I shake my head. “Everyone who needs me this early already has my number saved.” Before I can second-guess it, I swipe the screen and press the phone to my ear.
“This is Harrison.”
There’s a long pause as no one speaks. The only sound is someone breathing, heavy and deliberate.
Then, the same voice from yesterday’s call travels down the line.
“Well, well. Captain Harrison. I’m actually surprised you’re answering my calls.”
Every muscle in my body locks tight. The sound of his voice drags up every childhood memory I’ve spent years trying to bury—shouting matches, slammed doors, my mother’s tears when he’d inevitably leave again.
“Crawl back into whatever hole you’ve been hiding in for the last decade.” My tone comes out rougher than I intend. Oakleycatches the shift immediately, her mug hovering midair as her eyes narrow.
“Relax, son,” he drawls, the words scraping like sandpaper. “Just figured I’d check in. See how the family’s doing.”
“You don’t have a family here.”
“Funny. Last I checked, I have a son who’s a professional athlete and a daughter I’ve never met.”
“You don’t have a daughter, or a son, for that matter,” I grind out, barely keeping my voice level as my pulse continues to pound in my ears.
Brian chuckles, low and humorless. “Didn’t realize that’s how it works now. You think you can just take her from me? Raise her like she’s yours?”
“She is mine,” I snap before I can stop myself. “You gave up that right the day you walked away from her mother. Just like you walked away from mine.”
Something clatters behind me. I turn to find Oakley Kate ready to go to battle, her coffee all but forgotten. She’s watching me, eyes sharp as the protective instincts she denies snap to attention.
Brian sighs like he’s tired of the whole conversation. “You’re a self-righteous son of a bitch, just like your mother. I’ll be in touch soon. Don’t get too comfortable playing daddy, Silas. Custody’s a funny thing when blood’s on my side.”
The line goes dead.
For a full minute, all I can do is stare at the screen, the call log glaring back at me like proof of a nightmare. The air in my chest feels too thick to breathe.
“Si?” Oakley’s voice is careful, quiet.
I set the phone down, knuckles white. “He’s back.”
“Who?”
“My father.”
The way her face falls tells me she remembers the stories, the tension, the kind of man he is. The kind of man Aubrey’s never met.
“Oh, Silas…”
I drag a hand down my face, forcing my voice to remain steady. “He’s threatening to take her. He can’t. Logically, I know that. He isn’t even listed on her birth certificate, and every judge in town knows how pathetic he is.”
Oakley steps closer, her hand on my arm, grounding me the same way I did for her a hundred times before. “He’s not getting near that little girl,” she says softly, fiercely. “Not while I’m breathing.”
I nod, but my pulse is already racing ahead—past breakfast, past tonight’s game, to security cameras and custody papers and every possible way this could go wrong.
Because for the first time since I became captain, I’m not thinking about hockey.
I’m thinking about how to keep my family safe.
Chapter 31
Silas
