Liz felt like she had barely drifted off to sleep when Sutton’s delectable scent invaded her dreams. “Scrummy,” she murmured, “smells so tasty.”

She opened her eyes and saw Sutton sitting on the edge of the bed, staring down at her with a huge smirk on his face. Her face heated up. Had she just said that? Could she claim she was completely out of it and couldn’t be held accountable for such a barmy comment?

Sutton extended a cell phone. “Alexandria,” he said.

Liz scrambled upright and grabbed the phone, ignoring Sutton’s deep chuckle. “Ally?”

“Mum!”

Liz held the phone tightly to her ear, unable to stop the tears that sprang to her eyes. Her girl. “Are you all right?”

Ally giggled. “Never been better. I’m with River.”

“Where?” She sounded so happy.

Sutton shook his head at her.

“River says not to say, but I promise I’m safe. I’m happy, and it’s completely brilliant that you’re with Sutton.”

“Oh, love. I miss you.”

“Me too, Mum.”

“But don’t you worry about me. Go enjoy your honeymoon.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll have a jolly good time!” She giggled again.

Liz smiled. Ally had always been a pleasant child, despite who her father was, but she’d never acted this silly and happy. “Tell River thank you. He didn’t need to rescue me as well.”

“I wouldn’t have left without you being safe, Mum. Besides, it wasn’t all River. Sutton was very involved. He’s pretty hunky, eh, Mum?”

Liz glanced quickly at Sutton who was grinning at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Love you.”

“Love you too! See you soon!”

The call disconnected. Liz shifted on the bed and avoided looking at Sutton. The sun had set while she’d been sleeping. She picked at the pink fitted tunic she wore over patterned navy and white tights. Agatha’s taste in clothing did not reflect what Liz normally wore, but it was fun and comfortable.

“We’re leaving soon?” She finally settled on asking.

“Yes. Of course, Agatha has to feed everyone before they go their separate ways.”

Liz let herself look at him. He looked so good. He’d taken off his suit coat and tie but was still wearing a white button-down shirt. Unfortunately, the top few buttons were undone, and she couldn’t help but notice the magnificent muscles in his chest. He was sitting so close to her on the bed she fantasized about reaching out and touching those muscles. Just a simple touch. Would that be out of line?

“Are we going it alone?” she asked, instead of acting on her irrational impulses.

He shook his head shortly. “Don’t worry. I won’t underestimate the duke or treat you like an ankle biter.” He gave her a brief smile. “You’ll be fully protected at all times.”

He stood and offered his hand. Liz placed her palm in his, feeling the zing straight down to her toes. Sutton’s quick intake of breath told her he wasn’t unaffected by the connection either.

She stood and quickly pulled her hand free. “Do you have a bag I can pack up the extra clothing and toiletries in?”

Sutton gave a short laugh. “Don’t worry about those. Agatha has plenty of everything for you on the yacht. You’ll be very comfortable.”

He turned and gestured for her to walk in front of him. Always the gentleman. Liz let out a sigh. If only she was comfortable with him like she used to be. If only she could tell him why she’d married the duke. But why couldn’t she? Sutton was here now, and if she dared believe him, she was far from James’ reach. Maybe she could finally admit the truth. It might be painful for him because he’d been discharged, but if not for her, he’d be serving prison time. Yet would he think she was bragging or even believe any of it after all these years?

She walked stiffly down the stairs in front of him, vowing to herself she’d at least try to tell him truth. Who knew how much time they would have together? If it was possible for him to understand and grow to care for her again, she’d swallow all her pride and tell him anything.

* * *

All of Sutton’s SEALs were in fine form during dinner. And why shouldn’t they be happy? The mission had been completely successful. River was off with the love of his life, and these men deserved a great meal and a chance to relax for a few minutes. Cannon had driven up to some big awards ceremony for his new girlfriend, but the rest of the core of the Warrior Project were here—Zane, Corbin, Blayze, and Steve. Steve hadn’t been part of Team 7 but he was a SEAL through and through, and Sutton trusted him. He noticed the rest of the team had moved past their issues with Corbin, and he seemed less defensive than he had been a year ago. Sutton cared for the boy deeply. Many of the other SEALs on Team 7 blamed Corbin for Doug’s death, but Sutton was long past those feelings. Doug had sacrificed himself for his friends, none of them should carry any guilt or grudges over it.

“If you boys weren’t so handsome and gracious, I’d make you do dishes,” Agatha said as they finally slowed in their ravenous eating and thanked her profusely.

“Since I’m the only handsome one, and you are the most fabulous and beautiful cook, I know, you wouldn’t make me do dishes.” Blayze winked at Agatha.

Sutton had to smile as his long-time friend blushed so red her hair looked even whiter.

“Oh, you, stop with the flattery.” Agatha pushed a hand at him. “Okay, never mind, I love it.” She turned to Liz who had eaten very little and had mostly studied the group throughout dinner. She didn’t appear to think they were nuts, which they sort of were, but she looked very out of place. “What do I do with this handsome crew?” Agatha asked.

“Feeding them seems to work pretty well.” Liz smiled.

The men laughed and cheered.

“Noshing up is definitely their language,” Sutton said.

Zane turned to Blayze and made a formal face. “Nosh, nosh, old chap.”

“Cheerio, mate,” replied Blayze. “I believe you mean pish posh.”

