Her Regret, His Resolve; Bouncing Back, Book 2

20

Skylar paced her bedroom, wearing a hole in the carpet. She felt horrible that her man had been hurt right after a stupid little fight, but what hurt more was the fact that her father was angry with her for the first time. He’d never once raised his voice to her before, but he did the night of the incident.

As they were driving home, he'd told her that she was no longer permitted to talk to Russell unless he initiated it first. They weren't his orders, but the orders of their Donna.

It had been a few months since the accident, and no one was letting her know how he was doing. Even Robbie was refusing to tell her about his best friend’s condition. Dropping to her bed, she fought the fresh wave of tears that threatened to fall from her hazel-blue eyes. "What have I done?"

It was a million-dollar question. One she had no answer for.

Someone knocked on her door seconds before Kennedy burst into the room. Pissed beyond reasoning, her friend grabbed her by the collar. Though she was shorter, Kennedy was stronger than Skylar. "I was worried he was going to hurt you, but it was the other way around. Skylar, do you actually have a brain in that head of yours, or are you so dense and self-centered you didn't see how you were breaking him? What the hell happened? You said you were happy with him, then I find out you've been physically and verbally abusing Russell?"

Sobbing, Skylar started crying again. "He broke up with me, Kenni."

"Good! Maybe you'll learn something about treating him like your equal and not your f*****g servant." Skylar glared at Kennedy as the redhead spoke harshly, but her friend was on a real roll. Never one to back down, Kenni continued, "You can't keep hurting him and expect him not to reach a limit.”

Kennedy scoffed, "If he loves you like he says he does, he’ll wait. If not, then I don’t know what to tell you. It's your own f*****g fault, and you know it."

Skylar staggered backward. Her legs hit the edge of her bed, and she dropped to the mattress. Though Kenni hadn't laid a hand on her, the words felt like a slap to the face. She looked up, her lip trembling viciously as she fought her tears. "I... I..."

"You what, Skylar? You screwed up and lost a good man? Hell, yeah, you did," Kennedy snapped. "I just married the guy I've been after for years. I would never do to Memphis what you did to Russell because that's not how a relationship works. I know your father stayed single, but you had Callum and Amber, and you had Declan and my sister to look up to. There was nothing stopping you from actually putting forth an effort, but no, you had to choose to be a bona fide bitch."

Kennedy stopped, looking at the brunette as she cried very real tears. Dropping to the bed, she pulled Skylar into her arms. "You'll get through this. With help, of course. For now, you have to deal with the consequences of your actions."

Her fingers gripping the fabric of Kennedy's shirt, Skylar held onto the other girl for dear life. Since they were children, Kennedy had been the entire crew's voice of brutally honest reason. She held nothing back, and sometimes, it was exactly what they needed. "I need help, Kenni. I messed up so bad, and now he's in the hospital. Again. I do love him, but what if he doesn't take me back?"

Shrugging, Kenni got to her feet and walked away. Reaching the door, she turned back and said, "Then I guess he'll be the one that got away."

"Don't you care? This is my life we’re talking about!" Skylar demanded.

"There you go. That's exactly why you lost him. You can’t keep saying that stuff like you’re not grown enough to deal with your own problems, then play the victim. I'm not buying into that s**t, not that I ever did, so give it the f**k up or lose a friend while you're at it. We’re all better than this, so why you and why now? Whatever; just get your s**t together, Skylar."

Shocked into silence, Sky watched as Kenni walked out of her room. When she looked up again, her father was standing in the door. "Daddy—"

His eyes were cold, deadly. "Russell woke up, Skylar."

Four words. That was all he said, but the distinct chill that hung in the air made her shiver in fear. It was obvious her father was furious. "Callum's confiscating your devices, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it. Both our leaders agree that you've been acting like a spoiled brat since you got with Russell."

Her tears started again. "I can explain!"

"I wasn't aware that you were treating him like your personal f*****g butler, Sky. That guy was already scared shitless of me, so you didn't need to add to the pressure. He's done, and I can't blame him in the slightest. If he gives you another chance, things have got to change.” Walking away, he left her to think about what she had done.

Grabbing his phone, David dialed the one number he thought he'd never use. After two rings, he got an answer. He winced at the broken, empty sound of the other man's voice. "Just wanted to check in. You know, see how you were doing and all that jazz."

Russell scoffed. "Strange for you, or did she ask you to call me?”

“No, she didn’t. I’m doing this for myself in a way,” David answered.

Groaning, Russell shooed the nurse out of the room. Nearly laughing, he recalled doing the same as a young man himself. “I could use a drink. Amber's getting me out of here in an hour."

"Meet me at Carson's. My treat," David said before he hung up.

"Dad?" The tentative voice of his boy made him stiffen slightly. He didn’t want to deal with his son so soon after handling his daughter.

He turned to see Jaxon standing in his bedroom doorway. "You're not having relationship issues, too, are you? Your sister’s having enough to make me glad I didn’t jump into the dating pool again."

"No," the teen replied. "I was actually going to suggest shoving them into couples counseling. They’re good together, but they both need to clear the air between them, so maybe some outside help with their problems will be good for them."

Blinking at his son, David let a slow smile grace his usually emotionless face. "It's a good suggestion, Jaxon. By the way, promise kept. Your official birth information is on the table. I know it took some time to get through everything and to the real deal, but I got it. Read it over, and let me know if you want to get in contact with your biological family."

"Really?" The teenager's eyes sparkled brightly at the news. "Was it very hard to obtain?"

"The records were sealed, but it was nothing the IT team couldn't handle. I'm heading to Carson's. Dinner's in the microwave. Make sure your sister eats, and don't stay up gaming all night."

"Okay," Jaxon replied before his father left the apartment. Moving into the kitchen, he opened the sealed envelope and started reading the enclosed documents. "Oh, wow. So my real name isn't Jaxon?"

"Then what is it?" Sky asked as she walked into the room. Nervous, she eyed him as she grabbed their supper and sat down at the table.

"I'm not going to give you any hell. You've had enough from dad and Ken," Jax replied.

Frowning, Sky looked over at the documents. "What are you looking at?"

"I asked dad if I could find out more about my birth, mostly because I just wanted to know who I was before I was adopted." Grinning, he held out the paper to her. "My real name is Yi Ji-hoon. My father's name was Yi Han-Gyeol, and my mother was Bae Eun Ae. They at least got my birthday right, October sixteenth. As it turns out, I'm a second-gen immigrant, and I have family back in Korea."

"You're not going to change your name on us, right?" his sister asked. She wanted to be happy for him, but her mind was a mess after having been thoroughly chastised by their father and Kenni.

"What? No," Jaxon exclaimed. "Why the hell would I do that? Not only would that be super confusing, but it would also break dad's heart."

Pulling the teen into her arms, Skylar sobbed as she latched onto the only other voice of reason she could count on in that moment. "I need help. I mean, major help. I don't want to let him go, but I've done some pretty horrible things to him. I need to make this better, but I’m scared of what that would mean for me."

"You need to get some counselling. You told me yourself that you got issues from long before you got dropped off to dad, so that should be sorted first," her brother answered as he finished his food. "Wish me luck?"

"With what? Where are you going?” She asked, shocked that he was actually in a hurry to leave.

"I'm going to the crash site again. Mark wants to lay some flowers for my parents, and I’m determined to face it head-on. I lost them, yes, but that doesn’t mean I have to stop living. Thank Russell for helping me realize that I should be grateful I didn’t die with them, by the way," he replied as he washed his dishes before leaving the apartment.