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Natasha knew that Jake’s relationship with his family was . . . strained.
She’d only met his parents in passing during their TOP GUN graduation and frankly the brief interaction with them told her plenty about Jacob Seresin Sr. and Donna Seresin. And exactly why Jake never wanted to talk about his family.
There was a reason behind his Hangman demeanor. And it was his parents.
Jake’s dad, Jacob Seresin Sr. was the fourth Seresin in a long line of successful lawyers and the man responsible for growing the family firm to new heights. And, as such, he accepted nothing less than the absolute best. From everyone. And especially from his children.
Though, Jacob Sr. wasn’t nearly as successful of a dad as he was a lawyer or businessman.
Donna Seresin was a small-town girl with big dreams. She won the county beauty pageant at nineteen, caught the eye of fresh-out-of-law-school Jacob Sr., and got the life of luxury that her small-town roots would have never given her after four short months of courting.
But there must have been a point where Donna Seresin questioned whether the money was worth all of it, Phoenix thought to herself.
“I know, Mom,” Jake sighed quietly, causing Phoenix to turn to him.
He sat on the edge of their hotel bed with his phone held to his ear. Phoenix watched the muscles of Jake’s back tighten and relax depending on his mother’s words. And based on how tense he was, Phoenix surmised that the talk wasn’t going well.
“She’s feeling sick then?” Jake asked, sounding like he didn’t believe his mom. “Yeah, it is a crying shame that we can’t have the whole family together for the holiday.”
Jake said a few more affirmative phrases to his mom’s questions as Phoenix sat up in bed. Jake promised to text his mom when they left the hotel and then hung up the phone. He set his phone down a little rougher than he needed to before he held his head in his hands, letting out a sigh.
“Everything okay?” she questioned cautiously, getting up to sit beside him.
“Molly and her husband won’t be joining us,” Jake muttered bitterly. “No doubt using the pregnancy excuse to get away with not flying out for this shit show.” Jake got up from the bed, running a hand through his hair. “The least that she could have done was tell me that she wasn’t going to show up before I agreed to this stupid dinner.”
Molly, Jake’s older sister, was the only member of Jake’s family that Phoenix met outside of their TOP GUN graduation. And, generally speaking, Phoenix got along with Molly well enough. But she knew that Jake quietly resented Molly for doing exactly what she just did—jumping ship without any warning in a bid to save herself because it always left him to deal with their parents and their brother alone.
Phoenix assumed that Jake and Molly would have had a perfectly healthy relationship if their parents, especially their dad, stopped fucking them up.
“Do you still want to go?” Phoenix asked Jake quietly.
“I don’t have a choice now,” Jake huffed, pacing around. “If we don’t show up, then I know that I’m going to just have to deal with my dad and my brother calling, texting, and harassing me about making my mom cry around the holidays.”
And Jake’s response only made Phoenix question why they were going to spend any time with Jake’s family in the first place.
Sure, they were temporarily posted in Corpus Christi for a few weeks, about a six-hour drive from the Seresin family home. It was doable. But it wasn’t ideal. It was a long enough drive that they could have gotten out of it. But then Jake’s mom got them a hotel room and Jake felt like his hands were tied. Like they always were when it came to his family.
But Phoenix didn’t like seeing Jake like this—so stressed and not like himself.
She got out of bed and pulled him into a hug, forcing him to stop his erratic pacing. Jake remained tense for a second before melting into her hug. Burying his face in her neck, Jake wrapped his arms around Phoenix’s waist and pulled her closer to him.
“Thanks for coming with me,” he mumbled, pressing a kiss to her neck.
“You don’t have to thank me, Jake,” Phoenix reminded him for the thousandth time. She pulled away from the hug and cupped his cheeks as he rested his forehead against hers. “I love you. And I’m here for you when you need help today, okay?”
“I love you too,” Jake returned, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.
Phoenix smiled and pulled him down for another kiss, hoping to get him to relax a little bit before this inevitable shit show. At least, she assumed it was going to be a shit show because Jake had yet to say one single nice thing about this dinner.
