Blood Ties
1135 Words
That night, she found Jax sitting alone in the garage, the sound of wrenching metal echoing in the air.
“You okay?” she asked.
He didn’t look at her.
“You know , I thought about everything you said earlier on. But I need to ask — if he’d shown up before me… would you have gone back to him, again?”
Silence.
Then Lena spoke, slow and sure.
“Never! That bastard cheated on me with my bestfriend!. And besides Jax, I didn’t fall for you because you protected me, I fell because when everything burned, you stayed unlike others.”
He finally looked up — and in his eyes, something shifted.
Not love.
Something deeper. But, Jax had barely slept. Because, Daniel’s arrival left a sour taste in his mouth. But it wasn’t jealousy — not really. It was fear. That she might wake up one day and realize he wasn’t enough. That her past life could call her back like a siren song.
Lena had reassured him, but something still didn’t sit right.
Especially after the letter Tank found. He slid the envelope across the table to Lena. “It was tucked, and retrieved from under your ex’s windshield, before he left. Handwritten. No prints. Sealed with wax.”
Lena frowned and opened it.
She read the first line.
Then the second. And froze.
Her lips moved silently as she scanned the rest, her face draining of color.
“Lena?” Jax stood. “What is it?”
She placed the letter on the table like it burned her fingertips.
“It’s from my mother.”
Jax blinked. “She isn't in trouble?.”
“She did. Or… I thought she wasn't.” Lena’s voice was shaking now. “She was in debt. Deep. We lost the house. She told me she was going to fix things, then left town some years back, but we do communicate unfrequently, though.”
Jax picked up the letter, reading the elegant, sharp script:
> “If you’re reading this, it means my past has finally caught up with yours. The people after me will come for you now. I never meant for this, Lena. But I had no choice.”
> “You’re not just my daughter. You’re collateral.” Jax’s knuckles whitened.
“She sold you out.”
“No,” Lena whispered. “She tried to protect me. But whatever she was running from… it’s still out there. And now they’ve found me.”
And outside the compound, a sleek black car idled across the street. Tinted windows. Engine purring.
Inside, a man in a tailored coat made a call.
“She’s with the biker.” Pause.
“Yes. The girl with the debt in her blood.”
---
The storm hit just after midnight.
Thunder cracked over the compound, masking the soft whir of tires on gravel.
Jax was in the garage, working late as usual. Lena had fallen asleep in his room, curled up with one of his flannels clutched like armor.
Yet, no one saw the breach.
Not until the alarms shrieked.
Jax bolted up immediately, gun in his hands. Keys, and loud shouts to his men.
“We’re compromised!”
Lena’s eyes snapped open to a rough hand clamping over her mouth.
She thrashed—fought—but the masked man was too strong. He dragged her from the bed like a rag doll, whispering something in a language she didn’t understand.
Then: “Your mother stole from the wrong people. Now you’ll pay her debt.”
Another racked the drawer by the bedside. Looking for god's know what!.
Panic surged through her veins. She bit down—hard. The man cursed, loosening his grip.
That was all she needed. Lena grabbed the lamp from the bedside and smashed it into his head. He stumbled—just as Jax burst in, and fired one clean shot, and he screamed.
The man hit the ground first, then bolt out through the window like a wounded lion.
Lena was shaking. Shattered glass in her palms. Tears streaking down her face. Jax quickly pulled her into his arms.
“I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” But even as he whispered the words, he was scanning the room. The open window. The boot prints.
There had been two?. Because, In the shadows outside, the second man escaped with something else:
It was an old burnt photo from Lena’s drawer. Of her mother… standing next to a man in a suit with a serpent tattoo on his neck.
The insignia of Los Silencios. A cartel long thought buried.
Meanwhile, back in the compound, Lena clutched Jax’s shirt.
“They’re not just after me, are they?”
“No,” Jax said grimly. “They’re declaring war.” Jax didn’t wait.
At dawn, he called in everyone: Tank, Roach, Diesel, even Crow from the Vegas charter. The compound buzzed with urgency — weapons were cleaned, maps spread across the table, and names of wanted persons circled in red.
And Lena? She sat in the corner of the war room, staring at the photo they had recovered.
The same photo of her mother. Arm around a man with a serpent tattoo.
Jax spoke low. “We ran facial recognition. His name’s Mateo Barrera. High-ranking enforcer in Los Silencios.”
Lena’s voice was barely a whisper. “Is he... my father?”
The room froze.
Jax looked at her. “We don’t know yet.” But in his gut? He had a sick feeling he already knew the answer.
Later, Jax found her sitting alone behind the garage. The rain had started — light, cold.
She didn’t move when he sat beside her.
“I spent my whole life thinking my mom was just... unlucky,” she murmured. “But she was running. From this. From him. And she never told me.”
“She thought she was protecting you.”
“She lied,” Lena said bitterly. “Now people are dying because of what she buried.”
Jax hesitated. “You think that’s what you are now? A problem?” She didn’t answer.
He leaned closer. “Lena, the day you walked into my world, everything got louder. Messier. More dangerous. But also... it started to matter again.” Their eyes locked — the moment sharp with everything unspoken.
He reached out but stopped just short of her cheek. “You’re not a burden. You’re the only damn thing keeping me from becoming a more horrible monster.”
Lena let out a shaky breath. “I’m scared, Jax.”
He finally touched her — but it wasn't a kiss, but his hand, was warm against her face. “Good. It means you’re smart. But I’m right here. And I don't run, Lena.”
- Writer
