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ⁿᵒʷ ᵖˡᵃʸⁱⁿᵍ
𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 & 𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬
𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 , 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫
The storm rolled in without warning. One minute the city outside was neon and noise, the next it was swallowed by rain and thunder that shook the windows of Jax’s mansion.
𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐚 had just managed to tuck Leo into bed when the power flickered, then died completely. The nursery went dark, only the storm’s flashes lighting up Leo’s sleeping face. She froze, heart clenching, before the little boy stirred and whimpered.
“It’s okay, baby,” she whispered, rubbing his back until his breaths evened out again.
But when she stepped into the hall, the silence of the house was unbearable. No hum of the AC, no faint buzz of lights. Just rain hammering against glass and the creak of an old building shifting in the dark.
And 𝐉𝐚𝐱.
He was standing at the end of the corridor, phone in hand, lit only by the occasional flash of lightning through the tall windows. His crew was gone — sent home before the storm hit — and it was just him. And her.
Maya debated retreating back into the nursery, but her pride wouldn’t let her. Not after the fight in the kitchen. She walked past him, head high, planning to go back to her room.
“You’re not scared?” His voice cut through the dark.
She paused, glancing back. “Of what? Rain?”
His eyes lifted, catching hers in the dim light. “Of storms. Of the dark.”
“I’ve been through worse than a blackout,” she shot back.
For a second, she thought he’d smirk — but instead, his face went blank, unreadable. He slipped the phone into his pocket and leaned against the wall. “Still. You shouldn’t be wandering around alone.”
Something in his tone made her stop. Protective, not controlling. It was subtle, but it was there.
With nothing else to do, Maya slid down the opposite wall and sat on the floor. The marble was cold against her legs, but she didn’t care.
“You know,” she said softly, “you don’t have to hover like some warden. I’m not gonna run.”
Jax let out a humorless laugh. “If you were gonna run, you’d have done it already.”
The silence stretched, filled only by thunder and the rain drumming on the roof. Maya studied him, his profile lit in flashes — sharp jaw, furrowed brow, the haunted weight in his eyes.
“Why do you do it?” she asked suddenly.
He didn’t move. “Do what?”
“This. The money, the drugs, the danger. Was it worth it?”
For a long time, she thought he wouldn’t answer. Then, his jaw tightened.
“I didn’t have a choice,” he said, voice low, almost drowned by the storm. “When my pops dipped, it was me and my sister. She was twelve. Rent overdue, no food in the fridge. I knocked on the wrong door looking for work, and that was it. You don’t get out once you’re in. Not alive, anyway.”
Maya’s breath caught. She’d expected some excuse, some tough-guy line about power or control. Not this. Not family.
“What happened to your sister?” she asked.
His eyes darkened. “She’s gone. Took off when she was old enough, cut ties. Can’t blame her. This life kills everything good around it.”
Maya swallowed, guilt twisting in her chest. She wanted to tell him he still had something good — 𝐋𝐞𝐨 — but the words felt too fragile, too dangerous to speak aloud.
Instead, she said, “That doesn’t make you heartless. No matter how much you act like it.”
His head turned sharply, eyes locking on hers. The air between them thickened, the storm outside echoing the storm in the hallway.
“You think you know me, Maya?” His voice was harsh, but there was something underneath it — a question, a plea.
“I know you’re not just the man you pretend to be,” she whispered.
Lightning flared, and for one suspended second, their gazes held like magnets pulled too close. The storm, the silence, the raw honesty — it was too much.
Maya’s chest rose and fell, her heartbeat a drum in her ears. Jax’s fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, his body taut, like he was fighting something he couldn’t name.
Then Leo cried out from the nursery.
The moment shattered.
Jax turned his face away, stepping back into the dark. “Go to your son.” His voice was hoarse, clipped.
Maya pushed herself up, heart still racing, and hurried into Leo’s room. When she looked back, Jax was gone. Only the storm remained.
𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐚 rocked 𝐋𝐞𝐨 back to sleep, but her thoughts wouldn’t settle. For the first time, Jax had let her see the man behind the ice — not a dealer, not a monster, but a brother who once fought for family. And maybe, just maybe, he still could.
Downstairs, Jax poured himself a drink he didn’t touch. He stared out at the rain, replaying her words. Pretending not to care had been easy once. But now, every time he looked at Maya, every time he looked at Leo, he felt the walls crumbling.
And Jax King had never been more terrified.
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