The Taste of Trouble

Jax's words still echoed in my mind.

"You have an hour."

An hour for what?

An hour for Ethan to find me?

An hour before Jax did something worse?

I swallowed hard, my pulse skidding into panic as I glanced around the dimly lit warehouse.

The silence hung thick and oppressive.

Tessa avoided my sight by standing at the door with crossed arms.

Jax moved leisurely, like a predator circling its target.

I wished I could scream.

I felt like fighting.

Still, most importantly?

Ethan wanted to arrive here on schedule.

Jax finally stopped pacing, turning to me with a smirk.

"You know, sweetheart, I was really hoping you'd put up more of a fight."

I clenched my fists. "What do you want, Jax?"

He tilted his head, studying me.

"I want Carter broken." His smirk widened. "And you? You're the best way to do it."

My stomach twisted.

This wasn't about money.

This wasn't about power.

This was about Ethan.

This was about making him suffer.

Jax stepped closer, his voice low.

"So, tell me, Liv. How far do you think he'll go for you?"

I lifted my chin. "Far enough to end you."

Jax let out a slow chuckle.

"Then let's give him a reason to try."

I saw the shift before it happened.

The second Jax turned his back, I moved.

Fast.

I twisted, lunging toward the door—toward Tessa.

She hesitated.

Just for a second.

But it was long enough for me to get past her.

And then—

Pain exploded through my side as something hard slammed into me.

I hit the concrete; my breath knocked from my lungs.

Jax crouched beside me, shaking his head.

"See, that?" He tsked. "That was stupid."

I coughed, trying to catch my breath.

But it was too late.

Because now?

Jax wasn't playing anymore.

Jax pulled out his phone, dialing a number.

I didn't have to guess who it was.

Because the second Ethan's voice came through, my pulse skipped.

"Where is she?"

Jax grinned. "Tick-tock, Carter."

Ethan's breath was ragged.

"You touch her, and I swear to God—"

"Relax," Jax drawled. "I wouldn't dream of hurting your girl."

Then his smirk turned lethal.

"But accidents?" He tilted his head toward me. "Well, those happen all the time."

My blood ran cold.

And Ethan?

His voice turned to steel.

"If you so much as lay a finger on her—"

"See you soon, Carter."

Jax ended the call.

And then—

He grabbed my wrist.

I fought.

I kicked, twisted—did everything I could to get free.

But Jax was stronger.

And then, before I could react—

He shoved me.

Hard.

I stumbled backward.

My foot caught on something.

And then—

I was falling.

Time slowed.

The warehouse blurred.

And then—

My back hit the ground.

Pain exploded through my skull.

Darkness rushed in.

And the last thing I heard before everything went black—

Was Ethan screaming my name.

I woke up somewhere else.

My head was throbbing.

The world tilted when I tried to move.

And then—

A voice.

Low. Rough.

Desperate.

"Liv?"

I forced my eyes open.

Ethan.

His face hovered over mine; his expression wrecked.

Like he had been to hell and back.

"Liv," he whispered, his voice breaking. "You're okay. You're okay."

I tried to speak.

But all I could focus on—

Was the blood on his hands.

I blinked; my brain still foggy.

"What… happened?"

Ethan exhaled sharply, his grip on me tightening.

"You fell," he muttered. "Jax pushed you."

Memories flooded back—the fight, the phone call, the fall.

I swallowed hard.

"Where is he?"

Ethan's jaw clenched.

And that's when I saw it.

The rage in his eyes.

The kind that wasn't just anger.

It was something darker.

Something that didn't stop.

Something that didn't forgive.

And I knew.

I knew Ethan had done something.

Something I might not be able to fix.

I forced myself to sit up, my head spinning.

"Ethan," I whispered. "What did you do?"

His breath was uneven.

His fingers twitched at his sides.

"I told you I'd handle it."

A shiver crawled down my spine.

Because this wasn't Ethan.

This was someone else.

Someone who had just crossed a line.

"Ethan—"

He stood abruptly.

Pacing.

Running a shaking hand through his hair.

"I had to," he muttered. "He wasn't going to stop."

I swallowed hard.

"Is he dead?"

Silence.

Thick.

Suffocating.

Then—

Ethan's voice.

Low. Rough.

Unapologetic.

"I don't know."

I sucked in a sharp breath.

Because this was it.

This was the moment that changed everything.

Jax had hurt me.

And Ethan?

He had finally snapped.

The line between who we were and what we were becoming—

It was gone.

And now?

I wasn't sure if we could ever come back from this.

Liv is injured, but Ethan has already retaliated.

Jax is either dead—or missing.

Ethan has officially crossed a line. Can Liv bring him back?

The fallout begins.