Connor’s mother hugged him tight. She smelled of that familiar blend of vanilla extract and fabric softener. “Bye, baby,” she said. She held him out at arm’s length as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

“Mom, don’t be sentimental,” he said. “You act like I’m leaving forever. I’m thirty years old and have been on five deployments, and you’re sad that I’m going to my fiancée’s place?”

“You’ll always be my baby boy, no matter what. And I’m sure your dad and Sean will be upset that you’re moving out, too.”

“Right, heartbroken,” he said.

In his Mercedes-Benz, he revved up the engine and waved to his mom. She looked more like their housekeeper standing out front of the Georgian mansion, dwarfed by the soaring pillars. He angled the car out of the curving McLean neighborhood, and tried to shake off the dread that came from living with his parents and Sean again. All three are miserable in their own ways, he thought. Thank God I’m out of there.

Connor couldn’t forget how many glasses of whiskey Sean had knocked back during his homecoming dinner out. “Think you ought to slow down, bud?” he’d asked him. Sean had given him a hateful look he’d never seen before.

“What, you’re a SEAL for eight years, and suddenly you think you’re in charge of everyone?” Sean had asked.

“Connor, don’t be a prick to your brother,” his father had said without even lowering the menu. “Some of us are trying to enjoy a nice meal out. Oh, can you tell me where your halibut is sourced? It’s not frozen, is it?” his father had asked the waiter, who’d scrambled to satiate him.

His mom had done nothing but stare at her lap. When did she get so depressed? She’d always been emotional, but he thought returning from deployment would give her some sense of happiness.

He sighed as he turned a corner. A cyclist suddenly appeared, nowhere near the bike lane. “Jesus!” he yelled, and swerved into the suicide lane.

“Watch it, dick!” the cyclist shouted over his shoulder, speeding off down the hill in his padded red spandex.

Connor gripped the wheel, closed his eyes and counted backward from ten. That’s not an insurgent. That’s not an insurgent. That’s just an asshole, he repeated to himself. He maneuvered the car back into the lane, and his heart pounded. For just a moment, as that flash of red had shot out in front of him, he’d reached for the gun in his ankle holster. Maybe the therapist was right. Maybe you do need to stop being armed.

But he couldn’t help but see flashes of the war all around him. Last week he’d passed by a group of kids as they waited for their bus, and suddenly thought they were beggar children clawing at his coat. Just yesterday, the cashier at Capitol Supermarket looked exactly like the civilian in Kunduz who’d screwed him over for less than a dollar.

They were still everywhere.

Connor’s phone rang, his father’s name lighting up on the control panel. He pushed the talk button and the domineering voice filled the car. “Connor? Are you planning on coming into the office to finish up the paperwork today?” It was his annoyed tone, which came right before his raging lunatic tone.

Fuck. The papers. “Yeah, I’ll be there this afternoon,” he said. “I just need to stop by Sandra’s for a minute.”

His father sighed heavily into the phone. “I don’t understand what you see in that girl. She’s not quite up to par with what we expect of you.”

“You haven’t even met her,” Connor countered, though he knew he was opening a can of worms.

“Met her? I don’t need to meet her. Is she a member at Rolling Meadows? What does her father do—assuming she knows who he is? Where was her debutante gala held? You can’t answer a damn one of those questions because she’s nothing.”

Connor sucked in his breath and gritted his teeth. His dad wouldn’t get the best of him, not this time. “I’ll be there before five,” he said.

“You bet your ass you will. Connor, I don’t understand,” his father said. “I did all the work for you. All of it. Do you think becoming CEO of the country’s biggest security firm was easy? And all you have to do is waltz in here, sign your name, and you’re the COO of the company. You’re basically heir to the throne, and you’re pissing it all away on some piece of tail that doesn’t mean shit.”

“I said I’ll be there before five,” he said.

“Oh, I know you will. Because I’m sure Sharon is just bursting at the seams to tie the knot with her meal ticket.”

“It’s Sandra,” he said, curtly.

“You just make one bang-up mistake after another, don’t you? First the SEALs, now her,” his father said with a deep sigh. “Although, you can’t really compare the two. The SEALs worked out for you, but that was sheer luck. You won’t be so fortunate this time around.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Connor said. He looked at the black screen of his phone. “I’m getting a call, I need to take this.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s wildly important. Don’t be late,” his father warned.

Connor’s knuckles didn’t return to normal from their blazing white color until he was safely parked at Sandra’s condo. He jogged up the stairs, foregoing the elevator. At least someone will be truly happy to see me, he thought.

