Losing Control : His Madness, His Cure Chapter 297

JAX'S POV

In all the years I’ve known Adam, I’ve never seen him that nervous. I thought I’d been bad at my own wedding....hands shaking, stomach in knots, convinced I’d trip over the vows, but Adam had looked like he was about to pass out.

But now the vows have been said, Layla’s wearing that blinding smile only he can pull out of her, and he finally looks like a man who can breathe again.

I’m seated at one of the tables with Alyssa and Xander’s mum, both of them completely ignoring everything happening around them in favor of coddling AJ. Xander’s mum can’t get enough of him, she’s got him in her lap like she’s trying to absorb him into her bloodstream.

The place looks incredible. X-Hale’s basically glowing, and the fact that it was just named Best Modern Fusion Venue in a magazine spread still feels surreal. Adam and I were literally on the phone two nights ago talking about scouting locations for a second branch.

I lean in a little. “How long are you two staying?”

Alyssa looks up at me, smiling. “Four days. The kids insisted. They wanted to hang out with Audrey and little Jojo.” She turns back to AJ, wiggling her fingers against his belly until he erupts into giggles.

I look at him and can’t help smiling. He’s such a happy baby....always smiling, shockingly calm, and weirdly cooperative. Nothing like Audrey was at his age. Xander’s always saying she’s got me wrapped around her tiny finger. He’s probably right.

AJ turns toward me, lets out a squeal-laugh that hits me dead in the chest, and I grin back at him.

I’m going to make sure he always feels loved. Always wanted. I’ll give him everything I never got. Everything Andrew never got. My kids will never know what it’s like to feel small or alone in a world that doesn’t care.

Because I remember exactly what that feels like.

I remember learning, way too young, that needing anything was weakness. That wanting comfort made you a burden. I remember trying to shield Andrew, even when I barely had enough of myself left to hold together.

AJ laughs again, soft and bright, completely unbothered by any darkness I still carry, and God, it wrecks me a little. That something this pure came from me. That he looks at me like I hung the moon, like he knows nothing bad could ever touch him as long as I’m here.

And that’s exactly how it’s going to stay.

I’ll be the wall between him and anything that wants to make him feel unworthy. I’ll be the voice that tells him he matters, even on the days he doubts it. I’ll show him, every damn day, that he’s safe, that he’s cherished, that he’s got a father who would burn down the whole world before letting it hurt him.

AJ will grow up knowing he’s enough.

Audrey will grow up knowing she’s adored.

My kids will have the kind of life I never even knew how to hope for. Because the cycle ends with me. With this family I somehow got to have.

I look up and Xander’s pulling Audrey away from the cake table, scooping her up before she manages to swipe frosting with her whole hand. He steers Heather and Gabriel toward our table, trying to wrangle all three of them into some kind of line.

My smile grows so hard it aches.

He looks up mid-step, mid-scolding Audrey, and his eyes land right on me. And just like that, everything else blurs out.

It hits me in this low, familiar rush.... that heavy, aching affection I have for him. You’d think it would level out at some point, that there’d be a limit to how much one person can love another. But somehow it hasn’t. Somehow it keeps growing. Like every version of him I’ve ever loved layers over the next.

Sometimes I still don’t understand how he did it.

How he filtered out every dark, damaged part of me and still saw something worth staying for. Something worth building a life with. He sifted through all the broken pieces and picked out the ones he wanted to keep. And then he loved me hard enough that the rest didn’t matter anymore.

He starts walking toward our table. Alyssa stands, ushering Heather and Gabriel into the seats beside her, and Audrey immediately points at me with all the righteous outrage a three-year-old can muster.

“Dada,” she huffs, “I want cake!”

I bite back a smile, leaning forward a little. “I’ll make sure you get some soon. Promise.”

She beams at that....full faith, zero hesitation, because she knows I always keep my promises. Xander drops into the chair beside me with a slow exhale. He shoots me a look, “You’re turning her into a brat.”

I smirk. “Me? Never.”

He gives me this soft, knowing stare. His thigh presses against mine, warm and solid, and I feel that familiar pull in my chest, that gravity that only exists for him.

God, I love this man.

More now than I did this morning, more than I did yesterday, more than I did the day I married him.

Food comes out in polished waves, exactly the way I’d planned it.

I spent weeks putting the menu together, tweaking it, obsessing over flavor balance and plating. And because I’m a lunatic, I double-checked every prep sheet before leaving the restaurant this morning. Izzy practically shoved me out the door and swore she’d handle everything.

I feed Audrey tiny forkfuls from my plate while she sits sideways on my lap, kicking her sparkly shoes against my shin with zero remorse. Across from us, Xander’s mum is giving AJ his bottle, swaying a little in her seat and very obviously on her third glass of wine.

She looks down at him, her face soft and unfocused in that dreamy, artistic way she has, and murmurs, “This child.... he’s got an old soul. You can feel it.”

Alyssa snorts into her drink, but I swear AJ actually coos, like he agrees.

Layla moves to the dance floor with Zig, the two of them moving in an easy rhythm. He’d walked her down the aisle. Her own mother hadn’t bothered to show up, off vacationing God-knows-where. Layla hadn’t flinched. If anything, she’d looked lighter without the expectation.

Adam eventually cuts in, touching her waist with this soft, reverent sort of certainty.

Beside me, Xander’s mum stands and hands AJ to Alyssa with great ceremony, like she’s transferring a priceless artifact.

“Here, sweetheart. Hold him. He’s heavy with dreams,” Then she turns to me and extends her hand. “Come dance with me, Jax.”

I blink up at her. “Me?”

“Yes, you.” She glances toward Xander. “Grab Audrey, darling.”

Xander scoops our daughter up, her curls falling against his shoulder. When he meets my eyes, he gives me this warm, amused, go on kind of smile.

So I do.

I take his mum’s hand and let her lead me onto the dance floor. After a moment, she looks up at me with a softness that hits deep. “I know I’ve told you this a thousand times,” she says. “But I am so glad you and Xander found each other. He shines differently with you.”

My throat tightens. “He saved my life,” I tell her quietly. “More than once.”

She smiles, squeezes my hand, and sways us through the last few beats before Xander's in front of us, he hands a sleeping Audrey to his mum. Then he steps close enough that everything else fades, and slips one arm around my waist. I loop mine around his shoulders, pulling him in until we’re pressed together from chest to knee. It isn’t really dancing.... it’s just holding each other, swaying in the softest, laziest rhythm. His forehead rests against mine, and the whole room melts down to the solid, steady weight of him in my arms.

I look up at him, heart full enough to ache.

“I—”

“I know,” he cuts in. “I love you too.”

I close my eyes, holding him closer as the music swells around us, and it hits me all over again, this....him, the kids, our life carved out of chaos, is the happiest ending I never believed I’d get.

THE END.

Thank you for making it this far❤️ If you enjoyed this book, make sure to check out the next chapter for a sneak peek at my upcoming work🌹😊