Page 133 of Goalie Goal
“Fucking Dad came to see me a few weeks back.”
“And you’re just calling me now? What the hell, Gemma?”
I rolled my eyes. “Assumed you already knew.”
“Seriously? After all I’ve done for you?” If I listened hard enough, I could hear a trace of hurt in his tone.
Then I remembered how I’d been found. “Fuck, sorry.”
“Did he hurt you?” There was a steel edge to his voice.
“I-I thought he was going to.” My voice broke. “He said I owed him a life.”
“A life? Why would you owe him a life?”
“Apparently, I incurred a debt at birth. For not being born a boy.”
Enzo cursed under his breath. “Bastard.”
“Did you know?”
“I told you, I didn’t—”
“No. I mean, did you know when that video went viral? Who that man was? The one I was screaming at?”
Traffic slowed to a crawl, and I beat my hands against the steering wheel in frustration.
“Did you know?!” I screamed when Enzo remained silent, my patience wearing thin.
“Yeah, Gem. I knew.”
“And you didn’t think to warn me?”
“Warn you about what? You’re not making any sense.”
He was right, I wasn’t. And this wasn’t his fault. Even if I’d known who Sasha was earlier, it wouldn’t have changed anything. Once he set his sights on me, it was game over. I was no match for his determination to make me his.
“Gemma, why are we talking about a professional goalie you flipped out on at a DMV months ago?” Enzo’s voice echoed through the car.
I squeezed my eyes shut and admitted the truth. “Because I’m in love with him, and I think Dad had him killed instead of me.”
“Um.” There was a pause, and I was sure he was trying to figure out how I went from one extreme to the other when it came to Sasha. Good luck to him. I still had no idea, but it didn’t change the truth. “What makes you think Dad put a hit out on him?”
“He didn’t show up for the game tonight. Then I got a message from an unknown number taunting me that I was stupid enough to think my life would be the one they took.”
He sucked in a sharp breath. “Let me see what I can find out, and I’ll—”
“Shit.” The reason for the standstill on the freeway came into view when I saw flashing lights on the other side. “I gotta go.”
“Gemma, wait—”
I flung my door open and ran the length of the barrier until I caught sight of several police cars, a fire truck, and a flatbed tow truck. That side of the freeway was completely closed off to traffic, and a twisted hunk of electric blue metal had my breath catching in my throat.
No, no, no. Please, God, no.
Running on pure adrenaline, I climbed the concrete wall. With panic clouding my vision, I misjudged the height of it coming down the other side, crashing onto my knees, hissing at the sting when my jeans ripped, my flesh burning as it tore open.
Gritting my teeth, I pushed off the ground and ran as fast as my injured legs could carry me toward Sasha’s beat-up car.
