Page 6 of Consume

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Mia

I staredout the window at the barren desert as Grant drove toward Las Vegas. Something was seriously off with him, and I was certain his meeting with NCIS involved new information about Joaquín. But Grant wasn’t telling me what had been said. I understood that he couldn’t confide in me even if he had wanted to. But it wasn’t just the meeting that bothered me. Something that he found out today made him seriously believe we were under surveillance, which made my palms sweat. I’d spent most of the ride going over every place I’d driven to and every phone call I’d taken and every text I’dsent.

And why was Grant so insistent on marrying me as soon as possible? Just a week ago he despised me. Sure, his reasons were logical, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he had an ulterior motive.

Maybe, it really was about spousal privilege. If he married me and the feds tried to get him to talk about my crazy antics, he wouldn’t be forced to tell them anything. Not that anything I had done was bad enough to throw me in jail, but it meant he was worried about my safety.

Or maybe, he wanted to marry me because he was about to do something illegal. And he wanted to save me from having to testify.

Grant could sense my uneasiness. “You okay?” His green eyes glinted in the sunset, and he looked so handsome that for a moment, I forgot why my gut was wrenched.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just always dreamed about my wedding, my father walking me down the aisle. Once he died, I always imagined that Joaquín would give me away. I never thought I’d abscond into the night and elope to Vegas.”

He placed his hand on my thigh. “I think it’s kind of romantic.”

“Anything with you is romantic.” I leaned over and kissed him. “So, how long will it take to get housing?”

“A few months. Once we locate our son we need to see a lawyer to begin the process of getting custody. I want to show the court that we can provide a stable home. There are some parenting classes on base we should take, too. I don’t know anything about raisingkids.”

A wave of nausea hit. Julián was almost two. I knew nothing about kids and even less about two year olds. He didn’t know me. I’d be raising him mostly alone since Grant would always be deployed. Joaquín could help, once he was exonerated. “Yeah, I don’t know much either. But we’ll figure itout.”

We pulled over at the gas station, and I stared at my new phone. At least it had the same number and the contacts had transferred over. Even so, I felt completely isolated from the world and from all my hard work. At the moment, I was completely dependent on Grant, and I didn’t like it at all. I loved Grant with all my heart, and I had no doubt that I wanted to marry him and be with him for the rest of my life, but my love for Grant didn’t replace my love for my brother. Without Joaquín, I wouldn’t have met Grant. Without Joaquín being arrested, Grant and I wouldn’t be back together.

Our three lives were bound together.

I could not be happy when my brother had no freedom. This quest was to free my brother, not to get Grant back. I would not allow him to dissuade me from my original purpose—freeing my brother.

Grant purchased a cola and a beef jerky and I threw in some sunflower seeds. A county corrections bus pulled in the gas station. The passengers were surely on their way to some prison in the middle of nowhere. A lump grew in my chest, and I blinked back tears. Was this Joaquín’s future? To be carted along like some animal? He could never live like that. A horrible thought crossed through my head—Joaquín would rather bedead.

Grant pulled me into his arms and gave me a soft kiss when he saw me staring at the muted blue bus. “I love you. I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together. Let me make you happy.”

And I was happy. Wrapped in his embrace, I allowed my negative thoughts to dissipate. This was just the next step in our journey. Ultimately, I would be happy again. I believed that in mysoul.

My nerves calmed as we headed toward the bright lights and gaudy billboards. I’d never been to Vegas, though I knew that Grant and Joaquín had always gone. I willed myself to be happy—I was marrying the love of mylife.

So why did my heart feel like something was very wrong.