Davis stopped the truck in front of a modest bungalow style house that was painted in muted earth tones. Carmen studied the well-manicured lawns of the neighborhood and thought about how she had always wanted to live in a similar neighborhood growing up, one where everyone knew each other. Now she was too much of a city girl to enjoy the silence of such a place.

As they reached the porch the door opened suddenly, and Charlie stood before them, smiling broadly as she welcomed them into the house. Carmen looked around her and noted the hardwood floors and marble fire place, all of it looked just as she had expected it to from the outside. What surprised her were the two snoring masses on a bed at the base of the fireplace. She had never heard so much noise coming from a living thing before.

One of the chunky masses lifted its head and looked at them with a groan before falling back to the floor as if that was all the energy it had.  Charlie followed her gaze and smiled lovingly at the two bulldogs. "You'll have to excuse Athena and Ares, they're both old and move as little as possible."

She led the way back towards the kitchen where Devon and Kate were sitting at the table chopping vegetables.  Carmen had been unsure of what to wear so she had chosen a pair of blue jeans, sneakers, and a soft cotton t-shirt, and she was pleased to see that the other women were dressed similarly.

Greetings were made before Davis was handed a beer and sent to join the men, who were on the back porch manning the grill. 

Carmen was handed a knife and a tomato with instructions to dice it, while the women around her gossiped about nothing in particular. Laura had been given an apron to cover her pretty sundress and told that she was expected to make a few sides, and to Carmen's surprise she nodded and began the task with every appearance of knowing what she was doing.

"I was also surprised when I learned that Laura was an excellent cook." Charlie smiled at Carmen, whose look of shock must have been easy to read. "What about you, can you cook?"

Carmen shook her head. "No, it was never a skill that I was able to develop."

"Some people are naturals, they never need a recipe, they just throw something together and it comes out amazing every time, like Laura." Charlie smiled at her sister.

"The only other person I've met like that is Will," Kate said off-handedly.

Everyone in the room froze, as if Will was an off-limits subject.

"Sorry," Kate blushed as she went back to cutting her onion with a vengeance.

"Will is a very good cook," Carmen agreed, and all eyes turned towards her. She had their attention now.

"Did you get to know him well while he was helping you?"

Carmen shrugged. Part of her didn't want to talk about him at all, but the other part of her realized this was her chance to find out where he was and how she could get in touch with him. Of course, she could just ask Josh. "Not very well."

"I bet he spent the entire time hitting on you, did you fall for it?" Devon asked as she continued to look at the dish that she was layering cookies and whipped cream into.

Carmen couldn't help the smile that came to her lips, and she missed Charlie and Devon's shared look of subdued excitement. "No, I much prefer the serious Will."

"There's a serious Will?" Kate asked with honest surprise.

Devon nodded. "Yes, we used to see more of the serious Will before..."

"Before he was taken hostage and held prisoner," Carmen said softly, shuddering at the words.

"He told you about that?" Charlie asked, looking at her with surprise.

"No, not in any detail, just that it happened. His sister was the one that mentioned it first."

"Will has a sister! And you met her!" Devon exclaimed.

"Kitty, she's sweet." Carmen nodded as she popped a piece of tomato into her mouth, looking up to encounter everyone's shocked looks.

Devon stopped what she was doing and joined her, Kate, and Charlie at the table, sitting.

"You may not have fallen for his charming one-liners but you fell for him, didn't you?"

Blushing, Carmen wiped her hands before crossing her arms defensively. The action made Devon smile widely.

"Forget it Carmen, just admit it. Devon reads body language for a living, she wrote the book, and I mean she wrote the book," Laura said seriously from behind her.

"He's..."

"Will," Charlie finished with a smile. "I didn't like him the first time I met him. I thought he was like every other man in the Navy, full of himself."

"He does appear that way when you first meet him," Kate agreed with a nod. "But he's very sweet and seems to get women on a level that most men don't."

"Not even Lee?" Charlie joked.

Kate shook her head. "Lee gets me, but women in general, no. You should see him with Lily when she gets all angsty. He looks like he wants to run from the room. He's fine in a gun fight, but give him a college age girl and he's totally out of his comfort zone."

"Your husband is in the Navy too?" Carmen asked.

"Yes, he still serves with Will. They should be here soon."

Carmen's eyes grew wide at her statement. Will was on his way? She would be seeing him soon? She jumped out of her chair, not sure what to do. It was so unlike her usual calm and cold self that Laura's eyes grew wide.

Kellan chose that moment to walk in from the back porch, and his eyes narrowed as he took in the scene. "Carmen?" It was evident that he wasn't expecting to see her. "I didn't know you were coming?"

"I invited her," Charlie said, sounding defensive.

Shaking his head, he walked over to the knife block and chose what he wanted before he turned back towards the group. He took his time looking at each woman once more before he shook his head again and walked out without another word.

"We don't have much time but we need to tell you what we know because the men never will, they can't. The only reason we know is because Kate overheard Lee on the phone one day." Devon turned towards Carmen with a serious look.

Carmen's eyes shot to Kate who blushed. "I thought we all should know so that we could help Will. Normally, I'm not so nosey."

Devon waved away her excuses. "We're family, we all needed to know. I have no doubt that Lee knew you were listening and that you would pass it on because he couldn't tell Josh and Kellan." She motioned for Carmen to sit once more before she leaned forward, missing Kate's look of surprise.

