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2. ~Skylar~

I paced my room, surprised I hadn't burned a hole into the carpet yet, considering how hard and how long I'd been going at it.

Today hadn't exactly gone to plan.

I'd had a run-in the first moment I'd arrived at Luxe. And then I'd gotten on the radars of both Thorn brothers and Caleb Rowland as well.

With Sebastian invoking that name, though, it had become clear that I'd been on their radar before I'd even stepped foot on campus.

Calling off their dog and being pleasant and accommodating had been a ploy.

They wanted to use me for something.

No. Not me. That other me who I'd left behind.

Whatever their intentions, I couldn't entertain it, I couldn't let anything pull me back in.

Onyxwas dead.

I hadn't gone to all the trouble and complications of uprooting my life in order to leave it behind just to be dragged right back into it.

Fortunately, after that first class had been unceremoniously cancelled, the rest on my schedule had proceeded as planned.

And I hadn't faced another run-in with any of the guys either.

That wasn't to say that Sebastian hadn't been there, his eyes trying to bore a hole in the back of my head through a couple of classes.

He'd been telling the truth about us being in the same program. He was an Architecture major too. That made sense, given who his mom was. Valerie Thorn who headed Rossun Real Estate. She was a tycoon, just like my mom, the two of them rivals and often bidding on the same tenders.

Fortunately, stares I could handle.

As long as that remained the extent of it, anyway.

It still meant that I had to take precautions, though.

I needed to know what I was dealing with.

But that would be as far as I went.

I mean, shit, it was already impacting my schooling. I was supposed to be reviewing the material from today's classes and then analyzing a case study, as well as getting ahead with the readings we'd already been assigned.

And, instead, here I was delving into this bullshit.

A notification finally pinged from my laptop, and I stopped pacing and bolted across my room to it.

The program had finished.

I took in all the information it had pulled up.

So fucking much.

Jeez. This was going to take ages to sort through.

The program had been given to me by Jeremy Wheeler, a former subordinate of my dad's during their time in the military. He'd been out for a couple of years now after a particularly brutal mission that had left most of their unit dead, my dad and Jeremy being the only survivors. He'd suffered from some nasty trauma as well as a massive hit from a shrapnel blast that had fucked up his right arm and required months upon months of physio just for it to be functional again. Now he was working private security in Rossun.

He"d come out to see me with my dad when I'd been at the institute and that was when he'd given me this program. My dad had found out about my extra-curricular activities after tailing me and while he hadn't freaked like my mom would have because he liked me being strong and capable, always trying to raise me to be a badass, he did still want me protected. So, having his crazy capable hacker buddy give me this program had been his way of doing that.

You could enter anybody's name and the few details you had on them, such as their place of employment, the school they were attending, their license plate, whatever, and it would pull up every single mention of them, their entire digital footprint, leaving no stone unturned.

It was hella illegal because it could even pull police reports, medical records, and redacted information, personal details that were only meant to be known behind closed doors.

It was amazing, an invaluable tool.

It was what I'd used to discover who Jett had been connected to.

And it was a good fucking thing I had, considering how bad it was.

I had gotten that same ugly, unsettling feeling from Damien, Sebastian, and Caleb during that weird-as-hell parking lot interaction.

And so, I was now researching the fuck out of them.

Simply turning the cheek and keeping away might not be an option.

Especially when I didn't know what or who exactly I was dealing with.

The more information I had, the more likely I could control the situation to my liking—or, preferably, prevent it from becoming a situation in the first place.

As I slid onto my rolling chair, a knock sounded at my bedroom door.

Shit.

I hastily minimized my current window and pulled up the notes I'd taken today in my Building Construction course.

Tomorrow would be much more up my alley, because I had the Design Studio course starting then.

"Come in," I called out.

The door opened and my dad walked on in.

He took in my room as he kept doing, still not used to having me back here.

Or it could be because it was a lot to take in.

A mishmash of colors and patterns. One wall was covered in zebra-print with vibrant fuchsia. Another was royal-blue with swirling silver spirals. Another was damask wallpaper. My bed covers were a rainbow of paint splashes with a variety of embroidered cushions on top, none matching, all bold and making different statements. The gray hardwood floor was covered in shag rugs, with a high-heeled black and gold shoe chair in the corner in what I called my sketching zone. Said sketches filled a bookshelf beside it, along with my favorite pencils and pens where I sat beneath the window when I was in a creative mood and sketched and doodled for hours at a time.

