Page 85 of The Wanted One

“Ouch.” He laughed, then checked the rearview mirror as if worried he woke my sister. “My vintage-antique self, hmm?” Angling a quick look my way, he eased off the gas pedal a touch, placing more distance between us and the truck up ahead.

“Oh yes, so, so old.” I winked, shocked that I was even in a remotely playful mood after everything we’d endured in the past twenty-four hours. It was seven in the morning, and I hoped the new day wouldn’t bring new problems.

“I got a text from Carter twenty minutes ago.” His tone was much deeper than moments earlier, a reminder we weren’t out of the woods just yet.

I adjusted my seat belt, so it wasn’t digging into my ribs while peering at him. “News?”

“The FBI rounded up the rest of the contestants from the jungle, and after questioning them and everyone at the lodge, they finally allowed them to leave. Camila’s team nabbed Shannon on her way to the airport.”

My shoulders collapsed at the good news. It was still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact both Jack and I had a connection to Mila. That she was the reason we’d been brought together.

“Camila’s currently flying with her security team and Shannon to meet us at our new safe house as we speak,” he added. “And I promise, once we’re together, we’ll get to the bottom of everything going on.”

I knew he had a lot of questions he wanted to ask me—including if Brant Luther would really kidnap women because of his obsession with my mom—but I was pretty sure he was biting his tongue, knowing I’d prefer to wait and share.

After that, silence filled the Jeep for a bit, time inching by at a sloth-like pace. I was eager to get off the road somewhere safe and also clean up. At least we hadn’t had any assholes come out of the metaphorical, or literal, woods after we’d boosted the Jeep Cherokee.

My stomach groaned, and I slapped a hand to my abdomen in embarrassment since we’d eaten a few hours ago. The guys had stopped at a place in Peru that was open 24/7, and Oliver had gone inside and pretty much bought everything off the menu, claiming Peruvian food was some of the best on the planet. After devouring every morsel while Jack drove, I was definitely in agreement with Oliver, even if I had been starving.

“We’ll get you something when we get to the house,” Jack tossed out. “I’m hungry again, too. We burned a lot of calories yesterday.”

“I’d rather burn calories a different way,” I said suggestively.

At the feel of his hand on my thigh, I looked down and set mine on top of his before our eyes met. “Me, too.” And based on the dark look in his eyes when he peered at me, I was pretty sure he wasn’t thinking about a stair climber.

Makes two of us. “Eyes on the road, mister,” I teased.

He flipped his palm over on my thigh, and I obeyed his silent request to link our fingers together, loving how easy things were between us. We just seemed to fit together like two matching puzzle pieces. I knew he had a past, though. One that had broken him.

With a little more time to kill, and no desire to talk about myself, I found myself saying, “Tell me about Jill.”

The Jeep slowed a touch at my words, but then he resumed speed and checked the mirrors. Carter’s Land Rover was now between us and the Final Destination truck, and Jesse was at the wheel of the minivan traveling behind us. When we’d boosted our current vehicles from a neighborhood—yeah, we’d all felt guilty about that—Mya had joked that since Jesse was now a dad, the minivan suited him best. Jesse had tossed her a comical look while hiking his pants up, a total dad thing to do, in my opinion.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s okay,” I finally said when he didn’t respond after a few uncomfortable seconds had gone by. “I’m the last one to press about personal stuff.” But do I need to run Jill over with my car? A chill flew down my spine at the morbid thought, but I already hated this woman for hurting him, so I’d at least let the mental image of smoking her in a car race simmer in my mind.

“It’s not that, it’s just . . . do you really want to know?” He peeked at me from over his shoulder, and I nodded. After a sigh, he shared, “Jill’s my ex-wife.”

I wasn’t sure why my stomach protested that fact, but it’d done a hard flip. Was this . . . jealousy? Because at thirty-one, I’d never been in love. I’d never given a man my heart. This was a completely foreign feeling for me, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it right now. Is this what Lucy goes through?

How could Jill not have seen how lucky she’d been? Sleeping in bed next to Jack. Hearing his “I love yous.” Having his hands trail over every square inch of her body the way he’d done to me the other night. Clearly, they weren’t—

“She wasn’t the love of my life,” Jack continued in a low voice, basically finishing my trainwreck of thoughts, and he squeezed my hand.

“But you married her.” I wet my dry lips, trying to digest the fact some woman named Jill had badly fumbled the ball by losing a man like Jack. My normal instinct would be to blame the guy. But I just . . . refused to believe Jack had botched things.

“I did.” He switched lanes and took the exit off the highway at the sign that said we were in Cuenca. I hoped that meant we were nearing our destination. I was so tired of being on the road, being out in the open. But at the same time, I craved the extra moments with Jack. To hear his story. To know more of who he really was.

“I was young and in the Army. Still a Ranger at the time.”

Right. You became a Green Beret. And he’d brilliantly displayed his skills keeping us alive in the jungle.

“We met at a local bar in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where she was from. A lot of guys I served with, well, they either avoided marriage because they were worried it’d distract them while deployed, or they wanted to be married to give them an extra reason to make it through the war.” His tone dropped lower, gravellier as he continued, “I was obviously in the second camp. I wanted love. Someone to talk to on the hard days. There, uh, weren’t many good ones during the war. But having someone to come home to, well . . .” He kept his eyes on the road, and I heard the strain of guilt in his voice as he added, “When I say it out loud, it sounds like I used her, but I swear that’s not the case. I thought I loved her, and maybe I did. But I was young and didn’t know what I know now.”

“I can’t imagine a man like you using a woman,” I said, feeling the need to reassure him I didn’t think less of him. God, I was the last person to judge someone. “What, um, happened?”

“She wanted me to leave the Army. I eventually gave in and did what she asked. Tried real estate, and I hated every fucking second of it.” He lightly chuckled, pausing before adding, “I think a lot of those who serve struggle with civilian life, though. It’s just so different. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“I get it.” I nodded, though he wasn’t looking at me, eyes still focused on the road as he followed Carter around multiple turns.

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