"It all started about five years ago, Kellan and Josh were still active duty then, it was shortly before they both retired. Sometimes, I wonder if what happened was the reason that they did retire." Devon seemed distracted for a moment before she continued. "They were both shot, Lee wasn't-"

"For a change," Kate snorted her disbelief.

Carmen couldn't help but stare at her in shocked surprise. Was it really that common an occurrence for the men to get shot?

Devon shot Kate a warning look before continuing. "They all witnessed Will getting shot and falling in the street in the middle of a fire fight. Kellan blamed himself because it looked as if the bullet that pierced Will's chest was fired by a young boy that he hesitated to shoot."

Carmen felt a bit sick and cold. She had always thought that her life on the street was bad but she had had it easy by comparison.

"They couldn't get to him. The SEALs have s strict 'no man left behind rule' but there was no way to get him out, and it devastated them all. What they didn't know was that the entire situation had been a covert operation that they weren't supposed to know about. It was on a need to know basis-"

"And they didn't need to know." Carmen nodded, it sounded very familiar.

"Yes." Devon darted a look over her shoulder, towards the front door.

"Will went deep undercover for a few years, Kellan and Josh thought he was dead, the enemy thought he was dead, and he was officially listed as MIA. Eventually, his cover was broken and he had to leave quickly. He made it out safe, and everyone was shocked as hell when he walked into the bar one night." Devon shook her head at the memory. "No one could be mad though, because-

"Need to know basis," Carmen finished.

Devon gave her a smile, glad that she had caught on so quickly. "He was given a significant leave of absence and he disappeared for a while, we think it was to stay with his family but we're not sure. About two years ago he went back on active duty again, but he was number one on a hit list, and he was caught and held for almost nine months. He was with two other men initially and neither of them made it out alive."

One of the dogs barked and all of the women jumped, they were all so involved in the story that they had forgotten their surroundings. Charlie left the table and moved towards the front door.

"We don't know how or why he survived, we're just glad he did. When he returned he was given a leave of absence to heal, although I'm not sure what kind of wounds he had, and he just recently returned, once again, to active duty." Devon's voice had gone softer as she quickly finished the story when she heard two men's voices as they greeted Charlie.

Carmen immediately recognized Will's voice and she smoothed her shaking hands on her jeans. She had never been so nervous of anything in her life. She had to ask herself once more why Will Pruitt had such a devastating effect on her nerves.

She stood on shaky legs while picking up the tomato she had diced. She took it to Laura's side, and it gave her a minute more to compose herself.

"It's horrible isn't it, the loss of control." Laura murmured softly as she handed Carmen a towel to dry the tomato juice that had dripped onto her hands.

Carmen closed her eyes and nodded.

"Here, this will keep you busy." Laura handed her a few dirty dishes, and Carmen carried them over to the sink in the kitchen island to rinse.

The first man to enter was tall and lean, he was handsome in a boy next door kind of way, with sandy brown hair and brown eyes. Carmen watched as he was greeted by Kate who gave him a kiss. He looked momentarily shocked before he could hide it, when he saw Carmen and Laura.

Will was looking down at Charlie as she was talking about something, and Carmen had a split second to study him before he looked up at the rest of the crowd. Carmen felt Lee's gaze go from her to Will and then back to her, before settling on Kate.

Will's eyes scanned the room, taking in all of the faces with a smile. He didn't seem surprised to see her in the least. Had he been warned like she had?

He gave a deep sigh. "So many beautiful women in one room, what's a guy to do?" He turned to Charlie. "I'll start here, with the hostess." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, then he moved to Kate and Devon, who both lifted their cheeks for a kiss, Laura stared him down with a 'don't you dare look' and he grinned.

"Lee and Will you both know my sister Laura Stevens, and this her friend Carmen Morales. But you already know Carmen, don't you Will?" Charlie said with a trace of mischief in her voice.

"I do, but will the pretty lady allow a kiss?" he asked as he approached.

Carmen was doing her best to seemed as unfazed as he seemed to be and offered a cheek as the other women had. She felt his warm breath and lips brush her skin and she had to force herself to keep her eyes open and look at him unfazed when all she really wanted to do was throw herself into his arms.

"How was that?" Will asked as he drew back. She saw a fleeting look of something close to regret in his eyes, before it was masked behind his happy charm. What did he regret? The short kiss or their entire involvement?

"Wet," Carmen responded drily, and she watched a huge grin cover Will's face at her words. He went to open his mouth and placed her foot on his, pressing down in warning.

"Shut it Pruitt."

He held up his hands, as if in surrender.

Lee side stepped him and held out his hand, first to Laura and then to Carmen, who he looked at curiously before turning to ask where the other men were.

Will grabbed them a few beers and they left the ladies without a backwards glance.

The silence that descended on the kitchen was deafening as the women all looked at each other; all but Carmen. She kept her face as blank as possible as Laura handed her a few more dishes to rinse, she must have sensed Carmen's need to keep busy.

She had to leave. There was no point in staying. Will's response to seeing her was all she needed to know. She dried her hands before reaching into her back pocket for her phone and texting the driver that Landau had on standby for their use back at the hotel.

As soon as he arrived she would leave, she would keep it together until then. She watched the ladies as they resumed their conversations, she noted that they appeared to be as close as sisters, and she couldn't help but think that this was why she didn't have friends, they were always meddling in business that wasn't theirs.

They should have left her and Will's past relationship, if you could even call it that, in the past. It was where it belonged, no matter what her heart said.