Chapter 29
Conor
I tighten my grip on Jaxon’s hand just a little, not enough for anyone else to notice. Enough for him to feel it. Enough to remind him that I’m still here. That I’m not letting him carry this alone.
“We knew he’d show back up eventually,” Ronan says. His tone is calm, almost bored. Like we’re discussing a delayed package instead of a man making threats. He lifts Ollie from his lap and deposits him into Colton’s waiting arms before crossing the room toward us.
“I need your phone for a minute.”
Jaxon hands it over immediately. No hesitation. No questions. Ronan takes the phone to the dining table and pulls a laptop from his bag. Within seconds, his fingers are flying across the keyboard.
“This is a good thing, right?” Finn asks. The room turns toward him. “From what everyone’s said, we need to talk to Henry.”
We. The word settles heavily in my chest. It’s such a small thing that most people probably wouldn’t notice it. I do. Because that’s who my family is. When one person has a problem, it becomes everyone’s problem. When one person is threatened, everyone shows up.
I glance at Jaxon. I don’t think he understands that yet. Not fully. His shoulders tense beside me. “He threatened you.” His voice is quiet. His gaze sweeps around the room. “All of you.”
The words hang in the air. Like he’s waiting for someone to finally understand the severity of the situation. Like he’s waiting for them to be afraid. Instead, Liam snorts.
“Yeah.”
Jaxon blinks. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Liam shrugs like Jaxon just told him it’s supposed to rain tomorrow. “That’s the part where he fucked up.” He leans back against the sofa, draping one arm across the backrest without a care in the world. “You called us all the way out to bum-fuck nowhere just to tell us that?”
“It’s not the middle of nowhere,” I grumble.
“Conor,” Finn says, deadpan, “your nearest neighbor is a deer.”
Jaxon’s gaze bounces between my brothers, confusion written all over his face. Because they’re treating a threat from Henry like it’s an inconvenience rather than a crisis.
“I’m serious,” Jaxon says quietly. The room settles immediately.
“I know you are.” Liam’s easy grin fades. “And so are we.”
The shift is subtle but unmistakable. One second, he’s joking. Next, every person in the room is paying attention.
“Henry threatened family,” Finn says simply. “That means we deal with Henry.”
Jaxon’s eyes widen slightly. I can practically see him struggling to understand how everyone arrived at the same conclusion so quickly.
How no one is blaming him, no one is angry, or how no one is asking him to leave.
They’re doing the opposite. Closing ranks around him. Even if he doesn’t realize it yet.
Across the room, a look passes between Xavier and Colton. It’s brief. So brief that most people probably wouldn’t notice it. I do. Colton lifts an eyebrow. Xavier gives the smallest nod. Some silent agreement passes between them.
The two have become close over the last few months. After everything Colton went through, Xavier seemed to understand parts of it better than most people. Not because their situations were the same. But because they both know what it’s like to carry scars that aren’t always visible.
Whatever conversation just happened between them, it didn’t require words. One look was enough. And judging by the concern on both their faces, I have a feeling it has something to do with the man sitting beside me.
“I know this may seem out of the blue, but before I…” He glances at Colton and smiles faintly. “Before we tell you our story, I need to know if you’ll keep our secrets.”
I look over at Jaxon. Confusion flashes across his face.
He’s trying to figure out where this is coming from and what he’s missing.
The answer is a lot. For a moment, nobody speaks.
Xavier waits patiently, giving Jaxon time to think.
Giving him the same respect everyone in this family has tried to give him from the beginning.
“Can I keep your secrets?” Jaxon repeats quietly. Xavier nods. “Of course. I won’t tell anyone anything we discuss here.” The answer comes without hesitation. Without conditions. Without questions.
I watch the realization move across Jaxon’s face.
For the first time since he walked into my life, he’s being asked to carry someone else’s burden instead of having everyone carry his.
He’s being trusted. Given something instead of simply receiving help.
And based on the way his shoulders straighten slightly, he feels the difference.
“Let me start by saying that your fear for us,” Xavier says, his gaze moving around the room, “while understandable, is unnecessary.”
The room goes quiet. Even Ollie seems content to sit in Colton’s lap and play with his toy. Beside me, Jaxon stills. I can feel the tension running through him even with our hands joined.
“Last year,” Xavier continues, taking a slow breath, “I was kidnapped by three serial killers.”
My attention shifts to Declan. His entire body goes rigid.
One arm wraps tighter around Xavier’s waist. I’ve seen this happen every single time Xavier tells this story.
Declan hates hearing it. Not because he wants to pretend it never happened.
Not because he thinks Xavier should keep it to himself.
But because no matter how much time passes, he still blames himself.
Still carries the weight of not being there, of not protecting the man he loves.
Without interrupting his train of thought, he reaches down and places his hand over Declan’s. A silent reassurance. I glance toward Jaxon. His eyes are wide, shock written plainly across his face.
