Page 44 of Icebreaker

Quinn smiled. "I love you, too, and I'm here to support you and even kick some ass when it's necessary."

I laughed, feeling some of the weight lift at last. "Well, then, let's go kick some ass."

Chapter fourteen

Quinn

We'd set up a planned meeting with Dante, and it loomed over us as we huddled in my living room with mugs of coffee. We'd barely touched it, and it soon grew tepid in our hands. The silence between us was oppressive, heavy with unspoken anxieties.

I watched Axel from the corner of my eye, noticing the tension in his shoulders while he restlessly drummed his fingers on his thigh. His opposite knee bounced, full of nervous energy. His dread of meeting Dante face-to-face was apparent, but I knew it was a crucial step on the route to closure and, ultimately, healing.

"I…I don't know about this, Quinn. Are you sure facing Dante and dragging all this into the open is the right move?"

I set my mug on the coffee table and moved closer to Axel. My hand gripped his knee. "I know the whole idea of this is tough. It feels like we're walking into the middle of a storm without an umbrella, but I'll be right there for backup. Doing nothing isn't working, is it?"

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "But what if he doesn't listen? What if it only makes him more angry, and he loses it? What then?"

I couldn't deny reality. "That's always possible. We might not change his mind," I said, doing my best to keep my voice steady. "But maybe we shouldn't try to change him. Maybe this is about us and our need to stand up and own our share of the power in this situation."

Axel looked at me. "I want to believe standing up to Dante will change something in him. I do, for sure, but I can't imagine that yet. Maybe…but yeah, the alternative seems more likely."

I tried to say all the right things, but my voice trembled slightly, betraying my fears. "There's a lot of 'maybes' in all of this, and I'm scared, too. We're talking about you, us, and our future, but…"

"We can't just hide and wait for it to all blow over." Axel finished the thought for me. His voice was stronger, but his hand still trembled in mine.

We agreed to meet Dante in Mt. Tabor Park, Axel's favorite meditation spot. At first, I thought that was a bad idea, but he insisted that it would calm him and give him confidence.

As we set out to drive to the park, morning fog still lingered over the city's higher elevations like a ghost, dampening the sounds of morning traffic and softening the fall colors. Axel clenched the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white. He stared down the road without blinking.

"Relax a little," I suggested. "You're even making me nervous."

I watched familiar city landmarks sweep past our windows. Seeing each one had brought us one step closer to confronting Dante. I reached out to rest my hand on Axel's thigh. I hoped my touch could ground us both and tug him back from the edge of severe anxiety.

The park was serene and gorgeous, contrasting with the turmoil roiling inside us. The grass was still lush and green where not covered by red, yellow, and brown leaves. If I hadn't known meeting Dante was on the agenda, I would have reveled in the peaceful atmosphere, letting my heart open up to the stunning beauty.

Dante had arrived ahead of us. As we parked, I spotted him leaning against a tree, arms folded over his chest. I breathed deeply when I climbed out of the car, enjoying the pine and damp soil scents.

I would have called him handsome if it weren't for the jaw set into a scowl. He had sharp, striking features, but it looked like months or even years of anger twisted his face into something unappealing, even threatening.

Dante raised his chin, and his icy, calculating eyes met ours. He'd pressed his lips into a smirk, and a dark, cold aura radiated around him. He was a man who couldn't let go of the past. He nurtured his grievances until they were now indistinguishable from his other characteristics.

As we approached, I squeezed Axel's hand tightly. It was a wordless way of saying, "I've got your back." Gravel crunched under our feet while we stepped forward.

Pushing off from the tree, Dante stood taller than I remembered, almost as tall as Axel. The smirk turned into a wicked grin. I shivered in the charged atmosphere.

"Axel, Quinn, I didn't expect you'd actually show up. I figured you might tuck your tails between your legs and hide. That way, you could try to hang on to that happy facade you show the fans."

As I watched the tension build between Axel and Dante, I wanted to protect Axel and act as a human shield. I wanted to remove all the hurt Dante caused, but I also knew Axel had to face it on his terms if he hoped to find the closure he desperately needed.

Axel's grip on my hand tightened. He took a deep breath, and his voice shook slightly as he began to speak. "We're here because it's high time we stop…stop you from spinning lies about the past. When you do that, it's not just us—"

"Lies?" Dante interrupted, and his voice rose sharply in tone. "You thinkI'mthe one lying? Um, you walked away from me, Axel. You made your choice, and now, years later, you're playing the victim for Quinn because it's a convenient way to hide the past. It fits your new narrative."

Axel flinched like someone slapped him. His voice cracked when he spoke again. "No, fuck, that's not—it wasn't like that, and you know it. As soon as those bright spotlights appeared, you turned away from me. You denied everything and made it seem like…like I was…damn, what, a perverted predator? You did that. Not me."

"Are you trying to say I had a choice?" Dante's voice was loud but fortunately dampened by the lingering fog. He mocked Axel in his tone and started to talk with his hands, gesturing wildly. "The whole league…no…the entire world was ready to tear me apart. What choice did I have? It was either hide or be destroyed piece by piece, death by a thousand cuts."

"You had choices. We both had them. You made them, too!" Axel shouted, his voice raw. Pain and anger fueled his following statement, causing my toes to curl as I closed my eyes. "You chose to save yourself and damn me in the process. Did you everonce think about me while throwing me under the bus? Did you think about what it would do to me and my career?"

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