Keifer POV
I slid the phone away from the speaker slowly, carefully, like volume itself could betray us.
Jay was asleep. Finally. Her breathing was soft, even, her face calmer than it had been all day. I watched her for a second longer than necessary before lifting the phone closer to my ear.
"Talk," I whispered.
Hex didn't joke this time. His voice dropped, tight and controlled. "You noticed, didn't you."
"The blood," I said. "Yeah."
There was a pause on the line. Not the awkward kind. The heavy one. The kind that carried history.
"She has blood trauma," Hex said quietly. "Severe."
I swallowed. "How did it happen?"
Another pause. Longer.
"When Jay lived with her mom," he began, "things were… bad. Jeana married a lot. Five husbands."
My chest tightened.
"All of them hurt Jay," Hex continued. "Not once. Not accidentally. Repeatedly. Harshly."
My grip on the phone tightened until my knuckles hurt.
"She was a kid," I said, more to myself than to him.
"Yeah," Hex replied. "And no one protected her."
I looked at Jay again. The girl who joked through pain. Who fought grown men while injured. Who smiled like nothing ever touched her.
Hex kept going. "Then one day, she went to visit Angelo. That was supposed to be safe."
My stomach dropped. "Supposed to be."
"She got kidnapped," he said. "By Aries' father."
My breath stopped.
"She survived," Hex added quickly. "But after that day… blood became a trigger. Even a little. Once she sees it, she's not fully here anymore."
I closed my eyes.
Everything clicked. Her eyes earlier. The way her body had moved before her mind caught up. The strength that didn't feel conscious.
"She never told me," I said.
"She doesn't tell anyone," Hex replied. "She hates being seen as weak."
I exhaled slowly. "We need to help her."
"I know."
"What about a psychologist?" I suggested.
Hex immediately hissed. "No. No, no, no."
"She wouldn't go?"
"She wouldn't even step inside the building," he said. "Jay doesn't trust strangers poking into her head."
"Therapy sessions at home?" I tried.
"She'll joke her way out of it."
"Medication?"
"She'd throw it away and lie about taking it."
I rubbed my face with my free hand, frustration settling deep. "So what do we do?"
Hex was quiet for a moment. Then, softer, "We stay."
I frowned. "That's it?"
"For now," he said. "We learn her signs. We ground her when it happens. We make sure she's never alone with it."
I looked at Jay again.
She shifted slightly in her sleep, brows knitting for a second before relaxing again.
"I should've protected her," I murmured.
Hex snorted quietly. "Careful. You're starting to sound like me."
The clock on the wall ticked loudly in the silence.
10:00 PM.
"She's asleep," Hex said. "You should rest too."
"Yeah," I replied. "Thanks… for telling me."
"Keifer," Hex added before hanging up, "don't look at her differently."
"I won't," I said instantly.
The call ended.
I placed the phone down gently and leaned back against the pillow, eyes fixed on the ceiling. My body was exhausted, but my mind refused to shut down.
Blood trauma.
Five husbands.
Kidnapping.
And still, she laughed today.
I turned my head toward her, watching the steady rise and fall of her chest.
I'll stay, I thought.
Even if I don't know how yet.
Sleep eventually pulled me under, my last thought circling back to her name, over and over, like a promise I hadn't spoken out loud yet.