I close my eyes.

Holy fuck.

I text back.

I try to control my beating heart. “How are Jenny and the kids?” I call. I begin to open and close the kitchen cupboards, trying to act calmer than I feel.

“All good and going on vacation soon,” he calls back.

I slowly slide out my bottom kitchen drawer, take out the gun that I keep there, and slowly click it open.

Two bullets. Fuck. I close it carefully and try to control the adrenaline that’s pumping through my body.

I raise the gun in my straightened arms and come around the corner.

He has Bridget held by her neck, a gun against her temple.

“Let her go, Greg,” I demand.

He smirks. “Where are the documents?”

I tighten my hold on the gun. “What are you talking about?” I play dumb, trying to buy some time.

“The fucking documents!” he screams as he rips Bridget down. She cries out in pain because of the hold he has her in.

“Let her go,” I demand. “This isn’t her battle.” I squeeze the gun tightly. Bridget is so close to him. If I shoot I may hit her.

“This is her battle. You don’t care about dying, I already know that,” he sneers.

Our eyes are locked.

He fakes a smile. “But you care about her dying.”

“Let her fucking go now!” I yell as I lose control.

He pushes the gun into her temple and she whimpers.

My blood runs cold.

Shoot after three…

“Let her go and I’ll get them. They’re in the safe.”

“Not a fucking chance. I’m not stupid.”

I glance at Bridget and she gives me a subtle nod.

Does she remember what I told her all those years ago?

Years ago, when I was Joshua’s bodyguard, I taught her what to do if she was ever in this position.

Her eyes search mine and she subtly nods again.

She does.

I grip the gun tightly as I reposition my feet.

“Drop!” I yell.

She goes floppy in his arms, falling forward, and it gives me the split- second opportunity I need. I fire once and it hits him right between the eyes.

He falls, dead before he hits the floor.

Bridget screams and I grab her in my arms, holding her so that she can’t see him.

She cries against my shoulder as I hold her. My body is shaking from the adrenaline.

I thought she was going to die.

I close my eyes. Oh, my fucking God, that was too close.

“And then what happened?” the Secretary of State asks.

I sit at a boardroom table with twelve of the UNI leaders. I’ve been in here under interrogation for two hours. I look down the table where Rick, Matt, and Jed are also being interviewed.

They have they fully deciphered document in front of them. After the shooting last night, Didge and I stayed at a hotel until they cleaned up our apartment. I doubt she’ll ever go back there now, though.

She’s a nervous wreck, and who could blame her?

I had to get Ally to stay with her while we had this meeting.

I look at them coldly. “Then… I pulled the trigger.”

The dictation secretary types fast as she takes my statement.

“Did he die straight away?”

“Yes,” I reply as I look straight ahead, void of emotion.

The president stands and clasps his hands behind his back. “We’ve known about this weapon for a while. It was stolen over a year ago from a facility, but we had no way of tracing where it was headed. He organised for the theft, and then was selling it on the black market to the highest bidder.”

I watch him as he paces.

“We now have the intel. It’s at a warehouse in Syria, and the transfer is supposed to be taking place in three-days’ time.”

I frown.

“Thousands and thousands of innocent civilians are going to lose their lives if this transfer takes place.”

I drop my head. Fuck.

“We’re sending in a recovery team.” His eyes find mine. “We want you to lead it.”

I clench my jaw as I listen.

No. I promised Bridget I wouldn’t ever go back.

“They are going to use it on a neighbouring country. Women and children will be their target. This weapon will cause mass destruction and death.”

The president turns to me. “Are you going to do what you’ve been trained to do, Buzz?” His eyes hold mine.

I don’t answer as I stare straight ahead.

“You need to think of those poor women and children who will die a painful death without medical treatment. This could be catastrophic, Buzz.”

I watch him, and my jaw clenches as I imagine what they will go through.

Innocent children.

“Are you with us? Will you lead the team? Nobody else has the experience to get this job done and get out of there safely as you do. Are you going to do what you’ve been trained to do, Buzz?” he repeats.

“Yes, sir, Mr. President,” I reply on autopilot.

He nods. “You leave in twenty-four hours.”

He turns to everyone and nods. “Thank you.”

We all stand and salute him.

He salutes back, nods, and leaves the room with everyone following him.

I drop my head to stare at the table in front of me.

“Deployments are never easy, but this one will be the hardest.”

“Is everything all right?” I ask.

Ally has just left our hotel room, after Ben got back from his meeting.

“Ally’s nice.” I smile.

