CHAPTER THREE
"Wow," Elena breathed.
The Hamptons estate appeared at the end of a long, winding private road, framed by ancient oaks whose branches arched overhead like protective arms.
Tree-lined driveways always looked like something out of a dream she had never dared to entertain…too pristine, too cinematic. White clapboard siding glowed faintly against the steel-gray sky, wide windows reflecting the restless Atlantic like mirrors. The house was the kind that seemed too perfect to be inhabited, more sculpture than shelter.
The black SUV rolled to a smooth stop in the circular driveway, gravel crunching under the tires. Jax stepped out first, as always. He scanned the perimeter in a single, practiced sweep left to right, up to the dunes, back to the tree line, his hand resting near his hip where the holster sat low and ready.
Elena followed, slipping out behind him. The air hit her immediately..crisp salt laced with pine, carrying the faint metallic tang of an approaching storm.
Wind tugged at her loose hair and the edges of her coat. She pulled the wool tighter across her chest.
"Welcome home," Jax said
.
She almost smiled. "Feels more like a fortress."
"That's the idea."
The heavy front door swung open before they reached the porch steps.
A woman in her mid-fifties stepped out..short silver hair cropped,eyes even sharper..She wore practical black from head to toe, the uniform of someone who made chaos obey schedule.
"Ms. Voss, Mr. Harlan. Everything is set. The crew arrives tomorrow morning at seven sharp. Security sweep finished an hour ago..full perimeter clearance."
Jax gave one curt nod. "Cameras?"
"Active. Motion sensors on the dunes, gate locked and alarmed. Infrared tripwires along the beach access. You're the only ones here tonight."
Elena glanced sideways at him. "Just us?"
The woman offered a small, professional shrug. "Director's orders…Quiet before the storm. Gives the location time to breathe."
Jax thanked her with another nod. She disappeared back inside, leaving the porch suddenly vast and exposed.
He bent and lifted Elena's duffel without asking. "After you."
Inside, the house unfolded into wide, light-drenched spaces.
Polished hardwood floors stretched underfoot, cream walls rose high, furniture expensive and deliberately untouched..abstract art that probably cost more than most people's cars.
Floor-to-ceiling windows framed the ocean like a living canvas…gray water, gray sky, no clear line where one ended and the other began..Just endless, indifferent motion.
Jax set her bag at the foot of the sweeping staircase.
"Guest rooms are down the hall to the left. Pick whichever you want."
Elena looked up the wide oak stairs. "You're not sleeping on the couch again."
"I'll take a guest room."
She turned fully toward him. "There's one bedroom with a proper lock. And you are the one who said better sightlines."
His jaw ticked once. "I'll manage."
She didn't push..exhaustion sat heavy in her bones and the house felt simultaneously too big and too quiet, the kind of silence that amplified every small sound.
She climbed the stairs alone.
The master suite claimed the entire second floor… a massive king bed dressed in crisp white linens, a sitting area angled toward the windows, a bathroom larger than her first New York apartment.
She dropped her bag on the upholstered bench at the foot of the bed and crossed to the glass.
The view stretched forever…endless gray sea under an endless gray sky. No horizon, only dissolution.
Footsteps behind her…soft and deliberate.
Jax stood in the doorway, arms crossed, filling the frame without effort. "You good?"
She didn't turn. "Definitely."
He stepped inside anyway…closed the door behind him.
Which clicked louder than it should have in the hush.
She finally looked at him. "You think Victoria did it? The photo from this morning?"
"Possibly. She has access, motive, means."
Elena wrapped her arms around herself. "She hates me that much?"
"She doesn't hate you." Jax's voice stayed even. "She hates losing control."
Elena studied his face. The thin white scar on his left temple caught the dim, diffused light from the window. She crossed the room slowly, stopping a foot away.
"Tell me about her."
He exhaled through his nose. "We met in the service. She was intel smart, driven, ruthless when she needed to be. We got married fast and divorced faster. She wanted structure. I wanted out."
"And now she's watching us."
"Not us." His eyes held hers. "Me."
Elena took another half-step closer. "She thinks I'm taking you away."
He didn't move. "She thinks I'm letting you."
