Page 55 of Fallen Empire
“Why?” I asked, voice quieter than before.
He didn’t answer right away. Just shook his head slowly, the movement so subtle I almost missed it.
“Because you’re not the only one with something to lose.”
Chapter 13
Jaxson
I let the weight of what Ben just said settle deep in my chest, heavier than I expected.
You’re not the only one with something to lose.
The words echoed louder the longer I sat with them. The tension I’d seen between him and Millie wasn’t just protective instinct or old familiarity. It was something else. Something he hadn’t told me.
“Ben,” I said, sitting up a little straighter. “If there’s something going on between you and Millie, I need—"
He didn’t even let me finish. “It’s not my story to tell.”
His voice wasn’t angry, it was firm. Final. Like a door being closed just loud enough to remind me not to knock again. I paused, then gave a quiet nod.
“Fair enough.”
He didn’t look at me. Just kept staring forward like facing me might give something away. I didn’t push. Whatever was going on between them, I’d get the truth eventually. But not like this.
A long silence stretched between us until footsteps echoed down the hall.
Nic stepped inside, her gaze immediately sweeping the room. She didn’t speak at first. Her eyes landed on Ben, then flicked to me, like she was calculating whether the coast was clear.
“If y’all are done, I need to get back to the office before I head in to check on the bar.”
Ben stood without question, running a hand down his face. “I’ll check on Millie.”
Nic stepped forward. “Jax, if you’re cool with it, I’m going to let Tamara cover my shifts for the next few days while I work on getting us ahead of Aleksei.”
Tamara filled in all the time. And I didn’t give a shit how Nic handled her shift leads. She ran the bars for a reason.
“Nic, you’ve never had to tell me—”
“He was here.”
Her words sliced through the air like a razor against skin—sharp, sudden, chilling. And it wasn’t until then that I realized she’d been buying herself time. Waiting for Ben to walk out of earshot.
“Who?”
“Koslov.” Her voice didn’t shake. “I saw him leaving. We made eye contact, but he didn’t recognize me. Not that he would. But it was him.”
“You’re sure?”
She arched a brow in answer, not bothering to dignify the question with words.
I’d never questioned her instincts before. I wasn’t about to start now.
Fuck.
This was getting worse, and fast.
“He knows she’s here, Jax,” she said, voice lower now, like saying it any louder would make it real. “He wasn’t here for anything else. He was here forher.”
