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Jax guides me to the island in the kitchen, pulling out a stool for me and helping me sit. He hands me a stack of mail that he got from my place earlier. I busy myself with that as he goes about making dinner. I separate all the bills from the junk, setting them off to one side. A small envelope with no return address and only my name written on the front of it lands on the counter. Flipping it over, I unseal the envelope and slide the slip of paper out.
Next time you won’t be found alive
My hand shakes as I read the sentence over and over. Next time. My heart starts to race.
“J-Jax,” I whisper, and he whips around at my tone.
“What?” He prowls over and reads the note from over my shoulder and curses. “Where did you get this?” He asks as he flips the envelope over.
“In my mail,” I whisper, hands still shaking.
“There’s no address on it. God damnit,” Jax growls, grabbing his phone from the counter and punching some buttons. “Z. You need to pull the street cams by Avery’s house. She got a note in the mail from Weller. Hand delivered. Yeah. Okay. Call me back.”
“Please don’t make us go back there,” comes from the doorway and I whip my head that way to find Genevieve, teary eyed and listening to the conversation.
“Never,” Jaxson says before I can speak, and I whip my head towards him and narrow my eyes. He meets mine and raises an eyebrow. “Never.” He repeats.
“Vie, honey, can you go make sure Blake’s homework is done while Jaxson and I have a word?” I say, putting on my best fake smile. She concedes and leaves to go find Blake and I turn on Jaxson.
“I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t speak for me,” I snap, and he crosses his arms over his chest.
“When it comes to the three of you going back to that shit hole, I will absolutely speak for you, Ace. Because I can tell you right now, you aren’t going back.”
“You don’t get to decide that. That is ourhome, Jaxson, and whether you want to believe it or not, at some point - we have to return to it.” My comment has his face turning to stone. He leans forward, pressing his finger to the counter.
“Enlighten me, Ace. What the hell do you think is happening here?” He growls.
“What is happening is, my new boyfriend offered us a safe place to stay but eventually, we are going to need to return to our daily lives.”
“You’re unbelievable,” Jaxson scoffs under his breath.
“Excuse me?” I snap and he moves into my space so quickly, my breath hitches. He bends down and gets eye level with me.
“I said, you’re fucking unbelievable. I open my home and my fuckin heart to you, Ace, and time and time again you just keep shutting me out!” He punctuates his words with a slam of fist to the counter and I flinch. He pulls back and rakes his hands through his hair, turning around and facing the kitchen sink.
“Jaxson,” I say, my voice shaky.
“Don’t,” he says harshly. “I’ve gotta get the fuck out of here. Don’t disarm the alarm.” He grabs his phone off the counter and disappears out of the kitchen, the slam of the front door rattling in its frame. I press my hand to my chest, trying to slow my breathing. Tires squeal and the sound of gravel flying signal his departure. Tears slide down my cheeks, but I brush them away, pulling myself from the stool to start dinner, hoping like hell that the pain meds kick in and I forget all about this little shit show.
****
I roll over again, my arm flopping off the couch. I’ve been tossing and turning for hours, trying to turn my mind off enough to fall asleep but it’s no use. I drag myself off the couch and go in search of something to drink and another pill. Filling my glass up with water from the sink, I chase it down and sit the glass on the counter. Dropping my head down I inhale and roll my neck, trying to alleviate some of the tension.
“Avery,” I scream and whirl around. Genevieve is standing there, hand pressed to her chest because I scared her.
“Shit, Vie.” I say, roughing my hands over my face. “You scared me.”
“Sorry,” she says, meekly. “I heard a noise and thought it was Jaxson.” I sigh.
“No, just me. I couldn’t sleep and I’m hurtin’, so I took a pill.” I only told the kids earlier that Jaxson had some errands to run and would be back later, but Genevieve is obviously on to me. “We had a fight earlier,” I start, and she holds up a finger to stop me and goes about grabbing ice cream out of the freezer and two spoons, motioning for me to follow behind her to the living room. Once we are both settled under the blanket, she hands me a spoon and motions for me to continue.
“Like I was saying, we had a fight earlier. He stormed off and I haven’t heard from him since.” She blinks three times at me. “What?”
“There’s more to the story. Spill the tea.”
I cough out a laugh at her statement. “I corrected him after he told you that we’d never return to our house. I reminded him that eventually, we have to get back to our real lives.”
“Oh, ouch,” she says, eating a big scoop of ice cream.