She pushed him down onto the bed, but he quickly pulled her down with him. Phoenix laughed as she fell on top of him. Jake held her against his chest with his arms around her. Not that Phoenix was complaining one bit.
“How long until we have to leave?” Phoenix asked, tracing a pattern on Jake’s chest.
“Long enough,” Jake returned with a smirk, causing Phoenix to grin.
Phoenix straightened out her new dress, the one that Jake bought her for the occasion.
Jake actually brought her to a specific boutique, helped her pick out a few dresses, and paid for the dress that they both agreed on. With his parents’ money. Specifically, with the account that Jake set up years ago for all of his mom’s ‘sorry that your dad or your brother is an asshole’ checks.
Phoenix had to assume that there was a significant amount money in that account because Jake didn’t even bat an eyelash at the total. And he went through the trouble of buying her new shoes and jewelry for the occasion as well. She tried to pay him back for some of it, feeling like she was taking advantage of him, but Jake declined it every time.
He pointed out that if his parents weren’t such assholes, then they wouldn’t have to go through all of this trouble in the first place, so his parents were going to pay for it.
“You almost ready?” Phoenix called to Jake, putting in her new earrings.
“Pretty much,” Jake replied, adjusting his tie in the mirror. “You need help with anything?”
“No, I’m just about finished too.”
Phoenix walked out of the bathroom and grabbed her shoes as Jake pulled on a light sweater. She snorted as he held up her coat for her but she slid her arms into the coat without complaint.
“Such a gentleman,” she teased him. Rubbing her thumb over his cheek, Phoenix sobered when she noticed the tension in Jake’s figure again. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Let’s just get this over with.”
Phoenix nodded and picked up her phone and her purse. They walked down to Jake’s car together and Phoenix reached over to grab Jake’s hand. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, and he returned it, before they got into the car.
"Do you need directions?" Phoenix asked him quietly.
“No, I got it,” Jake replied, starting the car.
As Jake pulled onto the highway, Phoenix reached over and took his hand again. Jake shot her a small smile before turning back to the road. They talked about anything other than his family on the hour and a half drive to his parents’ house. Phoenix called her family and Jake squeezed her hand, knowing how much she missed them and wanted to see them.
And it was also another apology for bringing her along to his family’s celebration.
They pulled off the highway and started up some country roads. Phoenix asked Jake about the towns and places that they passed, which he answered. But Phoenix quickly noticed how the houses slowly but surely became nicer and bigger until they were passing literal estate houses.
And suddenly the amount that Jake spent on her dress felt miniscule.
Jake pulled off the road and stopped at a large gate. He typed in the code and briefly talked with someone in the house over the radio. Phoenix assumed that it was his mom based on the tone of voice. But then the gates opened and she focused forward. Jake drove through, gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turned white.
Phoenix quietly marveled at the Seresin family home as it came into view. It was huge. Probably about three or four times the size of the house that Phoenix grew up in. She could see the lake that Jake mentioned out back, and the forested property behind it.
“We’re here,” Jake muttered, turning off the car.
“Just breathe, okay?” Phoenix told him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “I’m right here.”
“I know. And if you want to leave, just tell me, and we’re gone. I promise you.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s just one dinner.”
Jake looked like he disagreed with her but got out of the car anyways.
Phoenix walked around beside Jake, but he didn’t take her hand this time. Not in blatant view of his family. Phoenix didn’t let that bother her, instead focusing on keeping herself calm. Jake didn’t bother to knocked—it was his childhood home after all—and stepped inside.
And into battle.
“Oh, Junior, you made it!” Donna Seresin called, hurrying over to greet her son.
Phoenix noticed how Jake winced when Donna called him ‘Junior’ and how he tentatively returned the hug that his mom gave him. Donna seemed so happy to see him, but Phoenix found herself quietly wondering if it was all for show.
Jake was always cautious about saying anything bad about his mom. And Phoenix did truly think that Jake cared about his mom and her well-being. But there was always an undercurrent of resentment to his tone when he talked about his mom that made Phoenix a little suspicious.
And now Phoenix felt like she had a front row seat to the explanation behind that.
