Page 42 of The Broken Keys

“I already told you I was giving you space to breathe. I wanted you to figure out if you wanted forever with me or if you needed to explore what else was out there.” His voice stutters on the last word. “I thought if you chose me after having the freedom to choose anyone, it would mean something.”

“It already meant something. I didn’t need you to test me or my loyalty to you.”

“It wasn’t meant to be a test. It was space for you to decide whether you wanted to be in my life knowing there’s… Nevermind, but trust it wasn’t meant that way.”

My insides empty. “I was in love with you, you impossibleman. I was ready to tell you that night before you left, but you blindsided me with talk of breaks and exploring options.”

“And look how well that turned out for you.” He folds his arms over his chest. “Where is Cash? Weren’t you two supposed to be atbreakfastby now?”

“I told him I forgot I had a meeting, and I’d check in with him soon.” I shake my head. “That’s what you want to focus on? I just told you I was in love?—”

“Stop, Livianna. I read your email and know how you interpreted the situation. I fucked up and I admit it, but it doesn’t change what was in store.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Maybe you and Cash were destined all along, and I was the stepping stone to make it happen.”

My heart cracks and tumbles out of my chest. “You can’t seriously be talking about fate right now.”

“Think about it.” He slips his hands into his pockets. “I held you while you healed and became the woman you are today. I backed him on everything, and he got his life in order. There was a missed love letter, a theatrical serenade for the world to see, and I was the one who put it all in motion.”

“And that’s where you want to leave this?”

“From what I gather, you’ve spent at least one night with him, and I saw him tell you he loves you. You’re back together with him, Livianna. Where am I supposed to take this?”

I shrink just thinking about how I would feel if I had walked in on Jax with someone else. “It’s not like that.”

“No?” He treks to his desk, putting the mahogany between us like armor. “Then explain to me what I just witnessed in the hallway. Explain the magazine cover. Explain why you’ve been spending your nights with him, because the woman I’m in love with wouldn’t have been back in her ex-boyfriend’s bed within two and a half weeks of my leaving.”

“What did you say?” My pulse stops. “You love me?”

For a second, the man I love shows his softness. “You know I do.”

Deep down, I know he’s being truthful, but that doesn’t mean I thought he was in love with me. I knew I meant something to him, but he never called it love.

He warned me once not to confuse his kindness with love, so I never let myself go there. But knowing it now changes everything.

“I didn’t do anything with Callum.” Even I know my explanation is weak. “I… I need to know exactly what you said in the letter.”

Jax sinks into his chair like the weight of this conversation is too much to bear standing. “It said that you were the best thing that had ever happened to me. I explained I was giving you the house not as a goodbye, but as a promise.”

“What?”

“I wanted you to have a place that would always be ours, whether I came back to find you waiting or came back to find you wanting to move on. I just wanted you to have something that was ours.”

Tears press on the back of my eyes. “What else did you say?”

“That I loved you, but I’d been too afraid to say it before because every person I’ve ever loved has been taken from me. But I was ready to risk it for you.” His voice drops to a whisper. “I told you if you wanted forever with me, all you had to do was be there when I got back.”

The sob that escapes me sounds like something dying.

“Livianna—”

“I would’ve been there.” I take a step closer to him. “You need to know that if I had received that letter, I would’ve been there.”

“But you’re not there now.” His brown eyes meet mine. They’re empty, professionally neutral. “You made your choice. You’re with him now.”

“It’s not like that.”