Even outside the door of the two-bedroom condo on the top corner of Paragon Park Towers, he knew she’d just stepped out of the shower. For a moment, he let his mouth part, drawing the air across his forked tongue—then he smiled.

Mandarin oranges. Cedar. Rosemary.

Even through the chaos of that night at the racetrack in Port Hedland, he’d cataloged it, filed it away without thinking. She’d gone back to Nivea Soft when she first got here—familiar, practical—but with APEX’s help, it hadn’t taken long.

Amelia had said she and Olivia had just gotten back into town the night before, visiting her parents. That tracked. The scent had been muted then, layered over with the clean, commercial note of the lotion—the same one she’d used back when she was in the Army.

I’d ordered a case about three months after we moved in together on base—sixty days or so after Titan X. Now I kept a couple in my office at the Paragon Center, swapping one out before she ever had to say anything.

She followed the same ritual she always had. Which meant right now she was working it in—had been for a few minutes.

Olivia was with Mum at her apartment. In an hour, she had training with Brant—now at the Paragon Center, after Martial Law took the base. After the terror I felt when he took her, and then all the mistakes I made after that, which led to the island, Olympus, and the revelation with . . . Shawna.

I shook my head once, clearing it, then eased the door open and moved down the hall without a sound.

“You think I can’t hear old snakes when they’re stalking?”

The laughter in her voice carried from the open bedroom—barely hidden.

I’d been right. She was working the lotion into her skin. Hard to miss. The old dagger tattoo on her inner thigh was visible—nothing else in the way.

---

A couple hours later, she rested in my arms. I knew she wanted to try again. One child would be amazing. Deep down, I wanted more—but I knew what she needed first.. I wanted to ask, but there were still too many… complications. I needed at least some of them settled. Needed to be sure I was… who I actually was.

I nibbled at her ear. That always did it—pulled a laugh out of her, almost a giggle, even now.

“I have an idea,” I murmured. “Well… more than that, actually.”

“You’re being mysterious.”

“Reckon so.” I paused. “You remember that trip we took about a year after we met? You were on temporary assignment with 3rd Brigade at Lavarack—evaluating their medics in some training rotation. You’d been there three months. I’d just gotten back from my first deployment in Iraq as a commando squad leader. We took a week, drove around Port Douglas, up into the Daintree.”

I let the memory settle a second.

“Did it cheap. I was still paying for Bridgette’s university. We were saving for that bungalow—for after we got married. The one we bought before… well. You know.”

She smiled and shifted back into me.

“Yes,” she murmured. “The longest vacation we ever took. So what’s your idea?”

“Sergeant Cordena—she’s always going on about the province she grew up in, in Costa Rica. The way she talks about it… not the Daintree, but it’s close in the right ways. And now—we’ve got the money we didn’t back then.”

She turned her head, looking up at me.

“You want an adventure like we had back in the day?”

“Not exactly.” I smiled slightly. “Not exactly. Not sure certain old soldiers need that sort of workout.”

Her elbow found my ribs.

“Thought so,” I said, adjusting. “Anyway—nice villas, secluded spots, small waterfalls, pools. Proper pools. Air-conditioned jeeps if we feel like getting out.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

“Good. We leave tomorrow afternoon. Already handled it. Mum’s staying here with Livy. Brant keeps her training schedule normal. Mum’ll probably take her hiking a few days too.”

She exhaled, then shifted like she might sit up.

“Guess I should get up and pack. Livy’ll be back soon.”

“Or…” I said, tightening my arm slightly, “we stay right here, make out, and let Livy walk in. Leave the door open.”

I chuckled.