Jax whispered into her ear. "Don't tell the others about the secret I am about to share with you."
His voice was low enough that only she could hear.
"Very soon, I am going to be a father. I have spent my entire life learning how to break people. How to push them away. How to be rude enough that they never bother again. My whole existence has been built on winning. I know a hundred different ways to hold a sword. But I never had the slightest idea how to hold a child's hand."
He paused.
"But when I realized my child was coming, I was terrified. Terrified that I wouldn't even know how to hold them. So I have been reading all these silly books lately. Trying to figure out how to hold a kid. How to protect their innocence. How to be a good father. Which is something completely new to me."
His voice softened further.