He nods as his eyes search mine. “Are you okay?”

I smile. “I’m okay, bit stressed out, but I’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep.” I watch him. “Are you okay?” I ask.

His eyes search mine.

Something is clearly wrong with him. “What is it?” I whisper.

He swallows the lump in his throat. “I’ve been deployed.”

My face falls. “What?”

“I leave tomorrow.”

“For where?” I snap.

“Syria.”

I shake my head. “No. You’re not going.” I shake my head harder. “No,” I repeat.

“Bridget…”

“No, Ben,” I cry as my eyes fill with tears. “You’re finished in the army. You’re coming home to Australia with me.”

“It’s short. I’ll only be gone a week or two.” He tries to grab me and I pull out of his grip.

“I don’t have a choice!” he snaps. “I have to do what’s right.”

The tears break the dam and roll down my face. “What about what’s right for me? For us, Ben?”

He looks at me blankly.

“Why? What’s… what’s so important that you have to go?” I stammer.

“A nuclear weapon,” he replies flatly.

My face falls. Oh, my God. I begin to shake my head frantically. “No. No. No.”

“Bridget,” he says solemnly. “There is a weapon that is going to be used on women and children if it isn’t retrieved by us. Greg Jackson sold it on the black market to be used on a neighbouring country. The changeover is in three days. We have to stop it before it happens. Thousands of lives will be lost if it isn’t stopped by us.”

Tears fill my eyes. “It’s only your life I care about,” I whisper.

“It’s okay, baby. I’ll be home soon.” He puts his finger under my chin and lifts my face to meet his. “I promise.” He kisses me softly and I scrunch my face up against his. “I’m going to put you on a plane in the morning, and you’re going to go home to Australia and organise our wedding.”

He kisses me again and I shake my head. “Ben, I can’t stand being away from you. Don’t go, please don’t go,” I beg. “Don’t leave me again.”

He grabs my face in his hands and holds it to his. “This is the time, Bridget.”

My eyes search his in question.

“I need you to be strong. I need you to be an army wife and hold it together until I get back home.”

The tears roll down my face. “I don’t know how to be strong without you.”

He smiles and pulls me to him tightly. “Yes, you do. You know you do,” he breathes into my hair.

I cry against his chest, loving the way he holds me tight. “It’s okay, angel. I promise it will be okay.”

“I was thinking that I pack up my apartment here in Washington and we just rent it out,” Ben muses in the darkness as he plays with my hair.

It’s 4:00 a.m. and Ben and I haven’t been to sleep yet. We can’t waste one second of each other’s company.

After my hour-long melt down, I have finally manned-up and am putting on a brave face, but only for him.

We’ve talked about where we’re going to live in Australia, our wedding, and everything in between.

We’ve been making love off and on for hours. Deployment lovemaking is a whole other species.

I can’t even deal with how intimate the night has been.

He stays silent for a moment, twiddling my hair between his fingers. “I’m going to get Brock to stay with you until I get back.”

“No.” I sigh. “I’m a big girl; I can look after myself.”

“I’ll just feel better if he’s with you.” He kisses my forehead. “This week has been horrific.”

I smile and kiss his chest. “This is so typical of you.”

“What is?”

“You’re about to go to Syria to steal a nuclear weapon back, yet you’re worried about me staying in my damn apartment alone.”

He smiles, and kisses my lips. “Are you going to be okay? Honestly?”

My eyes search his and I know that my world will stop turning until he’s in my arms again, but I’m going to fake it. “Yes, of course I will.” I pause, and I feel the tears building again.

Cut it out. Be the army wife he deserves.

“Do you know how much I love you, Ben?” I whisper.

He nods, and rolls me until I’m beneath him. His lips drop to my neck and he sucks at it slowly. “I’m going to be back soon, angel, and we can start our life together.” He slides into my body. “I promise.”

I stare at the ceiling, unable to answer because of the painful lump in my throat. He slowly rides me, his head buried in the curve of my neck.

Freedom comes at a heavy price.

“We’re ready to board now.” The stewardess smiles.

We walk to the boarding terminal, hand in hand. Ben is dropping me to my private flight to Australia. Adrian is waiting on the plane to accompany me on my flight. It has just landed from L.A. Ben wouldn’t let me fly alone. With the kids, it was hard for Tash to come for the flight only, so Adrian has come.

At least I get to spend some time with my dear friend.

I’m desperately searching for the silver lining here, and my stress from the last week has now morphed into fear for Ben.

We’re both quiet. What do you say on this kind of day? I’m acting brave and I think Ben’s acting, too.

