AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But even as I admired his overall form, the performance left me cold. It was almost mechanical in its deliberateness, no sign of the artistry I admired so much in Jasper.
I let out a humph. “Even if you were competing with him, he couldn’t hold a candle to you.”
That got a smile out of my partner, even if it was a strained one. He slung his arm around my shoulders. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
As he spoke, one of the female skaters glided over to join Quentin where he’d stopped for a moment not far from us.
She tilted her head at a coy angle and batted her eyelashes, thick and dark with mascara. “Hey, Quentin. We ended up at the same arena again. Must be meant to be.”
Quentin grinned at her, the expression as sharp as his moves. “I guess I can look forward to my off-ice time now too, Jess.” He gave her ass a swift pinch.
Jess let out an exaggerated gasp and then giggled. “You betcha.”
She swiveled around to flash a red-lipped sneer at me before soaring off across the rink again. Irritation prickled under my skin.
What the hell was the matter with these assholes?
To my further annoyance, Quentin glanced over right then and caught me watching. He aimed a broad smirk at me that felt like a challenge and shot off after Jess.
I turned my back on them and touched Jasper’s cheek. “We’ll just ignore him. Both of them.”
“That’s right,” Niko said. “You’ve got to get used to the competitive atmosphere again.”
Jasper let out an inarticulate grumble. “Quentin will definitely get me up to speed in that area fast.”
Our coach squeezed his arm. “Focus on your own skills. No one will be mocking you after they see how far you’ve come. Let’s stick to this corner of the rink. I’ll play that song again, and we can work out how some potential moves could come together.”
As I floated over the ice next to Jasper, I tried to envision an ideal free skate. This was a much bigger deal than the small, amateur competition in Dellville—this was serious.
People were watching.
And not just watching. In between spins and jumps and a few quick lifts that Niko had us run through, my gaze slid to the stands.
Even for this practice, several figures sat on the benches—friends and family members here to encourage the skaters. And a few of them had their phones out, filming the moves.
They’d inadvertently be recordingmetoo, here and there.
A shiver ran down my spine that had nothing to do with the chilly air.
I was here under an assumed name. That should have granted me all the anonymity I needed at this level of competition.
But if people posted those videos online—if the wrong person happened to see them…
All it’d take was one bit of bad luck, and my mother would be racing up here to put me in my place. And do who knew what to my men as well.
My throat constricted. The hiss of my blades over the ice suddenly sounded more ominous than exhilarating.
I couldn’t let that happen. My men had promised to protect me—and I had to protect them in turn.
I had to do everything in my power to make sure there wasn’t the slightest chance the wrong person would see me and think of Luciana Cordova, the Deadly Rose’s daughter.
SIX
Luciana
It turnedout that applying eyeliner was like riding a bike—once you learned, you didn’t forget.
I hadn’t bothered with flashy makeup since I’d left Austin—and even back in Austin, I’d stuck to a little mascara and lip balm when I was in mafia princess mode. I’d saved my fun, striking looks for my periodic club nights. Since I hadn’t gotten the chance to compete on the ice back then, I’d never done a performance look for my skating sessions.