Across all the walls were frames of my favorite artwork—mostly my video game characters that I'd started creating long before I'd even attended the institute.

I tensed as he zeroed in on one missing and breaking up the pattern of the other silver-framed works.

Relief sung through me when he didn't call attention to it and just looked away and eyed my screen.

"That looks a little dry."

I chuckled. "I suppose. The construction part isn't my favorite, but I have the design element coming up soon, so there's that."

"Yeah, there's that."

I took him in, his salt and pepper overgrown crew cut, his large arms folded across his chest in his go-to all black—a pair of slacks and a ribbed sweater. For a man in his fifties, he was in impressive physical shape. He still got up every morning and ran for several miles and worked out, as though he was still in the military. Old habits, I guess.

His tone didn't escape my notice. "Dad, I'm fine."

"This isn't you."

I looked away, not liking the sadness in his eyes. "It needs to be."

"Sky, I know you had some trouble back there, but we dealt with it. Off your mom's radar, too, so there's nothing to worry about. If you want to go back, nothing should be stopping you. Unless there's something you've neglected to tell me."

Shit. Of course there was.

And I couldn't.

Ever.

I didn't want him to know the whole deal.

It was bad enough I'd had to get his help with the other thing, bad enough that he knew that much.

I couldn't let him know about her.

About Onyx.

Besides, it was moot, because it wasn't me anymore.

"It's nice being back here. You're here now too. We're a family again. All in the same place for the first time in so long. And it makes Mom happy me following in her similar footsteps with the whole Architecture thing."

He reached out and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Who scared you?"

I swallowed hard as worry and understanding bled into me, urging me to confess all, urging me to allow him in.

My dad and I had always been close. We had a very tight relationship. He let me be myself and even encouraged it, while my mom had been more about reeling me in and wanting me to follow a more appropriate path. She'd still tried her best, but she'd never understood me the way my dad had. She wasn't good with anything going against the grain. The only time she'd deviated from that was when she'd gotten involved with my dad, instead of marrying one of the business tycoons her parents had wanted her to. But that had been her only bold moment. She might differentiate herself from the toxicity of the hoity-toity rich here in Rossun, but she was still one of them in some respects.

"Nobody, Dad," I managed to force out. "I just needed a change."

"You mean, safety, security."

"Can we not? I don't want to get into a whole thing about this."

"Although your mom might not understand it fully, she still wants you to be yourself."

"I know, yeah."

"Good, because she wouldn't want you to be something you're not."

I sighed. "I guess I'm just trying to figure out what that is."

"The institute called that into question?"

I nodded.

"Well, in that case, it's par for the course. You're only twenty, still finding yourself. So long as that's all it is."

"I just need to lean into this new chapter. And then I'll see from there."

I could see his need to push it.

But, fortunately, he smiled and stepped back, relenting.

Well, at least for now.

He'd made his point, given me something to think about, and he knew it.

I had little doubt he'd come at me with it all again once it had been given time to percolate.

"You've been holed up in here for hours since you came home. Let's get you some fresh air. Are you up for a bike ride?"

My eyes lit up. "Yeah? You're actually gonna take the Triumph out?"

My mom didn't like that. She didn't like us taking our bikes out after dark. In the thirty-odd years that my dad had been riding he'd only wiped out once, but it still made her nervous. Especially me doing it with him.

"Yeah, let's do it," he said, his excitement mirroring mine.

I eyed my screen. "Give me ten minutes and I'll meet you in the lobby?"

"Sounds good, pumpkin."

He walked out and closed my door, then I pulled up the intel program. I set some parameters to narrow down the information, basically to any sign of nefarious activity.

And then I left it to run in the background while I locked the screen, then bounced to my closet to pull out my riding leathers.

I was smiling like an idiot at the thought of riding down the open backroads with my dad.

This day had turned around after all.

I grinnedat the sight of my mom picking at her tacos.

She wasn't the biggest fan, but she'd made an effort, having them made for a little low-key celebratory dinner to mark my first day at Luxington University. She'd even had her cook make raspberry cupcakes, complete with fondant, which I was a major fan of. I was weird like that, fondant was my comfort food. I rolled it into little balls and popped them into my mouth like marshmallows.

"Thank you, Mom," I said, smiling at her and dad across the table. "This is really great."

Her blonde hair was in a French braid looking as perfect with not a single hair out of place as it had when she'd done it up this morning. She'd taken off her gray suit jacket, just her frilly peach blouse on beneath with one of her usual pencil skirts and her designer heels. She loved her heels and she had a massive collection. She even wore them around the house.

