Dani blinked awake, the ceiling unfamiliar in the dim morning light.
For a moment, she didn’t move—just listened. The quiet hum of the apartment, the faint clink of metal from the kitchen. Her body remembered the night before, the tension, the fear, the moment she’d broken and let herself lean on Jax.
But the memory that clung tighter wasn’t from last night.
It was from eight years ago.
Roman’s voice, rough with desperation.
Her own, cold with betrayal.
And the sound of that door closing behind him.
That was the first time she’d been abandoned by someone she trusted with her whole heart.
It wasn’t the last.
Her fingers curled around the blanket bunched at her waist. It smelled like him—like Jax. Not strong, but enough to stir something deep in her chest. She hadn’t slept in that b
