CHAPTER 121
JAX'S POV
I woke to an empty bed again, the sheets still warm where Skylar had been lying just moments before. The digital clock glowed 5:47 AM, and I already knew where she'd gone. This had become her routine since Jack's phone call three days ago - wake before dawn, train until exhaustion, then pretend everything was fine.
I pulled on sweats and headed downstairs, my bare feet silent on the hardwood floors. The penthouse was eerily quiet, but I could hear the faint sounds of exertion coming from the gym. Through the glass doors, I watched Skylar attacking the heavy bag with a ferocity that worried me. Her movements were precise, deadly, but there was something desperate about the way she threw each punch.
She'd changed since learning her father was alive. The scared girl we'd rescued was completely gone, replaced by someone harder, more determined. Part of me was proud of her strength, but another part missed the vulnerability that had made her reach out to us in the first place.
"How long has she been at it?" Harry's voice came from behind me.
I turned to find him leaning against the doorframe, his hair disheveled from sleep. "At least an hour, probably more."
Lucas appeared beside him, already dressed despite the early hour. "We need to talk to her about this. She's going to burn herself out."
"Try telling her that," I said, watching as Skylar executed a perfect combination that would have dropped most men. "She's not the same person who used to hide behind us."
Harry's jaw tightened. "She shouldn't have to be a warrior. She should be able to just... live."
"But she can't, can she?" Lucas said quietly. "Not while he's out there. Not while she knows what he's capable of."
Through the glass, Skylar caught sight of us watching her. She stopped mid-punch, her chest heaving as she grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat from her face. When she approached the doors, I could see the determination burning in her eyes - and something else. Something that looked dangerously close to the cold calculation I'd seen in William's face.
"We need to end this," she said without preamble as she stepped into the hallway. "All of it. Jack, the network, everything."
"Skylar..." I started, but she cut me off.
"No. I'm done hiding. I'm done being afraid. I'm done waiting for him to make the next move." She looked at each of us in turn. "I know you want to protect me, but I don't need protection anymore. I need partners."
Harry stepped forward, his protective instincts clearly warring with his respect for her autonomy. "What are you proposing?"
"I'm proposing we stop playing defense and start playing offense. We have advantages now - we know he's alive, we know about his connection to William, and we know he underestimates what I've become." Skylar's voice was steady, but I could hear the underlying steel. "We use those advantages to destroy him before he can hurt anyone else."
Lucas pulled out his phone, scrolling through something before showing us the screen. "I've been tracking William's financial movements since we got here. Look at this."
The account statements showed massive transfers - amounts that made my head spin. Money moving between offshore accounts, shell companies, and what looked like legitimate businesses.
"He's been funding something big," Lucas continued. "And based on the timing of these transfers, it started right around the time of Jack's 'accident.'"
Skylar's face went pale, then flushed with anger. "They've been working together this whole time. William saved him, didn't he? He pulled him out of that lake."
"That's what it looks like," Lucas confirmed. "Which means..."
"Which means William has been playing us from the beginning," Harry finished, his voice dangerous. "He's been using us to eliminate Jack's competitors while keeping Jack alive as his trump card."
I felt my own anger rising. We'd been puppets, dancing to William's tune while he orchestrated everything from behind the scenes. The betrayal cut deep, especially knowing how hard Lucas had tried to earn his father's approval over the years.
"So what do we do?" I asked, though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.
Skylar smiled, and for the first time since Jack's call, it reached her eyes. But there was nothing warm about it. "We give them exactly what they deserve. But first, we need information. Real information, not the scraps they've been feeding us."
"I might be able to help with that," Lucas said slowly. "There are places William thinks I don't know about. Accounts he thinks I can't access. If we're going to do this, we need to know everything - their resources, their plans, their weaknesses."
"And I know someone who might be able to fill in the gaps," Harry added. "Someone who worked with William before we came along. If he's still alive, he owes me a favor."
Skylar nodded, but then her expression softened slightly as she looked at me. "Jax, I need to know you're with us on this. Really with us. Not just going along because you feel guilty about the past."
I stepped closer to her, close enough to see the flecks of gold in her eyes. "I'm with you. Whatever it takes. But I need you to promise me something."
"What?"
"Promise me that when this is over - when Jack and William are gone - you'll let yourself be happy. Really happy, not just surviving." I reached up to cup her face in my hands. "Promise me you won't lose yourself in the darkness, no matter what we have to do to end this."
For a moment, the warrior mask slipped, and I saw a glimpse of the girl I'd fallen in love with. "I promise," she whispered. "But only if you promise to help me find my way back when it's over."
"Always," I said, and meant it with every fiber of my being.
But as I looked into her eyes, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were about to cross a line we might not be able to come back from.
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