Chapter 25 #2
She’s upset and not thinking rationally. At least that’s what I’m telling myself, and my timing sucked. I can handle billion-dollar deals with ease, but handling her with the utmost care and I fuck it up.
Nice job, Jaxon.
A minute passes, and Livianna doesn’t answer her door. I growl and consider using my key to let myself in, but something about doing that tonight is overstepping, and even I know that.
Where the hell is she?
I should’ve chased her down, but I thought she needed the space. She likely does. And with the way my night is going so far, she’s probably out with Trent dancing up a storm, wearing her iron mask like she doesn’t give a fuck about anyone or anything.
My insides twist and knot. I’ll give her tonight, but I’ll be back in the morning to finish this. There’s no way I’m losing her now.
My driver takes me back to my penthouse. I ride the elevator up with my head hung low and my stomach roiling. Once I’m in the foyer and about to give up for the night, something shifts near the glass balcony doors.
Livianna.
The new doorman has been told she’s allowed in whenever she wants. I remain where I am because I don’t want to spook her more than I already have. She turns to me with a glass of wine in her hand.
“Hi, Jax. Sorry to come here unannounced.”
“You’re always welcome here.”
She lifts the glass and takes a slow sip, her eyes cutting back to me over the rim.
She swallows and lowers the wineglass until it’s near her hip. “I’ve been thinking.”
My chest tightens. That never means anything simple with her.
“About?”
“About coming with you.” She sets her drink down on the side table and faces me fully. “I think maybe I was too quick to say no.”
My heart stutters, hope flaring so fast it’s almost painful. “What changed your mind?”
She wraps her arms around herself, a gesture that’s become familiar when she’s working through difficult emotions.
“I realized something while I was walking around the city tonight. I was so focused on what I’d be leaving behind that I wasn’t considering what I might be running toward.”
I take a step closer, careful not to crowd her. “And what would that be?”
“Home.” The word comes out soft and uncertain. “I mean, California. My parents are there. And as much as I’ve built this life in Paris, part of me has always known I’d have to go back. Maybe now’s the time.”
“For your parents?”
She nods, her expression complicated. “Things with them have been...better lately. Not perfect, but mending. They’re actually proud of what I’ve accomplished with Lehlani Rose Designs.
And maybe being closer to them and showing them I’m stable and successful…
Maybe that would help cement our relationship once and for all. ”
There’s a vulnerability in her admission. After everything she’s told me about her relationship with her parents, about feeling like the lesser twin, like the replacement for Lehlani Rose, this matters to her more than she wants to admit. But there’s more to it than that.
“That’s not the only reason, though, is it?” I ask because I can read the conflict still warring inside her.
She meets my gaze, and the truth is there before she speaks it. “No, it’s not.”
“Tell me what you’ve been thinking about.”
“The truth is, Jax, I don’t want to lose what we have, what we’ve built together. And I'm terrified that if I stay here and you leave, we’ll just...fade away. Long distance, time zone gaps, and living different lives… It would kill us slowly.”
With her admission, I visibly shudder. “Why do you believe that?”
She takes a shaky breath. “I’ve been in a relationship like that before, and it turned out awful. There would be days when I couldn’t reach him, and it hurt. I can’t do that again. Ever.”
“So you’d rather take the risk of starting over together?”
“Yes.” Her voice gains strength. “But I need to know this isn’t just about convenience for you. That you’re not asking me to come just so you don’t have to deal with the messiness of ending things.”
I close the distance between us, cupping her face in my hands. “Livianna, if this were just about convenience, I would’ve let you walk away tonight. I went looking for you because the thought of losing you makes me feel like I can’t breathe.”
Her eyes search mine, looking for lies, for cracks in my resolve. Whatever she finds there seems to satisfy her because she smiles slowly.
“Okay. But if we’re doing this, Jax, we’re doing it right. I’m not moving to California to be your kept woman. I need my own space, my own office, and my own life that intersects with yours but isn’t consumed by it.”
“Of course. Whatever you want.”
She pulls away, pacing to the window as her mind clearly starts working through the logistics. “Your building in LA, the one where CVI is headquartered. Do you have available office space?”
“Several, actually.”
“I want the office directly across from yours.” She turns back to me, the designer and the businesswoman taking over. “Close enough that we can collaborate easily, but separate enough that I maintain my independence.”
I nod, already mentally organizing the building layout. “Consider it yours.”
“You said you’d continue mentoring me. With the way my brand is exploding, I need that guidance now more than ever.”
“That can be arranged.”
“Good. My designs are flying off the table, and it terrifies me. I don’t want to drown in my own success.”
“You won’t. I’ll be there for you whenever you need.”
“And I want to pay market rate for the space. No special deals or ‘relationship discounts.’ This needs to be a legitimate business arrangement.”
“Livianna—”
“No.” She sends me a stern stare. “This is important to me, Jax. If I’m going to make this move, I need to know I can stand on my own two feet. That I’m there because I’m building something valuable, not because I’m your girlfriend.”
The word “girlfriend” hangs between us, loaded with implications we’ve both been dancing around. But I don’t push it.
Instead, I focus on what she needs to hear. “Market rate it is. But I reserve the right to take you to lunch every day.”
A slight curl tugs at her lips. “I suppose I could allow that.”
“And dinner. And breakfast, when you’ll let me.”
“Don’t push it, Crowne. My parents still can’t know about us. Not until my relationship with them is solid again. I don’t want anything to interfere with that.”
“Of course. I agree with all your demands.”
Her grin is wider now, and some of the tension leaves her shoulders. We stand there for a moment, the weight of the decision settling between us.
“When do we leave?” she asks.
“Two weeks. That’ll give you time to wrap up anything urgent here.”
She glances around the penthouse that’s become as familiar to her as her own place. “It’s going to be strange leaving all this behind.”
“We’re not leaving it behind.” I stride to stand beside her at the window, looking out over the city that brought us together. “We’re taking the best parts with us and building something new.”
She leans against me. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and pull her close. For the first time since that call from my team, I can breathe again.
“Jax?”
“Yes?”
“What we have—this dynamic between us, the scenes, all of it—that doesn’t change just because we’re crossing an ocean, does it?”
I press a kiss to her lips. “Not unless you want it to.”
“Okay then, it doesn’t. I'm just starting to understand who I am when I let go with you. I’m not ready to give that up.”
“You won’t have to.”
She turns in my arms, peering up at me with those blue eyes that have been my undoing since the moment I faced my desire for her.
“Jax, I care about you so much. More than anyone I ever have.”
The words hit me hard, stealing my breath. We’ve never said anything like that before, never dared to come close to naming what this is between us.
I know she had a serious boyfriend, one that she loved until he destroyed her heart. She’s spent the last year and a half trying to break down the walls he helped her build, and maybe she’s finally there.
But even though she didn’t say I love you, I have a feeling that’s what she’s trying to tell me. Seeing the fear and hope warring in her expression, I know there’s only one response.
“Mon trésor, I care for you more than anyone. More than I thought I was capable of.”
She rises on her toes to kiss me, soft and sweet, a promise sealed between us. When she pulls back, tears are resting on her lashes, but they’re not sad ones.
“So we’re really doing this? Moving across the world together?”
“Yes, Livianna. We’re really doing this.”
“Then I guess we’d better start packing.”