The space between them shrank without either of them stepping forward. Elena could feel the heat radiating off him,She lifted her hand slowly. Fingertips brushed the scar on his temple.
He didn't flinch.
"How did this happen?" she asked again, softer this time
.
"Training accident. The knife slipped..i thought I was invincible."
Her thumb traced the pale curve. "You still think that?"
"No."
Her hand slid down to his jaw..rough stubble rasped under her palm. His eyes darkened, pupils expanding.
"Elena."
She rose on her toes and pressed her mouth to his.m
He froze for half a heartbeat…long enough for doubt to flicker through her.
Then his hands came up.
One cupped the back of her neck, fingers threading into her hair. The other slid to her waist, pulling her flush against him. He kissed her back like he'd been waiting years for permission.
It wasn't gentle.
It was hungry, desperate, every rule he'd ever followed snapping in half at once.
She opened for him…tasted coffee, salt, something darker..surrender, maybe,his fingers tightened in her hair, tilting her head so he could go deeper.
She made a small, involuntary sound against his mouth..half moan, half relief and he answered with a low growl that vibrated through her chest.
They stumbled backward. Her spine met the wall beside the window, cool glass against her back, his heat everywhere else.
His hand slid under her sweater, palm flat and warm against her bare stomach. Skin to skin. She arched into the contact.
"Jax…"
He pulled back just enough to look at her, breathing ragged.
"We shouldn't."
"I know."
Neither moved.
She reached for the hem of his shirt, tugged it upward. He helped her yank it over his head.
Scars everywhere..thin silver lines across his ribs, a puckered burn near his collarbone, older marks faded to white.
She traced them with reverent fingertips. He shivered.
"Your turn," he murmured..
.
He peeled her sweater off slowly, then unhooked her bra with practiced ease…Cold air hit her skin,his gaze dropped, dark and reverent.
He bent, mouth finding the curve of her neck, then lower. She gasped when his lips closed over her nipple, tongue flicking slow, deliberate circles.
Her hands went to his belt, fumbling with nerves and need. He helped..jeans hit the floor, boxers followed.
He lifted her like she weighed nothing. Her legs wrapped instinctively around his waist. Back still braced against the wall.
He paused there, forehead pressed to hers, breathing hard.
"Tell me to stop."
She shook her head. "Don't you dare."
He entered her in one slow, deep thrust.
They both groaned.
He stilled, letting her adjust, letting them both feel it the stretch, the fullness, the impossible rightness.
Then he moved slowly at first, deliberate, every slide pulling a new sound from her throat. She clung to his shoulders, nails digging crescent moons into muscle.
His mouth found hers again, swallowing her gasps.
The rhythm built..faster and harder. The window rattled faintly behind her with each thrust.
She felt it coiling low in her belly, tight and bright and inevitable.
"Jax…"
"I've got you," he rasped.
She did.
The release crashed through her like a wave..sharp, blinding, endless. She cried out against his mouth. He followed seconds later, burying himself deep, shuddering through it with a low, broken sound that might have been her name.
They stayed locked together for long minutes. Foreheads pressed. Breathing synced…The ocean rolled outside like nothing had changed.
Everything had.
He carried her to the bed, laid her down gently. Pulled the covers over them both. Wrapped an arm around her waist, her back to his chest.
She laced her fingers through his.
"Regrets?" she whispered.
"None."
She turned in his arms. Kissed him softly this time..slow, sweet, lingering.
"Me either."
Outside, the wind picked up. The house creaked in answer.
Somewhere in the dark, a tiny red light blinked on.
Neither of them saw it.
Elena drifted toward sleep, Jax's heartbeat steady against her spine.
Then..soft, almost inaudible..a single word drifted through the room.
Not from the wind.
Not from the ocean.
From inside the walls.
"Elena…"
Her eyes snapped open.
Jax's arm tightened around her instantly. He heard it too.
The voice came again..low, intimate, like a lover murmuring against her ear.
"Sweet dreams, darling."
A faint electronic click.
The red light on the hidden camera flared brighter for one heartbeat, then went dark.
The house lights followed.
Total, suffocating black.
Then Jax's voice..deadly calm…right against her ear
"Stay exactly where you are."
A floorboard creaked directly beneath the bed.
Someone was already inside the room.