His thoughts drifted to this morning’s national news. The army and MI6’s training facilities were underwater, a terrible spot of trouble, to be sure. With the operative field training programs at a standstill, the Home Office would likely send SIS’s special agents elsewhere for their exercises.

Pulling to a stop beside the base’s guard station, Harry flashed his military identification. The guard saluted and motioned him forward. Harry rolled through the entrance, taking the narrow drive toward the first low, white bungalow.

A frown formed between his brows. If he detested one thing above all others, it was a traitor. He needed to catch the arms smuggler quickly, before thousands more died at the hands of General Nheshal’s men.

Not until this mission had Harry’s own domestic situation struck home. His father’s health scare had awakened him to how much his parents had aged. Though they loved having Sammy at the priory, childminding a boy with such high spirits had taken its toll. If Harry continued in his current high-risk profession and didn’t return from a mission, what would happen to Sammy? Mum and Dad were getting up in years, and Vanessa had released her rights to Sammy when she’d left for Ibiza. Harry parked in front of the base offices and set the brake. The wind lashed the vehicle and doused it with rain. Sammy was his responsibility; he couldn’t keep shuttling him off to others. That was no life for a child.

But he loved his country. His career mattered to him. He loved everything about it: the mental stimulation, the thrill of the chase, the adrenaline rush—even the lure of danger and the physical strain. He loved it all. He couldn’t give it up. His job defined who he was; he’d be miserable without it.

Throwing on his rain gear, he bolted for the entrance, his focus shifting to the mission at hand. A traitor had entered the Glenkinnon base, and Harry had every intention of catching whomever it was—no matter what.

Chapter 19

Anticipation hummed inside Harry as he glanced at the festively lit castle from the front seat of his 4x4. A long red-carpet runner descended the castle steps, and white fairy lights covered every conceivable tree and bush on the formal grounds.

“Wow,” Sammy said, blinking with large, rounded eyes.

“I agree,” Harry said, unabashedly staring. “Roxbury certainly knows how to throw a party.”

Déjà vu stirred inside him. Tonight was his first official date with Elise since their disastrous breakup. And yet, here they were again, back at Torwoodlee Castle a decade later—once more at her instigation.

This time around, he had no intention of letting her off easy. Harry had learned much during the ensuing years, about himself and life in general, and had become a firm believer that a man could carve out his own destiny with the Lord’s help.