Jaxon thinks he’s the only one in this room who’s survived something terrible. The only one bringing darkness to our doorstep. He’s about to find out how wrong he is.
“I was taken and tortured.” Xavier’s voice remains steady, but his hand tightens around Declan’s forearm. The reaction is immediate.
“A Ghrá,” Declan whispers. The two words carry enough pain to silence the room. Declan’s eyes never leave Xavier’s face. Like he’s checking for cracks that haven’t existed in a long time. Like part of him is still standing in that nightmare waiting to find Xavier.
“It’s okay, Declan.” Xavier’s expression softens instantly.
“I’m okay.” He reaches up and cups Declan’s jaw.
The gesture is practiced. The kind born from having this conversation more times than either of them should have needed to.
Then he leans forward and presses a gentle kiss to his husband’s lips.
The tension in Declan’s shoulders eases slightly.
Turning back toward Jaxon, Xavier settles deeper into Declan’s lap. “The Murphys saved me.” His gaze sweeps around the room. “They found me.”
I look over at Jaxon. The color has drained from his face again.
Not from fear this time, but from disbelief.
Because the picture he’d built of my family doesn’t include things like this.
It doesn’t include scars. It doesn’t include survival.
It doesn’t include the fact that every person in this room has fought their own battles.
And that’s exactly why Xavier is telling him. Because Jaxon keeps looking at us like we’re people he needs to protect. When the truth is, we’ve been protecting not only ourselves but others for years.
“They came in guns blazing and rescued me.” A faint smile touches Xavier’s lips. “And those men will never hurt anyone ever again.”
The statement hangs in the air. No one elaborates. No one needs to. Jaxon is smart enough to understand what Xavier isn’t saying. Xavier takes a slow breath before continuing.
“I spent most of my life alone, Jaxon.” The room grows quieter somehow. “A lot like you.”
I glance over at Jaxon. His eyes are fixed on Xavier, completely locked in. Like he can’t help hearing pieces of himself in the story.
“I convinced myself I didn’t deserve love. No matter how much I wanted it.” Xavier’s gaze softens. “That it was easier that way.”
Declan’s arm tightens around his waist. Neither of them seems to notice. Or maybe they’re simply used to touching each other that much.
“Then I found this family.” His eyes move around the room. Taking in every person sitting there. “And everything changed.” The conviction in his voice is impossible to miss. “I’m not alone anymore. And neither are you.”
The words hit their target. I feel Jaxon stiffen beside me.
Feel the way his fingers tighten around mine.
Like part of him wants to believe Xavier, and another part is terrified to.
Because believing him means accepting something Jaxon has spent his entire life denying himself.
The possibility that he doesn’t have to survive on his own anymore.
“Ollie is actually my baby brother.” Colton picks up the conversation without hesitation. His hand moves absently through Ollie’s curls. The toddler immediately leans into the touch.
“My parents joined a cult when I was sixteen.” The room remains silent. Not because we haven’t heard it before. But because some stories deserve silence. “The whole reason they joined was to traffic me.”
Jaxon’s eyes widen. His hand now has a small tremor in it. I rub my thumb across his knuckles to try to comfort him.
“When that plan fell through, they had Ollie so they could try again.” Colton’s voice never wavers, it only hardens. “So I took him and ran. The cult was in the business of selling children.” The words hit the room like a physical thing. “And they came after us.”
Before the silence can settle, Ronan closes his laptop. Without a word, he crosses the room and sits beside Colton. One arm wraps around his shoulders, the other settles across his chest. Then he presses a kiss to the top of Colton’s head. Colton immediately relaxes into him.
As if sensing he might be missing out on something, Ollie abandons his spot in Colton’s lap and climbs directly onto Ronan. He settles against his chest without a second thought. Ronan doesn’t even pause. One arm shifts automatically to support him.
Jaxon’s eyes are fixed on the three of them. The family they’d built out of tragedy. The safety they’d fought for. The love they’d managed to find anyway.
“Together, they didn’t just save us.” Colton’s fingers trail over Ronan’s hand. “They dismantled the cult. Rescued the kids.” The words land heavily. “My parents and the people running it won’t ever hurt another child.”
For the first time since he started speaking, Colton smiles. It’s small, barely there. Reserved entirely for the man beside him. “He was my darkness so I could be his light.”
Ronan’s expression immediately turns sour. “I should have protected you more.”
“I hate when you say that. You gave me everything I needed.” Colton’s smile widens. The arm around Colton’s shoulders tightens. Colton leans into him slightly. “Ronan made sure my parents paid for what they did.”
Jaxon’s watching Ronan and Colton the same way he watched Xavier and Declan. Like he’s trying to understand something. Trying to solve a puzzle.
And for the first time since this conversation started, I think Jaxon is beginning to understand what Xavier has been trying to tell him. None of us came out of this world unscathed. We just stopped carrying it alone.