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Matilda ‘Tillie’ Sung was the only daughter of Tanner and Micaela Sung.

Tanner had been a prolific Navy SEAL, like many of the men at Belle Fleur.

As a young boy, his parents placed him on a boat from North Korea to the United States, hoping and praying for a better life for him.

Raised by a family that chose to give him their name, he had a good life in the San Francisco area.

An extremely large man at six-feet-five and more than two hundred and twenty pounds, Tanner was a physically intimidating specimen.

Selected to be part of the same team as Chase Green, he knew that Chase was different than his peers.

They were all SEALs, but there was something that made Chase stand apart.

Not just his size and keen awareness of everything around him but the way he held himself.

It was the way he walked and talked, and the way he respected the men on his team.

Tanner soon learned of the world of the Steel Patriots, later the Voodoo Guardians.

With a PhD in mathematics, Tanner not only worked missions with the rest of the team but he could also be found more often at G.R.I.P.

working on advanced technologies or with the comms teams. His mind had an uncanny ability to see problems and being able to dissect them, immediately compute the need, and if they didn’t have it on hand, he could find a way to make what was needed.

Tanner and Micaela met when he found her roaming the streets of Baton Rouge, hungry, tired, and trying to protect children not her own. That alone was an endorsement of the kind of woman she was, and he couldn’t ignore it.

Plus, she was absolutely beautiful.

Vowing to help her, he also vowed to love her and love her he did. When Tillie came along, they were more than ready to have an addition to their family.

Tillie was a precocious, curious child from almost the moment she was born. Always searching for answers to her questions, she would run around the property, finding her experts.

“Aunt Gabi, how does the heart pump blood?”

“Aunt Lissa, what’s a plié?”

“Uncle Jean, can you explain profit and loss to me?”

“Uncle Trak, will you show me how to use a knife?” He stared at the little girl and smiled, kneeling in front of her.

“Why do you want to use a knife?” She shrugged, looking down at her feet. Trak gently touched her chin, forcing her to look up. “Is someone bothering you?”

“N-no. But if they do, I want to know what to do. I want to be strong like you and smart like Gabi and beautiful like my mother. I want to be able to do math like Angel, and I want to be able to eat like Tailor.”

“Maybe we rethink the last one,” he smirked. “You will be all those things, little one. I fear that with a knife in your hands, you may become too scary for everyone. Why don’t we start with some self-defense classes? Your father, me, Rory, and the others will teach you.”

“Really?!” she asked excitedly.

“Really. As long as your parents say it’s okay,” he chuckled. She hugged his neck, running toward the cafeteria.

“Did you just promise to teach that little girl how to defend herself?” asked Zulu.

“Yep.”

“She’s scary enough. That kid tried to take down Alec the other day. I’m not sure she needs your help,” he smirked.

“She is the fiercest little girl I have ever met. I saw her grab a water moccasin by the head the other day and release him into the bayou. I had to discuss why she shouldn’t do that with that particular type of snake.”

“Damn. I bet her mama doesn’t know that,” grinned Zulu.

Her ferocity didn’t wane as she grew. In fact, it became stronger and more evident. No one bulled Tillie Sung. No one. She didn’t tolerate name calling, she didn’t tolerate pushing or shoving, and she definitely didn’t tolerate boys being mean to girls or smaller boys.

Of course, most kids wouldn’t have bothered her anyway with her brother-like friends of Mav, Brax, Pax, Saint, CJ, and Garr. A girl couldn’t have asked for a better brother line-up.

But even with them by her side, her classmates knew that you didn’t mess with Tillie.

She inherited her mother’s flaming red hair and her father’s almond-shaped eyes that had a peculiar blend of brown and green color.

With the combination of her parents’ determination, fearlessness, and bravery, she was turning into a one-man army, always fighting for the underdog.

“Tillie, are you sure you want to go so far away?” asked her mother, wringing her hands.

“Mom, I have my master’s degree in hand. Now, I’d like some real-world experience. I want to help girls and women in the Middle East learn to read and write. I want them to know that they can fight for their rights and obtain them. I want to make a difference in the world.”

“Tillie, I love that you want to help these women. God knows they need a champion. But you’re not going to change thousands of years of belief that women are not worthy of an education overnight.

” Her father pulled her in for a hug. “I think you’re biting off more than you can chew, and I say that believing that my daughter can do anything she sets her mind to. ”

“I have to try, Dad. We have security with our group, and we’ll be visiting schools that were already established by the American and British military. Hopefully, we won’t experience any issues.”

