Page 34 of Desert Sky (RB MC #4)
SKYE
I could barely breathe as the black SUV pulled up the long drive to the Northport Ranch. Pines lined the gravel path like silent sentinels, and even though JD sat beside me, one hand on the wheel and the other in a white-knuckled grip, it felt like a lifetime stretched between us.
The ring he gave me at eighteen sat heavy on my finger, colder than the chill in the air. I'd worn it again because it felt like armor—an echo of what we were, who we were before everything fell apart.
The house looked the same. Grand and cold. Like Clarissa Northport herself. And standing on the porch, framed by golden light, were Cal and Colton. My heart thudded painfully.
Cal blinked like he’d seen a ghost. “What the—Skye?”
Colton stepped forward. “Is that really…?”
“Yeah,” JD muttered beside me. “It’s her.”
Cal looked between us. “Does this have something to do with the rumors about Clarissa? JD, you’ve been burning holes in the books trying to erase her from the empire. We figured something was up.”
I walked up the steps, my legs trembling like I was about to face a firing squad. “I came to tell you the truth. All of it.”
Inside the study, I placed the engraved ring onto the desk. The fire snapped and cracked, but it did nothing to warm the cold creeping up my spine.
“She put a gun to my head,” I said, my voice low and tight.
Colton’s jaw ticked. “Holy shit.”
“Clarissa. Your mom. She found out I was pregnant. Paid off a nurse at the OB’s office to get into my chart. I don’t know how she found out, but she did. And one day, she came to my trailer. I was outside, pulling weeds. She walked right up to me like she belonged there.”
Colton kept cursing. Cale sank onto the edge of the couch. JD stood silent, arms crossed, eyes on the fire.
“She told me if I didn’t disappear, she’d bury me. Said no one would ever find the baby. That JD’s future didn’t include some trailer trash girl and a bastard baby.”
I swallowed, hard. “She meant it. You could see it in her eyes.”
JD still didn’t move, didn’t speak. He just stood like granite, fists clenched.
“I had a friend, Malik, and his cousin, Shaniqua. They helped me vanish. They gave me a new name, a new life. In North Carolina.”
Colton cursed under his breath.
“She did this?” Cal asked, voice shaking. “Mother?”
“I didn’t want JD to lose everything,” I whispered. “His future. His family. So I left. I ran.”
“You were everything,” JD said suddenly. “You were the only thing that ever felt real. ”
That’s when my phone buzzed.
The ringtone was cheerful, but the moment I saw the name, my breath caught.
“Jackson,” I said.
JD stiffened. “Him?”
I nodded and answered. “Hey, baby.”
Jackson’s face filled the screen. His big brown eyes sparkled, and he had that crooked smile that made my chest ache. “Hi, Mama! I did my homework. Can I stay up and look at stars with Malik?”
I smiled through my tears. “Of course. Did you brush your teeth?”
“Yes, ma’am!” He grinned, revealing the gap where his front tooth used to be. I could feel JD behind me, unsteady. The moment the call ended, he walked out—fast—like he couldn’t breathe.
Cal looked torn, then went after him. Colton followed suit. He left the door ajar. I sat by the fire, alone again but could hear every word.
JD stood under the stars, his shoulders shaking. Cal didn’t say anything at first. Just placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“He looks just like you,” Cal murmured. “Same damn chin.”
JD nodded, silent.
“I never wanted this for you, man.”
“I used to dream about being a dad.” JD's voice cracked. “A better one. One who didn’t try to own everything he loved. One who gave a shit about truth.”
Cal squeezed his shoulder. “Then be that guy now.”
The phone was still warm in my hand. My eyes were on the night beyond the window. The same stars that lit the sky above Jackson’s little bed in North Carolina .
I felt it in my bones—I might have JD’s body back. His hunger. His kiss. I had his body back, sure.
But I feared I’d never have his heart again.