“How was the hotel? Good?” Donna Seresin asked, smiling up at her eldest son.
“It was fine, Mom,” Jake mumbled out, dropping his arms to his sides.
“Good, I’m glad to hear.”
Donna turned to greet Phoenix, who stood a step behind Jake. Donna put on a dazzling smile—one of her ‘pageant smiles’ as Jake would call them—and walked over. Phoenix straightened up under Jake’s mom’s gaze, knowing that there was no need to start off on the wrong foot with Donna.
“Oh, it’s so nice to finally meet you, Natasha,” Donna greeted her, giving Phoenix a quick hug.
Donna actually met Phoenix after her and Jake’s TOP GUN graduation, but Phoenix decided that she had to pick her battles today. And correcting Jake’s mom on that fact just wasn’t worth the energy in Phoenix’s opinion.
But Jake thought that it was.
“You met her at my TOP GUN graduation,” Jake reminded him mom gently.
“Oh, I did?”
“Briefly,” Phoenix replied calmly.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, dear. Well, then it’s nice to see you again, I suppose,” Donna chuckled, quickly hoping to push that awkwardness aside. “Come on, everyone else is waiting.”
Donna urged them further into the Seresin home. Jake and Natasha shared a look before following after Jake’s mom. Jake led the way and Phoenix rested her hand against his back briefly, as if to remind him that she was there for him, before she dropped her hand back to her side.
In the living room, a woman about Jake and Phoenix’s age was scrolling on her phone.
“Heather, where did Isaac and his father run off to?” Donna asked the woman.
“Oh, they went outside for a cigar,” Heather replied, picking up her head.
But when Heather spotted Jake, Phoenix didn’t miss the way that Heather’s smile widened. Phoenix raised an eyebrow, making a mental note to ask Jake about Heather later. Heather got up from the couch and made a bit of a show by running over to hug Jake. Phoenix frowned when she noticed just how uncomfortable Jake looked during the whole process.
“Oh, it’s been so long, Jay,” Heather cooed, hugging Jake tightly.
“It’s nice to see you too, Heather,” Jake returned calmly. Though he took a step back from her when she let go of him. “I didn’t think that you’d be joining us.”
It was a nice, Southern way of say, ‘why the fuck are you here?’
“Of course, I’d come. Especially because Isaac finally popped the question.”
Heather showed Jake her engagement ring and Phoenix didn’t miss the slight twitch to Jake’s eye at the sight of it. She didn’t know exactly why Heather’s engagement ring seemed to annoy Jake, but before she could even speculate, Jake answered the question himself.
“The family ring,” Jake noted quietly.
“Well, Isaac asked for it,” Donna replied softly, clearly apologetic to her elder son.
“I’m not surprised, Mom,” Jake stated before turning back to Heather. “Congrats. To the both of you.”
“Thank you! You’ll have to try and get leave for our wedding!”
“I’ll definitely try,” Jake lied, forcing a small smile.
Heather returned a much larger one. But when Heather glanced over at Phoenix, her expression noticeably soured. Phoenix withheld an eye roll, feeling like she was back in high school again. And she was too old for that shit. They were all too old for that shit.
“Who’d you bring home, Jay?”
“This is Natasha. My girlfriend,” Jake introduced, wrapping an arm around Phoenix’s waist.
Heather and Phoenix both forced a smile as they shook hands politely. But Phoenix wasn’t buying the sudden niceness to Heather’s demeanor. She would ask Jake later for an explanation behind the whole situation, but for now, Phoenix would smile and play along.
“It’s nice to meet you, Natalie. And I love your dress.”
“Natasha,” Phoenix corrected Heather. “And thank you. Jake bought it for me.”
“How nice of him,” Heather mused, turning back to Jake.
“Heather,” Donna cut in, causing Heather to turn to her future mother-in-law, “why don’t you grab Isaac and his father from outside? Jake and Natasha, feel free to grab a drink and relax. I’m going to go check on dinner, but it should be just about done.”
Heather nodded and walked off, sparing Jake one last smile. Phoenix waited until both Donna and Heather’s footsteps faded away before she turned to her boyfriend.
