Chapter 30
T hat’s where Jax finds me—a crumpled mess on the floor of the hallway, sobbing, holding myself, trembling like a fucking leaf. He looked like he was going to have a brain aneurysm before I could muster the words to tell him what happened.
Even then, all I could say was one thing: “Luca.”
I didn’t see Enzo standing behind him, but Jax’s head snapped toward him. Something silent passed between them. I’ve never seen Enzo so angry. He just turned and walked to the door at the end of the hall. He slammed it so hard the glass inset shattered, and I flinched.
Jax’s face filled my vision. His rich brown eyes held me and brought me back from the void I was falling into. He carried me into my bathroom and filled the tub. He undressed us both and picked me up like a bride, settling me on his lap and using a shallow dish to gently pour the hot water over my back.
Enzo arrived at some point, kneeling down beside the tub. His thumb so tenderly stroked my cheek as he looked at me, trying hard to calm the raging storm in his thundercloud eyes. He kissed my cheek, then rubbed Jax’s throat, kissed the top of his head, and left us alone in the bathroom.
Jax took care of me—drying me off, giving me one of his shirts, and lying in my bed with me. He never stopped rubbing me, holding me, and talking in a low voice. At some point, I stopped crying, and my body relaxed into him. He told me stories, trying to get my mind off the heavy thoughts crushing me.
My heart feels like it’s in a thousand shattered pieces after Luca. The weight of it sits heavy in my chest, suffocating me with every breath I take. I can still see his angry face in my mind, hear his words cutting through me. He was so closed off, so distant. I don’t know how to fix this, how to reach him when he keeps pushing me away.
Eventually, the smell of something amazing wafts into the room, and my stomach grumbles in response.
“You hungry, Peach?” Jax whispers, placing a gentle kiss on my temple.
I nod. He helps me up, wrapping a blanket around me and rubbing my arms.
“You okay?” Jax’s voice is soft, but there’s concern in his eyes as he watches me. He’s not asking for anything more, just wanting to know if I’m still breathing, if I’m still here with him.
I don’t answer right away. What is there to say? I’m not okay. Not when one of the men I care about shattered me two hours ago. Not when I’m caught between a war, an empire, and the three of them, struggling to make sense of everything. But somehow, Jax knows how to make me feel like I don’t need to explain it all.
“Come on.” He leads me into the living room with his arm around me.
The kitchen is filled with the sounds of clattering pans and sizzling food. Two chefs are working feverishly in the massive kitchen. The fragrances filling the space instantly make me feel warm, and my mouth waters.
“Enzo brought in the chefs from the club tonight,” Jax explains, his voice laced with hope that this might cheer me up. “Special request for you. Life-changing lobster risotto, I think he called it.”
I raise my eyebrows, surprised. My heart stirs a little—it’s one of my favorite meals, and for some reason, it feels like a lifetime since I’ve had it.
“Lobster risotto?” I ask, trying to keep the sadness out of my voice. “Really?”
“Yep. Just for you,” Jax smiles, nudging me forward as I watch the chefs work.
Enzo is in the living room. Like Jax, he’s shirtless, wearing a relaxed pair of lounge pants. A warm glass of wine is in one hand, and a remote is in the other. Flames rise in the fireplace with the push of a button. Lights provide a low, warm glow, and the framed picture over the mantle lifts up, receding into the wall to reveal a television behind it.
He notices us and immediately walks over to where I’m standing. His hands frame my face, gently cupping it. His gaze softens as he looks down at me, his thumb brushing over my cheek.
“I’m so sorry, angel,” he murmurs, his voice low and sincere. “I hate seeing you hurting.”
“I don’t want to cause problems between you,” I whisper, my voice cracking. The words tumble out before I can stop them. “I know I’m messing things up. I can’t seem to figure Luca out, and I’m just?—”
“No,” Enzo interrupts softly, shaking his head as he strokes my cheek with his thumb. “This isn’t on you. You haven’t done anything wrong. You’re not messing anything up. You’re not causing problems. You’re just… being you. It’s okay to feel what you’re feeling, Delaney.”
I can feel the heat of his hands, and I lean into him. He’s right, but it doesn’t feel like it.
“I wish I could fix this for you, baby,” he whispers, leaning his cheek against the top of my head and wrapping his arms around me.
“You can’t,” I say, my voice thick with emotion. “You can’t fight this for me.”
Enzo’s hands cup my face again, his voice firm but gentle. “I know. But we’ll work through it. Together.”
Pain forms a lump in my throat because we aren’t. We aren’t together, and right now, I know I can’t be around Luca. It’s too raw, too painful. But it also tears at me knowing he’s hurting too, alone. Jax and Enzo are both here with me. Who does he have?
“Where is he?” I ask suddenly, needing to know.
Enzo sighs deeply, his eyes flickering with something unreadable. “There’s a guest house on the property. He’ll stay there tonight. In the morning, we leave for the next safe house. We don’t want you worrying about anything.”
