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ⁿᵒʷ ᵖˡᵃʸⁱⁿᵍ
𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 & 𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬
𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 , 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫
𝐓𝐡𝐞 safe house was nothing more than an abandoned two-story with boarded windows and mildew in the walls. Maya sat on a thin mattress with Leo curled against her chest, humming softly to calm him. Her nerves were frayed raw — every creak in the floorboards, every gust of wind rattling wood had her heart jerking.
The guard had disappeared to check the perimeter. She didn’t trust him. She didn’t trust anyone.
Only one face filled her mind. And it scared her how badly she wanted to see it again.
The door crashed open.
Maya jumped to her feet, clutching Leo close, eyes wide with terror.
And there he was.
𝐉𝐀𝐗.
Blood streaked across his shirt, sweat dampened his hair, and his jaw was hard enough to cut glass. He filled the doorway like a storm, eyes scanning the room until they landed on her.
Relief flashed across his face, so fast and raw it almost didn’t look like him.
“𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐚,” he breathed.
She wanted to run to him. She wanted to scream at him.
Instead, her voice cracked out, harsh and broken: “You left us!”
Jax froze, his chest rising and falling. “I stayed behind so you could get out. You think I’d ever—” He cut himself off, running a bloody hand through his hair, frustration carved deep into his expression.
𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐚 shook her head, tears spilling. “Leo was in my arms while bullets flew past our heads! Do you even understand what that felt like?”
His jaw clenched, but his eyes dropped to Leo. The baby blinked at him, innocent, unknowing. Something in Jax’s cold exterior melted for a heartbeat.
“I told myself I didn’t care,” Jax said finally, voice low and jagged. “That you were better off without me. But when I thought I lost you—” His voice broke, and he slammed his fist against the doorframe, as if punishing himself.
Maya stared, stunned. This wasn’t the untouchable Jax everyone feared. This was a man unraveling in front of her, veins full of fury and fear.
The air between them pulsed with something dangerous.
Not just anger. Not just pain.
Something hotter.
Maya’s breath hitched when he stepped closer, close enough she could smell the smoke and blood on him. His hand twitched like he wanted to reach for her but didn’t dare.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he growled, voice low, eyes burning into hers.
“Like what?” she whispered.
“Like I didn’t damn near kill myself to get back to you.”
Her chest heaved. Every part of her screamed to push him away — for all the pain, all the chaos. But her body betrayed her. Her heart betrayed her.
Because in this moment, pressed against the wall of danger and desperation, she wanted him more than air.
Jax leaned in, his lips a breath away from hers, every muscle in his body trembling with restraint.
For a second, time held still.
And Maya realized the most dangerous thing in the room wasn’t the gun tucked at his side.
It was the way she wanted him to kiss her.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐬o 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡..🥹🙌
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[text_hash] => 376b38ef
)