Page 74 of Melt the Ice

“You’re one of us now. And we don’t fight our battles alone,” Hannah says as she bends down next to me.

Her hand lands on my shoulder, “These guys have been there for us more times than I can count. You let us know what you need, and we’ll make sure it happens. But you don’t get to go at this alone.”

“Especially with that martyr mindset,” Reed says. Every bit of his captain's authority bleeding through. “We’re more than a team, Scarlett. We’re family, this group here would ride into any battle for each other, no matter what the odds.”

I’m overwhelmed with emotion. All my life, I believed I had to perform to earn this kind of love and acceptance, proving myself worthy by handling things on my own. Yet here they are willing to run into fire, so I don’t have to do it myself.

“I don’t know what I…” My eyes meet Lucas’s. “What we need. But someone sent documents to the house that would ruin everything my father had built. I just don’t know what to do with them.”

Abby’s eyes twinkle, a villainous smile taking over her face. “I happen to have a brother who could do a lot of damage very quietly, while two of my other brothers could make a heck of an ordeal out of it.”

I feel my own smile grow, “Pick your position, sister.” Hannah says with a cackle.

“I want him to hurt the way he’s hurt others,” I say as my resolve hardens. “Tell them to do their worst.”

Abby’s fingers steeple in front of her, each finger tip rippling one by one as they kiss the tips of the fingers on her other hand. “Excellent,” she says in her best Mr. Burns voice.

“You guys don’t hate me?”

Wilson steps through the door, squatting in front of me. “My mom was far from a good parent.” His gentle eyes calm the gnawing fear of rejection sitting at the base of my throat. “She was abusive, manipulative, and until she finally got thrown in jail, she stole from every one of my friends' parents.”

His eyes drop to the floor. “When I got placed in foster care, I got shuffled around a bit, but eventually got placed with this guy and his parents.” Wilson hooks his finger over his shoulder at Andrews, who steps up behind him.

“He’s been my brother my entire life, as far as I’m concerned. My mom had gotten out, briefly, but in that time, she managed to almost drain the Andrews’ bank account. I was ten, I had no idea how any of that banking stuff worked.”

Lucas pulls me back into his chest, “They could have blamed me, hated me. I deserved it, even if I didn’t know any better. It was still my mother who put them in a position to fight the way they did.”

His voice takes on a sad note, “When I got adopted, I thought they gave me away. But they didn’t, they just wanted what was best for me. And now, my parents are the coolest people I know.”

“Seconded,” Andrews says.

“Third.” Sammy chimes in.

“Agreed.” Reed finishes.

Wilson shakes his head with a soft laugh, “I know love because of the Andrews family. They have never once held the actions of my mother against me. And we won’t hold your father's actions against you. That’s not what family does.”

I sit up, throwing my arms around his neck. He’s still for a second before his arms wrap around my shoulders. “Thank you,” I whisper.

“You’re welcome.” He says as he claps me on the shoulder, “Now, let’s do some damage.”

Sammy claps loudly, “Hell yeah! Team bonding.” He says before he runs out of the room.

How I got lucky enough to call these guys my friends, I will never know. But I’ll never take it for granted.

32

lucas

I have so many feelings about getting on this plane today, so many possibilities that are taking away from what I need to be doing right now, which is focusing on the games ahead of us. So many things could go wrong, yet so many things could go right.

Half my team is restless. We put a plan into place last night. Elliott, one of Abby’s brothers, is spearheading everything. Him not being involved in law enforcement gives him a bit of an advantage. Less red tape to cut through, while also being able to dig without raising any red flags.

He’s a vigilante hacker, for lack of better terms. One who’s going to get this information to the people who are chomping at the bit for a story. The ones who want credit for taking down someone as big as Sebastian Arias. The ones who want to be seen as a hero of the story, even if they really might be a villain. Elliott is a silent but deadly force, one I’m happy to have on our team.

On the flip side, Dex and Collin are going to wait until after our first away game to make a call to the FBI branch in El Paso. Luckily for us, an investigation into Arias Corp is already open. Meaning he’s already on the FBI radar, we just don’t know in what capacity… yet. Some research has to be done first to see if they can’t find out whose pockets are a bit cushioned, another task for Elliott. That way, they come armed with some additional motivation.

It also gives us enough time to effectively remove ourselves from the suspect list. If we’re all playing in a different state, our alibi is air-tight. Not that we’re actually doing anything wrong, but should something happen, it’s pretty clear we weren’t involved. At least not directly.