“I feel like I’m missing a few pieces of information here,” Phoenix started off with, causing Jake to sigh.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that she would be here.”
“Why was she looking at you like that?”
“We used to hook up, back in high school,” Jake explained quietly, keeping his voice low. “It only happened a few times. And it was mostly just groping each other under the bleachers, but then I broke it off and she latched onto Isaac. And I honestly thought that they broke up when they went to separate colleges, but now, apparently, she’s back in the picture.”
Jake paused, glancing around the room before turning back to Natasha. He gently grabbed her hands, pulling her a little closer to him.
“But it was just horny teenager bullshit, okay? It didn’t mean anything and I haven’t seen her in years and I would never—”
“—Jake,” Phoenix cut off his rambles, “I’m not threatened by a high school mean girl.”
“We’re fine?”
“We’re fine.”
Jake let out a breath of relief and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. But before he could say anything else, the sound of footsteps caused him to pull back. Isaac and Jake’s father walked into the room with Heather hanging off of Isaac’s arm. Natasha didn’t miss how Jake straightened up, almost as if the President of the United States walked into the room.
“Junior,” Jake’s father greeted him, somewhat coldly. Jacob Seresin Sr. glanced over at Phoenix, studying her for a moment. “And guest.”
“Natasha,” Jake interjected firmly. He was willing to take shit from his dad. He was not willing to let Natasha take any shit from his dad. “Her name is Natasha.”
“You finally brought home a girl,” Isaac drawled, in a way that reminded Phoenix of how Jake sauntered around Navy bars. “And here we thought that you were going to be a life-long bachelor.”
Jake had about twenty insults that he could have thrown at his younger brother, but he held his tongue.
“Congrats on your engagement,” Jake grunted out instead, lacking any kind of emotion.
“Thank you. We’re planning on getting married next year,” Isaac replied, wrapping an arm around Heather’s waist. He pulled her closer and Phoenix quietly noted Heather’s change in expression. “You know, have the big wedding that Molly didn’t have.”
Mostly because she eloped to avoid any chance of contamination of her family on her wedding day.
“Can’t wait,” Jake lied.
“Dinner’s ready!” Donna called, walking back into the room. “Why don’t we all move to the dining room? I’ll have them start to bring up the meal.”
Jacob Sr. nodded and walked off, but not without casting one last degrading look at his eldest son. Isaac and Heather followed behind Jacob Sr., clearly the favorite couple of Jake’s parents. Jake and Natasha held back for a moment, both processing the standoff that just finished up.
Phoenix reached out and grabbed Jake’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
“Do you want to go?” she whispered to him. “We can leave.”
“No. I’m fine.”
Phoenix knew that he wasn’t fine and that he definitely wanted to leave, but she didn’t want to push him. Because something told her that Jake’s dad and younger brother were going to push him more than enough on their own.
The Seresin dining room felt more like a dining hall to Natasha.
She was used to putting herself in uncomfortable positions. There was nothing comfortable about being one of the best naval aviators in the US. But this was a different kind of uncomfortable. Sure, there were assholes in her career who tried to make it clear that she didn’t belong there, but she knew how to handle those assholes.
She didn’t know how to handle these assholes in their fancy clothes and fancy utensils.
Suddenly, Jake’s PowerPoint about table etiquette and everything that went along with these interactions didn’t seem like overkill anymore. Phoenix honestly wished that she reviewed the slides on the drive up.
Jake’s dad sat the head of the table, to no surprise. At Jacob Sr.’s right hand sat Isaac, quietly distinguishing the favorite son from the lesser son. Jake sat at his father’s left side and he didn’t look happy about it at all. Heather and Natasha sat next to their boyfriends and Donna Seresin sat at the other end of the table beside them.
“So, Junior,” Jacob Sr. started, causing Jake to tense up. “How long are you in town for?”
“Leaving tonight,” Jake replied quietly, not meeting his father’s gaze. “We have work tomorrow.”
“That’s a shame,” Jacob Sr. drawled, in a way that caused hairs to raise on Phoenix’s arms. “It’s been a while since you’ve been home.”
