Chapter 340
Elena’s Point Of View
The drive out to the hills had been a complete nightmare, mostly because Jaxx drove like a man who owned the asphalt and didn’t give a single damn about the shock absorbers. The road winding up to his personal estate wasn’t even properly paved in some sections; it was just a brutal stretch of jagged gravel, deep washboard ridges, and sudden potholes that sent my stomach leaping into my throat every three seconds.
My car… the one we’d used to pack up the first wave of my life, rattled so violently I thought the dashboard might actually snap off and land in my lap. Jaxx kept one hand loosely on the steering wheel, his expression completely calm, while I sat in the passenger seat clutching the door handle like a woman hanging off a cliff. The contrast between his composure and my terror would have been comical if I weren’t genuinely convinced we might not survive the ascent.
Every time the tires slammed into a particularly nasty crater, the metal frame groaned in protest, and my teeth clicked together hard enough to make my jaw ache.
“Jaxx, for the love of God, slow down!” The words tore from my throat as my fingers turned bone-white against the leather armrest. We careened around a sharp hairpin turn at a speed that defied all logic and self-preservation. The world tilted sickeningly to one side, and my stomach lurched in protest. “You’re going to pop a tire, and we’re in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I don’t see a single street lamp out here p>
He didn’t even glance over, just shifted gears with a smooth, heavy click that suggested he’d navigated this treacherous road a thousand times before. A faint, teasing smirk played at the corner of his mouth, and I wanted to simultaneously kiss it and slap it off his face.
“The car can handle it, Bambina,” he said, his voice maddeningly steady, as if we weren’t currently defying the laws of physics on a mountain road that looked like it hadn’t been maintained since the previous century. “Besides, the faster we get up the ridge, the sooner you’re behind gates. Relax your shoulders. You’re breathing like you’re about to go to war p>
My shoulders were practically touching my ears, I realized, forcing myself to lower them even as every instinct screamed at me to brace for impact.
“I am at war,” I muttered, my eyes darting out the window as the dense trees finally began to clear, revealing a massive black iron perimeter wall that looked like it belonged to a military fortress rather than a residential home. The sight of it sent an unexpected chill down my spine. “With your driving p>
But the second the car cleared the final crest of the hill and the heavy iron gates rolled back automatically, responding to some sensor I couldn’t see, the complaint died completely in my throat. My anger evaporated like morning mist, replaced by something close to awe.
The estate didn’t just appear; it loomed out of the twilight like something from a dream, a massive, sprawling structure of dark stone, glass panels, and towering pillars that seemed to catch the very last rays of the orange sun. It was absolutely breathtaking, but in a quiet, slightly intimidating way that made me feel impossibly small. The architecture was modern yet timeless, all clean lines and dramatic angles that spoke of serious money and impeccable taste.
The driveway alone was a vast loop of polished grey brick, surrounded by perfectly manicured hedges and soft, low landscape lighting that cast long shadows across the stone facade. Everything about it whispered wealth and power, the kind that didn’t need to announce itself with gaudy displays or ostentatious decorations. This was old money confidence, even if Jaxx himself was anything but old money.
Jaxx killed the engine. The sudden silence inside the car felt almost jarring after the loud, rough chaos of the mountain road. I just sat there for a moment, my jaw slightly slack, staring through the windshield at what looked more like a private museum than a home. My mind struggled to process the sheer scale of it, to reconcile this monument to success with the man I’d been getting to know over the past months.
“Jesus,” I whispered, my voice sounding tiny in the quiet car. The word felt woefully inadequate for what I was seeing.
“What?” Jaxx asked, his voice low and rumbling as he unbuckled his seatbelt and turned his torso toward me. His dark eyes tracked my reaction with an intensity that suggested my response mattered to him more than he wanted to admit.
I turned my head slowly to look at him, then looked back at the massive house.
“This is… Jaxx, this is more than huge. It’s almost as big as your grandfather’s place in the valley.” I gestured vaguely toward the towering double-height glass entryway, where I could see a chandelier the size of my bed hanging in the foyer, its crystals catching the dying light. “It’s ridiculous. What on earth do you need this much space for? You’re one person. Do you throw secret balls up here or something p>
The question came out more accusatory than I’d intended, but something about the house unsettled me. It was beautiful, yes, but it also represented a world I didn’t quite belong to, a life I wasn’t sure I was ready for.
Jaxx didn’t laugh. He just held my gaze, his expression shifting into something more serious, more vulnerable than I’d seen before. The playful mask he usually wore slipped away, revealing something raw underneath. His fingers reached across the console to lightly catch the edge of my jaw, his thumb smoothing over my skin with a slow, deliberate pressure that sent warmth spreading through my chest.
“I didn’t buy it for me,” he said softly, his voice dropping into that deep, serious register that always made my chest feel tight. Each word seemed weighted with meaning, carefully chosen. “I bought it with you in mind p>
My heart gave a sudden, violent thump against my ribs. I turned to stare at him in total surprise, my breath hitching slightly in my throat. The world seemed to narrow to just the two of us in this small space, the massive house forgotten.
“What?” The word came out barely above a whisper.
Jaxx nodded, his thumb continuing its slow circle against my cheekbone, the gesture achingly tender in contrast to his usual rough confidence.
“Yes, Bambina. The day the deed was signed, I was thinking about how much you hate noisy neighbors and how you always wanted a garden where people couldn’t look over the fence,” he said, and I realized with a jolt that he’d been listening… really listening to all those throwaway comments I’d made over coffee, during late-night conversations, moments I’d thought were just idle chatter. The kind of small dreams I’d shared without thinking anyone would remember them, let alone act on them. “So… I found this p>
A strange, dizzying mixture of heat and disbelief rushed straight to my head. The implications of what he was saying hit me like a physical force, making my vision swim slightly. He’d bought a house with me in mind. Not as an afterthought, but as the primary consideration. Before we’d even defined what we were to each other.
I let out a breathless, nervous little chuckle, trying to downplay the sudden, intense fluttering in my stomach. I leaned back slightly, breaking the contact of his hand just so I could think straight, though the loss of his touch left my skin feeling cold.
“I’ll be asking again,” I said, my voice hovering between a joke and absolute panic as I looked at him through my lashes, my heart hammering so hard I could feel it in my fingertips. “Are you proposing to me, Jaxx? Because this feels dangerously like a speech someone gives right before they pull out a velvet box p>
Jaxx let out a loud, genuine laugh, the sound rich and clear in the small space of the car. The tension broke slightly, though the weight of his earlier words still hung between us like something tangible. He leaned back against his seat, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he shook his head.
“Who knows he murmured, his voice full of a wicked, lazy amusement that made my face instantly flush hot. His gaze held mine with an intensity that suggested he wasn’t entirely joking, that perhaps the idea wasn’t as far-fetched as I wanted to believe. “Maybe I am. Maybe I’m just softening you up so you don’t argue with me about the security detail p>