Behind the Lies (Montgomery Justice #2)(72)
Jenna sank into the chair next to Zach. “What are you saying?”
“Brad Walters has no claim on you. You were never legally married.”
* * *
Chapter Fourteen
* * *
IF JENNA HADN’T been sitting, she would have keeled over. She struggled to take a breath. A vise clamped around her chest.
Not married. Not married. Not married.
The words echoed in her head.
Her life with Brad had been nothing but a lie. A horrible thought occurred to her. “Did the feds know all along?”
Luke averted his gaze. “I can’t be sure. When the FBI convinced you to stay to gather evidence, my guess is some cowardly prosecutor wanted a certain conviction. Brad can’t argue against his own words.”
“You mean, yes, they knew,” Jenna said, struggling to stop the bevy of emotions from spilling all over the place. “So Sam and I were expendable—just part of a twisted game to catch Brad? They already had the evidence I’d given them. Why use us like that?”
“I’m sorry, Jenna.” Zach lifted her from the chair next to him to his lap and pulled her close, cradling her, rocking her, hugging her against his warm body.
She sagged in Zach’s arms, her entire body limp. “Get me out of here,” she whispered. “Please.”
“I will.” Zach tightened his hold. “Seth, Luke, I want those documents ready. Get her and Sam a new life. Then we go hunting. For Walters and the truth.”
Jenna had no idea how Zach’s brothers responded. Her emotions swirled around her—battered, angry…and strangely relieved. She wanted the world to disappear. She buried her face into Zach’s shirt and breathed in the pine scent of his clothes.
With her nestled in his arms, he walked her down the hall, cracked open an empty bedroom door, then shut them inside. He carried her to the bed and laid her down. She wrapped her arms around a pillow and hugged it to her chest.
“I can’t stop thinking that I trusted the FBI to help us…and Sam and I could have been dead because I’m so gullible.” She rubbed at her eyes.
Zach settled down next to her and pinned her close to his side. He wiped the tears from her cheek. “You got away, Jenna. You protected Sam. You’re going to be just fine.”
She scrubbed her face with her palms, scouring away the horrifying reality. “My life with Brad wasn’t a fairy tale or a nightmare,” she whispered. “It was just a lie.”
Jenna sank deeper into the pillow and turned to her side, her back to Zach. She’d let herself be taken in by a man who never loved her. She’d been so eager to believe in love and happily-ever-after, she’d let him hide more than the truth in a veil of security. She’d bought into everything he’d sold her for so long, how could she ever trust herself?
She stared at the simple white curtains shielding the window from view. The fabric fluttered slightly when the air conditioner kicked on. The cool air blew across her face. She touched her wet cheeks. Nothing felt substantial or real anymore, only insubstantial and invisible as the circulating air.
Zach lay down beside her and she stiffened.
“Don’t shut me out.” He plastered his body against her, wrapping his good arm around her waist, throwing his leg over her, and pinning her close.
She lay quiet in his arms, her mind whirling, confused.
“I don’t even know his real name,” Jenna finally said with a sigh. “I don’t know the name of my son’s father.”
“Does it matter?” Zach’s mouth skirted her ear. “He’s an amazing boy.”
She shivered at the touch of his lips. She wanted to turn into his arms, but she couldn’t stop the fear gripping her belly. “How do I protect him when I can’t trust myself to see the truth? Brad used me as a shield. He even used his son—in more ways than I ever realized before this moment.”
Zach scooted slightly away from her and tugged her arm toward him. She let him roll her onto her back.
“Look at me,” he said.
His gentle expression tightened the knot in her throat. Pity, sympathy, and she couldn’t understand what else.
“Brad Walters is an assassin—a professional con man and a killer. That hasn’t changed. You followed your instincts and gathered evidence against a man no intelligence agency was able to touch, here or abroad.” Zach cupped her cheek with his hand. “Jenna, don’t doubt you can trust your instincts. Since the moment I met you, you’ve been right about so many things.”
With a tentative hand, she reached to touch the brown and ginger hair. His blue eyes captured hers, their depth holding so many secrets—so much he didn’t reveal to the world. “I was wrong about you. I thought you were a superficial actor with a harem at your beck and call.”
He gave her a small smile. “You weren’t wrong. I’ve been that man for a lot of years.”
“Now who’s not taking credit,” she said. “I saw you take out those men in Hidden Springs when they could have killed us. I saw your super-secret room. I see how you’ve hidden your covert life from your brothers.”
“And you thought you couldn’t trust your instincts.”
He tried to look away from her, but she refused to let him. She gripped his arm. “Why? Why did you push them away? Your family loves you.”