Page 88 of Blood on Ice

A small part of me was hoping he wouldn’t answer, that I could just leave him a message, but it only took a few rings before his gruff voice came on the line. “Where the fuck are you?”

“I’m with my fiancé. He fell down a flight of stairs into the basement at a friend’s house and?—”

“Damn. Is he okay?”

“Yes, he’s got a sprained wrist and a whole lot of bruises. He needs rest, but he’s going to be all right.”

“That’s good, but the way you handled the situation was not. And what the fuck do you mean fiancé?”

“We’ve been keeping things pretty private, but?—”

“You haven’t even been in Boston that long. How the hell are you engaged already?”

“It happened fast, but I feel good about this. He’s the one.”

“Don’t you ever walk out of the arena again without talking to me. I ought to fucking suspend you.”

“If you need proof that?—”

Coach snarled. “I don’t need fucking proof. I need to know where my players are, and I should be told in person when an emergency happens, especially when it’s right as we’re about to go out on the ice.”

“I’m sorry. I fucked up. I know I did.” I wanted to plead with him not to suspend me, but I was ready to take whatever punishment I deserved.

“I need you in the game next week and it sounds like you had a legitimate emergency. You break the rules again, and I will put you on the bench. If I have to, I’ll kick you right off this team, no matter how damn good you’ve been playing lately.”

I smiled, glad he couldn’t see me. It meant so much for him to say that.

“When do I get to meet this fiancé?”

“Soon.”

“You’re a damn good addition to this team as long as you have your head in the game. If you’d left after I’d turned in the lineup,we’d be having a different conversation. I’m giving you a pass on this one screwup, but if you pull a stunt like this again?—”

“I swear nothing like this will happen again. I’ll find you first if some other emergency ever comes up. Hopefully it won’t.” I doubted that, knowing Vito’s lifestyle, but I couldn’t tell that to Coach.

“You’d better not be even one second late to our next practice and be prepared for an extra hard workout.”

“You got it, Coach.”

“Good night.” He ended the call, and I blew out a long breath. I walked back into the bedroom.

“Everything okay?” Vito asked.

“Yes. He’s not even going to punish me. I thought I’d at least have to miss the next game, but Coach said he was giving me this one screwup as a freebie since I left before he’d turned in the lineup. If I’d made them play a man down, things would have been worse, but I’d still have left.”

Vito frowned. “But your career is so important to you.”

I sat on the bed next to him. “Not as important as you. When Liam called and said Benito had you, it was clear to me. You mattered more than the game, more than anything. I wasn’t going to let him hurt you.”

“I’m supposed to be the one protecting you.”

“I think it works a lot better if we protect each other. Plus, I’m the one who started this whole mess. I wasn’t going to let my mistakes end up causing you to get hurt or….”

“I was such a fucking idiot. I should’ve waited for everyone, but I just felt like I had to make sure Benito was going to show up when he was supposed to. Then I ended up wrecking the plan.”

“He’s dead. That’s what matters.”

“Damn right it is,” Dom said as he walked into the room. Why had I left the fucking door open?

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