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ⁿᵒʷ ᵖˡᵃʸⁱⁿᵍ
𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 & 𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬
𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 , 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫
The storm had eased by morning, leaving the world outside washed clean and shining. But inside the mansion, everything felt heavier.
𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐚 hadn’t slept much. Leo had fussed on and off, restless from the thunder, and her mind wouldn’t let go of Jax’s words. I didn’t have a choice.
She kept replaying the way his face hardened when he spoke about his sister, how his voice broke for just a second. It was the first real crack she’d seen in the armor he wrapped himself in.
By the time Leo was eating breakfast, Maya’s nerves were tight. She needed air.
“C’mon, baby,” she murmured, scooping him up. She slipped out of the nursery and down the hall, following the faint sound of voices.
The living room was empty. So was the kitchen. She almost turned back, until she heard it: Jax’s voice, low but sharp, coming from the study.
The door was cracked just enough for her to see.
He was pacing, phone pressed to his ear, shoulders tense. Not the smooth, controlled boss everyone else saw — no, this was Jax raw and cornered.
“You think I don’t know what they’re plotting?” His voice was a growl. “I can feel it. OY don’t make moves like that unless they want blood. And if they think they’re touching Maya or the kid, I’ll bury every last one of them.”
Maya froze, her breath hitching.
The kid.
He didn’t say her son. He didn’t say Leo. He said the kid. Like it mattered. Like he mattered.
Her chest tightened.
On the other end of the line, someone spoke — she couldn’t hear the words, but Jax’s reaction said enough. His jaw flexed, his hand dragged down his face.
“You think I wanted this?” His voice cracked, quiet but fierce. “I didn’t ask for any of it. If it was just me, I wouldn’t care. But I can’t… I can’t let another family get torn up because of me. Not again.”
Maya’s stomach dropped. Family.
Before she could stop herself, her hand brushed against the doorframe. The faint creak gave her away.
𝐉𝐚𝐱 spun, phone still in hand, eyes narrowing. For a heartbeat, the room went silent. Just him, her, and the truth hanging in the air.
“What’d you hear?” His tone was hard, but underneath, she caught it — the panic. The fear.
Maya stepped forward, clutching Leo a little tighter. “Enough to know you’re not the monster you want me to believe you are.”
His eyes flashed, walls shooting back up. “Don’t twist this. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know you’re scared,” she shot back, surprising even herself. “I know you care. About him. About me. You can deny it all you want, Jax, but I heard it in your voice.”
Leo whimpered against her shoulder, and the sound cracked through the tension like lightning. Jax’s gaze flicked to the baby, then back to Maya, his mask faltering for just a second.
“Go upstairs,” he muttered, turning away, hand gripping the back of a chair like it was the only thing holding him steady.
“No.”
The word was out before she could take it back. Firm, steady, undeniable.
Jax’s head snapped up, his eyes burning into hers.
“No?” he repeated, disbelief laced with something else — something like respect.
Maya swallowed hard, but she didn’t back down. “You can keep hiding behind that cold act, but I see you. You don’t get to scare me off anymore. Not when I know the truth.”
For the first time, Jax didn’t have a comeback. He just stared, chest rising and falling like he was drowning in everything he’d kept buried.
Maya walked out before he could respond, leaving him in the wreckage of his own walls. Upstairs, she laid Leo down and pressed her hand to her chest, her pulse racing.
Downstairs, Jax sank into the chair, head in his hands.
For years, the only way he’d survived was by locking his heart in chains. But now, with one woman and one child, those chains were breaking. And once they broke, there was no going back.
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