“Yes, we do. That’s a given.”
“Good. I like to know where I stand.”
What’s weird is that we’re behaving in a manner of two people who like each other. I’m finding it harder and harder to build up any kind of animosity toward him. I get this nagging feeling there’s more to the story than Anna told me, but I don’t dare ask for his side. Tomorrow I’ll go to the storage unit and sift through its contents and find my own answers. I know a few of her friends from Vegas. I’ll contact them, see what they know.
My motives are fuzzy. Am I trying to clear Drakos of responsibility for walking away from his son? I don’t see any way to excuse such callous, selfish behavior. Yet the Drakos I’ve come to know doesn’t seem like that person. Or maybe I’m wanting him to be someone he isn’t.
“He’s a good natural skater. Did your sister skate?”
“Oh, hell, no. She had two left feet and the athletic ability of a slug.”
“I see.” He chuckles.
“What about his dad?”
I freeze and scramble to come up with an acceptable answer that won’t alert his suspicions.
“I don’t know much about him. My sister didn’t like to talk about him.”
“So you didn’t know him?”
How in the hell do I answer that? “It was a one-night stand, and he didn’t want the kid.”
Drakos’s mouth pulls into a firm line. “What bastard would desert his child? It’s his obligation to take care of him.”
I gape at him with an open mouth, unable to hide my astonishment. Is he really saying these things to me? Is he so disingenuous that he’s discounting what he did but criticizing Noah’s father? Of course, that father happens to be him.
“What did your sister do?”
I hesitate because it appears she didn’t do what I thought she did. “I think she was a bookkeeper in a Vegas casino.” Maybe she was, who knows? It’s as good a guess as any. Right now, my sister isn’t the person I knew. She’s a stranger, and every new thing I discover only drives that point further home.
“You think she was?” He’s incredulous, and I can’t blame him.
“My sister was a very private person.”
“What casino?” He’s asking too many questions, and I cannot afford to arouse his suspicion.
“I don’t recall the name. Not much of a gambler myself, and one casino looks like the next to me.”
He nods thoughtfully, and his gaze strays back to Noah. We sit quietly for a while until Noah shoots a laser into the net during one of the drills.
We leap to our feet and clap, as if we’re the happy parents. That’s a chilling image.
“That was an awesome shot. That kid has good instincts. I’ll bet his dad was an athlete.”
I choke and rein in my growing panic. Maybe relocating would be the best thing. Drakos is astute, and I don’t need him figuring things out. Noah is all I have in the world, and I cannot lose him. We need each other. Drakos doesn’t need either of us. All he’ll do is disrupt our lives and leave them in shambles. We’re already recovering from my sister’s death, a sister who isn’t what she portrayed, but who was she? And who was Drakos to her?
Chapter 19
Another Time
~~Drakos~~
I’m a man drowning in conflict.
I should be fully concentrating on hockey, but my brain continually drifts toward Aria and her nephew. I hate her, yet I don’t. I’m torn between what is and what I want things to be, even though I’m not sure what those things are.
The Icehawks play this afternoon at home. If Colorado wins, they’ll only need one more game to advance in this best-of-seven series. If we win, we tie the series at two-two. My focus needs to be on this game. Nothing else.