My chest tightens with the weight of his words. I don’t want Luca to be angry, but I can’t just ignore the hurt in my heart either. We need to work this out—before we lose each other for good.
Tears threaten to well in my eyes again, but I fight them back. “I don’t know what to do, Enzo.”
“You don’t have to fix anything right now,” he says, his voice low but steady. “Just take it one step at a time. Let us help you, let us be here for you.”
I look up at him, feeling the sincerity in his eyes, and something shifts. Maybe it’s not about fixing everything at once. Maybe it’s about taking it slow, letting things happen as they’re meant to.
Jax slides into view behind Enzo, his grin easy as he puts a hand on my shoulder. “Dinner’s ready, Peach. Enzo’s going to let us torture him with our favorite movie.” He grins and winks, lighting up my dark heart.
“ Legally Blonde !” I exclaim, and they both chuckle. Enzo adds an eye roll, just to make sure I know he still doesn’t agree it’s one of the greatest gifts to the world.
The weight on my chest doesn’t lift completely, but maybe the night will offer me a small reprieve. I follow them to the couch, trying not to think about the distance between Luca and me, about the unresolved hurt. For now, I just want to enjoy the men who are here, doing everything they can to bring me some comfort, if only for a little while.
It’s going to be okay. I have to keep telling myself that.
Jax and Enzo carry in several arranged platters of snacks and appetizers. Enzo commands me to take the middle of the couch while he pours a glass of my favorite wine.
“Sit,” he orders, his tone playful but firm.
“Bossy.”
He winks at me. “My specialty.”
Jax brings three steaming bowls of the most amazing combination of ingredients.
The one. The only. Lobster risotto.
Enzo takes two of the bowls, giving one to me before sitting next to me. Jax starts the movie and retrieves his wineglass from the mantle, lip-syncing to “Perfect Day” and dancing his way over to the couch with a very drawn-out shoulder shimmy. Even Enzo has to laugh.
I nearly pass out from my first delicious mouthful. Enzo was right. It’s life-changing. I’ll never see the world the same way again.
Jax takes our empty bowls, and Enzo refills my glass. “Babe, you have some competition in the kitchen,” I tease Jax when he returns. “Seems you’re not the only chef who can give me a full-on mouth-gasm with their food.”
He chuckles as he resettles on the couch, his ever-present cockiness evident in his voice. “Peach, if anyone but me gives you a mouth-gasm, I’ll shoot the poor bastard in the head and fuck you right on top of his dead body.”
I burst into laughter, shaking my head at how morbid he can be. “God, you’re twisted.”
“You should know—I have no competition.” He circles my throat and pulls me into a quick kiss. “It’s me giving you that mouth-gasm, baby. That’s my lobster risotto they made, so they’ll live to see another day.”
Jax stretches out at one end of the couch, his legs draped across Enzo’s lap. I’m perfectly squished in the cozy space between them, my legs hanging over Jax’s as Enzo covers us all with my blanket.
The movie plays, and Jax and I continue torturing Enzo by reciting every iconic Jennifer Coolidge line. He massages my hand, then Jax’s feet, before crumpling his forehead at the “bend-and-snap” scene.
“How can you like this so much?” he groans.
“First of all,” Jax begins, taking a fresh bubblegum-flavored sucker from his mouth, “Elle Woods is a Gemini with a double Capricorn moon. And her signature color is pink. We’re practically twins.”
Enzo is secretly into it. By the time the big courtroom reveal happens, he gasps when ( spoiler alert ) a perm takes down the criminal.
“Damn, I never would have guessed,” he scoffs, then rolls his eyes when he catches Jax and me watching him instead of the movie. “Oh, get over it.”
Jax convinces Enzo that the only way I might ever smile again is for him to practice the “bend and snap” with us. Enzo nails it perfectly on the third try, and when my face hurts from laughing, he picks me up with his hands under my ass.
I circle his waist with my legs and wrap my arms around his neck. “I hope this proves I’ll do anything for you, Delaney Caputo.” He kisses me with a swipe of his tongue that sends my stomach into cartwheels. “If that means I have to suffer through a pink cinematic trainwreck with the mob’s new queen and its most lethal Fixer, I’ll do it.”
I can’t help but smile. “I accept this level of devotion and nothing less.” I return his kiss, deepening it, running my fingers through his hair.
“You deserve nothing less.” The sudden seriousness in his eyes softens the lightheartedness, if only for a moment. Then he kisses my nose.
Jax runs his warm hand over my exposed ass cheek, squeezing with an appreciative grunt. His hand slides down, and based on Enzo’s reaction, I’d bet he helped himself to a nice handful of Enzo’s cock as well.
“I think we’ve all earned some dessert.” Jax kisses Enzo’s cheek, then raises his eyebrows in some lame secret signal.
“Oh, dessert time,” Enzo catches on, grinning.
“What’s for dessert?” I ask, looking between them with suspicion.
They both grin wickedly.
“You’ll see.”