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But Conner and I didn’t have an ordinary friendship.

Conner shrugged. “I’ll be keeping an eye on my cousin now that I know she exists. She’s family.”

“I’ll hurt you if you cause her any pain whatsoever,” I warned him.

He lifted a brow. “I’d like to see you try. But that’s not my plan. I think my cousin has suffered enough in her life. Had I known about her existence, I would have found a way to help her. She’s a Moran.”

Okay, obviously he knew about Jenna’s history.

That wasn’t exactly a surprise.

Conner was probably even better than Marshall at obtaining any information he wanted.

“She’s going to be my wife very shortly,” I informed him.

“Does she know that?” Conner asked drily.

“Not yet,” I said in a graveled voice. “We’ll discuss it on the way back to Michigan.”

I was done with waiting.

I loved my little stargazer, and she was going to know exactly how I felt and what I wanted.

I was going to feel damn lucky if she was unharmed and relatively unscathed by this experience.

And I sure as hell wasn’t going to let something like this happen to her again.

“I’m sure you will,” Conner answered, amused. “I’ll expect a wedding invitation.”

I shot him a disgruntled look. “You won’t show up.”

“You never know,” he said cryptically.

I looked at my watch. I felt incredibly antsy and eager to see my woman.

“Three more hours,” Conner informed me. “Have a drink. It might help.”

I shook my head. I didn’t want to be impaired in any way.

“We’ve done a lot of precarious operations together,” Conner said as he scrutinized my face. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this uptight.”

“Wait until you find a woman you can’t live without,” I replied wryly. “It will stress your ass out, too.”

Conner shook his head. “I’ll probably need an heir eventually, but I’ll marry a woman for an alliance. The last thing I want is a complicated relationship.”

He sounded so damn smug that I hoped that he found his woman and that she knocked him completely on his ass someday.

Chapter 29

Jenna

My mouth was as dry as a desert as I tried to open my eyes and keep them open.

It was my third attempt—or maybe my fourth—to stay awake.

I felt groggy and disoriented.

Where in the hell was I?