Almost Broken
354 Words
Chapter 40: Almost Broken
Jay found Lena on the rooftop balcony that night, the wind tossing her curls across her face, her arms folded tightly over her chest. The city lights shimmered far below them, but she wasn’t looking at the view. She was staring into a storm that lived behind her eyes.
“I heard she came to the gallery,” Jay said, stepping beside her.
Lena didn’t look at him. “You knew she would.”
He exhaled slowly. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about her?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Lena turned sharply. “That excuse is starting to wear thin, Jay. Protect me from what? The truth?”
He winced. “From people like her. Ava doesn’t walk into someone’s life without wanting something. And she always takes it.”
“And what does she want now?” Lena asked, voice trembling. “You?”
Jay didn’t answer immediately. His silence was heavier than a confession.
Lena took a step back, the space between them stretching like a fracture. “You promised me you were done with secrets.”
“I am. But Ava isn’t just some ex. She’s dangerous. She knows things about me—about my past—that could get both of us hurt.”
“She already is hurting me,” Lena whispered.
He reached for her, but she flinched. That broke something in him. His hand dropped.
“She mentioned Elijah,” she said. “Your brother.”
Jay stiffened.
“She said she was there the night he disappeared.”
His jaw clenched. “She wasn’t supposed to talk about that.”
“Then maybe you should’ve,” Lena snapped.
Silence stretched between them. Then Jay muttered, “I didn’t think you were ready to hear it.”
Lena stared at him. “Maybe I wasn’t. But now I don’t know who I’m standing next to anymore.”
And with that, she turned and walked away—leaving Jay standing in the wind, alone with his regrets and the ghosts he’d tried too long to bury.
- Writer
