Page 40 of The Broken Keys

Her gaze bounces between us. Cash and me, her first love, and the man who loves her with no words.

The complicated dilemma swirls in her expression. Her hands wring together like she’s trying to hold herself together through sheer force of will.

But I know her tells. I know the urge she has to scratch at her wrists when she’s fighting panic and how her breathing changes when she’s overwhelmed. I know all of it because I’ve spent over two years discovering every beautiful, complicated piece.

My insides spiral into the abyss. I’ve been gone for two anda half weeks, and she’s already moved on. Or maybe she was never over him.

Either way, I’ve lost her to the man who was her first everything. Me… I’m the secret no one will ever know about.

“Cash, it’s great to see your dreams coming true.” I dip my chin at Livianna. “Livianna, have a wonderful time enjoying your relationship blossom again. If you two will excuse me, I have a conference call I need to get ready for.”

I leave them in the hallway. The second I’m through the door, I storm into my comfort zone. But it doesn’t help.

My legs tremble like I just lost a billion-dollar deal. My breathing kicks up and the blood whooshes through my ears.

Calm down, Jaxon. What you’re feeling isn’t real. They’re just emotions that can flow through you if you breathe.

I haven’t felt this kind of agony since… A flash of losing my entire family in one devastating explosion takes me over the edge. I loosen my tie, and my chest tightens with the kind of panic that makes me believe I’m suffocating.

My hands shake as I rush to the bookshelf behind my desk and press a hidden panel that reveals the entrance to my biometric blackout suite.

The elevator whisks me up to the private space above my office, my sanctuary designed to recalibrate my nervous system after high-risk decisions. It’s just like the one I have in all my headquarters.

The curved, seamless walls immediately shift to a deep crimson as the biometric sensors detect my elevated stress levels and the crushing loss I just experienced.

The air fills with bergamot and sandalwood, scents programmed to trigger calm, but nothing can quiet the tornado raging inside me.

I sink into the cushioned floor space, finally allowing myself to feel the full weight of cosmic cruelty. I financed his business, backed the label that gave him freedom, and helped create the man who could finally be worthy of her love.

And I did it all without knowing I was orchestrating my own heartbreak. It’s overwhelming how intertwined I’ve been in making their reunion possible.

The lights pulse between blue and violet, responding to the chaos of my emotions. This room has seen me through hostile takeovers, billion-dollar deals gone wrong, and government investigations that threatened everything I live for.

But nothing has prepared me for this…for the realization that I played architect to my own destruction. The dread arrives like a wave and leaves like wreckage.

When I can stand without falling over, somewhat composed but still gaping with a wound that will never heal, the elevator delivers me back to my office.

I step back into the room, adjusting my tie, and then my eyes meet hers. She’s standing by the window, pacing with her arms crossed like she’s hugging herself.

“Livianna—”

She motions behind me with concern painted on her face like a worried lover. “You have one here…the panic room?”

My stomach hardens. “I have one in all my headquarters.”

“Why did you go up there just now?”

“That question is irrelevant.”

“Is it?” She points toward the hallway. “Is what just happened out there irrelevant? Was what you did to me irrelevant?”

“What I did to you?” My broken laugh tumbles from my chest. “Fascinating.”

“Don’t mock me, Jax.”

“Please call me Jaxon. Jax has lost the charm.” It seems bitterness is easier than grief.

Agony swirls in her gaze, but is replaced in a flash. “Fine, Jaxon. I get it. This is what you do.”