As he walked down the familiar hall, he pulled out the spare key Sandra had given him when he’d returned. “My place is yours,” she’d told him with a smile. He debated where to take her for a surprise lunch. Luke’s Lobster Penn Quarter, or maybe Bub and Pop’s? He loved that she didn’t need to be constantly wined and dined, unimpressed by his family’s money.

When Connor walked into her condo, he froze at the door. A large man with skin the color of obsidian stood in the living room holding his shirt up to display perfectly carved abs. The man’s trousers were at his ankles. Sandra was on her knees, going to town on the man’s cock. Her red nails dug into the man’s thighs.

“What the fuck?” he said, involuntarily taking a couple of steps back.

“Jesus,” Sandra said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “What are you doing here—”

“Who the fuck is this?” the man asked, yanking up his pants.

“Who am I? I’m her fucking fiancé,” Connor said.

The man’s eyes grew wide. “I’m out of here,” he told both of them. As he squeezed by Connor in the hallway, he got a whiff of sex and L’Homme Ultime. By the time he turned back to Sandra, she’d already turned on the waterworks.

“Oh no,” he said. “Don’t you go turning this around—”

“Turning this around?” she said, tears gushing down her cheeks. She choked, struggling to find her words. “How can you say that? You can’t even give me a chance to… to…”

“To what?” he asked. “Finish him off? Swallow? What are you trying to say, Sandra?” He leaned against the console table and hung his head. But when he closed his eyes, all he saw was Sandra once again on her knees.

“You’re such a jerk!” she shouted while snot bubbled at her nose. “You only like me for my looks, you’re always getting inappropriate with me, and now you’re trying to make it sound like—”

“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked as he looked at her pointedly. The anger bubbled inside him and threatened to spill out. Calm. Stay calm.

“You barely know anything about me!” she yelled. “It’s not exactly cheating when you know the other person only wants you to be a nice little military wife.”

“What the fuck is your problem?” Connor asked quietly. The rage burned deep inside. “I come here and find you blowing some guy, and suddenly it’s my fault? You’re a real piece of work, you know that? My father was right about you.”

Connor couldn’t stop the words from coming. He hated himself, hated his father, and hated Sandra for doing this.

“What did you just say?” she asked, grabbing onto his arm. He looked down at those blood red nails and saw them digging into the man’s muscled thighs once more.

“Take your hands off me,” he said as he turned to leave.

“Connor! What about us?”

He turned as a mean laugh tore out of him. “Us? That would imply there was something going on between you and me. Which there isn’t, as of thirty seconds ago. We’re done.”

“Wait,” Sandra said. She shifted her weight from side to side. “What about… what about the ring?”

He glanced down at her left hand and saw it was bare. Of course. “Keep it,” he said. “I can buy all the rings Tiffany’s can make, but I can’t buy loyalty.” He wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw her smile.

Connor raced down to his car, slid into the driver’s seat and let his forehead rest on the steering wheel. What the hell am I supposed to do now? He couldn’t get the image of Sandra working that guy’s cock out of his head. Is it going to become part of the reel now? The nightmare movie that plays nonstop in my head?

He couldn’t believe his father had been right. And what was he going to tell them? Already, the wedding preparations were in full swing. They’d booked the venue, the catering, and ordered the cake and flowers. Suddenly, Connor realized that he was the one who had put down the deposits on everything. Sandra had been playing him all along.

You’re a fool, he told himself as he started up the car. He didn’t know where he was going, but when he found himself en route to his father’s company, he wasn’t surprised.

Just like a kid, he thought. Running back to mommy and daddy the minute things get tough. At least his father would be pleased that he got to the office early.

As Connor walked through security, the female employees overtly sized him up. “Hi, Connor,” one of the front desk girls said shyly. She bit her lip and turned bright red when he returned the greeting.

“Connor!” his father’s receptionist said. She was a whip-smart woman in her fifties. “I wasn’t expecting you until later this afternoon.”

“Is my father here?” he asked.

“Not at the moment, I’m afraid,” she said. “He had a lunch appointment. Did you need to see him, or is there something I can help you with?”

Connor looked at his father’s closed door and sighed. “No, it’s fine,” he said. “I’m just here for the paperwork.”

“Excellent,” she said. “You know, your father is so happy that you’ll be joining the company. Likes to ‘keep it in the family,’ he says. And I’m sure all the young ladies around here are pleased with the decision, too,” she said in a low voice, giving him a wink.

Yeah. That’s exactly what I need, he thought as he scribbled his life away.