If she doesn’t want to leave, you’re going to have to drag her out, kicking and screaming.

Austin thought it with every step as he hiked up the mountain to Longwood Ranch. If he’d learned anything during his weeks with Cassidy Lane, it was that woman had a skull even thicker than his own, and damn the person who tried to argue with her.

He could only hope once she learned about the press pass and the necklace, she’d understand her friend was gone and she herself was in danger, but somehow he imagined she wouldn’t concede a damn thing without a body and a coroner to pronounce Julianne dead beyond saving.

Maybe she’d grown up by now and wasn’t so damn stubborn. He imagined she’d throw her arms around him and thank him for coming to his rescue.

He scoffed out loud.

He had drugs in his pack he could use to knock Cassidy out if necessary. He’d probably have to carry her down the whole damn mountain against her will, but he’d be lying if he said the task didn’t sound more than a little like fun.

Even if she wouldn’t fight for me.

The old resentment bubbled up through layers of forgotten memories. Since Cassidy’s parents came to visit HERO Force, he’d been swimming in the moments he’d shared with their daughter, from the most intense lovemaking to the final argument that had ended it all.

Austin spit on the ground and climbed up a small cliff. He wasn’t a dreamer and he never expected she’d come back into his life. But he was on a journey to bring her to safety, and with every step he secured that destiny as surely as if he were flying cross-country to meet her.

Again.

He’d been such a fool. A one-night stand had turned into a weekend, a weekend into seventeen days of the most intense lust and most comfortable lounging in bed together he’d experienced to this day.

He’d been on leave from the SEALs. She’d been on break from college. Neither of them had anything to do beyond strip naked and fuck until their bodies were nearly raw from the friction and his soul sated beyond belief.

Austin had found something in Cassidy he’d never found in another woman before or since. A true partner, a lover and a confidant.

Then all hell had broken loose.

He thought of her father sitting across the HERO Force conference table, still looking regal despite the years that had collected at his feet since Austin had seen him last. The only time he’d seen Senator Keaton Lane even remotely weary was when he stumbled upon his daughter riding Austin on the diving board of the family pool like a jockey in the last stretch at the Kentucky Derby.

It’ll be okay, I promise.

But it wasn’t okay. Not that day when he got dressed and shook her father’s hand, and not a week later when he flew in before going wheels up with SEAL Team Fourteen just to tell her he loved her.

It would never be okay again.

She let him go, just like that. As if none of it meant anything to her.

We’re from different worlds, Austin. I know you understand.

He understood, all right. He understood her father was calling the shots and Cassidy was letting him. She was a fighter—that much was clear—but she’d chosen not to fight for the guy a dozen spots beneath her on the social totem pole.

It was going to be a pleasure to pull her out of that compound, even against her will. To make her do what was best for her even if she didn’t want it. The fact that all of this was at her father’s bidding was just the icing on the cake, karma come full circle to bite Cassidy on the ass.

He frowned at the direction his thoughts had taken.

So much for being over her.

He stopped walking and checked his compass, then continued, slightly adjusting his course. It was beginning to get dark and he needed to setup camp near Longwood Ranch before he stopped moving for the night.

He looked around him. How the hell did they get people in and out of this place, much less supplies? Air was the only reasonable answer, but that was expensive.

He shed his first layer of clothing, tucking the fabric neatly into his pack and retrieving his canteen, taking a long pull of water before moving again.

From here he could see the mountain rise up before him, its majestic peaks arranged in a jagged sawtooth pattern, which was where they’d gotten their name, the Sawtooth Mountains.

You’re not in Brooklyn anymore.

The first time he’d thought that he’d been trudging through Tel Aviv. Ever since then, whenever he saw or experienced something extraordinary - whether good or bad - those same words ran through his mind.

You’re not in Brooklyn anymore.

That was part of the reason he’d signed up in the first place, the navy seeming like some magical ticket that could transform his life and experiences—hell, even himself—into something beyond brownstones and the same life everyone around him led.

He wanted adventure. He wanted to see things, do things that other people didn’t get to see and do.

He grabbed onto a tree trunk and pulled himself up a steep incline. The brush underfoot had given way to pine needles and dirt, the terrain quickly becoming more rugged.

This was what he lived for now. The ever-changing adventure that constantly surprised him, the scenery unlike anything the old Austin could have dreamed.

He was proud to be military, even if now he was collecting a pension instead of a paycheck. It wasn’t hard to get the time in when you started early enough, and he’d always be a SEAL even without the active duty.

HERO Force seemed like a good fit so far, keeping him interested with a variety of assignments and enough clandestine missions to keep him interested and challenged.

The watchtower came into view before anything else, rising above the forest like the spire of the castle. There was plenty of cover here, and he moved stealthily from tree to tree without difficulty. By the time he approached the less-vegetated area that separated him from the compound, he was ready for the necessary break.

He’d wait until sundown to gain entry to the compound and find Cassidy. And God willing, get her the hell out of there.