Page 111 of Inexplicable

She put the cap on her water, and I handed her a sandwich.

“I’m not very hungry,” she said as she took the food hesitantly.

“Eat some of it,” I insisted. “You need something light in your stomach. I found out you were kidnapped because I looked at the security video. You were a smart woman to mention Rico’s name. I knew you were headed to Ecuador. Marshall was tracking Rico, but he wasn’t going to get a location soon enough for Last Hope to rescue you before you were hurt.”

She chewed a bite of her sandwich and swallowed before she said, “So you contacted my second cousin that I didn’t know about? I’m still a little—or maybe a lot—confused. I don’t understand who he is and how you know him.”

“We were in the Rangers together. Conner and I were tight with another Ranger named Vance. The three of us were always together on and off duty. We had a bad mission together and we lost Vance. That’s why I have the dog tag tattoo. Conner has the same one. Conner and I stayed close until I was about to try out for Delta. He got out of the army right before I went to Delta.”

“I’m so sorry about Vance,” she said sincerely.

“Thanks. It was a long time ago, but I still miss him.”

“Did you and Conner stay close?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Conner and I took different paths in life.”

I wasn’t sure how much I really wanted to tell Jenna about Conner. The less she knew, the safer she was.

Really, I didn’t know everything about Conner, either. He’d never given me details because he wanted to keep me mostly ignorant about what he did in Chicago.

“How so?” she questioned in a curious voice.

“I went to Delta, and Conner got out of the military. He moved back to Chicago and started a life in organized crime. He’s filthy rich. You probably figured that out since we’re in his private jet. Some of his businesses are legit, but a lot of them aren’t.”

Jenna frowned. “It almost sounds like he’s Mafia or something.”

“He is,” I said grimly. “He has partners in organized crime in Chicago. They rule the underworld there, but that’s all I know. We don’t communicate much. I still consider him a friend. We covered each other’s asses way too much for me to hate him because of his choices.”

Jenna handed me back the sandwich. She’d eaten half of it.

I started to eat the other half.

“I think he could be dangerous,” she said and then uncapped her water and took a sip.

“He’s ruthless,” I replied. “Every organized crime operation around the world fears him. We saw a Conner Moran that most people don’t see.”

“I’m grateful to him,” Jenna said with a small shudder. “He saved me from a fate that could have been horrible.”

“That’s another reason that I’ll never hate him,” I agreed. “You’ll never get to know Conner well, but we can research your family. Rest now, sweetheart. I think that’s enough to take in for right now.”

I polished off the sandwich and put the plate aside.

“Sleep with me,” she said in a tired voice.

I climbed onto the bed with her and took her into my arms before I pulled the large blanket over our bodies.

We were both dressed and laying on top of a very soft comforter.

I was tired.

I’d been up all night, and I was starting to feel it now that the adrenaline was wearing off.

“Tell me again,” I demanded as I rested my forehead on hers.

She didn’t even ask what I wanted to hear. “I love you,” she said breathlessly. “I love you so much.”

Some of the tension released from my muscles, and I kissed Jenna.