JAY JAY POV
After Jare poked and prodded me for the tenth time to make sure I wasn't secretly bleeding out, he finally let out a long, shaky breath. He looked exhausted, his protective "Big Brother" mode finally winding down now that the adrenaline was fading.
One by one, the rest of the boys started to peel off. Percy was already on the phone, his voice frantic as he looked for Honey, and Aries was practically running toward the ambulance where Amy and the other girls were being checked over.
"Go," I told Jare, giving him a small shove. "Go find Mia. I know she's trying to play it cool, but she needs to know you're okay too."
Jare hesitated, looking at Keifer, then back at me. "If you disappear again tonight, Jay, I'm putting a GPS tracker under your skin. I'm not kidding."
"I'm right here, Jare," Keifer said, his voice low and steady as he tightened his grip on my waist. "She's not going anywhere."
Jare nodded, gave me one last forehead kiss, and disappeared into the chaos of flashing blue and red lights.
Finally, it was just us.
The silence between Keifer and me was heavy, filled with everything we hadn't said during those terrifying hours. He led me to his SUV, parked far away from the main police line. He didn't say a word as he opened the passenger door, helped me in, and climbed into the driver's seat.
He didn't start the car immediately. He just leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes, his knuckles still white as he gripped the steering wheel.
"Keifer," I whispered, reaching over to lay my hand on his.
He didn't move for a long time. Then, he slowly turned his hand over, interlacing his fingers with mine and pulling my hand to his lips. He kissed my knuckles, his eyes still closed.
"Don't," he rasped. "Don't say it was worth it. Don't tell me you're fine. Just… give me a minute to stop seeing that knife against your throat."
I felt a lump form in my throat. I shifted in my seat, leaning over the center console until I could wrap my arms around his neck. He practically collapsed into me, burying his face in my chest as he let out a jagged, broken breath.
"I'm so sorry," I murmured, stroking his dark hair. "I should have listened to Keiran. I just… I didn't know it was this serious. I thought you guys were just being overprotective again."
He pulled back just enough to look at me, his eyes raw. "It's always this serious, Jay. This world we're in… it doesn't care that we just got married. It doesn't care about our graduation. It only cares about leverage. And you are the only leverage anyone will ever have over me."
He reached into the back seat and pulled out a small paper bag. I blinked in surprise. Inside was a slightly smushed chicken bento and a grape soda.
"I stopped at the store on the way back from the harbor," he said, a ghost of his old smirk returning to his lips. "Since that was the whole reason you went on this little adventure."
I stared at the bento, and suddenly, I was laughing—a wet, hysterical laugh that turned into a sob. "You're an idiot. We almost died, and you bought me lunch?"
"I'm a Watson," he said, leaning in to press a firm, lingering kiss to my lips. "We provide for our wives. Even when those wives are the most stubborn, dangerous legends in the city."
He started the engine, the familiar hum of the car finally making me feel like the nightmare was over.
I didn't care that my neck was stinging or that my clothes were covered in warehouse dust. The adrenaline had fully worn off, leaving me in a state of "wife-mode" fury.
"Let's go home, Jay-Jay," Keifer said, shifting the car into gear.
I just leaned back and aggressively took a bite of my bento. I didn't say a word the whole ride. Keifer kept glancing at me nervously, clearing his throat a few times, but I just stared out the window, chewing my chicken like it was his arm.
The moment he parked the car in our driveway, I didn't even wait for him to open my door. I hopped out, marched around to the driver's side, and as soon as he stepped out, I reached up and grabbed his ear.
"You have a lot of explaining to do, Keifer Watson!" I barked, twisting my fingers.
"Owww! Jay! Hey! Let go!" Keifer yelped, bending sideways to follow the direction of my pull. The president of Section E was currently being led toward the front door like a disobedient puppy.
"Inside. Now!" I dragged him through the front door.
Keiran was standing in the hallway, probably waiting to see if we were okay, but his jaw dropped when he saw the scene. "Ate! Your neck, it's—" He stopped, tracking my hand to Keifer's ear. "Kuya... you look like a little kid getting scolded by Mom."
