“Yes.”
“No, this is not on you,” she repeats, then looks beyond me.
“Deacon and Aleks,” I answer.
Reznick steps around me, “And me.”
“You’re an asshole,” Anna states, and he lowers his head.
I turn back to Hildy. “Who grabbed you?”
“I don’t know,” she says gently. “It was crowded.”
Her hand rests unconsciously over her stomach. “We’re all fine, and Lenzin, this wasn’t Reznik’s fault.”
“I will make this right,” Reznick states.
Chapter 25
No Fan Of Mine
Hildy
The hospital doors slide open with that mechanical sigh that always feels too calm for what just happened inside.
Anna walks between Kilovac and Lenzin, who has a firm grip on my hand, and Deacon is on my left.
We step into the cold night air, and that’s when we hear him.
Reznik is twenty feet away, phone in his hand, pacing like a caged animal.
And he’s not happy, not polished or media-ready, he’s livid.
“…no fan of mine throws a bottle at a woman because she supports her team. A woman who will now be scarred by something you’ve done. I don’t care what jersey she’s wearing. I don’t care what numbers are on her back.”
His voice is low and sharp.
“We play in America. We play in Canada. If you are using my chirping on the ice or my name to justify hurting someone, you are not my fan.”
Comments are flying. I can see the reflection in his screen.
He doesn’t look at them. “If you think politics belong in the stands, stay home. If you think defending me means attacking her, you don’t fucking know me or how I feel about violence that’s not on the ice or a field being regulated by rules, that both sides follow or pay a penalty.”
“Holy shit.” Anna sighs.
He doesn’t know we’re there. He’s not performing for us. He’s correcting his people.
“If you were the ones who caused a woman to get taken to the hospital, you will be dealt with. If you were in that area tonight and did nothing, you’d better rethink what kind of person you are.”
He exhales through his teeth and runs a hand over his face, and sputters profanities in Ukrainian, and only then does he look up and see us.
Anna is the first to speak. “You didn’t have to —”
“Yes,” he says immediately. “I did.”
Kilovac steps forward slightly, calm but unyielding. “Cancel your ride.”
Reznik blinks. “What?”
