Chapter 4 CHA

The question sliced through the stagnant air of the study like a jagged blade. I froze, my fingers still brushed against the underside of the heavy mahogany desk. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic, trapped bird seeking escape. A cold sweat broke out along my hairline, trickling down my neck like a frozen finger.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Jaxson," I whispered.

The lie felt like dry ash in my mouth. I slowly stood up, smoothing the wrinkles in my silk skirt with palms that were slick and trembling. The room was suffocating, draped in shadows and the heavy scent of old books and Jaxson's expensive, woodsy cologne.

"Don't play the victim," he growled.

He stepped out of the darkness, the dim light catching the sharp angle of his jaw and the silver scar slicing through his eyebrow. He looked predatory. Every muscle in his body was coiled tension. My pulse throbbed in my ears, a rhythmic drumbeat of pure, unadulterated fear.

"I'm a mother trying to protect her son," I snapped.

The defiance flared in my gut, a small, hot flame in the middle of a blizzard. I forced myself to meet his obsidian gaze, even as my knees threatened to buckle. The electricity between us was a physical weight, a sparking current that made the fine hairs on my arms stand on end.

"You're a spy who used a child as a shield," Jaxson countered.

He moved closer, his presence expanding until he filled my entire field of vision. The heat radiating off him was a scorching contrast to the chill in my bones. I could see the slight flare of his nostrils, the rhythmic heave of his broad chest.

"He is your son!" I yelled, the words tearing from my throat.

The silence that followed was absolute, heavy enough to crush the lungs. Jaxson didn't blink. His eyes remained locked on mine, dark pools of unreadable emotion. My stomach twisted into a painful knot, a hollow ache spreading through my abdomen.

"Is he?" Jaxson's voice was a low, dangerous vibration.

"Look at him," I breathed, my voice trembling with a mix of fury and desperation. "Look at his eyes. Look at the way he sets his jaw when he's angry. You know the truth."

"I know what you want me to believe," he said.

He reached out, his large, calloused hand suddenly gripping my chin. His touch was electric, a jolt of fire that raced through my nervous system. I gasped, my breath hitching in a throat that felt like it was closing up.

"I want my son to be safe," I choked out. "Thorne is dangerous. He'll use Leo to destroy you."

"Thorne is a cockroach," Jaxson spat, his thumb brushing over my lower lip with a rough, distracting pressure. "But you... you're the one who brought the war to my doorstep."

"I had no choice!"

"There is always a choice, Little Thief."

He let go of my face as if I had burned him. He turned away, pacing the length of the room like a caged panther. I watched the play of muscles beneath his black shirt, the way his tattoos shifted with every movement. My body felt hyper-sensitive, every nerve ending screaming with the aftershocks of his touch.

"Where is he?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"Sleeping. In a room more secure than any vault in this city."

"I need to see him."

"You need to stay where I can watch you," Jaxson said, turning back to face me. "You're a guest in this house, Elena. Nothing more. If I find one more bug, one more transmitter... I won't be so gentle."

"Gentle?" I let out a jagged, bitter laugh. "You dragged us here like prisoners."

"I saved you from a man who would have discarded you the moment the merger was signed."

"And what will you do with us?"

I stepped toward him, closing the gap until I could smell the faint tang of bourbon on his breath. My heart was a frantic mess, thudding against my chest with such violence I was sure he could see it. I reached out, my fingers grazing the leather of his vest.

"I haven't decided yet," he whispered.

The air between us was thick, charged with five years of resentment, betrayal, and a hunger that made my blood boil. I could see the pulse jumping in his neck. His eyes dropped to my mouth, and for a second, the world narrowed down to the space between our lips.

"Kill me if you want," I said, my voice dropping to a smoky, defiant edge. "But give Leo his inheritance. Give him the life he deserves."

Jaxson's eyes snapped back to mine, a flicker of something-pain? regret?-crossing his features before the mask of stone returned. He grabbed my wrists, his grip firm but not painful, pinning them against his chest.

"You think you can manipulate me with him?"

"I think you're terrified of how much you already love him," I countered.

The shock was visible. His pupils dilated, his grip tightening for a fraction of a second. I felt a surge of triumph, a sharp, cold spike of adrenaline. I had hit the mark. The powerful Jaxson Vane had a weakness, and it was the boy sleeping down the hall.

"Get out," he hissed.

"Make me."

We stood there, locked in a silent war of wills. The only sound was the ticking of a grandfather clock in the corner and the ragged sound of our breathing. My skin felt like it was on fire where he touched me. The silence stretched, vibrating with a tension that felt like it would shatter the windows.

"Go to your room, Elena," he said, his voice dropping to a low, guttural warning. "Before I forget that you're the mother of my son and remember exactly what you stole from me."

I didn't argue. I couldn't. The intensity in his eyes was too much, a dark fire that threatened to consume my resolve. I pulled my hands free, my skin tingling as the contact broke. I turned and walked out of the study, my heels clicking sharply against the cold marble floor.

The hallway was a labyrinth of shadows and expensive art. This wasn't a home; it was a fortress. Every corner held a security camera, every door was reinforced steel. My skin crawled with the sensation of being watched.

I needed to find Leo. I needed to know where they were keeping him.

