Man, I needed a whiskey. But I couldn’t drink, not now. I had to be one hundred percent sober tonight. The cops had informed me that my kids were at a neighbor’s house. She had agreed to keep them until I arrived. I had to be on my best behavior.

Overdosed? April had fucking overdosed? The bitch didn’t even use at all, at least not when I was with her. I was no saint—I’d partied with the best of them. Hell, I brought the party most nights. Coke, speed, Molly. But never, ever around the kids. I didn’t even drink around them.

And why on earth would she overdose? Had it been on purpose? Because of Paul? She must’ve been fucking him. That motherfucker was lucky he was dead. If I had found out that he had been screwing the mother of my kids, I would’ve killed him myself. Not because I was jealous. Hell, no. That bitch could fuck a terrorist, and I wouldn’t care. But I didn’t want a shady motherfucker like Paul around my kids.

Ashley’s head rested on my shoulder. Her fruity shampoo was like some type of drug for me. I couldn’t recall having ever been this attracted to a woman in my life. I had always had a thing for Mia, mainly because I’d loved how she treated Grant when they first started dating, but Ash was completely different. She was so put-together, so smart, so accomplished. She didn’t need a man. But I wanted her to need me.

Why had she agreed to accompany me to Vegas? I would like to have believed that it was because she was crazy about me, but I wasn’t that conceited. Did she suspect me of Paul’s murder? Did she know something about April and Paul? For once in my life, I didn’t have a clue what the fuck was going on. All I knew was that I was grateful I had this beautiful woman by my side to get through this mess.

I loved my kids more than anything. But honestly, I barely knew them. I’d been deployed so much. I would definitely need help now that it looked like I’d have a chance to take custody of them, at least temporarily. I knew that Mia and some other Team wives would offer to watch them while I was at work if I could get permission to bring them back to San Diego. But if I had any hope of getting permanent custody of them, I needed to get my act together. Move to a bigger place in a good school district or maybe get base housing. I’d have to figure out the details later. For now, I just wanted to see my kids.

The Vegas lights came into view from my tiny window, and my hands began to shake. I was never nervous—not even when I was about to kill a man. My muscles quivered. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was about to get involved in something bigger than a drug overdose.

The plane touched down, and Ashley sat up straight in her chair.

I checked my phone for texts from April’s family—no improvement. She was still in a medically induced coma. Fuck. I may hate her, but I didn’t want her to die. My kids loved her. They needed their mother.

Ashley placed her hand on my thigh, sending a jolt to my cock. “Any news?”

“Nothing has changed. April is still in a coma.” I paused, unsure if I should tell Ashley about my suspicions. But she was about to investigate every aspect of Paul’s life. Paul was dead, and my ex wasn’t capable of speaking. I had to know the truth. “She called me today. Completely upset.”

Ashley’s eyebrow cocked. “Oh, really? Why? She’s friends with Dara, right?”

“Yeah. Best friends. But April kept asking if I knew what happened to Paul. I’m not going to lie. My first thought was that she was fucking him.”

Ash’s mouth flew open and then quickly closed. “Why did you think that? You knew Paul. You all used to hang out together with your wives. Did you ever see him flirting with your wife?”

I shot her a cold stare. “Ex-wife. And no, at the time, I never thought they were involved. But April has always been a flirt. She was always trying to make me jealous.”

Before Ashley could interrogate me more, we disembarked from the plane. A limo picked us up to take us to my kids.

Ashley leaned in closer to me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, and she didn’t flinch at my touch. “Can I ask you why you got a divorce?”

Fuck. I had walked into this line of questioning. But I wanted Ashley to know. If I had any shot with her, I had to tell her the truth.

“We were young, had kids when we were kids ourselves. Being a SEAL certainly didn’t help. But I’m not going to blame the demise of the marriage on April. Hell, no. I’d fucked up, too. Yes, she cheated on me during my first deployment. I never forgave her, even though I tried. But then I cheated out of revenge. Once we started fighting all the time in front of the kids, I knew we had to end it. I was raised in a fucked-up household. I wasn’t going to do that to my kids.” I kept my next thought to myself. While I didn’t regret divorcing April, I sometimes thought that enduring all the drama would’ve been worth it because at least I would be able to see my kids every day that I was in-country.

