Page 115 of The Broken Keys

All three are positive. All three scream the truth she never got to tell him.

The sound that rips from his throat is inhuman and full of grief, rage, and agony compressed into one broken exhale. He staggers back against the doorframe, hand pressed to his chest like he’s trying to hold his heart inside his body.

“This is confirmation. She knew.” He sucks in a breath. “She knew about the baby and was on her way to tell me.”

I force myself to move, to step between him and those tests. “Jaxon?—”

“Don’t.” He holds up a hand. “Don’t try to make this better.”

“That’s not what I’m doing. I know it’ll never be better.” I show him a respectful dip of my chin. “Jaxon, I’ve been where you are. I know what it feels like to lose a child with her.”

His eyes meet mine, and for the second time since this nightmare started, I see the man beneath the billionaire mask.

Raw. Shattered. Devastated.

“She was going to tell me.” He repeats it like a prayer. “We had a chance. She wanted our child.”

“Yeah, I’m sure she did.” My heart squeezes. “And I’m sorry, Jaxon. Trust me, I’m sorry you’re going through this. It’s something… Let’s just say, I have empathy for you right now.”

And I mean it because I remember the heartache of losing our kid. I remember standing by as Livianna broke apart and being powerless to stop it.

“I love her.” His admission comes out quietly. “I know you do, too. But…”

“Then you should understand—” I step closer to him, determined. “—I’m not walking away. Not this time. I lost her once, and it nearly destroyed me. I won’t lose her again.”

Jaxon ignores me as if he’s lost in a trance. He reaches for one of the sticks with a trembling hand.

He lifts it, staring at the plus sign like he’s trying to memorize something he’ll never get back. His jaw works, but no sound comes out.

I turn away, knowing how much that hurts. I run my hand over my neck as my own memories slam into me. Pain and agony slice through my soul.

I was seventeen, and she was just fifteen. The picture of Livianna after my uncle beat her burns in the forefront of my mind. The baby we’d made was gone the next day.

“I need to get out of here.” Jaxon sets the test down, still shaking.

He rushes past me. His shoulders rigid with the effort of keeping himself together. I follow him downstairs, where he paces the length of her living room, huffing and groaning as if he’s about to die.

“She should’ve called me. I would’ve met her here.” Hedrags both hands through his hair. “If she had, we wouldn’t be here now.”

Oh, I guess he’s in the bargaining stage of grief. Too bad it won’t help. Too bad nothing will.

“We can’t rewind time, Jaxon.” I lean against the wall, arms crossed. “And she was likely scared.”

“Scared of what? Me?” He stops and glares at me as if he’s looking for a fight. “Did she think I wouldn’t want our child?”

I don’t know how to answer that, so I shrug and shake my head. I understand his need to go after something or someone. It makes sense to me because I was the same way. But this… This is a damn mind-fuck of an ordeal.

I’m indebted to this man.

He helped me start my label, Riot King Records, when I had nowhere else to turn. He made way for my second chance at life.

But he also had Livianna for over two years while I was fighting through hell to become someone worthy of her. And now he’s grieving a baby, and I hate that for him.

Fucking hell. I hate it for all of us.

The conflict tears through me. My thoughts flip from understanding his devastation, gratitude for everything he’s done, and a fierce, primal need to protect what’s mine.

I kick off the wall. “I don’t know what she thought, Jaxon. But she was driving to you when the accident happened. That has to mean something.”