Jay's POV
London at night is a quiet seduction.
It doesn't shout. It doesn't clamor. It simply exists, the streets glowing gold against darkened stone, every light reflecting off puddles like the city itself is holding its breath. And tonight… it felt like it was holding me.
I stepped off the private jet and straight into the black Mercedes that Eli had waiting.
She nodded at me, clipboard in hand, all efficiency and quiet composure. "Ma'am, your suite is ready. Security is tight. Everything else is prepared."
I didn't need to ask about the city, the traffic, or the press. Eli had already thought of everything. That's why she's the best.
Aurora leaned over from the seat beside me, smirking, "So… London. What's the first emotional crisis tonight?"
I tilted my head back and let a soft laugh escape. "We're not doing crises yet."
Sebastian smirked from the back. "Does that mean there will be one?"
Leo stretched dramatically. "Or maybe we just quietly spiral, very adult-like, in public."
Chloe leaned forward from behind me, her voice a low whisper, playful but serious.
"You're going to London and still aren't letting yourself relax. Classic Jay Jay."
I smiled faintly, because she was right. I never did. Not now. Not ever, apparently.
The ride to the hotel was silent, but it wasn't tense.
London blurred past the windows, old buildings leaning on new glass towers like history and ambition had agreed to coexist.
I tried to focus on that, on breathing evenly, but my mind kept wandering.
It buzzed in my pocket.
Keiran.
I froze.
Aurora noticed immediately. She didn't speak—just gave a subtle squeeze to my knee.
I swiped the screen open. "Hello?"
"Jay Jay," Keiran said, voice calm, quiet, and somehow older than his twelve years.
I let out a soft breath. "Keiran? How did you—?"
"I know where you are," he said simply. "And I have to tell you the truth."
I sat back in my seat, gripping the armrest lightly. Truth. A word I wasn't sure I could handle tonight. But I needed it.
He continued, "Keifer… he didn't betray you."
I blinked. My chest twisted. That sentence should have been impossible, unbelievable.
I thought I had lost him. I thought his words, his actions… everything had been deliberate heartbreak.
"Keiran… I…" I couldn't even finish.
"I know what you're thinking," he said softly, interrupting me. "And it's wrong. He hurt you—yes. But not for himself. For you."
My fingers tightened around the armrest. I forced myself to focus on his voice.
"Explain."
Keiran's pause made the world shrink. "He realized how much danger surrounded you.
How exposed you were if the wrong people in our family found out you were… important to him. You would have been used.
He couldn't let that happen. So he… acted the way he did. To protect you. To keep you safe."
I let out a shaky breath, emotions twisting in ways I didn't understand.
"He wanted you alive," Keiran added quietly. "Even if it meant you hated him. Even if it meant you thought he abandoned you."
I closed my eyes, pressing my fingers to my temples. Every memory, every tear, every heartbreak-inducing moment he caused—suddenly made sense.
Aurora leaned over, whispering softly: "Jay… you okay?"
I tried to smile. "I will be. Just… processing."
Sebastian's voice, quieter than usual, murmured from the back: "So all that cruelty… was love?"
I nodded slowly. "Sacrificial love."
Keiran's soft voice came again. "He… he watches for you.
Even now. Even from a distance. He doesn't sleep right when he thinks you're in danger.
He keeps your name muted in his contacts, calls it 'self-control,' but he doesn't forget you."
The tears came then, quietly. Not messy, not loud, just enough to feel. I let myself feel it.
"And he's still… waiting," I whispered, voice shaking. "Even after all this?"
Keiran chuckled softly, a tiny bubble of humor in the quiet London night. "Yes. He's stubborn. Like you."
I laughed—a real, wet laugh that startled even me. "I hate that you're right.
"You love that he is," Keiran teased back.
I let the phone slip from my fingers, placing it gently on my lap. I sat back, staring out the window as the city lights blurred.
Somewhere out there, he was thinking of me, maybe watching. Maybe planning. Maybe… suffering in silence just like me.
The car arrived at the hotel. Black cars slid past, polite and silent. We stepped into the lobby. Marble floors. Golden lights. Soft music. London dressed itself in quiet elegance.
And then, instinct. The pull. The shift in gravity I couldn't name.
Somewhere, in the lobby, he was here. Or near. Or close enough to feel.
Aurora noticed immediately. "Jay… are you—?"
I shook my head. "No. Just… aware."
But my heart betrayed me.
For one terrifying second, I thought he would look up and see me. The pull between us—the love, the history, the secrets—would snap like a wire.
The elevator opened, people walked past, a waiter blocked the sightline. The moment shattered.
I exhaled shakily, laughing quietly. "London, you dramatic city."
Dinner passed in soft chatter.
Chloe complained about jet lag.
Leo argued with the dessert menu.
Sebastian pretended he didn't want the chocolate lava cake.
Aurora just watched, quiet and knowing.
But I kept glancing back. Hoping, fearing, wondering if he'd appear. If he'd see me. If he'd know I was here.
And I realized—
Even almost encounters hurt like a thousand truths.
Yet, in the pain, there was warmth.
A reminder. The bond wasn't gone. It survived distance. Survived deceit. Survived fear.
London night stretched on outside my window as I finally let myself lean back on the bed, soft sigh escaping me.
Keifer didn't know I was here. But somehow… I knew he felt it too.
And that knowledge alone was enough for now.
The game wasn't over.
It had only shifted its pieces.
...