Page 21 of Timeless

I smiled, glad to see she was calming down. “I’ll get the wine, Chels.”

“Chilly, are you staying now?” Jack asked, having been listening. He was frowning.

Chelsea smiled. “Yeah, Jack.”

My phone started vibrating on the kitchen island. That would be Will.I picked it up, seeing the private number.

“Hey, Will, before you even ask, no, I didn’t work today,” I answered the phone, feeling happy as I saw Chelsea go help Jack get the takeout menus. “And Jack’s having pizza again. Before you even give me a lecture, do I have to remind you what happens when you are away and I cook?”

Will was always on to me about Jack’s nutrition. But I could only cook with Will around. He was always better at watching the timer than me. Plus, I got distracted by Jack and ended up giving up halfway through and Will would take over.

I frowned when Will didn’t reply. There was noise on the other end of the phone. I blocked my other ear, listening to it.

“Will, is everything okay?”

I waited for him to say something.

“Don’t hang up.”

I swallowed sharply and clenched my eyes shut upon hearing that voice.Oh, my god, that voice.I thought my brothers showing up was my worst nightmare. I was wrong.

Chapter Four

Amber

If Jax knew where I was, it meant one thing. I was moving. Now.

Chelsea caught a glimpse of my expression and started talking to Jack. Jack, however, hadn’t realized his mom had gone into a full-blown meltdown. I needed to leave. I needed Jack. I needed a car. That was it. Our passports and everything of importance was in the top drawer of my study. That was all I needed to get out of here.

I knew as soon as I flew out of the country I was safe and so was Jack. Because Jax couldn’t fly. Not with his record.

“Amber, talk to me.”

Why the hell am I still on the phone with him!

“Just tell me where you are?”

He doesn’t know. Okay. Maybe I didn’t have to rush Jack on the next flight to England. Because I knew heading to Tae made sense. Tae would make sure Jax never got into the country. Not on a private plane or a commercial one.

How many times had Tae told me that? Well, now I was counting on it.

“Sweetheart, just tell me where you are? Please?”

He was pleading with me. And the pain in his voice mirrored mine from years ago. But I had moved on. I had to. Our child needed to be supported. I couldn’t function holding on to Jax and what we had, because it physically hurt me; it made me sick.

To the point I wasn’t getting out of bed. Hell, I’d neglected myself during my pregnancy. And I was surprised when Jack wasn’t born a depressed soul, because that was all I feed him while pregnant, depression.

I neglected myself so bad that Jack was an emergency C-section. I just didn’t want to have a baby. I didn’t want to be a mother. And I really didn’t have the strength to raise Jax’s child. Not without him. I couldn’t do it without him. I needed him.

But I only had myself.

Anyway, all my worries and the grieving of Jax stopped when I laid eyes on Jack. Because I did have Jax. A part of him. Always would. And Jack deserved a mother who put him first before her shitty past.

So, I switched gears and that pain I heard in Jax’s voice… Well, it sounded like he was so torn up about me it had been killing him slowly all these years.

I knew what that felt like. I lived with it until Jack was born. Some days, it still came back. When I remembered Jax. When it’s one of our anniversaries. Yeah, I wouldn’t lie, some days are harder than others. Especially when his son was the spitting image of him and every day was acting more and more like him.

“Sweetheart, please tell me where you are? I fucked up. Just listen to me.”

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