I piled the kids, the pets, and Ashley into my ex’s minivan. Make that my minivan. It was still in my name, but April used it since she had the kids. Not anymore. I was done playing games with her. And I hoped that if things progressed with Ashley the way I wanted them to, I would be able to create a stable home with her for my kids.

Stable. Ha. What a joke. I was a motherfucking SEAL—the exact opposite of stable. But I craved that normalcy. My job was so erratic, deploying all around the world, killing terrorists, I wanted to come home to peace. All I wanted was a hot woman to fuck, someone who loved me and was faithful when I was gone. And though I had been scared to become a father at such a young age, I adored my kids. They were my reason for living, my reason for making it through war, the reason I came home. And I’d love to have a few more.

I popped a Disney movie into the player and prepared for the long drive to San Diego. I would drop the pets off at Grant’s place so he could watch them, then head up to Anaheim. We made a quick pit stop at the gas station to fill up and grab some snacks before leaving Las Vegas. Road trip, baby.

Ashley pressed her body against the passenger side door, and she stared out the window. Maybe I was paranoid, but I felt like she was trying to get as far away from me as possible. I reached out and gripped her thigh.

“You okay?”

“Yup. Just tired.”

Tired? Not likely. Yeah, I’d fucked her all night, but I had also let her sleep late. She was pulling back from me. Maybe I was overwhelming her with my kids. But I didn’t go slow, not at work and not in my personal life. I was one hundred percent, full-on into her.

“Well, take a nap. We’ll be there in five hours.”

She didn’t respond and instead curled up in a ball away from me. Man, I would never understand women. She had been totally into me last night. Even though I had kissed her, I’d had no intention of seducing her after I’d first said good night. Not that I hadn’t wanted to—I’d had every plan to get her in bed when we were still on our date in San Diego. But once I’d had to go to Las Vegas and she’d asked to come with me, I hadn’t wanted to make her uncomfortable. I had cherished our goodnight kiss and thought that would be that until we got back to San Diego. But she had been the one to open the door, wearing nothing but her lingerie and heels. Like hell was I going to resist her, not after I had wanted her for so long.

I cranked up the rock music in the car, grateful that the kids had their headphones for their movies.

I still needed to figure out if Paul was fucking April. And was I a sick fuck for being angry that April seemed more upset that Paul had died than she had when we had broken up? Probably.

I hoped, for my kids’ sake, she pulled through.

Five hours later, we were back in San Diego. I dropped the pets off at Grant’s place and noted that Ashley didn’t get out of the car to greet Mia. I assumed Ashley still hated her guts. Well, she would have to get over it if we started dating. Grant was my best friend in the world and Mia was his wife. And I knew Mia was innocent.

I stopped by my place to get some clothes, swung by Ashley’s so she could pick up her things, and we headed up to Anaheim, with a pit stop at the drive-thru for the kids. It had been a long day, but my kids were so excited to go to Disneyland tomorrow that they didn’t complain. And I was just thrilled to be able to spend this much time with them.

We finally arrived at The Grand Californian Hotel and Spa. It was gorgeous—reminded me of the Ahwahnee in Yosemite, with its rustic feel and craftsman theme. I had reserved a suite—I didn’t make much money as a SEAL but everything I had, I spent on my kids. They were exhausted, so they quickly went to sleep, eager to wake up bright and early so we could hit Magic Mountain.

After I put them down, I started a fire in the fireplace in the suite and sat next to Ashley. She was dressed casually in a red shirt and cutoffs. Without her business suit, she didn’t look like a badass NCIS agent. She could’ve been just another sexy Southern California blonde, but she was so much more than her looks.

Her gaze focused on the gigantic carousel wheel in the distance, and I could tell she wanted to be anywhere but here, with anyone but me.

But I didn’t give up that easily.

“What’s wrong, babe? Hate Mickey Mouse?”

“No, that’s not it. I actually have never been to Disneyland.”

“What? You’ve never been to Disneyland? You live less than two hours away.”

She sighed. “Yeah, I know. Never went as a kid and never had anyone ask me to go as an adult. I don’t know. It seemed frivolous to go alone.”

