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ⁿᵒʷ ᵖˡᵃʸⁱⁿᵍ
𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 & 𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬
𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 , 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫
The tires screamed against the asphalt as Jax floored it, the SUV tearing through the night like it had something to prove. Maya’s heart was beating so fast she could feel it in her throat. The baby was crying in the backseat, and all she could do was whisper prayers between breaths.
The car behind them was still there.
Too close. Too smooth. Too steady.
“Jax, they not backing off!” she yelled.
“I see that,” he snapped, eyes locked on the road.
Then he yanked the wheel hard. The SUV veered off the main highway, slamming through an opening in a fence and onto an old dirt road. Maya grabbed the dash, her scream mixing with Leo’s.
“Where are you going?!”
“Ahead of ’em.”
The road twisted through the woods, the headlights slicing through fog and branches. The baby’s cries filled the space, loud and desperate. Maya turned, trying to soothe him, but she could feel the adrenaline shaking her bones.
Jax’s voice dropped. “They shouldn’t’ve found us this fast. Somebody fed ’em something.”
She looked at him. “You think it was Rico?”
He didn’t answer. Which meant yeah.
When they finally stopped, it was by an old cabin — falling apart, surrounded by trees that looked like they’d been there since the world began. Jax killed the engine and jumped out before the car even stopped rolling.
“Get Leo,” he said. “Stay low.”
“Jax—”
“Maya, please.” The “please” did it. She froze, then nodded.
They slipped inside the cabin. Dust everywhere. Smelled like wood rot and regret. But it was shelter.
Jax checked the windows, his gun out now. Maya sat on the floor, holding Leo, whispering lullabies through her tears.
“Why you always gotta fight everything?” she said under her breath. “Why can’t peace just stay?”
Jax looked over, his face softening for just a second. “Because peace don’t want me, baby.”
The car engines returned before sunrise.
At least two. Maybe three.
Maya’s breath hitched. “They found us again.”
Jax stood, grabbed a second gun from his bag, and tucked it into his waistband. “Stay in here. No matter what you hear.”
“𝐉𝐚𝐱, 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐭—”
But he was already out the door.
The world outside exploded with noise — engines revving, men shouting, metal hitting metal. Gunfire cracked through the air, bright and brutal.
Maya clutched Leo so tight he whimpered. Tears streamed down her face, but she couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
Minutes felt like hours. Then, finally, silence.
Footsteps.
Heavy ones.
The door creaked open.
Maya’s pulse froze — until Jax stepped inside, limping, shirt soaked with blood but alive.
“You okay?” she whispered, voice shaking.
He nodded once, dropped the gun, and fell to his knees in front of her. “It’s over.”
“Over?”
“Yeah.” He smiled faintly, eyes glassy. “Ain’t nobody left to chase us.”
She pressed her forehead to his, crying and laughing at the same time. Leo’s tiny fingers grabbed his shirt, tugging weakly like even he understood something had just ended.
“I told you,” Jax whispered, “I’d get you out clean.”
“You did,” she said, voice breaking. “But what about you?”
He didn’t answer. He just closed his eyes, breath shallow.
Maya shook him, panic rising. “Jax! Don’t do this to me—”
His hand lifted weakly, brushing her cheek. “Take Leo… go… live.”
And then his hand fell.
The morning came slow.
The sky pink, the air still.
Maya buried him behind the cabin, hands trembling, whispering every promise they never got to keep.
Then she took Leo, packed the car, and drove.
Didn’t know where. Didn’t care.
Just forward.
Because somewhere between the pain and the chaos, she’d learned what Jax had been fighting for the whole time — not survival, but the chance for someone else to start over.
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