Page 83 of The Broken Keys

Because I meant every word I said to that paramedic. I’m the closest thing to family she’s got right now. And I’m not leaving her to face this alone.

As I speed away, I’m left with one thought.

What if I just lost everything that matters?

Again.

Chapter Seventeen

JAXON/JAX

Rewind To This Morning

Suit Up & Be A Man

If I don’t fight now, I’ll lose her to a version of me that never showed up.

No more waiting and no more protecting Livianna from my past. It’s time I be the man she deserves.

I stand in my walk-in closet at six in the morning, staring at rows of shirts that blur together into a monotone wall. Black. Grey. Navy. They’re all carefully curated uniforms of a man who’s spent years blending into boardrooms and maintaining invisibility.

I stop on a blue linen button-down pushed between the darker colors. She wore this shirt once at the Malibu house while pretending to clean the kitchen.

I can still picture her with bare legs beneath the oversized fabric, sleeves rolled up past her elbows. She dances to a pop song I don’t recognize while pretending to clean the quartz countertop.

I’m sitting at the center island working on my laptop.

She wipes down a centerpiece. “You’re staring at me.”

She didn’t turn around, so how did she know?

I decide to call her bluff. “I’m reading an email.”

“You’re staring at me while acting like you’re doing something else.” She peeks over her shoulder with that knowing smile that always undoes me. “There’s a difference, Jax.”

I’m behind her, taking her before she knows what’s coming. We have sex right then and there.

My chest grows warm with the memory as I pull the shirt from its hanger. The material is softer than my usual starched cotton, less like armor and more like something a normal man would wear on a day when honesty matters more than image.

It’s a small choice that shows her I’m done hiding from her. I’m done with the secrets, strategy, and careful distance I convinced myself would keep her safe when all it did was push her straight into Cash’s arms.

Last night, after I received her message, I didn’t sleep at all. After I sent Axel a directive to keep an eye on her, knowing how wrong it was, I laid in bed replaying every moment of yesterday’s disaster in my office.

She was waiting for me once I was over my panic attack. The shattered expression on her face when I dismissed her with the cold professionalism I’ve perfected over years of high-stakes negotiations was a throat punch. But that didn’t stop me from trying to push her away.

She told me she loved me and would’ve been at the Malibu house waiting for me if she’d gotten my letter. I threw it all away by telling her to be happy with Cash as if I were closing a business deal instead of watching my entire future walk out the door.

I coil into myself. I’ve spent over two years falling in love with her, and that’s how I treat her? She deserves better, and now I’m going to be that man for her.

The truth is brutal and simple. Losing her costs more than any danger I’ve been trying to protect her from. It’s better ifshe’s with me, not far away where I don’t know what’s going on around her.

I work my arms into the blue shirt and button it, leaving the collar open. I’m wearing dark slacks but no tie.

When I look in the mirror, my reflection shows a man preparing for an honest conversation instead of a negotiation. That’s exactly what I need to be today.

Downstairs in the kitchen, I make coffee and scan over my calendar, which Natalie just updated. My schedule isn’t as packed as I thought it would be.

Good. Maybe I can get to Livianna sooner than I planned. I close my laptop and glance at my phone. She hasn’t sent a text after the one I received last night. It’s my move to make.