“It’s anything but frivolous. I’m here for my kids, but I love it, too. They are building a Star Wars Land, too. I guess I’m just a big kid at heart. We’re going to have a great time.”

My last line caused her to smile, and she finally turned toward me. “You surprise me, Mitch. I couldn’t stand you when I met you. I thought you were a misogynistic asshole.”

“Misogynist? No. I love women. Love them. I was just bitter last year. But what about you? I mean Autumn was the life of the party. I know she’s lurking in you somewhere. Let Autumn free.”

She shook her head. “Autumn was an act. I can’t turn my mind off. I want to, I do. But I’m obsessed. Consumed. By this case. By the Cruz case. By my sister’s case.”

And there it was. I knew what I needed to do to get her to trust me. But I wasn’t playing a game. I wanted her to fall for me.

I perused the room service menu. It sucked and definitely wouldn’t impress Ashley. So I had an idea. I called down to the Napa Rose restaurant, ordered a nice bottle of wine, artichoke fritters, Hamachi tartare, a filet mignon, steelhead trout, braised greens, and chocolate mousse for dessert. When the waiter finally delivered our food, Ashley’s eyes brightened.

“Mitch, you didn’t have to do this for me.”

“I don’t have to do anything. I wanted to. We never had our date. I told you I’d make it up to you.”

I could immediately see her body relax. “Well, in that case, let me get ready.”

She snuck away to the bathroom. I hoped that she would appear in some sexy lingerie, but she came back with some light makeup on, her hair slightly curled, and a slip dress hugging her curves.

That’s what I’m talking about.

I poured her a glass of wine and wondered for a moment what it would be like to have a woman like Ashley love me.

“Babe, you are so beautiful.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate all this effort. No one has ever pampered me.”

“Ha, if you think this is pampering, you ain’t seen nothing yet. I’ll do anything for you. I mean that.” I paused and looked into her beautiful blue eyes. “Tell me about your sister. What was her name?”

She quickly swallowed her wine, and her face changed from soft and loving to distant and withdrawn. Fuck. I should’ve waited to go there. It was too soon to get the details, and we were finally bonding. I might have just ruined this night.

“You don’t have to tell me. But if you want to talk, I’m a good listener.”

After a few moments of silence, Ashley exhaled and began to speak. “Her name was Brielle. She was the cutest little baby, with huge, bright eyes and the longest lashes. I was so young, I barely remember anything about her, except that I treated her like my very own doll. I was only three when she was taken. She was seven months old.”

Blood boiled in my body. I couldn’t imagine someone taking my little girl. I would tear up this earth to find Sienna. And if anyone ever tried to hurt her, I would fucking kill him with my bare hands. I remembered watching some guy the other day rushing the bailiffs in a courthouse, trying to attack this piece of shit child molester who’d hurt his daughters. Had that been me, no bailiff would’ve been able to hold me back. And that molester would never see the light of day again.

“That’s horrible. There were no leads?”

She shook her head, and her distant look came back. “No, nothing solid at all. Well, nothing we knew about. I scoured the records once I became an agent, but found no leads. It’s a cold case.”

Something felt off to me about that. I didn’t think Ashley was hiding anything from me, but there had to be solid leads in the case. Maybe she wasn’t privy to them because of her connection to the case. But a kidnapping on a Navy base? There had to have been some suspects.

Maybe I could find something out.

“What did your dad do in the Navy? Please don’t say he was a SEAL.”

She shook her head. “No, he was intel. But he did work with SEALs though. He hated them. Just like I do.” She licked her lips, teasing me.

I wrapped my arms around her and threw her down on the sofa. “Is that right? You didn’t seem to hate me last night.”

She writhed under me and looked me straight in the eyes. “It was a hate fuck. And it was incredible.”

I didn’t want her to hate me. I wanted this one amazing woman who was completely out of my league to think that I was a good man, a good father, a good partner. I wanted her to see through my cockiness and make me a better man.

I wanted her to love me.

“I’ll fuck you just the way you like it, baby. Hard and rough. But let’s get one thing clear, Agent Pierce. I don’t hate you. I’m fucking crazy about you. I know this is moving way too fast, but baby, one day you will eat your words. One day, you will fall in love with this Navy SEAL. And I’ll never let you go.”