Jax’s eyes sharpen, the red glow returning for a split second. “I think you mean you’re better.”
“Jax,” I snap, tears already burning my eyes. “Stay the fuck out of it.”
Lucas looks between us, his expression hardening. “What is this?” he asks. “Some kind of jealousy problem?”
Jax lifts a hand slightly, but his voice is pure steel. “Not jealous. I’m not good enough for her. Never been. Never will be.” He flicks ash onto the concrete floor. “But from what I’ve heard tonight, Lucas… you’re not either.”
“Excuse me?” Lucas says, standing to his full height, his posture rigid with offense. Lucas gestures around the unfinished bar. “She deserves stability. Not… whatever this is.”
Jax’s fist tightens, but he doesn’t move, his gaze locked on Lucas.
“That’s enough,” I say quietly, my voice trembling.
Lucas looks at me, his face softening slightly. “I’m trying to protect you.”
“From what?” I ask, the tears finally spilling over. “From my own family?”
“I’m trying to build something real with you.”
“And this isn’t real?” My voice cracks despite myself. “This is where I’m from.”
“It’s where you escaped from.”
“I didn’t escape,” I say slowly, the words heavy with a truth I’m only just realizing. “I left. I left everyone.”
“For better things.”
“For different things.”
Lucas exhales, a sound of pure frustration. “Sisk… don’t romanticize this place. It eats people. You said so yourself.”
I glance at Jax briefly.
Lucas steps closer, lowering his voice. “You’re not actually considering staying, are you?”
I look at him. At the ring. At the bar. At Jax.
“I don’t know.”
That’s the truth, and it’s enough.
Lucas’s face changes, the polite facade crumbling. “That’s not the answer we came here for.” He looks down at my hand, then back up at me, his eyes pleading. “Choose, Sisk,” he says quietly, his voice cracking. “You have to choose. Yourself. Us. Or this city.”
I move without thinking, my fingers numb as I slide the ring off slowly.
Lucas watches with disbelief as I place it on top of his folded coat. He looks at Jax, then back at me. “Sisk… I love you,” he says, softer now, a desperate, final plea.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, the words tearing out of my throat. “I can’t do this.”
Jax doesn’t say anything, he points to the door with his chin, a gesture that’s both a dismissal and a command.
Lucas pushes a crate out of the way, already moving toward Jax, but Matt steps back into the room immediately, like he’d been waiting for it. “No way, man,” Matt says firmly, moving to stand between them. “Let’s go.”
Lucas hesitates, his eyes burning into me, then he turns, grabs his coat, the ring, and turns away. “I’ll send for my bag.” At the door, he pauses. “You know where to find me,” he says quietly. “When you figure out what you just threw away.”
He walks toward the exit and I feel my entire world crumble as the door shuts.
“Sisk.” Jax steps toward me.
