Jax
“We thought we had eyes on him, and our men were taking a small break. I was following Liz, and—”
“Get to it,” I spat out at the head of Liz’s security.
I was on my way to an important meeting with a prospective client.
I was already on edge because I knew today was the day Liz was telling Claire about us, and I'd been watching my phone.
I didn't want anyone else clogging up my line just in case Liz needed to call me. Or Claire.
But the moment the next words left his mouth, I was jerking my steering wheel and making a very illegal U-turn in the middle of the road.
“The gallery is on fire.”
I didn't care about the honks. I didn't care about the accidents I almost got myself into. All I could think about was that Liz was there, and the place was burning, and she… Oh God.
My mind automatically went to the worst. Liz stuck in there. Liz begging to be saved. And I wasn't anywhere near her. I couldn't get the images out of my mind. They were on repeat, over and over again.
How did I fail her again?
“No one's hurt. Don't do anything reckless—”
“If you think she’s okay, you don't know her at all.”
But I did. I knew what the gallery meant to her. I saw how much work she put into it and the way she lit up as she was getting ready to go to work. This wasn't just a job for her.
The gallery. Her clients. The art. This was all part of her—of what made Liz who she was. And I knew that even if she was physically okay, she would never be the same.
I honked at the car in front of me, going way too slow, and ended up swerving around it. I sped forward. I need to get there.
“You know what to do. Get our people, liaise with the fire department, and make sure damage is contained. We know who did this. I need a team at his house ASAP.”
“There's another issue. Jax—”
“I don't want to hear it.”
I hung up on him, not able to take another moment of his excuses. I was losing it. Heart pounding, a sheen of sweat covering my body… I just needed to get to Liz.
It should have been a twenty-minute drive. I made it in ten.
There was a large crowd gathered, with people from the adjacent buildings, onlookers, and then reporters and news outlets. Firemen were already handling the fire, but the blaze was still going.
I parked in the middle of the road and ran out, pushing through the crowd until I saw her. She was alone, looking at her gallery as it went up in flames.
She seemed unhurt, wearing the same outfit she had on in the morning, a tight blouse and long flowing skirt with flats. I noticed she was missing the shawl she kept over her shoulders when she was in the office.
I ran to her. I couldn’t find relief until my arms were around her. She turned to me at the last moment, her face tracked with tears.
“Jax, I—”
“Thank God you're okay,” I whispered against her. She started sobbing against me. “You’re okay. You’re okay.”
“It's gone. It's all gone. I don't think they can salvage anything.”
I pulled away but kept her face in my hands. When she looked up at me with the most pained expression, I couldn't help but try and kiss everywhere I could reach. Her forehead, her cheeks, her lips. I was just so glad she was alive and safe.
The mere thought of losing the woman I loved so suddenly and so painfully was more than my fragile mind could handle. I’d never felt this afraid in my life. Never felt so much pain over something that could've happened.
We are so fucking lucky. So lucky. Too lucky.
“I'm so sorry. This is my fault,” I said. I could feel how much this hurt her. I could see how much it destroyed her. She looked like she was moments away from crumbling.
She was still crying when she tried to push me away.
“Jax, I need to—”
“Jax?”
I turned to look at Claire. I hadn't realized she was here. I had forgotten everything else at the thought of losing Liz. Claire was holding water in her hands. She’d probably left for a second only to come back to…
My hands were still on Liz's face. She had tried to put distance between us, but I hadn't let her.
I could see us through Claire's eyes. I rushed to Liz. I brought her into my arms. I kissed her.
It didn't matter how long she’d been standing there. What Liz and I were to each other was plain to see.
“Claire, I—”
I had so many things I wanted to say, but none of them came out of my mouth.
She glanced around us, looking at the people who were watching the scene unfold. We were not alone—something I also hadn’t accounted for.
Don't do anything reckless. But I had.
“I haven’t told her yet,” Liz whispered.
Fuck.
Claire slowly walked to us, her face twisting in an expression I couldn't make out.
I wanted her to do something. To say something. To scream. To hit me in the face. Something. And yet, even with the roaring flames and the sound of the fire hose running behind us and water splashing… It felt eerily silent.
I stepped away from Liz.
“Don't make a scene,” Claire whispered and handed Liz a water.
“Claire—” her mother started.