“Just busy is all,” Jake responded, subdued.
‘Traumatized’ was probably the better term for it, in Phoenix’s opinion.
“So,” Donna cut in, trying to lighten the mood, “where are you from, Natasha?”
“Alaska,” Phoenix stated, setting down her utensils.
“Really? That’s quite unique,” Donna replied, not having much more of a response.
“What’s up in Alaska?” Isaac asked, snorting with amusement.
Jake glared daggers at his younger brother in response but Phoenix’s hand on his thigh kept him in his seat. Phoenix remained poised, turning to Isaac with a look that Jake recognized from when she was about to tell off a bunch of cadets.
“Elmendorf Air Base. My dad was in the Air Force, so I grew up there,” Phoenix replied calmly. “My parents and some of my siblings still live up there.”
“How many siblings do you have?” Donna inquired, trying to maintain the peace.
“Four. Two brothers and two sisters,” Phoenix answered honestly, turning back to Donna. “I’m the second oldest in the family and the oldest girl.”
“What made you join the Navy then? If your family was in the Air Force?” Isaac questioned, digging into his dinner without sparing a glance at Phoenix.
“I wanted to make a name for myself.”
“No wonder you get along with Junior,” Jacob Sr. replied, rather haughtily.
Isaac seemed amused at his father’s jab at his brother’s expense. Donna shot her husband a look, pleading for him to play nice. Heather didn’t seem perturbed and didn’t even blink, like she had seen this exact scene a thousand times before. Phoenix didn’t take offense to Jake’s dad’s remark on her own behalf, but she did on Jake’s behalf.
And Jake seemed like he was quickly reaching his limit with the whole thing.
“We’re going to talk about that then?” Jake muttered, glaring down at his plate. “I thought that we were supposed to be civil with each other at the dinner table.”
“Watch your tone with me, son,” Jacob Sr. warned Jake.
The temperature in the room suddenly turned freezing cold, causing a shiver to run down everyone else’s backs. Even Isaac seemed to retreat into himself at the tone that Jacob Sr. used. Phoenix gave Jake’s hand a squeeze, reminding him that she was there for him if he needed her support.
“Or what?” Jake asked, turning to stare down his father. “Going to throw me out on my ass? Not come to any of my promotions? Try to cut me down with your words? You’ve already done all of that before, so what’s your new trick now? You going to hit me?”
Phoenix’s breath caught in her throat when Jake delivered his final line. Donna seemed on the edge of tears and Isaac’s cocky demeanor had completely evaporated. Isaac looked much more like a scared child now than anything else.
“That was to teach you respect,” Jacob Sr. hissed at Jake.
“Maybe you should take your own lessons.”
And for a second there, Phoenix was quite certain that Jacob Sr. was going to lunge at Jake. But Jake wasn’t small. He was tall, built, and in far better shape than his father. If Jacob Sr. threw a punch, that would be the last hit he would land before Jake absolutely clobbered him in return.
And Jacob Sr. knew that.
“Get out,” Jacob Sr. snapped, pointing out of the room. “Get out!”
“Gladly.”
Jake stood up, tossing his napkin down. Phoenix got up too, ready to run out of there if necessary. Isaac and Heather stayed in their seats, looking like they wanted to be anywhere else than there. Donna got up as Jake and Natasha hurried out of the room, ignoring her husband’s angry yell to sit down.
“Sweetheart,” Donna pleaded with Jake, but he wasn’t listening to her. “He’s just upset. He didn’t mean it. You know that.”
“No, I don’t,” Jake insisted, handing Phoenix her coat. “I’m leaving, Mom.”
“Jay—”
“—No, Mom. And you should go back before he turns on you too,” Jake replied, earning a concerned look from Phoenix.
Donna Seresin tried a few more times to convince Jake to stay, but his mind was made up. Jake gave his mom a long, tight hug, promising to call her later, before he and Phoenix hurried to their car. Jake pulled out the keys but Phoenix took them, knowing that he wasn’t in a good mental state to drive.