“Hey, look, you’re holding my hand.” I smile up at him.

He looks down at our entwined hands and smiles. “Yeah, I’ve been pussy-whipped into submission.”

I giggle. “My pussy is great with a whip.”

He smiles as he tucks a piece of hair behind my ear.

We both fall silent and stare at each other.

It’s time.

He takes me into his arms and my eyes fill with tears when I look up at him.

He clenches his jaw as he looks down at me. “Please don’t cry,” he whispers. “I can’t bear it.”

I nod, and he holds me tight against his chest. I try my hardest not to sob out loud.

“Bridget, I’m going to let you go, and I need you to turn and walk through the gate for me.”

No. I grab him tighter. I don’t want to let him go.

“Bridget. Please,” he whispers.

I nod against his chest and smile up at him through my tears. “I’m not a cry baby, you are,” I whisper.

He chuckles and then his face falls serious. “I love you.”

“Ben,” I whisper.

“Yeah, angel,” he whispers as he cups my face in his hand.

“I’m really, really proud of you.” I sniff loudly. “You are such good man.” I nod and half-cry, half-smile, half I don’t know what. “And I love you so much.”

He drops his head, overcome with emotion.

“Go,” he whispers, his brow creasing.

I turn, walk toward the boarding gate, and hand over my ticket. I turn back to see him staring at the floor and my heart hurts.

He’s going to be alone… again.

He looks up and I fake a smile and wave. He fakes a smile in return and waves back.

Then I turn and walk down the corridor, my body moving completely on autopilot.

I left my heart in private boarding gate 21.

I march and power up the stair-climber at the gym.

I moped around at Mum’s for two days when I got back from Washington. Tash had gone home to L.A. and I felt so flat.

But now I’ve got my shit together.

I’m on ‘operation keep busy’.

I’ve been to the gym morning and night for the last two days. I figure I may as well be smoking-hot when he gets back. It won’t hurt.

I’m being the wedding planner on crack and have set a tentative date for us to get married in six weeks. I’ve been Skyping Adrian all day, every day, with wedding details and suggestions. I’ve been on five coffee dates with Mum, and I even did a couple hours of admin work in Brock’s office for him.

Ben has been gone for five days and I’m exhausted, but I just need to keep busy.

Where is he now?

Ben said, before he left, that he didn’t know if he would be able to call, but that one day he’ll just turn up at my door.

I’m hoping it’s today.

“So, what do you think?” Abbie asks.

Huh? I turn to her, she’s on the Stairmaster next to me, and we’re both wet with perspiration. I wipe my face with my towel. “Well, which one do you like?” I ask.

Abbie has two guys chasing after her. One is the right guy and one is Mr. Right Now.

She shakes her head. “Well, obviously, I like Mr. Right.” She pauses as she pants. “But with all this ovulation going on, I’m as horny as hell.” She pants.

I frown.

“I don’t know, I kind of just want to bang Mr. Right Now, you know?”

I wipe my face with the towel again. “Wait a minute… you’re ovulating?” I ask as I power up the stairs.

“Yeah.”

I frown. “When was your last period?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know, like two weeks, ten days ago. I don’t know, you’re the same as me. We’re cycling, remember? When was your last period?”

I frown as I continue to climb. “I don’t know.” I pant as I think. “I don’t think I’ve had a period since I’ve been with Ben.”

She scowls. “What?”

My eyes widen in horror.

“Fucking hell. Think!” she snaps.

I continue to climb as I mentally go over the last few weeks. When was the last period I had? “At the wedding… when I was with Eric.”

“Did you have sex with Eric after that?” she asks.

I shake my head. “No.” I push the stop button on the stair machine as I pant.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Get off that thing,” I tell her. “We’re going to the pharmacy. Right now.”

Abbie sits on the side bathtub, reading the instructions. “It says here that if you have a line appear in the second window, it’s a positive reading.”

“Right. So, where do I pee?” I ask.

“Remove the cap from the stick,” she continues reading.

I do as she says.

“And you pee on that bit sticking out.”

“Oh, right.” I pull down my tights, sit down onto the toilet, and begin to pee on the stick. “Fucking hell, I’m getting it everywhere. My vagina’s like a sprinkler,” I murmur.

She giggles and holds her hand out for it. I pass it over and she pulls a disgusted face, holding it between her fingertips.

I wipe, pull my tights up, and wash my hands.

Her eyes widen.

“What?” I frown.

She hands me the stick. “You’re pregnant, girlfriend. Up the fucking duff.”