She smiled back at me. "I'm glad." She took a sip from her glass of white wine, then asked me, "So, how was your first day?"

I told her about my classes and each syllabus and she nodded along, offering her own insight, really getting into it.

I tried to sound enthusiastic and she seemed to buy it.

My dad was another story.

I caught him rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"After you complete your first year, I have a summer internship lined up for you."

"You do?"

"I thought that was supposed to be a surprise?" my dad said.

Mom gave his hand a squeeze as she grinned at us in turn. "I know, but I was too excited to keep it quiet with how well she's taking to it already."

My dad's face fell, but he didn't speak to it.

No, he was much smarter than that, much more strategic. He knew neither of us responded well to direct confrontation. He had to go about it another way.

"I knew if you just gave it a try, you'd see how well it would fit," my mom said. "It has a large creative element, which I know you enjoy and thrive at. And with the connection to my profession, it will make things much easier for you to succeed."

"Sky's never needed things easy," my dad said.

"Well, it's about time she did. She's worked so hard to get to nowhere in particular. The institute didn't pan out the way she'd intended, and that's okay. She has us here helping her now. She can take a lot of that pressure off herself."

"Maria—" my dad started.

"We've already had her work for everything, paying her own way, not calling in any favors. That was your idea, remember? You didn't want her becoming spoiled and entitled. So I let her go to public school, let her kill herself working to pay for her schooling. Now she needs a break. Now she can take advantage of what we've worked for."

This was getting into dangerous territory.

I could tell by the look on my dad's face that it was about to get a whole lot worse too.

This had always been a touchy subject with them, a sticking point. Them coming from two different worlds didn't always make it easy. For the most part they made it work. But then there was something like this that rose up every now and then.

"I met the Thorn brothers today," I cut in.

They both stilled.

My mom's fingers tightened around her glass. "Briefly?"

"Yeah."

"Keep it that way."

"Caleb Rowland introduced himself too."

Well, in a way.

"Oh, well, he's all right. After what that family has been through too, for him to turn out the way he has is astounding."

"What have they been through?"

Her and my dad exchanged a look. "It doesn't matter. Just… while he's around the Thorns, keep your distance."

"Why?"

"They're the toxic elements I warned you about." She screwed up her face. "That whole family."

"Because of your business rivalry with their mom?"

"More than that. Those boys are bad news. Especially that Damien."

"I think Sky can handle herself," my dad said.

"She won't have to handle anything if she simply stays away."

"That other brother, the younger one, Sebastian?"

"What about him?"

"He doesn't seem like the guy from the media a few years ago? That golden boy type he was depicted as?"

"Well, no. He's never gotten over his father's death years ago. He went off the rails a bunch of times. Drinking. Drugs. Violence. A whole lot. He's behind at Luxe because of it. He's twenty-one, but only going into his second year now."

"Well, everybody progresses at different rates. Kids aren't all starting college right at eighteen anymore," my dad pointed out.

"I suppose," my mom muttered, not liking that. It didn't follow proper protocol in her eyes. "Either way, steer away."

"I plan to."

She had no idea just how much.

"Good." She took another sip of her wine. "Now, what about sororities?"

I screwed up my face. "Not my thing, Mom."

"But I—"

"Sorry, no way. No way in hell."

She sighed, her disappointment all too obvious. "You should consider getting involved, joining a club, finding a way to make friends. You were a loner at Vista Ridge, I don't want that happening again. You can make some wonderful friendships in college."

"Come on, Maria, she's like her old man. A lone wolf through and through," my dad said, with his hearty laugh.

It had my mom actually cracking a smile. "Frank!"

He kept laughing. "You know it's true."

"You've made some friends in the service."

"That's different."

"Brothers-in-arms, right, Dad?"

"Exactly, pumpkin."

"Well, you're not a complete lone wolf, you have me," my mom said, sweetly stroking his cheek.

He beamed at her. "That, I do."

My phone buzzed in my pocket and as they got all lovey-dovey, I pulled it out and swiped it open.

A shot of adrenaline went through me as I took in a text there.

Sebastian: Is it jasmine?

I frantically scrolled through my phone, heading to my contact list.

Sure enough, there his name was now programmed into my phone.

He must've done it when he'd picked it up in the parking lot. Shit. I hadn't locked it after those texts from Jett, because that confrontation with Damien that had come right after had distracted me.