The first twenty minutes of the drive back to the hotel were silent. Phoenix held Jake’s hand in one of her own as she drove with one hand. But when they returned to the highway, Jake finally broke down with all of the emotions that he held inside for the entire day.
“I fucking knew that was a bad idea,” Jake growled out, hot tears streaming down his cheeks. “I fucking knew it and I still went along with it.”
“You were trying to please your mom,” Phoenix reminded Jake gently.
“She’s the one who should have left! She should have left his ass years ago!” Jake cried, shaking his head. “He doesn’t love her! He never loved her! He picked her because she was young and naïve and he just used her and threw her away when he was done with her! And she’s never once entertained the idea of leaving him! Not even after he knocked up one of his secretaries!”
Phoenix squeezed his hand, just letting him cry it out because there was nothing that she would be able to say that would make it better.
“I don’t understand. I just don’t understand,” Jake stated, holding his head in his hand. “I don’t understand it. The money isn’t worth it! The lifestyle isn’t worth putting up with that shit! You can’t fix this problem with money! Why doesn’t she understand that?”
Phoenix consoled him as best she could, but she felt absolutely powerless in the moment.
“Nothing is ever good enough for him! I got the grades and he was still disappointed in me! I made first string of the football team and he was still disappointed in me! I was a state champion on the swim team and that still wasn’t good enough! I went to TOP GUN, finished at the top of our class, and he still couldn’t tell me that he was proud of me!”
Phoenix decided to pull off the highway and into one of the ‘stop to text’ depots. Putting the car into park, Phoenix turned to Jake and pulled him into a tight hug, letting him cry it out. She rubbed his back as he sobbed, tears coming to her own eyes when she realized just how much Jacob Sr. terrorized Jake. How much he terrorized his own son.
It was disgusting. It was beyond disgusting. And in a rare moment, Phoenix didn’t know what to do to make it better. So, she simply held Jake as he cried and told him that she loved him and that she cared about him.
“And I swear if Isaac turns into him, I’ll beat the living shit out him until he recalibrates,” Jake vowed, still breathing shakily. “I don’t care how fucking annoying Heather is. He puts her hands on her or pulls that kind of shit, his ass is grass.”
“Has Isaac always been like that?” Phoenix asked Jake softly, rubbing his back.
“No,” Jake sighed as the fight started to leave his body. “He got that way when Dad started to favor him. When I started to disappoint him.”
Phoenix squeezed Jake tighter, pressing a kiss to the side of his head, and rubbing his tense muscles. Jake reached down, unbuckled Phoenix, and pulled her across the car so that he could wrap his arms around her in a less awkward position. Phoenix ran her hands through his hair, trying to soothe him some more.
“We used to be close. So close. Like twins. We’re only eleven months apart. Irish twins,” Jake replied softly, resting his head on Phoenix’s shoulder. He took another deep breath, trying to remain calm. “It’s like my dad knew that I was going to be a screw up and demanded another son from my mom as soon as she was cleared.”
So, it seemed that Jacob Sr. was truly to blame for all the toxic family dynamics, then.
“I think that he saw what Dad did to me and he didn’t want to be a target. But that just put a bigger target on my back,” Jake stated, resentment seeping into his voice. “And now he wants to act all high and mighty as if Dad wouldn’t replace him in a second if he had a better heir. Just like he did with me.”
Phoenix held Jake as he stared to calm down more. Pulling back when she felt Jake move, Natasha cupped Jake’s cheeks with her hands, rubbing her thumbs along his cheeks.
“I’m sorry that I dragged you into that mess,” Jake sighed, staring up at her.
“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.”
Phoenix leaned down, pressing a loving kiss on his lips. Jake returned it, though Phoenix could still feel the tension in his body. Phoenix slowly slid into the driver’s seat again and took Jake’s hand in her own once more.
“I love you,” Phoenix told him firmly.
“I love you too,” Jake returned softly.
“Let’s go back to the hotel. I’ll run us a bath,” Phoenix suggested to Jake, who smiled in return.
“What would I do without you?”
“I guess we’ll never know,” Phoenix returned softly.
They shared one last peck before Phoenix put the car into drive and pulled back onto the highway.