Love didn’t ask politely anymore.
It demanded.
⸻
The apartment felt wrong without Jaxon.
Not empty—
wrong.
Ava Montgomery noticed it in the smallest things.
The extra mug on the counter.
The hoodie draped over the chair.
The silence where his breathing should’ve been.
She hadn’t slept.
She hadn’t cried again.
She was past that fragile stage where tears came easily.
This was the stage where clarity sharpened into something dangerous.
Jaxon had left to breathe.
Marcus thought that meant he was winning.
Ava knew better.
But knowing didn’t make waiting easier.
⸻
Jaxon stayed in a cheap motel on the edge of the city.
Nothing fancy.
Just quiet.
The kind of quiet where thoughts grew louder instead of softer.
He stared at the ceiling for hours, replaying everything.
The pre
