Page 43 of The Broken Keys

“But it is.” Jax glances at the door. “You have a date you should get to. You’re pale and look like you haven’t eaten in days.”

“I’m not with Callum. I’m standing in your office trying to figure out how we managed to destroy something beautiful because of miscommunication and missing letters.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” But the way his hands shake as he straightens his laptop tells me it matters more than he’s willing to admit.

“Doesn’t it?” I inch toward him. “Because I’m looking at a man who built panic rooms in every office to deal with his emotions. You just came out of one, so I think it matters very much.”

His jaw tightens. “Don’t psychoanalyze me, Livianna.”

“I’m not. I’m trying to understand how we got here. How we went from vineyard dancing, moving back to the States together, and shared secrets to this.”

“We got here because you chose him.” The words come out flat and final. “And maybe that’s for the best because this was always going to happen.”

“Is that what you really believe?”

He stares at me for a long moment, a battle raging behind his eyes. The businessman who’s built his life on control, sparing with the man who risked his heart for me.

“What I believe doesn’t matter anymore.” He stands, straightens his tie, and rebuilds his shield in real time. “You have a life to get back to. A relationship to nurture. Don’t let me keep you from it.”

But I’m not ready to walk away. Not when I finally understand what went wrong. Not when there might still be something worth fighting for.

I clutch at my chest. “What if I told you I made a mistake?”

“What kind of mistake?”

“The email. Sending it without talking to you first. Not looking through all the papers carefully enough. Not trying harder for us.” I take a stabilizing breath. “You need to know my past with Callum is complicated. I’m just trying to make sense of it.”

“Livianna…” Jax’s heated stare warns me not to go down this path.

“I know you saw me with Callum. I know how it looked. But nothing happened the way you think it did.”

“And what do I think?”

“That I’m with him completely. Yes, I’ve stayed at his place. Yes, we kissed. But it wasn’t about choosing him over you. It was about trying to understand what happened in the past. And he’s been here for me when you weren’t.”

Jax’s eyes close like my words are physically hurting him. “Don’t.”

“Don’t tell you the truth? Don’t explain that every second with him, somewhere deep down, felt like I was betraying what we had?” Tears stream down my face. “I admit that even when he told me he loved me, I was thinking about you too.”

“Stop, Livianna. Just stop.”

“No, not when you’re looking at me like I’m already gone. Not when there might still be a chance for us to?—”

The intercom crackles to life, Natalie’s professional voice cutting through the tension like a blade. “Mr. Crowne? I’m sorry to interrupt, but the Singapore team is asking whether you’ll be joining the conference call. They’ve been waiting for fifteen minutes.”

Jax’s mask slides back into place so fast it steals my breath. He reaches for the intercom button, his businessman persona reassembling in seconds.

“Tell them I'll be right there, Natalie. Technical difficulties on my end.”

“Of course, Mr. Crowne.”

The silence that follows is like a death sentence. He fixes his jacket, checks his watch, and becomes the man who can compartmentalize heartbreak like it’s just another business loss.

“You should go.” His voice is steady now, stripped of the emotion that was there moments before. “I have a call to attend.”

“Jaxon, please?—”

“This conversation is over, Livianna.” He marches to the door and opens it for me with cold politeness. “I hope you and Cash find happiness together. You deserve that.”