Bound by my blood

Chapter thirty-one

""Come stai qui? Che ci fai qui?" I ask, my voice hoarse, thick with tears. My face is a mess, streaked with mascara and my nose running. But Jax doesn't seem to mind. His hands gently cradle my face, his thumbs brushing away the wetness on my cheeks, his gaze steady and reassuring.

I know Cassian, Naz, and Aerin are standing behind us, but right now, it doesn't matter. I'm too consumed with the shock of seeing Jax here, with the overwhelming mixture of emotions swirling inside me to properly acknowledge them. Jax, though, he's calm, too calm, as if he's always known they were there.

"Regina told me," he says, his voice soft yet firm. "Don't pull that face, she only told me. I got on the first flight out. No one knew I was coming, and I'm here because that dickhead broke your heart. Don't even try to deny it. We could all see it—you had feelings for him."

His words hit me like a splash of cold water. I want to protest, to deny it, but there's no point. The truth is out there. I've been running from it, but I can't hide it anymore.

"Are you angry?" I whisper, my throat tight with a mixture of shame and fear. I watch as Jax's jaw clenches, his body tensing with something more than anger, something deeper.

"Angry about what?" His voice is low, strained, almost like he's forcing the words out. His breath is heavier now, as though every breath is a battle against the pain.

"That I fell for him... after everything. After us," I admit, my voice barely audible, like I'm confessing to some unforgivable sin.

Jax doesn't answer immediately. He just looks at me, his expression softening, though I can see the muscles in his face tightening. Finally, he speaks, his voice rough but filled with an intensity I can't ignore. "I'm angry, but not at you, Principessa. Never at you. We both knew it wasn't going to last. We were better off as friends, anyway. I'll always love you... but this?" His eyes flicker to the others—Cassian, Naz, Aerin—who've been quietly observing us this whole time. "This is different."

I feel the weight of his words, the finality of them, but I can't hold onto it. Not now. Not when the world feels like it's spinning out of control.

"I'll always love you too, as my best friend," I say softly, my voice breaking a little. "What we had... what we thought love was... it's different now. You'll see it one day, when you fall in love with a woman. Truly fall in love."

Jax nods, his lips pressing into a thin line. I can see the unspoken understanding in his eyes, the acceptance that what we had is over. But it's not the end of us. It's just... a different chapter.

I stand on my tiptoes, my lips brushing his pale, warm cheek in a soft kiss before pulling away. I turn to face the others, still feeling Jax's presence behind me. Naz is wrapped around Aerin, whose face is wet with unshed tears, and Cassian... well, he's standing there with an eyebrow raised, an amused smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

"I'm way too sober for this kind of emotional stuff," Cassian finally says, his voice light, but there's a hint of something underneath, something almost protective. "Are you joining me back at the bar, or are we just going to stand here and cry?"

His words break through the tension, and before I can stop it, a laugh bursts from my chest—loud and unexpected. It's a laugh filled with release, with relief. I couldn't stop it even if I tried. Cassian laughs too, and I know he's not laughing at me. He's laughing with me. The sound of his laughter, the laughter of my friends, fills the space around us, and for a moment, it feels like things might just be okay.

Even Naz chuckles a little, though it's more subdued. He's still holding Aerin close, his hand on her shoulder in a protective gesture, but the laughter, the sense of normalcy, is enough to push away the darkness, even if just for a little while.