I looked up, and Jax had appeared in the doorway, his eyes red-rimmed and filled with concern. “I’m right here, Ella.”
Chapter 30
Jax
“Liv, we will figure thisout,” I said, my chest tightening with fear.
She shook her head vehemently. “No, we won’t. Don’t you see? Thereisno figuring it out for me. I have to try to salvage what’s left of my life.”
“Liv, I know who did this,” I admitted through gritted teeth. “That asshole ex of yours came to see us the night of the show. He’s trying to break us up.”
“What?” Shock washed over her face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know it was him until I saw this shit today,” I explained. “He booked a meeting with us, but the entire time he was focused on me and what was happening with Jax & Liv. Now I know he was clearly up to something. He must have gone to the press to get to you.”
“That can’t be,” she cried. “He’s not the best guy, but he wouldn’t do that. At least, I don’t think he would.” She buried her face in her hands, and I wrapped my arms around her. She let herself relax for a moment before prying herself from my grasp. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Liv, we will get through this.” I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling a cold sweat begin to form.
“No,” she spat. “Youwill get through this, Jax. It isn’tyourlife that’s been completely turned upside down.”
She might as well have slapped me across the face for as much as her words stung. “Baby, youaremy life. If your life is turned upside down, so is mine.”
“I was crazy to think this could ever work.” She rose to her feet and started pacing the floor beside the bed. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Baby, we will get past this,” I insisted, and she whirled on me.
“We can’t,” she sobbed. “You don’t understand, Jax.”
“Thenhelpme understand.”
“I can’t just exist in someone else’s shadow again, okay? I lived in Ben’s shadow, and now here I am in yours.” She paused her pacing long enough to gaze at me wistfully. “Nobody cares how I got here. All they see is me latching onto your coattail.”
“That’s not how it happened.”
“Don’t you see? It doesn’t matter.” She threw her hands up. “People don’t give a shit what the truth is.”
I stood, grabbing her arms though holding on to her would prevent her from slipping away from me. “I’ll put my music on hold. I’ll quit altogether. You could be a solo artist. I’ll quit the band if I have to. Whatever I have to do, Liv. I’ll do it. I’m not losing you. None of it matters without you.”
She looked up at me with sad eyes. “If you did that you’d be no better than me, and if Iletyou, I’d be no better than Benton. Music is a part of you, Jax. It’s in your soul. You can’t stop. I won’t let you.”
“So, you want to quit?” I steeled myself, the tears in my eyes causing her to look out of focus. “You want to just give up? Liv, I love you. I can’t let you go. I won’t.”
“I can’t allow my identity to be swallowed up by another man,” she said softly.
“Is that all I am to you?” My heart twisted, and I felt as though the wind had been knocked right out of me. “Some other man?”
“No.” She shook her head vehemently. “I love you, Jax, but sometimes love isn’t enough.”
“Not enough? Liv, it’s everything.”
“I used to believe that,” she admitted. “Love is enough until it isn’t. You think it’s enough right now because mayberight nowit is.But what happens when this starts to affectyourcareer? Theband’scareer? What happens when you realize you want a child of your own, Jax? You say adoption will be enough for you, but what if it isn’t? What if you realize it isn’t enough for you?”
“Liv, I—”
“I fought too hard to get here, Jax.” Her voice sounded small and defeated. “To have what semblance of a life I have on my own with the bakery.”
“The bakery isn’t your passion, Liv!” I shouted. “It isn’t even what you want to be doing!”
