There it was.
The unspoken line.
I didn’t answer immediately.
Because I couldn’t.
Because the idea of Mara being a liability made something ugly coil in my chest.
“She won’t,” I said finally.
Jax studied me a second longer.
Then he nodded once. “Then don’t make me regret this.”
Conversation over.
The room exhaled.
Engines revved again. Tools resumed. Noise swallowed tension like it always did.
But it wasn’t done.
Not inside me.
I walked outside, needing air that didn’t taste like oil and Stares. The afternoon sun hit my face, sharp and unforgiving.
I pulled my phone out before I could stop myself.
No new messages.
Good.
Annoying.
I stared at her name anyway.
Mara.
She shouldn’t be in my head this much.
She shouldn’t feel like something solid when everything else in my
