Adrian smiled at her. “The problem doesn’t lie in buying the house but in me. I can’t sleep because every time things grow quiet, my mind fills with scenes of the battlefield and my comrades covered in blood.

“I abandoned them,” he said forlornly.

“Is it because you’ve retired from military service?” Samantha asked.

Adrian did not answer.

Samantha said, “There’s a saying that one will bear responsibility as huge as one’s capability. Men aspire to travel far and make their mark. Are you only