I moved quietly, my boots making no sound on the thick runners. I passed room after room-guest suites, offices, a library that smelled of mahogany and silence. My heart felt heavy, a lead weight in my chest. I felt like a ghost haunting my own life.

I reached the end of the north wing. A single door stood ajar, a soft, warm light spilling out onto the floor.

I paused, my breath catching. The air in this part of the house felt different-softer, smelling faintly of lavender and vanilla. I pushed the door open, my heart skipping a beat.

I expected a cold, clinical bedroom.

Instead, I stepped into a nursery.

It was perfect. The walls were painted a soft, calming blue. A hand-carved wooden bed shaped like a pirate ship sat in the corner, covered in plush blankets. Shelves lined the walls, overflowing with books, puzzles, and every toy a five-year-old could dream of.

There were action figures, remote-controlled cars, and a massive set of building blocks. A telescope stood by the window, pointed toward the stars.

It wasn't new. The toys weren't in boxes. They were arranged with care, some of them looking slightly worn, as if they had been handled many times.

My knees hit the thick carpet. I felt a sob rise in my throat, hot and suffocating. I reached out, my hand trembling as I picked up a small stuffed lion sitting on the nightstand.

It was identical to the one Leo had lost three years ago.

"He's been waiting," I whispered to the empty room.

My mind spun. Jaxson had acted as if our appearance was a shock, a betrayal. But this room told a different story. This was a room built with love and a terrifying, obsessive foresight.

He hadn't just found out about Leo. He had been watching us. For years.

Every birthday, every milestone, every time we had struggled to pay the rent-he had known. He had let us suffer while he built this shrine to a son he had never claimed.

The realization hit me like a physical blow, leaving me gasping for air. The betrayal was deeper than I could have imagined. I felt a wave of cold fury wash over me, a bone-deep anger that made my hands shake.

"You like it?"

I spun around, the stuffed lion clutched to my chest.

Jaxson was leaning against the doorframe. He had discarded his vest, his white shirt unbuttoned at the collar. He looked tired, the shadows under his eyes deeper in the soft light of the nursery.

"How long?" I demanded, my voice a jagged edge of a thing.

"Long enough," he said.

"You watched us? You watched us starve while you built this?" I stood up, my eyes burning with unshed tears.

"I watched you hide him from me," Jaxson countered, stepping into the room. "I watched you move from one hovel to the next, playing your little spy games, while my son slept on a floor."

"You could have taken him at any time!"

"And have you run again? Have you disappear into the shadows where I could never find you?" He stopped in the center of the room, looking at the pirate ship bed. "I needed you to come to me. I needed the choice to be yours."

"It wasn't a choice! You trapped me!"

"I gave you an exit," he said, his voice turning ice-cold. "Thorne was just the catalyst. I knew you'd take the money. I knew your greed would bring you home."

"Greed?" I took a step toward him, my hand flying out to slap him again, but he caught my wrist mid-air.

The contact was a violent spark. We stood in the middle of the nursery, the air thick with the scent of a childhood he had stolen and a future I was terrified of.

"You don't get to judge me," I hissed.

"I'm the only one who can," he replied.

He pulled me closer, his eyes searching mine with a desperation that matched my own. For a heartbeat, the anger vanished, replaced by a raw, bleeding vulnerability. He looked at me not as an enemy, but as the only woman who had ever truly broken him.

"Why, Jaxson?" I whispered.

"Because he's mine," he breathed, his forehead dropping to rest against mine. "And so are you."

The claim sent a shiver through my entire body. I wanted to fight him, to scream, to run. But my heart was beating in sync with his, a rhythmic, undeniable truth.

Then, the silence was shattered by a sharp, electronic beep from Jaxson's pocket.

He pulled out a small black device. His face went ashen as he read the screen.

"What is it?" I asked, the fear returning in a cold rush.

Jaxson looked at me, his eyes wide with a terror I had never seen before. He grabbed my arm, his grip bruising.

"The drive you found in Leo's pocket," he said, his voice tight. "Did you activate it?"

"No, I... I just held onto it."

"Elena," he said, his voice trembling. "That wasn't a hard drive. It was a beacon."

Before I could ask what he meant, the floor beneath us groaned. A heavy, metallic thud echoed from the hallway, followed by the sound of glass shattering downstairs.

Jaxson shoved me toward the bed, shielding me with his body as the lights in the mansion flickered and died, plunging the nursery into a terrifying, suffocating darkness.

"Stay down," he commanded.

In the silence, I heard the sound of heavy boots on the stairs-and a voice that made my blood turn to ice.

"Come out, Jaxson," Thorne's voice boomed through the speakers of the nursery's baby monitor. "I've come to collect my investment."

I reached out in the dark, my fingers finding Jaxson's hand. He gripped it back, his palm hot and steady.

"He's not after the company, is he?" I whispered.

"No," Jaxson replied, his voice a grim promise. "He's after the only thing I can't replace."

A red dot appeared on the nursery door, dancing across the wood until it settled directly over the lock.

"Elena," Jaxson whispered, leaning close to my ear. "If we don't make it out of this room, tell Leo... tell him he was always the king of this castle."

The door exploded inward.