Keifer, even while hunched over in pain, managed to shoot a lethal glare at his brother. "Shut up, Keiran! Don't just stand there, help me!"
"I'm not touching that," Keiran said, raising his hands and backing away.
Then Keigan stepped out of the kitchen. "Jay, are you fin—" He stopped mid-sentence, took in the sight of the most feared man in the underground being led by his ear, and burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. "Oh my God! Jay!"
"Jay, it hurts! Let go already!" Keifer groaned, his face turning red—half from the ear-pulling and half from the embarrassment of his brothers seeing this.
"Not until we're upstairs!" I snapped, dragging him up the steps. "You kept secrets! You're lucky I'm only pulling your ear and not throwing you off the balcony!"
"I bought you the bento!" he squeaked as we reached the landing.
"The bento does not grant you immunity!"
I hauled him into our bedroom and slammed the door shut with my foot, finally releasing his ear. He immediately put both hands over it, rubbing the bright red skin and looking at me with a mix of pouting and genuine fear.
"Sit," I pointed to the edge of the bed.
"Jay, look at your neck first," he said, his voice dropping the teasing tone as he stepped closer, his eyes fixed on the small cut. "Let me clean that. Then you can hit me, pull my other ear, whatever you want. Just let me take care of you first."
I huffed, my anger softening just a tiny bit at the look of pure devotion in his eyes. "Fine. But the lecture starts the moment the band-aid is on."
"Deal," he whispered, reaching for the first-aid kit.
I sat on the edge of the bed as he knelt between my legs, carefully dabbing a cool antiseptic cloth against the cut on my neck. It wasn't deep—just a thin red line from Vex's desperation—but Keifer treated it like it was a mortal wound.
"Explain," I commanded, though my voice was softer now.
He let out a heavy sigh, focused on his work. "It was just Percy and Jare at first. After everything that happened to you at the hands of those gangs. l... they couldn't stand the thought of it happening to anyone else. They started tracking these low-level traffickers. After a while, they needed more muscle and resources, so I joined. Then Aries came in after he knew about your past"
"And Kuya Angelo?" I asked, looking down at him. "How have you kept this from him?"
Keifer snorted, a dark flicker of amusement in his eyes. "If that demon of a cousin of yours found out we were running a rogue vigilante operation under his nose, we might as well say goodbye to our lives. He'd have us buried in the backyard before we could finish an apology."
It made sense. Angelo was protective, but he played by very specific, high-stakes rules. What the boys were doing was pure—messy, dangerous, and personal.
"Keifer..." I reached out, tilting his chin up so he had to look me in the eye. "Just tell me if you're going to do something like that again. Please. No matter how dangerous or 'underground' it is. I'm your wife. I'm not a porcelain doll you need to hide things from."
Keifer finished cleaning the last trace of blood. He set the cloth aside and looked at me, a genuine, soft smile breaking through his exhaustion.
"No more secrets, Jay. I promise," he murmured. "From now on, we're in it together."
But then, the atmosphere in the room shifted. His gaze dropped to the small wound on my neck, his eyes darkening with a sudden, possessive hunger. Without warning, he leaned in, pressing a soft, lingering kiss right over the cut.
"Keifer..." I gasped, my head falling back instinctively.
He didn't stop at a kiss. I felt the warm, wet swipe of his tongue against the sensitive skin of my throat, tasting the salt of my skin and the faint metallic tang of the antiseptic. He let out a low growl deep in his chest and began to suck at the spot, the sharp sensation sending a jolt of electricity straight to my core.
"Mmmn... Keifer," I moaned his name, my fingers tangling in his hair.
The lecture was officially over. The danger of the night was fading, replaced by the heat of the man who had almost lost me—and clearly had no intention of letting me go ever again.
"You're mine, Jay-Jay," he breathed against my skin, his hands sliding up to grip my waist. "Marked by me, protected by me. Don't ever forget it."
He finally pulled back just enough to slap a small bandage over the cut, but the look in his eyes told me he was nowhere near finished.
His lips didn't stray far. He began to trail a path of searing heat from my ear down to my collarbone, his stubble grazing my skin and making me shiver.