Tillie’s dreams of a future for the young women were dashed nearly immediately upon her arrival. Only in country nine days and the school was attacked, burned to the ground, and the young girls beaten, raped, and returned to their parents in shame.

Tillie and the others in her group were forced to watch the brutality and then sent home with a message.

“Do not come back here. Do not attempt to bring your ways to our country, or the same fate awaits you.”

As much as she wanted to stay and fight, she knew that her father was right. This was a battle she could not win. Worse, it was a battle that wouldn’t help those poor young girls any longer.

Forced to stay at the base for a few days, Tillie’s first call was to her father.

“It was horrible, Dad. They made us watch as they raped those children, those little girls. Their own families won’t want them now. They’ll be turned away or worse, sold to some man who will abuse them further.”

“I’m sorry, honey. I know how terrible that must have been for you. But they were sending you a message. If you return, they will do the same to you.”

“That’s what the colonel at the base said. We’re on a plane to come home tomorrow.”

That was the original plan anyway. Instead, the agency who sent them, Hope Together, asked if they would detour to Botswana to work with a group of women and children there. Although afraid of what awaited them, the entire group agreed to the detour, hoping for a more positive outcome.

For Tillie, it was the best decision she’d ever made. Almost ten years of teaching young girls to read, write, and how to make a living for themselves and, one day, their families.

“Miss Tillie,” said the little girl running toward her as she clipped the shirt to the clothesline outside her hut.

“Yes, Ngonga.”

“There is a very handsome man here who wishes to speak with you.”

“A handsome man? For me?” The little girl nodded, smiling at her.

Tillie set the clothing basket aside and followed her toward the center of the village. Standing in the big circle were five men, four of whom she recognized immediately and one she didn’t. The children were circling them, smiling up at them, amazed at their size.

“What’s up Tillie-Willie?” laughed Mav.

“Oh my gosh! What are you guys doing here?” she said, running to hug each one. When she got to the fifth unknown man, she laughed and hugged him as well. “Sorry. I’m a hugger. Hello, I’m Tillie.”

“Leo. Leo Tilbury, ma’am.”

“Ma’am? Who is he?” The others laughed, shaking their heads.

“Leo is a new member of our team. He works mostly in the shop but wanted to come along on this op,” said Brax.

“And what is this op?” asked Tillie.

“Nothing too serious,” smirked Saint. “We were meeting with the Botswanan government about protecting natural resources. Some of which we need at G.R.I.P.”

“Wow, that’s cool,” she smiled. “Can you stay?”

“We can stay the night, but then we have to get back. Do you have a place for us?” asked Mav.

“Definitely.”

Once the team was settled and found a place to bunk, Tillie was happy to show them around so that they could see all that her team had accomplished. She noticed that Leo was exceptionally quiet, but then again, the rest of them were not so quiet.

“So, Leo. How did you end up with our team?” she said, smiling at him over dinner around the fire.

“Oh, I was at a tradeshow to pick up a bike I bought from Patriot Cycles. While I was there, there was a bit of drama coming from a particular biker gang. I decided to stay and join the fun.”

“He’s being modest,” smirked Mav. “He’s been a great addition. Dude outswims Luke and Skull, which is saying a helluva lot.”

“Were you Navy? Coast Guard?”

“Yes,” he grinned. “Both.”

“I see. Very nice. Well, there’s not a lot of places to have a swim around here. At least none that are void of crocodiles or snakes.”

“Nice try,” he chuckled. “Botswana is land-locked, so very few, if any, crocodiles.”

“Oh, he’s smart as well as cute. Nice,” laughed Tillie. The others chuckled with her but noticed that Leo just blushed, shaking his head at the brazen young woman.

Leo struggled to fall asleep that night, and he wasn’t sure why. The young woman had definitely caught his attention. Beautiful, smart, funny, knowledgeable about many different topics, and she seemed almost dangerously fearless.

After a fast breakfast in the morning, Tillie hugged each man, ending with a hug for Leo.

“I hope I see you again, Leo,” she smiled.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m sure we will.”

Tillie waved at her friends as they left, promising that she would be home within the next two months for a visit and then hopefully be home for a longer stay. Once their replacements arrived, their entire team would be going home.

For Tillie, she was convinced she would be returning home permanently. She’d loved her time serving others in countries that desperately needed the help. But being without her family, her friends, all of it, was more than she’d bargained for.

On her thirty-fourth birthday, she headed toward the airport to board a plane bound for the United States. Now, all she had to figure out was what was next in her life and what it would look like moving forward.

Easy.