Jackson let out a long, weary sigh as his fingers tightened around the steering wheel until his knuckles turned pale. He wasn't driving back to the hotel thinking about rekindling what they once had. That chapter of his life had ended five years ago, buried beneath betrayal, fire and the ruins of everything they had built together. Whatever future he had imagined with Melissa had died the day she chose her family over him. He wasn't foolish enough to believe they could simply pick up where they had left off. Even if she begged for another chance, even if she somehow managed to explain away everything that had happened, he wasn't sure he would ever be capable of trusting her again. That wasn't what troubled him. What unsettled him was something entirely different. He needed to understand wh
