“Want to mess around before dinner?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.
I laughed. “Well, considering we already did, maybe we can call this dessert before dinner.”
Maxim crawled over me, caging me between his thick arms and muscular thighs. “Mmm. You always taste sweet.”
* * *
Amos’ssandy hair fell into his eyes, and his face was full of youthful joy. “Hockey’s awesome!” he yelled over the cheering crowds.
It was when the Wildcatters were winning. “Sure is.” I sought out Maxim, who’d been trading hits with an opposing player all game. I winced as that player slammed Maxim into the boards with a shoulder into his back.
“Oof. And people say football’s brutal,” Amos’s friend said.
“Hey, is that Dillon?” Amos whispered in my ear.
“What? Where?”
My ex-boyfriend stood a few feet away, on the steps, glaring at me. A woman with a noticeable pregnancy bump tugged on his sleeve. Dillon’s expression turned angrier by the moment. The fans seemed to gasp collectively, and I turned back in time to see Maxim skating toward us—me—away from the play on the ice. A confused player trailed him, but then Naese slammed the puck down the ice—toward Maxim. His attention seemed split for a moment before he refocused on the game and corralled the puck. He flicked his stick and managed to flutter the puck into the back of the net a moment before the defender slammed into him. Maxim kept his gaze on me, seeming to ask if I was okay. I nodded, eyes so wide I felt that they may never shut again.
Amos and his pals cheered along with the rest of the fans, but I continued to look at Maxim, noticing his wince and the ferocious scowl he tossed at Dillon, who remained in the aisle.
Unlike the Green Card issue, which wasn’t officially closed but pretty much handled thanks to our legal team and our marriage, Dillon remained a problem. And if Maxim’s reaction was an indicator, he considered Dillon a big one.
* * *
Maxim
I heard Millie’s voice as I stepped out of the closet.
I’d showered later than usual, needing a few extra moments to groan internally at my bruised ribs and back. I should have been paying more attention to the game. Everyone thought I’d made a smart move with the breakaway, but the moment I’d seen Dillon, I hadn’t cared about the game or anything but Ida Jane’s safety.
“It wasn’t Dengue fever. I’m pregnant,” Millie whispered.
Ida Jane’s eyes widened, her lips forming a perfect O of surprise. My gaze sought Ida Jane’s, and she held mine for a long moment.
“Okay. Well, that’s not what I expected you to lead with. I’m happy if you’re happy, which I’m assuming you are since you’re telling me about the baby. Who’s the father?” she asked.
Millie snorted. “Luka…who else?”
I rocked back on my heels, wondering if Millie had talked to Stolly about the pregnancy.
“You’re the first person I’ve told,” Millie said, sounding teary. “I’m not sure what to do.”
“Be honest with Stol,” Ida Jane said. I released a breath that held a lot of tension. I wasn’t sure what I expected her to say, but I was glad Ida Jane had counseled her friend in a way that benefited my friend.
“Do you think he’ll care? I mean, he must have moved on with, like, a million other women by now.”
“He hasn’t, and he’s a better guy than you’ve given him credit for being,” Ida Jane snapped. She inhaled, then released the breath through her mouth. “Look, he comes over a couple of times each week. He’s a good man. Thoughtful and responsible. He has a past, but so do you. Don’t hold that against him—just like you wouldn’t want him to only see you as a survivor.”
I swallowed, my throat thick, as the weight of what Ida Jane said settled over me. My vision dimmed as I remembered Nadia in the hospital bed the last time I saw her.
I hated the mere idea of another woman going through something like that. I squeezed my hands into fists and stalked from the room where I called the detective who’d been assigned to Ida Jane’s case.
He had no additional news about Dillon, who’d been lying low. But I knew that wouldn’t last—and not just because of my dreams. That kind of man never let something that chipped his ego slide. He would come after her. I knew it.
I had to do something to make sure that piece of shit stayed away from my wife.
* * *
