crisp and clean.

“He’s going to be okay.” Charlotte put an arm around her, leaning into her as she looked down as well. “He’s not going in alone. Ian will watch his back.”

But Taggart wouldn’t always be there to watch his back. Perhaps if Taggart and his crew were around, she would feel better. But they would be back in America and Damon would be on his own. Still, she nodded, not wanting to spend the next few hours crying.

“Ladies, the tea should be here in a moment.” Simon smiled at her, seeming to forget the fact that he’d railed at being left to babysit. “Chelsea, how many headphones do you have?”

Chelsea’s eyes came up warily, as if Simon was a tiger who would attack at any moment. “Two or three, but only two that have communication capability. If you want to sit in front of that monitor, you can talk to them through these.”

She held out a pair of state-of-the-art headphones that would be connected to the communication devices each member of the team had placed in their ears before they left. Simon reached out, his hands brushing hers as he took the headphones from her. Their fingers touched, lingering slightly before Chelsea pulled away and her shell came snapping back down.

“Thank you,” Simon said in his smoothest tones.

Chelsea frowned. “Don’t screw up my system.”

Charlotte groaned, shaking her head. “You really know how to make a moment special, sis.”

“That’s not my job.” She touched something on her computer and then she wasn’t talking to the people in the room anymore. “I’ve taken over the few CCTVs here. Apparently this is a country that doesn’t like being watched. Something about the former USSR and occupation and crap. Get over it, people. How can I watch you if you don’t have cameras everywhere? Get me back to England.”

“What coverage do you have?” Penelope asked, not wanting to debate the long history of abuse of power that had plagued Germans from World War II until the Berlin Wall had come down.

“Well, it’s shit. It’s mostly from private shop owners but I can get some coverage. Satan, I have you in my sights. I can see Jesse. I’ve lost Damon and the big guy. No. I have them. And they’re gone.” Chelsea groaned her frustration.

Simon put the headphones on, chuckling lightly. “Thank you so much for leaving me here, Tag. I’ll pay you back somehow. No. We’re not going to be able to see the meet. There’s no camera there. We can’t see anything but the area around the memorial.”

Chelsea stiffened suddenly. “Oh, shit.”

“What?” Penny asked.

Chelsea shook her head. “Probably nothing.”

Simon frowned her way, pulling his headphones off. “What is it, Chelsea?”

She bit her bottom lip, her hands flying across the keys of her laptop. “I couldn’t monitor all the sites I would normally monitor while I was on the boat. I was stuck with their crappy Internet and downloading the proper browser onto their systems would have outed me.”

“They don’t use Google?” Penny asked.

Chelsea snorted slightly. “Google is a search engine, hon. I’m talking about a browser and not the kind a normal person uses.”

“I thought you gave up brokering information.” Simon stood up, looking perfectly ready to discipline her.

Charlotte held a hand up. “Whoa, boy. Ian asked her to monitor some of the old sites. He wants to have an ear to the ground.”