Her Regret, His Resolve; Bouncing Back, Book 2

6

Waking the next morning, Russell wasn't surprised to hear Robert snoring away in his spare room. After returning from the graveyard, neither of them was in the mood for anything other than sleep.

Turning off his alarm, he grabbed his clothes and headed for the bathroom to shower. Getting the water set just right, he let it rinse the night from his skin. Once he was clean, he sighed deeply.

Everything was coming to a head for him, and he was no longer sure if he still had what it took to be in the mob. His mind was faltering, sending him messages that he was going to fail. That he would fail in his tasks and in his relationship with Skylar. It wasn't that he was scared. No. The fear of David wasn't nearly as bad as his fear of losing the one person who meant the world to him. He had found something special with Sky, something that meant finally letting go of the past to enjoy his future. He wanted to be the same as his brother, to walk in Declan's footsteps rather than those of their father.

Dropping onto his bed, he glared at the laundry piling up in the corner by the door. Today was their day off, which was yet another reason why Robert insisted on staying with him overnight. Shoving his feet into his shoes, he grabbed a bag and stuffed his laundry into it. Moving through the room, he systematically cleaned it up. Making his bed, he sighed before double-checking his weapons box under the bed.

Once he was done, he grabbed the bag and made his way to the front of the apartment. Without making a sound, he finished cleaning up the mess he’d been living in before heading to the kitchen to make breakfast.

“Wow.”

He turned with a triumphant grin as Robert walked in and sat down. “Here, eat this. Don't worry, Temperance taught me how to cook, so it's definitely edible.”

Laughing, Robert eagerly dug into the plate of food. Making more than enough noise, he groaned in delight. “Man, if I was gay, I'd fight Sky for the right to be with you. Holy Cataloni, this is good. Think you could teach me or what?”

“Um, I don't think so. I could care less if you're straight or not, but if you ever hit on me, I will hit you.” Russell laughed at his own joke as he leaned against the counter to drink his coffee. “I got the place cleaned up, and I’m just waiting on the washer to finish so I can complete my laundry. You got anything to do today?”

Finishing his food, Robert got to his feet. Cleaning his dishes, he smiled. “I got no plans. Why? Something on your mind?”

“I wanted help picking out a ring, and I do not want David on my ass for nothing. I’m not sure Declan or Callum would back me up, and I don’t want to bother my sister or my sister-in-law, so that leaves me with you. If, of course, you don’t mind,” Russell replied.

There was a buzz from the hall as the washer indicated it was done. Quietly moving to finish up his chores, Russell sighed heavily.

It felt like a stone was weighing him down, like he was just waiting for the bottom to fall out of his new lease on life. A dark sense of foreboding hit him. The feeling burned him, inching closer and closer to his heart as it chipped away at his sanity.

His heart pounding as he closed the dryer and turned it on, he didn’t hear Robert coming up behind him. Jumping as he spotted him, he shook his head to clear the fog. “Can you not?”

“What? I called out and everything. Not my fault you’re hard of hearing.”

“Robbie, give it up, man. So, will you come with me?” Looking over his shoulder, he grinned.

Blowing out his cheeks, the other man rubbed the back of his neck. Frowning, he shook his head. “If you’re that tickled about pissing off Marks, good luck. Yeah, I’ll come. Just leave my name out of it when the time rolls around, would you?”

Happy that his best friend agreed, Russell ran to grab his phone and wallet. Suddenly, a call came through. His heart leaped into his throat as he read the name. It was his girlfriend, but wasn't she supposed to be working today?

Deciding to answer the call, he put the phone to his ear. “Hey, babe.”

“Hi,” she sounded excited about something. “Could you come by and pick me up from work? Daddy had a mission, and you promised me a celebratory dinner, didn’t you? I was thinking we could go to that bistro that opened up on Yong Street.”

“Short day?” he asked. “I was heading out to go look at um -”

Glancing over at Robert, he saw him tapping his wrist. The hint was unmistakable.

“A new watch,” he finished. Watching as his friend comically made a motion of relief before silently telling him to go be with Sky for a while. “I do have the day off, so give me a bit to get there.”

“Okay,” she replied. “I’ll call Jax to let him know I’ll be a bit late. Um… could… could we order extra to bring it home to him? I…”

Though she was apparently nervous, he understood what she was trying to say to him. Her heart was so pure, so good, and he didn’t want to taint that. He didn’t want his past to come sneaking up when he least expected it. “Yeah, baby. We can grab Jaxon something to eat. In fact, we’ll go ahead and grab him some of his favorite so that he doesn’t feel left out. How does that sound?”

She breathed a sigh of relief.

He could almost see her relaxing. He knew her heart, he knew that she loved her little brother with every fiber of her being. Regardless of that, he didn’t get in the way of their relationship. He didn’t do it deliberately, but he started hanging out with the younger teen and his friends, becoming a silent shadow until Jaxon started including him.

“That sounds great, thank you,” she finally answered. “I’ll wait in the lobby for you.”

“Okay,” he smiled, “I love you, Sky. Don’t forget that, alright?”

Hearing that, Robert hesitated at the door. He knew he probably shouldn’t worry over it, but it almost sounded like his best friend was losing his will to live. Worry flashed in his dark brown eyes as he frowned at the other man. Not hearing what the woman on the other side of the call said, he didn’t know if he should be concerned or not. Waiting another moment until the call was over, Robert scowled.

When Russell turned to him, he saw the trepidation in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Should he tell? Could he say what was on his mind?

“Go back to the Towers and ask my sister to give me a flat. Anything is fine. I… I want to move in, but I’m keeping this one just in case things don’t work out.”

Robbie’s jaw dropped. The last thing he anticipated was hearing his friend saying that he expected things with his girlfriend to go south. “Yeah, I can do that, but why?”

“I just… I can’t shake this feeling that something is going to go very wrong for me, so I’m setting up a backup plan before the main event happens. Should push come to shove, I need all my ducks in a row. I got a few hundred grand in the bank, and some money in my cash box. I got this place, and, after today, a place at the Towers. I got a girl that I want to make my wife, but I’m not so sure it’s going to happen. If, not when, things go south, I’m leaving the mob. I’ll go domestic, get a job. Hell, maybe I’ll even go to college and get a degree,” Russell explained.

Understanding where his friend was coming from, Robert smiled sadly. “Yeah, I got you, Russ. Leave it to me.”

An hour later, Robert walked into their headquarters and made his way to his cousin’s office. Sitting down, he sighed heavily.

Callum looked over at him, his brows shooting up. “Don’t you have a day off?”

“Yeah, but I’m here on request of my best friend. See, he wants to obtain a place here, and I think it’s got something to do with keeping Skylar as close to her family as possible. I know David hates his guts, but that’s the least of his worries.”

Knowing that Robert wasn’t giving him lip service, Callum nodded. “Was that all?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” his cousin shrugged.

“What would be his worry?” Declan pressed.

His back to the wall, Robert winced. “C’mon, Diablo, don’t be like that. You know how much you and Donna Amber mean to Russ? Well, he understands the sibling bond a lot more than you realize since he’s under the impression that separating Sky from Jax would be harder on her than separating her from her father. He doesn’t want to come between them or their bond.”

Shocked, Declan looked at Callum, who was wearing a similar expression. “It appears I wasn’t the only one that took on some of the traits your father left behind.”