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A blush spread up Jasper’s neck to his cheeks. He let out a rough chuckle. “I don’t know if it was so muchfindingeach other as you tracking me down halfway across the world.”
Then his voice softened. He reached over to cup my jaw. “I love you too, Niko. Everything about you.Iknow you’re one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met, putting other people’s needs ahead of your own all the time. Cheering them up when they’re down, putting in the work so that they can shine. You’re something incredible.”
With those last words, he guided my mouth to his. I gave myself over to his kiss, reveling in the eager firmness of his mouth, the contrasting gentleness with which his hand stroked down my side to my hip.
As he tipped me over on the bed, his fingers teasing up under my shirt now, the last knot of guilt released.
I’d fucked up in the past—massively. But I knew how to do better now. And I couldn’t imagine anything as spectacular as the relationship I’d built with the woman on the other side of that door and the man who was right here with me when I’d needed him most.
EIGHT
Luciana
When I emergedfrom my bedroom the next morning, my head felt stuffed full of wool, and I couldn’t work the sour taste from my mouth. I found all four of my men gathered around the dining table, staring at an open laptop. Their gazes jerked to me, and their expressions made my stomach sink.
Bracing myself, I headed over to join them. “What now?”
They exchanged a glance, the skaters’ gazes lingering on Rafael. He grimaced but shrugged as if to say there wasn’t any point in trying to hide it.
Jasper turned back to me, his mouth tight with an unspoken apology. “The two incidents here in Japan have caught the interest of the international skating community. And they’ve been searching for new material to report on once they’ve covered the basics.”
I raised my eyebrows. “So…?”
Quentin jerked his hand toward the laptop screen, which I could now see was open to a US news site. “They must have dug into the history of everyone who was at the rink when the shooting happened—which includes you. But all they had was your fake name.”
“Right. That was the whole point—so they couldn’t dig up anything incriminating.” I hesitated. “What’s the problem then?”
Niko reached over to give my forearm a gentle squeeze. “They haven’t been able to find any information on you at all. No records of any competitions or even training and ice time under the name Luna Garcia before the past several months.”
Jasper nodded. “Which means a bunch of reporters are now speculating about how it could be a pseudonym and why you’d have used one. Making up their own crazy stories about what your background might be.”
My stomach plummeted. It was hard to imagine random reporters coming up with a past that wasworsethan my actual life, but that didn’t mean I wanted them spreading their own stories around. “Shit. That’s the last thing I need.”
Rafael frowned. “For more reasons than your personal privacy. The Devil’s Dozen pendejos didn’t like that you were getting any media coverage at all. Reporters speculating about your dark secrets isreallygoing to piss them off.”
My heart stuttered. “Míerda. I hadn’t even thought about that. It’s a fucking awful situation all around.”
Quentin braced his hands against the table. “I say we tell those assholes off. It’s no one’s business what Lou’s been through.”
Jasper rolled his eyes at his former rival. “Right. Because that’ll totally get the news vultures to back off and apologize, not make them even more curious to find out what’s up with her.”
“I’d offer to take them all out for you,” Rafael muttered, “but somehow I don’t think that’ll help put the rumors to rest.”
I glowered at him. “I wouldn’t want you to anyway.” Queasiness wound through my gut, dispelling any interest I might have had in breakfast. “Maybe it was stupid to think I could get away with the fake name forever.”
Niko rubbed my arm. “There was nothing wrong with wanting to keep a low profile and have people focus on what you’re doing right now.”
“That might be true, but trying to hide is what got us into this mess.” I sighed and bit my lip. My stomach kept roiling, but from beneath the nausea, an undeniable truth rose up.
“I can’t stay out of the spotlight anymore, can I?” I said. “They’re going to be after me about my past no matter what I do from now on.”
Rafael’s muscles flexed as he crossed his arms. “You can ignore them. They can’t force you to talk.”
“They can’t, but keeping quiet might look even more suspicious.” I squared my shoulders. “I need to get used to this kind of attention. I wanted to compete on an international level, and this is what comes with the territory. I’m not giving up on skating, so I have to face the rumors head on.”
Quentin cocked his head. “Which means doing what?”
I turned to Niko. “You helped me pick a couple of news outlets to give a quick statement to last night. Could you recommend a good show for me to do an interview on? Something that’d get enough coverage to reach everyone who’s speculating?”
