Page 60 of Skating Towards Danger

I’m struggling.

The ice isn’t centering me like it used to, not because I’m in danger, because I’m not anymore. Dante says I’m safe and I believe him. Not only is there a guard at every entry point at the arena, but the man who wanted me is now dead, and he admitted he was the one who killed him.

I still don’t know how I feel about it, and my head is still a raging mess, the kind of mess that makes me want to run. He’s being open and honest, something every girl asks of their partner. He’s not keeping me in the dark, and I’m grateful I am, but so many questions keep flittering through my mind.

How deep was my dad?

Did my momma know?

Would Royal have been a made man?

Would I have had to marry someone else of my father’s choosing?

If I had been promised to Jose, would my family still be alive today?

Would Dante still have chosen me if he wasn’t forced to watch out for me?

So many questions filling my mind and searching stuff up on the internet is not helping. I need answers and I don’t think I can give my all to Dante until I have them but I just don’t know if I’m ready for them.

I take a deep breath and pick up speed, adamant about quieting my mind. I swing my arms and hips before I jump and spin midair, then land on my left foot, my body slightly bent over, my arms out beside me skating backwards. I twist and skate forward, moving my arms to the music as I toe my feet before me.

I’ve barely spoken to Dante, especially since I found out he moved me into his apartment and ended my lease early with Tanner and honestly, I don’t know if I’m pleased about that or pissed, or maybe both.

I hated living with Tanner but I also didn’t want to use the money my father left me, adamant to invest it in a charity for underprivileged kids and Dante wanted me living with him despite us not being together for long.

Something about a wife living with her husband.

Wife…

I still can’t get used to the fact that I am a wife, me, the person who didn’t want to live, a wife, married without my knowledge, married for love apparently.

I swallow hard and skate faster, trying to focus before perfecting the axel jump, once, twice, three times while chastising myself for thinking of Dante yet again and what he did behind my back.

He says it wasn’t just to protect me, he says he loves me and wants me for the rest of his life but it hasn’t even been six months. Surely, he can’t know I’m always his, that I’m his one when he has a pick of women, then again, what do I know? The thought of not having him in my life sends me into a panic.

Deep in my gut, I know he’s my future, so who am I to question if he knows I’m his?

But can I trust him, though?

I squeeze my eyes tight and get down on one knee, just keeping it from touching the ice and bring my left arm back, arching a little and tilting my head to the side as I glide along the ice. I get myself back up and skate forward before jumping around so that I’m skating backward.

I’m not scared of him like I thought I’d be. In fact, I feel nothing but safety when I’m in his orbit, but that could mean I’m just an idiot.

I skid to a stop, spraying ice and breathe hard as frustration builds inside me.

I can’t concentrate, and it’s infuriating.

Why can’t I quiet my mind?

“I forgot how amazing you looked on the ice peanut…”

I sigh at Uncle Rocco’s voice and look down as I put my hands on my hips.

That is probably why.

I felt him when he walked into the rink an hour ago. I knew it wasn’t Dante because he’s at an away game, and I did a quick side eye after the whole gun thing, which confirmed it was my uncle, whom I had dodged for two weeks, as well as Aunt Tyra.

I can understand keeping me in the dark for a few years after my parents died, but I’m nearly twenty-three, and I was almost killed all because he didn’t tell me the truth. I wasn’t aware of my surroundings. I wasn’t aware that I was in danger.

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