Chapter 4
The mention of the boy caused the collective tension in the room to shift instantly, all eyes finally converging on eight-year-old Leo. The child shrank back just a fraction, pressing his small shoulder against Jax’s leather-clad side for protection. Jax immediately placed a large, protective hand on the boy's messy light brown hair, offering a gentle, reassuring squeeze. He knew he could not delay the inevitable revelation any longer. The questions were mounting, and the walls of privacy he had tried to construct were rapidly crumbling beneath the weight of family suspicion and unresolved grief.
"His name is Leo," Jax said quietly, his voice dropping an octave as he looked directly at the man who had come down the stairs. That man was David, Eleanor's husband and the brother of the woman Jax had failed so profoundly years ago. David crossed his arms, staring down at the child with a mixture of suspicion and distant, haunting familiarity in his eyes. David looked at Leo's nose, the shape of his jaw, and most strikingly, the distinct hazel hue of his wide, hopeful eyes. A slow, pale realization began to wash over David's face, draining the aggressive color from his cheeks as the puzzle pieces violently snapped into place in his mind.
"My God," David whispered, taking an involuntary step backward until the back of his leg hit the edge of the bottom stair. He reached out to steady himself, his eyes darting frantically from the boy to Jax and back again. "That's... that's not possible. Sarah said..." David trailed off, unable to finish the sentence as the painful memories of the past rushed back into the room like a tidal wave. The mention of Sarah caused Martha to gasp softly, her hands gripping the wooden arms of her rocking chair so tightly her knuckles turned completely white. Eleanor, sensing the sudden seismic shift in the emotional climate of the room, looked frantically between her husband and the two strangers standing by the door. "David, what are you talking about? Who is this child? Tell me right now!"
