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Chase chuckled again and held up his hands. “I didn’t realize it was more than that…So, she’s your girlfriend?”
Girlfriend? There was no word for all the things that Eve had come to mean to me. What could you call a kindred soul, a light in the dark? A reason to live?
“She’s mine, period. Today, tomorrow, and every day after that. We’ll never be apart while there’s breath in my body. Is that clear enough for you?”
Chase blinked at me and then grinned. “Shit, man. If you weren’t nineteen, I’d have thought you’d just said you were gonna marry that girl.”
“Oh, I did.”
Then the penalty timekeeper nodded to me, and I was back out on the ice.
After the game, there were a couple of fans waiting for autographs by the gate.
“Beckett!” Marcus called to me, gesturing me over.
He and Cayden had signed a little boy’s jersey and were waiting for me. I skated in their direction. The kid was staring at the Hellions player with stars in his eyes.
A hand rested on his slight shoulder. The hand was deeply tattooed. My gaze traced up the leather sleeve to the man standing protectively behind the boy.
I drew to a stop just before them, trying and failing to keep the recognition from my face. I knew the man standing behind the child. I’d remember him forever. I’d met him one dark night, when Cayden had finally broken free of the issues with his former foster father.
I could even remember his name. Nikolai.
He wasn’t the kind of man you forgot.
“Can I get your autograph, too? I want to get all the Ice Gods’,” the kid chirped, smiling up at me, unaware that the mostdangerous man I’d ever met was standing right behind him. “Dad, can I have the pen again?”
“Kaneechna,Leo. Here.” Nikolai passed him a permanent marker.
I signed the jersey as the boy wriggled with excitement.
“Nice to see you again, Beckett Anderson,” Nikolai said, his deep voice tinged with a Russian accent.
“Nice to see you,” I said and glanced at Cayden.
He and Marcus were both watching the man like he was a bomb that could explode at any moment.
“My son is a huge fan of the Hellions. He’s looking forward to seeing Asher Martino back on the team.”
“We don’t live in New York, we live in Hade Harbor, just like you! My mom used to be your art teacher. We’re going to go to all the games this year!” Leo chatted away, then caught sight of Tyler leaning over the barrier farther down the row, talking to some fans. “I’ll be back in a second!” He shot off.
His father watched. “I heard you and your friends cleaned up some trash in town recently,” he said, his tone conversational. He shifted his gaze back to me.
I nodded. He had to be talking about Professor Jefferies.
Nikolai nodded approvingly. “Nice work. If the victims need a lawyer to represent them, pro bono, I know a good one.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a minimalistic business card. It simply had a name on one side and a cell number on the other.
Ronan Black, Esq.
“We have to keep Hade Harbor family friendly. It’s a nice place to raise a family. I won’t let anyone change that.”
I took Nikolai’s statement for the threat it clearly was.
“Now, I’ve got to get my son over to his uncle’s place, before he runs out of room on that jersey.” He stepped back and gave us a once-over. “Play well, boys. I’ll be watching.”
Eve
After the game,I promised the girls I’d meet them at the after-party at the Hellions’ hotel. I ended up last in line for a shower, and by the time I’d dried my hair, I was the only one left in the locker room.
