Page 60 of The Broken Keys

“Livianna? Oh my God, are you okay? You sound terrible.”

I push myself up against the headboard, trying to orient myself. Sunlight streams through the sheer curtains, bright and unforgiving.

“What time is it, Ella?”

“It’s almost noon here in New York. I’ve been calling since nine. You’re never not working at this time, especially on a workday.”

Noon Eastern Time? That means it’s 9:00 AM here. I blink at my phone again, confirming the time. I never sleep past seven, not even on weekends. My insides feel like I’ve been filled with concrete.

“I’m fine. Just...working from home today.” I clear my throat, trying to sound more present. “You guys are in New York until tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, we don’t fly back until tomorrow night. But Livianna, you don’t sound fine. What’s going on?”

“Just tired. Long night.”The understatement of the century.“I’ll be working from here today, catching up on emails and design revisions.”

There’s a pause on the other end. Ella knows me too well. “This is something more, isn’t it? The thing with Cash…?”

I close my eyes, the exhaustion hitting me in waves. “I can’t talk about this right now, El.”

“Okay. But Livianna? Whatever you’re going through, you can talk to me about it.”

“I know. Thank you.”

We hang up after a brief business discussion and I drag myself out of bed. I immediately regret it.

My body is weighted, and it has nothing to do with last night’s tears. My head is foggy and my limbs are sluggish. I must be more emotionally spent than I realized.

I stumble downstairs with makeup smeared across my face like war paint from a battle I lost. Everything stabs at my senses.

I make coffee with shaking hands and carry it to the kitchen table, where sunlight filters through the windows and makes everything look deceptively peaceful. Like the world isn’t falling apart or like my heart isn’t splitting in two directions.

I can’t do this. There’s no way I can balance Callum and Jax and function the way I need to. But I’m torn and can’t find a way out of my confusion.

I find my journal, the leather-bound one I’ve been avoiding since Jax left, and open it to a blank page. Maybe if I can see it written down logic will save me. Maybe I can reason my way out of this impossible choice.

I write at the top of the page:

Callum

Pros:

• First love. Soul connection.

• Knows every version of me, even the broken ones.

• Loves me unconditionally.

• Fighting for us. Desperate to make it work.

• Those tattoos that define our history. The vow. The protection. The future he sees in his mind, etched into his skin for life.

• The boy who made me believe in forever.

• The boy who told me to do what I wanted and encouraged me from the start.

Cons:

• Violence. The rage that still lives in his heart.