Page 124 of Never Bet Against A Hockey Player

I just didn’t want to do it here. He was staring at me and practically dared me to lie.

He’d earned the truth.

“Mom’s out of jail.”

He looked down at the floor and nodded. “I know.”

“How the hell do you know?” I asked, the words tumbling out in my shock.

He rolled his eyes. “You guys gave me a phone. I have access to social media. It’s just about all I’ve thought about. I’ve been terrified that she was going to rip me away. The lawyer thinks we’ve got this, so I’m going to focus on that.”

“They might ask you to speak.” I wanted him prepared for every instance.

“Let them,” he said, his words so fierce that my chest ached and my eyes burned all over again. “I hope they give me the chance to get up there and describe every time I had to watch you take hits for me in graphic detail.”

He enunciated each word so they truly sank in.

My brother was no longer scared. He was vengeful. Gavin wanted to end this, to fight for our safety, and defend both of us from this monster.

“Gavin, what did she take you to see?”

He swallowed hard and glanced away. “I didn’t see all of it. I only caught a few conversations, but it wasn’t good. The men she’s involved with are going to tear her apart.”

I had a feeling it was bad. Which was exactly why I wanted Lachlan’s brother to shine a light on that entire operation.

“We turned in everything we had to the authorities. I think they’ll be able to put an end to some of it, and they have no way to tie it back to us.”

“Good,” he said with a shiver. “I never want to go back there. I refuse to go home with Mom. I’m old enough to know what I want. I’ve seen enough to make sure the judge understands that. You’ve got to stop worrying all the time. You’ve spent my entire childhood worrying over me. Let your pack take care of you. We’re going to be a family, Dhara. She’s not going to ruin that.”

His innocence and confidence astounded me.

The world was a cruel place. I’d learned that from a very young age. I trusted my pack with both of our lives, but this was one of those things that was out of everybody’s hands.

Our fate was going to lie with a judge who may or may not be on our side.

We had a shark of a lawyer who wasn’t going to stand for losing, and not just for the money. He was the kind of alpha who took his job seriously and would stop at nothing to make sure he succeeded.

Everything was pointing in our favor, yet that familiar sinking feeling was starting to come back.

Maybe it was my hormones fluctuating like the doctor warned me, leaving me teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown, but the things standing between us and our future were so big that I couldn’t simply ignore them or trust blindly.

Either way, in a few days we’d find out.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t seem to focus for the final period. The guys were still playing, their eyes finding me every chance they could, and I was watching them just as closely even if my mind and heart weren’t in the game.

It wasn’t until the clock was ticking down and the Renegades were chasing the puck through the neutral zone, trying to score one last goal to pull ahead, that I finally tuned back in.

The energy in the crowd was electric, everybody whispering and leaning forward in their seats, practically begging them to pull through.

“They’ve got this,” Gavin said, his confidence unwavering.

August’s stick connected with the puck with a crack loud enough it was heard through the arena, sending it flying past the goalie and into the back of the net with only a few seconds to spare. The scoreboard clicked up, putting the Renegades ahead. The crowd lost their minds around us, loud enough that I couldn’t help but join in.

The Renegades poured onto the ice as the final seconds ran out. Lachlan, Conrad, and August all turned our way, not just pointing at me but Gavin, too, before raising their fists in the air.

“Come on, let’s beat the crowd to the locker room,” I said, pulling Gavin down the aisle.

People were already starting to flood out of the arena, but we weaved down the hall, making our way toward the pack.