Page 13 of Skating Towards Danger

Tyra nods, then states, “The reason they went after Peter that day is that he refused his daughter for an arranged marriage, and they decided to go around your father and take it in their own hands, knowing marriage alliances were not and are not the Italian way anymore, not since your father met your mama, and we would never go against Peter’s wishes by asking Dante to marry her or even forcing her into that kind of situation when she’s clueless that she’s even in danger to begin with.”

“So, what do you need from my brother,” Roman demands while I keep eye contact with Rocco because, let’s face it, this has nothing to do with Roman and won’t have anything to do with him until the Cartel pounces, and we can finally take them down.

The fuckers are into sex trafficking, and while we’re no innocents, we don’t dabble in flesh.

Weed, cocaine, sex clubs, brokers, jewelry and finances, not fucking flesh.

“I need you to watch out for her, Dante, and preferably from afar. She doesn’t know of our world, and to her, you’re probably just this cocky hockey star giving the perfect opportunity to keep our world from entering hers,” he swallows hard as he looks at his wife, then back at me and admits, “The Cartel believes she’s dead. In the next coming weeks, it’s going to become apparent that she is in fact alive.”

“Why do they think she’s dead?” I ask, intrigued more than anything.

Tyra’s eyes tear up, and she admits, “Because she was in the car when they attacked them.”

Fuck.

My mouth parts as Roman growls, “Then how does she not know who we are? Both her parents had bullet holes in their heads after they were tortured, fuck, Peter had his skin torn off his body, his nails pulled, and several stab wounds, and Rose…” He shakes his head, “She was raped despite her severehead injury meaning they were both tortured right there on the fucking road before they shot them both in the head!”

It was fucking gruesome, or that’s what Ro and I heard when we eavesdropped that night after hearing David run into the house shouting Peter was under attack. We waited until Dad returned and went into his office before we snuck outside his office door and heard parts of the situation.

It sounded fucking gruesome, and the only blessing was that Rose was already dead before they used her body to torture Peter, so she felt nothing, or that’s what we heard anyhow.

Dad sighs and states, “Paige was knocked out as soon as the car flipped. One moment, Rocco heard her screaming, and the next, she was quiet while Peter tried to get her to talk to him after the car stopped flipping over, ending on its roof, but she was silent.” Dad looks between us, “Rocco heard everything, and so did I. They thought she was dead, and by the time we got there, the fuckers were gone, and Paige still had a pulse while her parents…,” Dad shakes his head, then admits, “Paige, fuck, she’s completely forgotten that day. She can’t remember or won’t more like it, and when she gets some kind of flashback, she lashes out, or she did.”

“Now she skates to forget, something she refused to do for years after stopping when she was sixteen. Tyra and I thought her continuing her passion would help bring her out of her shell, but if anything, it made her rebel,” Rocco finishes.

I look down as Roman asks, “What did she do to lash out before choosing skating again?”

I hear a sigh as Rocco admits, “Ditching school, doing drugs, sleeping with her teacher at fourteen, then with some of the jocks while on school grounds, not caring if she got caught,” I look up in shock as Roman mutters, “Great so she’s a drugged-up slut.”

Rocco’s eyes harden, and one moment, Roman is holding his ground, not caring about the impact his words could have and the next, a slap echoes in the room, and we look at Tyra in shock.

Okay, I expected Rocco to punch my brother, but what I didn’t expect was this pixie-sized woman smacking him.

Damn, and I didn’t record it….

Roman glares at her, but she doesn’t back down as her mama mode comes out, and she snaps, “That girl was eight years old, Roman, eight, when her parents were taking her home after skating practice, something they hadn’t gone along to in months. She blames herself, not realizing it would happen one way or another. She has survivor’s guilt and was mute for nearly two years, and that was after the doctors had to sedate her when we, her aunt and uncle, had to explain her parents were never going to come back!”

The room is tense, and Morgan has now taken a step towards Roman and not to stand by him because his words were fucking harsh and a little hypercritical considering he was the biggest whore in college but more to help him understand what his words just caused.

Tyra shakes her head and sneers, “We had to have her committed for two months at nine years old. She was suicidal, so don’t you dare judge her when I have heard many stories of your high school and college days that make her choices seem innocent compared to you!”

Roman winces, then flinches seeing the glare from his wife before he sighs and says, “I’m sorry, Tyra.”

She shakes her head before wiping away the tears that had fallen as Rocco looks at me and admits, “The Jaguar's arena owner, Greg, wants to do a tribute to Paige’s mom in five months during the semi-finals. She was the biggest figure skater, but they want Paige to do the tribute something she has reluctantly agreed to this morning, and it’s going to be broadcastednationwide. I need her safe, Dante, and I know this is a lot to ask, especially with the shit your brother and dad tried to cause with getting you to retire.”

Rhett steps next to Rocco, shocking me as he butts in, “You need to do it, Dante. She won’t let me get an inch in. She’s hardheaded and will most likely give you attitude,” I raise a brow at him, but he just shrugs and admits, “She knows my parents were close to hers, but she hasn’t allowed herself to get to know me despite being at family dinners over the years.”

I sigh and confirm, “Because she doesn’t want to be close to anyone who knows her parents.”

He nods, “Because she feels guilty that she survived and they didn’t,” he shakes his head, “She’s good, Dante, real fucking good. I watched her last week at the rink, and I swear that talent is going to waste,” he looks at Roman, “And no I do not like her like that or want her before you even ask. She’s like the little sister I never wanted if she’d allow me to look out for her, something I can’t do because she wants nothing to do with me.”

Rocco cuts in, “She’s wasting her life away working at that dead-end diner on Carlston Street,” Everyone tenses knowing part of the Cartel hangs around there, “They don’t know what she looks like, and our girl won’t listen to us,” he looks at me, “Please Dante, I just need you to keep an eye on her, that is it, even if it's just from afar. She’ll be at the rink a lot to rehearse in between your games and practices, and I know it’s a lot to ask for, but I fuck, I’m scared of losing the only thing left of my brother, and as soon as it’s announced tomorrow that Rose Carmen’s daughter will be doing a tribute to her mother, they’ll want to investigate on whether or not it’s her before either demanding the arrangement that was never offered to begin with or kill her to kill off her father’s bloodline as a fuck you to our organization.”

The room quietens, everyone looking my way to see what I decide, and I swallow hard.

I don’t want anything to do with the mafia right now, especially after the shit my dad and brother pulled, but Rocco has been there for me for as long as I can remember, and the fact that he’s kept his promise to look after his niece despite her falling off the deep end.

I sigh but nod, and Rocco physically relaxes while I hope I’m not making a mistake. I mean, it’s just one girl to keep an eye on while I’m at the rink, mainly. It’s not like I’m going to fall in love with her, am I?

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