"Keifer…" I breathed, my hands clutching the fabric of his shirt as he pressed me back against the pillows.
"This is your punishment for leaving the house," Keifer growled against my jawline, his voice vibrating deep in his chest. "For making me think I was going to have to live in a world without the love of my life"
He nipped at the sensitive skin just below my ear, making my toes curl. I wanted to remind him that he was the one keeping secrets, that he was the one who came home with bruises, but the way his hands were gripping my waist—firm and possessive—made all my arguments melt away.
"I had to get... the bento," I whispered weakly, even as I arched my neck to give him better access.
"I would have bought you ten bentos," he muttered, his lips moving back to mine, hungry and desperate. "I would have bought you the whole restaurant if you'd just stayed where I could see you."
He hovered just inches from my face, his dark eyes searching mine, his forehead resting against mine. The intensity of his gaze was almost overwhelming.
"Don't ever scare me like that again, Jay-Jay," he whispered, his thumb tracing my lower lip. "I can handle Vex. I can handle the shipments. I can't handle losing you."
I smiled, reaching up to cup his face, my fingers tracing the light bruise on his cheekbone. "Then don't let me out of your sight. That's the deal, Watson"
"Deal," he said, before crashing his lips onto mine, sealing the promise in the only way he knew how.
The war outside was over. The girls were safe, Vex was gone, and for the first time in weeks, the secrets were out in the open. But in this room, with the door locked and the world silenced, the real fire was just starting to burn.
The air in the room was thick, charged with the kind of desperate energy that only comes after surviving a nightmare. Keifer's hands were shaking slightly as they gripped the hem of my shirt, his eyes dark with a hunger that was half-passion and half-relief.
But as he started to lift the fabric, I reached down and caught his wrists.
"Wait," I breathed, my heart still hammering against my ribs.
Keifer stopped instantly, his forehead resting against mine, his breathing ragged. "What? Did I hurt you? Is it the neck?" He pulled back slightly, his eyes filled with immediate concern, searching my face for any sign of pain.
I shook my head, a small, slightly sheepish smile tugging at my lips despite the intensity of the moment. "No, it's not that."
"Then what?" he rasped, his thumbs stroking the skin of my waist.
"I'm on my period, Keifer," I said softly.
He blinked. For a second, the lethal, high-stakes warrior was replaced by a man who looked like he'd just run into a brick wall. He stared at me, the gears in his head visibly turning as he processed the information.
Then, he let out a long, slow huff of air and slumped forward, resting his head on my shoulder.
"Of course," he muttered into my neck, his voice muffled. "Of course, today of all days. You get kidnapped, I nearly level a warehouse, we save forty girls, and the universe decides this is the cherry on top."
I couldn't help it—I burst out laughing, the sound bubbling up from my chest and breaking the last of the tension. I ran my fingers through his messy hair, pulling him closer. "Sorry, Bad timing."
Keifer groaned, but then he started to chuckle too, a low, tired sound. He rolled off me and collapsed onto the mattress by my side, pulling me into the crook of his arm.
"Fine," he said, reaching over to pull the duvet up over both of us. "Punishment postponed. But don't think you're getting off easy. Next week, you're grounded."
"Grounded?" I teased, propping myself up on my elbow to look at him. "You're going to ground your beautiful wife"
"I'm going to keep her in bed until she forgets what the outside of the convenience store looks like," he countered, his eyes softening as he reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
He looked exhausted. The adrenaline was completely gone, leaving behind the dark circles under his eyes and the tension in his jaw. I leaned down and kissed his forehead.
"Go to sleep, Keifer," I whispered. "I'm here. I'm safe. We're both here."
He didn't argue. He just tightened his hold on me, his breathing slowing down almost instantly. "Stay right there," he murmured, his voice thick with sleep.
"I'm not going anywhere," I promised, closing my eyes and finally letting the exhaustion take me, too.
The bento was eaten, the secrets were out, and for the first time in a long time, the only thing we had to worry about was getting some rest. Tomorrow, we'd deal with the aftermath, the brothers, and the fallout from the shipment. But tonight, it was just us. Safe, whole, and together.