AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jacob focuses on me, brushing my hair back. “What?”
“That look. You know something?”
He grimaces. “Well, I may have… goaded him.”
My stomach swoops. “Yougoadedmy crazy ex-husband?”
He shrugs and straightens. “That’s why I had the guys watching you. We’re here for another day—and I’ll bet anything that he’ll come for you during the next game. Which gives us some time to prepare.”
I scoff. “Prepare?”
Steele chuckles. “Told you she’d take it well.”
“We had a little team meeting, songbird. Not the Titans, butus. My friends. We knew… all of us knew that there was risk, but we wanted to draw him out.”
We make it up to our floor in silence before somethingelseoccurs to me. I grab his arm, stopping both Jacob and Steele.
“He took me toyourgame.”
They both go still. More still anyway. Their attention brings back some of the warmth to my cheeks that I had lost, but I ignore the weight of it.
“Thomas.Henry. He took me to New York. He said he was in a doctor’s conference, but I don’t know if that’s real. Whatisreal is that he chose to take me to a game.”
Jacob rubs his jaw. “Bastard knew my connection to you. Bet he delighted in you not recognizing me.”
“That’s messed up,” Steele comments.
“Is that why he lived in Denver?” I whisper.
They don’t have an answer to that… but I have a feeling it’s true. Every decision he made was based around me. Including living in Colorado, going to New York, being a hockey fan. It was all a lie. A dirty experiment to see when I’d remember something.
And I never did.
In the room, I sit on the edge of the bed. Jacob and Steele move around, checking under it, in the closet, behind the shower curtain. They’re more paranoid than me. Although I’d be doing the same if I was here alone.
Jacob opens his bag and quickly changes, seeming not to care that Steele is in the room. He removes his jersey, the protective padding under it, then the compression pants. Until he’s just down to his briefs. He grins at me and unbuckles the cup, tossing it on top of the rest of the stuff, and my face flames.
Finally, he’s back to fully dressed. Dark jeans, black t-shirt, and a dark-gray sweatshirt over it. He reaches into the bag one more time and withdraws a handgun. He checks it, then slides it in the waistband of his pants.
I can’t seem to comprehend what just happened.
And because Steele’s not reacting, all I can do is furrow my brows.
Because what the fuck?
“Hungry?”
“We just ate,” I point out. Itwashours ago, but still.
“We went through a traumatic event,” he says. “And I played two and a half periods. I’m ready for some ice cream.”
I shake my head. “You have a gun.”
He glances at Steele. “Give us a minute.”
His friend grunts and leaves. The door clicks shut softly behind him.
“Yes, I have a gun.”
