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ⁿᵒʷ ᵖˡᵃʸⁱⁿᵍ
𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 & 𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬
𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 , 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫
The warehouse district smelled like oil and danger. Maya’s hands were sweaty on the stroller handle. Every step she took echoed against the empty walls, but she didn’t dare make a sound.
Her heart was hammering in her chest, each beat loud enough to betray her presence. Leo was sleeping, bundled against the chill, oblivious to the storm of emotions swirling around him.
She knew he was here. Manny’s directions had been precise — a warehouse on 5th and Monroe. A place Jax’s crew used. She shouldn’t be here. She knew that. But the pull was too strong.
From the shadows, she saw movement.
Tall men loitered near the entrance, eyes sharp, hands twitching toward pockets. And then… she saw him.
𝐉𝐚𝐱.
He was leaning against a rusted metal pillar, phone in hand, shoulders tense. Older. Harder. The aura around him screamed danger — the kind that made people step back without thinking. But he hadn’t changed. His jawline, his eyes, that signature storm hiding in plain sight… she would recognize him anywhere.
Her breath caught.
He didn’t see her yet.
Maya took a cautious step back, hiding behind a stack of crates. Her stomach twisted. Anger rose first — how dare he just… exist, untouched, while she had suffered. Then fear — he was surrounded, and one wrong move, one wrong glance, could put both her and Leo in danger.
And then… the old pull hit her. That same magnetic, impossible draw she had felt when they first met. She hated it. She hated him for it.
Jax’s gaze lifted suddenly. Her heart stopped.
For a fraction of a second, their eyes met. He froze, like recognition tried to claw its way to the surface. Then he looked away quickly, texting on his phone as if nothing had happened.
Maya’s fingers tightened on the stroller. Her body trembled — part relief that he hadn’t noticed her fully, part frustration that he had noticed at all.
She stayed hidden until he walked away from the entrance, disappearing into the maze of warehouses. Then she exhaled slowly, a mix of relief and disappointment.
She had seen him.
And yet, she hadn’t confronted him.
It should have been a victory — proof he was still alive, proof that Manny hadn’t lied. But all she felt was a torrent of emotions: longing, anger, fear, and the spark of hope that maybe… just maybe… he would notice her again.
𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐚 wheels Leo away from the warehouse, her chest tight, mind racing.
She whispers to herself:
“Soon… soon, I’m going to make you face us, Jax. You’re not getting away this time.”
The city hums around her, dangerous and alive. She feels the tension in her veins, the fire in her chest, and the determination to step fully into his world — whatever it takes.
_
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