“Oh no” Sutton groaned, quickly realizing his mistake in using a British term. “We have company, men. Behave yourselves.”

Steve said, “Codswallop, chums. Us lot are a bunch of cheeky bums, aren’t we now?” He was the only one who could pull off the accent, but Sutton could never stop any of them when they got like this.

He glanced at Liz and saw her smiling widely at their ridiculous antics, so he bit his tongue and tried not to glare too sternly.

“Er,” said Corbin, standing and pumping his arms like he was marching exaggeratedly in place. In a horrible British accent, he said, “Why don’t’cha come to my flat, mates. We can ride the lift. And eat chips and crisps and biscuits.”

Liz started laughing out loud and holding her stomach. Sutton actually had to focus to keep a smile off his face. Agatha, or Agather as Cannon liked to call her, was standing in the kitchen eyeing them disapprovingly.

It was back around to Zane. He stood and said, “Bob’s your uncle, mates. Look at me, I’m queuing.”

Sutton shook his head, wondering how much time they spent researching British words on the internet for opportunities like this.

The other three jumped out of their seats and queued behind him. Corbin said, “Er, what are we queuing for? Is the queen coming? Is there a football match?”

“Fútbol!” they screamed in unison. “Olé! Olé, olé, olé!”

Zane started running around the room with his hands in the air, his ridiculous long hair trailing behind him shouting. “Gooooaaaaaaaal!”

Sutton didn’t mention the fact that the act had somehow detoured to a Spanish-speaking country. He wanted to go hide until they stopped making fools of themselves and him. Liz, for some reason, was laughing so hard she was doubled over, holding her gut. Sutton couldn’t help himself and started laughing along.

The rest of the SEALs were running after Zane, who had his shirt off by now. He veered into the great room, and did a knee-slide all the way across the carpet. The rest of the team piled on top of him in celebration.

By the time they came back to the table, carrying Zane on their shoulders, Liz had herself mostly under control, but she was still wiping tears from her eyes.

“Thanks for giving me a proper laugh, mates.”

They put their champion down in front of her, and he made a little bow.

“I haven’t laughed like that for ages.”

Something in the way she said that ripped at Sutton. How miserable had she been with Gunthry? Sutton would’ve thought her being miserable without him was poetic justice, except he cared for her too much to want her unhappy.

“We live to serve,” said Zane, finally tugging his shirt back on.

Liz glanced over at Sutton, talking to him now as well as the guys. “I also need to thank all of you for risking your lives for Ally. I will be eternally grateful.”

Suddenly, the robust group was studying their hands or the dark windows or the mahogany flooring.

“Of course, ma’am,” Corbin said graciously.

“Happy to serve,” Blayze said.

Zane and Steve nodded, looking as uncomfortable as the others.

Sutton chuckled, enjoying himself especially now. “They can take bullets and grenades thrown at them, but see how you disarm them with one simple compliment?”

Zane cleared his throat. “Well, these dishes won’t do themselves.” He started stacking plates.

“Oh, leave them,” Agatha said. “The cleaning service will come by in a few days and cuss us right good when they see the mess.” She laughed.

Sutton smiled. Agatha had gotten better and better at leaving messes for the cleaning service to take care of. They only came in three times a week, but they did a nice job with the mansion, and he’d been happy they’d been there this morning before he arrived with Liz. It didn’t hurt for her to see how successful he was and how perfect his home was.

Sutton had their undivided attention, so he addressed the group. “No one outside of this room knows our destination tonight. The Airbus is flying to Oregon and then on to British Columbia to throw off anyone watching closely. Everyone’s clear on their assignments?” he asked, slowly scanning each man.

They each nodded in turn. River had a team of Sutton’s private security guys watching over him and Ally in Hawaii. Blayze and Steve would be accompanying Sutton, Liz, and Agatha. The local security he employed from Puerto Rico were already at his house on the small island of Vieques. Manuel, his head of security there, had cleared his home, and he was setting up additional security measures as well. Sutton was having Corbin and Zane work together with Kingsley and Barry to help with the plan to take down the duke. Besides Sutton himself, only those four knew about that phase of the plan. Zane would remain stateside while Corbin and a dozen of Sutton’s private security team flew directly to England to liaise with Kingsley. Sutton would join them in a few days for an audience with the House of Lords, but only after he got Liz and Agatha settled in Puerto Rico and everything was in place from his end.

Zane asked, “Can Gunthry track you down through the property in Vieques?”

“No,” said Sutton. “It’s owned by a shadow corporation. I guess my paranoia all those years ago will pay off.”

Liz stood and said, “Excuse me. I’m going to get a bit of fresh air.”

Sutton wondered if being around all the now-serious soldiers made her nervous.

The guys weren’t done having fun. “Cheerio,” said Zane.

“Ta,” said Steve.

“Er, cheers.” Corbin added.

Blayze looked around and said, “Hey, you guys used them all.”

“Ta,” said Liz, clearly amused. Sutton loved seeing her lovely smile, but he didn’t like her being outside by herself, even with his security team, cameras, and dogs monitoring the property. Or maybe he just wanted to be alone with her.

He didn’t second guess the situation. He just stood and murmured, “Cheers.” He ignored the speculative glances that Zane shot to Blayze as he followed Liz out the side door like a puppy on a chain.