I stopped. Listened.
Nothing.
Then—
Voices. Muffled. Around the corner. One low and male. The other?—
Her.
I moved.
Long strides. Silent fury. Every instinct I'd spent years honing—reading plays before they developed, sensing violence before it erupted—firing at once.
The hallway lights flickered. Once. Twice. Shadows stretched and contracted against concrete walls.
Too quiet.
I slowed as I approached the corner. Not caution—calculation. My feet made no sound against the floor. Years of moving through hostile territory on ice had taught me how to be a ghost when it mattered.
The voices grew clearer.
"—told you to stay away." Male. Low. Familiar in a way that made my jaw lock tight. "You don't get to decide when we're done."
"Please—" Olivia's voice cracked. Small. Terrified. "Just leave me alone."
Something dark and vicious uncaged itself in my chest.
"You left because of him, didn't you?" The man's tone shifted—bitter, mocking. "Some hockey player with more money than sense. You think he's gonna protect you forever?"
I rounded the corner.
And saw it.
Olivia backed against the wall. Hands pressed flat against concrete like she could push through it and disappear. Face pale. Eyes wide. Every line of her body screaming fear.
A man loomed over her. Older. Weathered. Posture aggressive. One hand braced beside her head, caging her in. The other?—
The other reaching for her arm.
Recognition slammed into me with physical force.
I'd seen this man before. Years ago. Through apartment walls. Heard the screams. Heard the crashes. Heard the moments before I'd called it in anonymously because I'd been too young, too uncertain, too afraid of making things worse.
I'd seen him earlier today.
Her father.
The man who'd beaten her. Terrorized her. Nearly killed her.
Standing in my arena. Touching what was mine.
Every molecule of restraint I'd cultivated over thirty-seven years evaporated.
My vision narrowed to a single point—his hand moving toward her shoulder.
Then she saw me.
Her eyes found mine over her father's shoulder. Terror. Relief. Hope. All of it crashing across her expression in the space of a heartbeat.
