Chapter 70 Chapter 70

Chapter 70 Chapter 70
Tito’s POV

Chloe left the house with one last wave thrown over her shoulder, the sort of wave that looked like relief and lingering worry stitched together.

I watched her jog toward the cab waiting at the end of the driveway, her braid bouncing behind her, before she disappeared into the morning traffic. And then, as the quiet settled back into the house, I became painfully aware of the fact that I was now standing between Kendrick and Damien—two tall, broad, intimidating siblings who were staring at me like I had suddenly grown a second head.

Damien cleared his throat first. His voice cut through the tension like he’d been waiting for the perfect dramatic moment.

“I admire you and Chloe’s friendship,” he said, folding his arms casually while giving me a slow nod.

I blinked at him.

That… was not at all what I expected him to say. Something in his tone felt strange, almost too gentle coming from someone who held a pistol earlier as though it were a harmless accessory.

Maybe I was just still on edge after everything that had happened, maybe my nerves were just twisting every sound into something suspicious. Or maybe Damien was simply an odd person.

I muttered a soft, “Thank you,” and sank down onto the couch. The leather was cool against my skin, and honestly a little too comfortable for my anxious body. I tried to keep my posture relaxed, but my shoulders felt stuck somewhere between tense and unsure.

Selene walked in at that moment, her small frame carrying a tray with plates of breakfast for Damien and Kendrick. The aroma of eggs and warm bread drifted through the air, grounding me a little.

Damien grinned.
“Selene, you still have that charm from your early cooking days.”

Her lips twitched—part flattered, part irritated.
“Eat your food, Damien. Talking wastes energy.”

I stared between them, raising a brow. “So you two know each other?”

Selene gave a shrug that somehow meant yes, deeply and don’t ask at the same time. Damien didn’t even offer an explanation. Honestly, I didn’t have enough emotional space to care about whatever weird history they shared.

Kendrick lowered himself onto the sofa opposite me, and just the sight of him grounded me a little more. He had this controlled presence that made my heart settle even when everything else felt chaotic. He folded his hands together on the table and gave Damien a pointed look—one I recognized instantly. He wanted him to behave.

Then his eyes moved to me. “Before all that drama happened, I was talking about Jax’s brother.”

I exhaled, nodding slowly. My stomach knotted itself again. Part of me wanted the full truth, and another part wanted to run from it.

Kendrick leaned back, his voice steady but quieter now. “When Jax was born, he was still very young. Too young to understand who his brother truly was or the kind of trouble he caused. Their age gap was big enough that he only ever saw a man who brought him candy and carried him on his shoulders.”

There was a softness in Kendrick’s tone that I wasn’t expecting. A sadness maybe. Or regret. I couldn’t place it.

“Jax’s brother was… involved in things he shouldn’t have been,” Kendrick continued. “He wasn’t just some street thug. He joined a gang, one of the bigger ones at the time. They made trouble for everyone in the South District—fighting, extorting, hurting people just because they could. I lived there back then, and the place was always heated.”

My chest tightened, remembering the countless times I thought he was being unnecessarily protective or controlling. The memories stung now, reshaped by understanding.

Kendrick glanced at me briefly, reading the shift in my expression. “Don’t start feeling guilty. You didn’t know.”

But I did. Or at least, I should have. I should have paid more attention.

He went on. “Jax’s brother died after he tried to attack the wrong person—the sister of one of the biggest gang leaders at the time. The leader didn’t let it slide. And before you assume anything—” he paused, making sure I was listening, “—I wasn’t the one who killed him. I was affiliated with them back then, but I didn’t pull the trigger.”

I swallowed slowly, processing every piece of information like it was settling into my bones.

“So you’re innocent?” I asked quietly. “I mean… you didn’t do what Jax accused you of.”

His gaze softened. “No, Tito. I didn’t.”

A mix of relief and conflict twisted inside me. Relief because the man sitting in front of me wasn’t the monster Jax tried to paint. Conflict because the world was far more complicated than I wanted it to be.

“I just wish,” I murmured, “that everything could have been cleared up without him dying.”

Damien scoffed loudly, leaning back as though he’d been waiting for that exact moment to interject. “Trust me, Tito. You’re being a lot nicer than most people would be.”

Kendrick shot him a sharp glare, one that could cut steel, but Damien only raised a brow in mock innocence.

They continued talking…about school, about how I needed to catch up since I’d been missing for days, about how Selene could help gather the notes I needed, and how Kendrick wanted me to take things slow until I felt fully safe again.

By the time the conversation settled into a calmer rhythm, something inside me was unclenched. It was like the air had finally become breathable again.

I excused myself later to go organize my school notes in the guest room upstairs, partly because I wanted to feel productive and partly because being around both Kendrick and Damien at once was overwhelming in a way I couldn’t fully articulate.

I spread my notebooks and textbooks across the bed, trying to arrange them according to subjects, but my hands kept pausing, lingering over the papers. It was strange how something as normal as schoolwork felt foreign now, like my life had split into two timelines and I was trying to stitch them back together.

I was just reaching for my math notebook when a knock sounded softly at the door.