Sebastian: Your perfume? Is it jasmine? Shampoo too, yes?

Sebastian: Smelled it on me after I touched you. I can still smell you on me, beautiful.

Jeez.

Skylar: Are you campaigning for Creeper of the Month?

Sebastian: My observation creeps you out?

Skylar: We're not opening up a dialog here. Bye bye.

Sebastian: The fact you responded would suggest otherwise.

Skylar: Just to give you a piece of my mind. You violated my phone.

Sebastian: My brother threatened to violate a whole lot more than that and you barely batted an eye.

Skylar: He was out of his depth.

Dammit. I shouldn't have typed that.

He was just… he was bringing it out in me.

Just like they'd done earlier.

Sebastian: It would seem so.

Skylar: He's an unhinged P.O.S.

Sebastian: No arguments here.

Skylar: You don't get along then?

Instead of answering the question, he went another way.

Sebastian: Turned me on seeing the way you owned him.

Before I could process that, he sent another text.

Sebastian: Turned you on too, didn't it?

Skylar: No.

Sebastian: So the power trip and violence didn't get you warm and wet between your thighs?

Skylar: I'm blocking you.

Sebastian: Struck a nerve? Or several key nerve endings?

Skylar: In your dreams.

Sebastian: It's very much reality.

Skylar: You don't know me.

Sebastian: I'm not the one in denial.

Skylar: You don't know what you're talking about.

Sebastian: More denial. I told you I know who you are and your reaction confirmed I was right on the money. It also clued me in on the denial you're dousing yourself in.

Skylar: What do you want from me? Is it really that boring being the city's It-Boy? All the attention, parties, people falling at your feet and giving you everything you want?

Sebastian: There's a difference between image and reality. Something you're clearly having a hard time differentiating when it comes to yourself. I wouldn't expect you to be able to manage it with anyone else.

Skylar: Fuck you.

Sebastian: I don't fuck liars.

Skylar: How dare you?

Sebastian: Admit that you're Onyx.

Skylar: Why does it matter to you?

Sebastian: So you're sticking with the lies? Is that it?

Skylar: You don't know what you're talking about.

Sebastian: You're sure that's your final answer?

Skylar: Is that a threat?

Sebastian: So be it.

Skylar: What does that mean?

Several moments passed, but he didn't respond.

So, he got me all riled up and just fucking well disappeared.

What the actual fuck was—

I stopped myself.

Of course.

This was what he wanted. He'd done it on purpose, just like he had in that parking lot with his careful, pointed, and kind of cryptic words.

Urgh. All of this had caught me at a really bad time.

When I wasn't myself.

When I was in a state of change.

When I wasn't walking on firm ground yet.

And somehow, this bastard was sensing that.

Smelling blood in the water.

Why, though?

Why the hell was he pursuing me?

Bringing up Onyx?

To what end?

"Everything okay?"

My mom's voice pulled me back to the fact that we were having a family dinner—and I was being pulled away from it by a ridiculous text conversation with an even more ridiculous asshole.

I tucked my phone away and forced a relaxed smile I really didn't feel. "Of course, yeah."

"Who were you texting? Is someone upsetting you?"

"What? No. Why?"

"You just seemed distressed."

My dad was being suspiciously quiet during my mom's questioning. Dammit. He was strategizing, trying to determine what was going on and how it tied to me coming back here, because, unlike her, he clearly hadn't bought my explanation one bit.

"I wasn't texting," I lied. "Just making notes about some things I want to brush up on before one of my classes tomorrow."

"Is it the math? Is that what you're worried about? You still passed Calculus."

"I know, but I only scraped by."

"You'll handle it and if you do happen to have any trouble, we can get you a tutor." She reached out and took my hand. "Don't worry, everything is going to be okay now. You're here with us. Where you belong."

I caught my dad's eye. He didn't like that.

Because he knew it wasn't true.

I'd never felt like I'd belonged here.

And, now, coming back here… it had him worried.

Worried that I was slipping away from myself, being someone else.

My mom, as sweet and understanding as she tried to be, didn't see beyond what she thought was best for me, and her idea of what I could be. So she couldn't pick up on it.

And right now, my dad's extreme perceptiveness when it came to me, and our closeness, was really biting me in the ass.

Because I had to be this.

When I'd found my path, when I'd actually felt free, it had come with some unintended consequences. I couldn't… I couldn't let that happen again.

So, I did the only thing I could do and swallowed it all down and smiled.

"I am. I'm back where I belong."

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