The Last Round - Chapter 3

Sutton’s POV

Something is wrong.

I’ve felt it for days now-Jaxon’s distance, the way he barely touches me, way he avoids my eyes. I’ve tried to get him to talk, to tell me what’s going on, but he keeps shutting me down.

Not now, Sutton. Drop it. Just let me fucking breathe.

That’s not him.

That’s not my Jax.

He’s always all over me- e-pulling me into his lap, kissing my neck while I cook, whispering I love you, baby when I roll over in bed.

But now? Now, I don’t even recognize him.

Tonight, he’s going to tell me what the fuck is wrong.

Because if I let this keep going, I know-I know-I’m going to lose him.

I hear the deep roar of his car as it pulls into the driveway.

My stomach twists, but I force myself to stand, crossing my arms as I wait for him to walk inside.

The door opens.

Jaxon steps inside, head bowed, shoulders caved in on themselves.

This isn’t him.

My Jaxon walks with his head high, his back straight, his confidence unshakable.

He always greets me the same way: Where you at, baby? Followed by a kiss, a touch, a smirk.

But now? Now, he looks lost.

His dark eyes meet mine, then he shakes his head and walks past me.

“Not now, Sutton.” He never calls me like that.

He goes straight to the kitchen, pulling a beer from the fridge, his head still down.

I follow him, my pulse hammering.

“Yes. Now, Jax. ” My voice is sharp, unrelenting.

“You haven’t spoken to me in two days. You haven’t touched me. Not even a kiss hello. Have I done something wrong? We can’t fix this if you don’t-”

He looks at me like I’m an annoying bug he wants to squish.

I physically shrink back, my mind struggling to comprehend the look on his face.

Then he scoffs, taking a swig of beer, and mutters, “Can’t a man come home and have a fucking beer without his bitch of a girlfriend jumping down his throat?” I stare.

Wide-eyed.

Stunned.

My brain stalls.

Jaxon just-Jaxon just called me a bitch.

The man who tells me I’m his whole world? The one who holds me after every bad dream, who kisses every inch of my skin, who swore he wanted a family with me? This man.

This fucking asshole.

I open my mouth, ready to tear him apart-but then he looks me dead in the eyes and says- “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

It’s like the air is sucked from the room. Jaxon keeps going, voice flat, empty, not his.

“It’s time for us to end. It’s been time for a while now, but I’ve been busy. I want you out of the house. I’ll give you a couple of hours to get your shit, then I want you gone. ” My mouth falls open.

The words don’t register at first.

My mind is trying to make sense of them, trying to rewrite them into something that makes sense. But they don’t make sense.

They don’t fit. My chest tightens, my throat dry.

“Why?” I whisper.

The walls feel like they’re closing in.

This isn’t real.

Jaxon exhales sharply.

“Sutton, don’t make a scene. Just go. ” I stagger backward, my pulse erratic.

My heart-my fucking heart-is clawing at my ribcage, desperate to break free.

He starts for the door, grabbing his keys.

I snap out of it.

No.

I lunge after him, voice breaking.

“Don’t fucking walk away from me! Be a man and tell me why. And don’t feed me bullshit. Tell me to my face why you would destroy us!” Jaxon turns back.

And I wish he didn’t.

Because the man looking at me isn’t my Jaxon.

It’s Iron Kane.

Jaxon the fighter. Jaxon the cold-blooded, untouchable, unbreakable.

Not mine.

I take a step back.

I see it in his eyes.

He’s about to break me.

His voice is low, sharp, deadly.

“Fine. You want the fucking truth, Sutton? I don’t love you. I never have.” The first crack splits through my chest.

“You have that whole girl-next-door look, you know? That innocent thing going for you. The bosses told me to find someone sweet-looking to boost my image. ” Crack.

“You were perfect for the role. But I can’t do it anymore. ” Crack.

“I met someone.” CRACK.

“And she doesn’t want to hide in the shadows anymore. ” Shattered.

I stop breathing.

Everything goes still.

All the blood rushes to my head, my ears ringing.

I was a publicity stunt.

He met someone else.

This man–the one who held me through every bad dream, who kissed every inch of my skin, who swore he wanted a family with me- It was all a lie.

I was a lie.

My hands shake.

One grips my heart, the other covers my mouth, trapping the sob fighting to break free.

Jaxon turns to leave.

I whisper.

“But I’m pregnant. ” His body stiffens.

He doesn’t turn around.

He doesn’t reach for me, doesn’t react the way I imagined he would.

Instead, he says, voice flat, detached, inhuman- “I don’t want it. ” My knees buckle.

My lungs collapse.

I wait.

I wait for anything-for him to take it back, for his shoulders to drop, for him to turn around and grab me and tell me this was a mistake.

But he doesn’t.

He doesn’t fucking move.

“You have two hours,” he says.

“I’m bringing my woman back with me, so best if you’re gone. ” And then he walks out the door.

Taking my soul with him.

I crumble.

I hit the floor hard, my gasping sobs breaking into the empty apartment.

I can’t breathe, I can’t think, I can’t- How did I not see it? How did I not know we were a lie? My phone rings in the background.

I blink through blinding tears, crawling to grab it, my fingers barely working as I answer.

Ruby.

My big sister.

“H-Hello?” I sob into the phone.

She was about to say something, but she stops, voice sharp, worried.

“Sutton? What’s wrong?” I break.

“He-” Ruby sucks in a breath. “Where is he? Is he with you?”

“N-no. He left. He said I have two hours. Please-please come get me. Bring Lane. ” Ruby’s voice hardens.

“We’re on our way. Stay on the phone, put me on speaker. Take a deep breath. You can break down later-right now, you pack. ” I suck in a shaky breath.

And then I get up.

Jaxon wants me gone? Fine.

I’ll make sure he never sees a trace of me again.