Ashley gave me a sympathetic nod. I wondered if she had immediately dismissed any chance of dating me now that I’d confessed to cheating on my ex. A woman like her wouldn’t want to waste her time on a divorced single dad SEAL. These days, women used me as much as I used them. I was nothing but a good time.

But I craved something deeper.

We were stuck in traffic, and I counted down the minutes until I could hug my kids again. My mind started churning, making a list of things I had to do. But Ashley interrupted my thoughts and cuddled closer to me and hugged me.

I hugged her back, pressing her tight little body against mine. After a minute, she pulled away.

“What was that for?”

She smiled and squeezed my hand. “Even a big, badass Navy SEAL sometimes needs a hug.”

The driver finally pulled up to the house across the street from April’s. I raced out of the car, not even waiting for Ashley, but she quickly followed. I was getting ready to knock when the door flew open.

Sienna leaped into my arms with Samuel right behind her. I clung to my flesh and blood as if I were coming back from a long deployment. I’d missed them so fucking much that I vowed to turn my life around. Become the father they needed. April was clearly a mess right now. They needed a stable parent, and I was the only one available for the job.

“Daddy! I can’t believe you’re here! I begged Mommy to let me come visit you, but she said no.” Then she hugged her teddy bear. “Is she going to be okay? Is she sick?”

I didn’t want to lie to her. I had no idea. “I don’t know, Princess. I hope she will be okay. Mommy loves you very much. I’m going to stay here with you guys until she’s better.”

Sam threw his arms around me. “I love you, Daddy. Sienna said you were coming, but I didn’t believe her. I told her that you were too busy killing bad guys.”

A lump grew in my throat. My boy was proud of his old man. But I needed to be his hero, not only by fighting bad guys but also by protecting him. “Well, buddy. I’m here now.”

I stood up and thanked the neighbor who had watched them.

“It was no problem,” she said. “They are good kids. I hope April is okay.”

Ashley narrowed in on the lady. “Excuse me, may I ask you a few questions? My name is Ashley Pierce. I’m NCIS. Did you happen to see this man near this house anytime recently?” She reached into her purse and flashed a picture of Paul.

Oh, hell no. My fucking cock had blinded me again. It had been a huge mistake to bring Ashley here. I didn’t give a fuck about Paul right now, or my ex-wife. I needed to get my kids to bed and make them feel safe. I would not let Ashley turn my reunion into an investigation.

Before I could grab her wrist, Sienna spoke up. “Oh, Mr. Paul? He was here just last weekend. He brought me a present.”

What. The. Fuck.

Ashley crouched down in front of my daughter. “What kind of present?”

I pulled Ash to her feet and whispered in her ear. “Knock it off, woman. What the fuck do you think you are doing? My kids have gone through enough tonight. Their mom is in the hospital. Drop it, now, or I’ll send you back to the airport in this limo.”

Ashley’s eyes met mine with a stare that I had normally only seen in fellow SEALs. But she didn’t challenge me. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s get a good night’s sleep.”

We said goodbye to the neighbor. “Okay, guys. I got us a room at a hotel nearby. Let’s gather your stuff. It’s really late now.”

My son’s lip quivered.

I picked him up. “What’s wrong?”

“What about Taco and Snowball?”

Fuck. Their pets. “They will be fine. We can come back and check on them tomorrow.”

Sienna shook her head. “No. We’re not going without them. Why can’t we stay in our house? I’m tired.”

I did not want to stay in my ex-wife’s house. A house that I had purchased.

“Don’t you want to stay in a hotel?”

Both of my kids shook their heads.

Fuck.

“Okay, tonight only. Let’s go.” We walked across the street and opened the door, which was unlocked. Not that it mattered. I had a key. April and I had fought about that too, but I had insisted. Just in case of an emergency like this.

The kids ran inside and vanished upstairs.

I turned to Ashley. “You are welcome to stay. If you don’t feel comfortable, you can take the limo to the hotel room I booked. Sorry about this.”

“Don’t apologize. I’d like to stay.” She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I placed my hand on the back of her head, pulling her into me. Our lips met, and despite this shitastic day, my heart soared. I wanted to explore her hot little mouth, throw her down on the floor and drown my sorrows in her pussy, fuck her until I could forget the pain that was my life.

But my kids could interrupt us any second. I forced myself to pull away from her lips. I just held her body tightly against mine.

She was right. Sometimes even a SEAL needed a hug.