“What the hell?” she asked, keeping her voice slow. “I know you've always wanted to fuck her, but you actually did it?”
I could feel all eyes on us, watching us. If we were not careful, we would be on the nightly news for reasons that had nothing to do with the fire. And it might make her ex-husband's wish to see her ruined come to life even faster.
“This isn't just on her,” Liz answered. “I'm sorry. I was going to tell you today.”
“Obviously. This is on both of you,” Claire snapped. “But why couldn't you just… I told you I didn’t care who it was—I just wanted someone to love you the way you love them. Why didn't you just tell me? Why did you have to lie to me like this?”
Her voice cracked at the end. Liz tried to reach out and grab her daughter's hand, but Claire snatched it away. Liz's face crumbled. I wanted to make this better, but I didn't know how.
“This isn’t new,” she stated.
It might make the situation worse, but I knew Claire didn’t deserve to be lied to anymore.
“Since before the moment in the gallery,” I said, answering the question she hadn't yet asked.
Her eyes shifted to me, widening a bit before she let out a long sigh.
“I knew it. I was worried when my mother didn't like you right away. She was never one to judge, especially when you’re a more than qualified professional to handle…” She turned to Liz.
“Wait. The break-in, the team Jax mentioned for you—which I saw earlier, following us like the Secret Service or something—and now the fire? What's really happening?”
There was no good way to tell Claire about who was behind this. But again, she proved both of us had underestimated her.
“It's him, isn't it? I knew him being away traveling was too good to be true.” When Liz looked away, she addressed me. “And somehow your billion-dollar security company couldn't do anything about it, right? Couldn’t stop him? Was it because you're too distracted?”
I'd never seen her this angry before. But I deserved it. Because she was right. I’d been distracted because of my need for Liz. Because of my love for her.
Up until now, I’d had a calm and cold handle on everything. It was how I’d built my company.
This was just another example of my recklessness. It had nothing to do with love and everything to do with neglecting everything people so carefully trusted me with.
And I could have lost everything too.
“I'm sorry,” Liz whispered. “You deserved better than this.”
Claire's anger crumbled. “It was never you. It was always him. I know you tried to keep it from me, but I knew.”
This time, when Liz reached out, Claire threaded their fingers together.
“I wish I could've protected you.”
“But you did. You always did. You always put me first.” Claire's lower lip trembled. “And even though it felt like a slap to the face to be kept in the dark, I saw the way she ran to you. She didn’t care about anyone else. And that’s what you’ve always deserved, Mom.
So yeah, we can discuss all of it later.
” She turned to me. “But there will be hell to pay for you.”
The world was burning around us. The cameras were still rolling. The murmurs were starting.
Despite all that, a smile still spread across my face.
And then I was yanked back to reality.
Literally.
There were hands on my shoulders, yanking me back. I could hear the shifting of cameras and the whispers as people turned to look at me.
“Hey, don't touch—”
“Jax Steele, you're under arrest for arson.”
The metal handcuffs were cool against my heated skin.
“The fire isn't even out yet! You haven’t had time to investigate this!” Liz yelled, shock and anger twisting her features, as Claire held on to her while she tried to reach for me.
Police flanked me on either side. I winced as they tightened the cuffs on purpose, making it far more uncomfortable than it should've been.
“Take one more step and you'll be arrested as well,” the one on my right threatened.
“Mom, pull back.”
But Liz was already puffing up. I looked behind them to see that my security team was being arrested as well. When I caught sight of my head of security being pushed into the police car, he shook his head at me.
It could only mean one thing.
Liz's ex is still out there.
Looking behind me, I was unsurprised to see that it was the very same policeman who had been trying to get me arrested at every turn, a sick smile spread right across his face.
“Finally got what you wanted, huh? At least let's hope this time it’s not an AI-generated video.”
“You wish. This time, we have a warrant. And if you want to continue fighting, it’s only gonna be added to the list of things we're already gonna charge you with. You won’t be getting out of this one.”
I turned to Liz and tried to send her a smile. “Sloan. She knows who to call.” She looked like she wanted to fight, but I shook my head. “I'll be okay. Just do it.”
I could barely hear Claire's whisper as they dragged me away.
“It's okay. She'll be okay.”
I had to look away once the tears started falling down Liz's face. I couldn't take it.
So I let them push me into the cramped backseat of their cruiser, taking me away from the girl I loved.