“Since nothing else seems to have gotten through to you, you are going to walk out of this office and call that new coach and quit the team.”
No.I screamed inside my head but couldn’t form the word on my hips. Hockey was the only thing I’d ever been good at, the only place where I was Cole Carter the player, not Cole Carter the heir, the only place where my worth was measured in assists and goals instead of how much money I could make for my father.
“Or,” he continued with deliberateness, “I am going to ruin your friends.”
My blood went cold.
“Tristan Baptiste will lose his scholarship and his shot at an NHL contract. I’m sure the board would be very interested if I were to drop evidence in their laps of his illegal betting and throwing games.”
What? Tristan doesn’t gamble on games. He’s never— Oh.My father didn’t care about truth. This was about grinding me under his thumb and keeping me in line.
“And the girl? She’s going to loseeverything.”
My hand flew to my chest before I could stop it, pressing against the sudden sharp pain blooming there. My heart hammered against my palm, each beat spelling out her name.
Eva. Eva. Eva.
My eyes shot to my father’s. “What does that mean,everything?”
The question escaped before I could think better of it. He hadn’t admitted he was blackmailing her, that they had a relationship outside of his obvious hatred for the time I spent with her. Would he tip his hand now?
His eyes gleamed, dark and satisfied. He’d been waiting for me to ask. “You don’t rise to these heights without knowing who to call when you need someone hurt,” he said.
He’d destroy her.
“Dad, don’t.” My voice came out broken, hoarse. “Please.”
“Then you know what you need to do.”
He returned to his desk, settling into his chair with the satisfied air of a man who’d just closed a lucrative deal. When I didn’t move—couldn’t move, frozen in the wreckageof the future I’d been stupid enough to imagine—he turned to his monitor.
I stood there trembling, every muscle locked, transported back to being ten years old and standing in this same office while he explained why I needed to be better, stronger, more. Back when I still believed if I just tried hard enough, I could earn his love.
I knew better now.
But Eva didn’t deserve to pay for my weakness. Tristan didn’t deserve to lose everything he’d worked for. Even Alek, with his dark past and dangerous connections, didn’t deserve prison.
They didn’t deserve to suffer because I’d been selfish enough to want someone who was never mine to keep, who didn’t want me anyway.
My father glanced up, one eyebrow raised, as if surprised to find me still standing there. “You’re dismissed.”
45
EVA
“What the fuck, Cole?”I exploded.
He looked up at me, his eyes hooded and unreadable. “It’s the only way.”
“Bullshit.” My throat closed around the word, my chest so tight, I could barely breathe. “You don’t get to make this decision in my name. I didn’t ask you to—” My voice cracked. “I’ve never asked you to give up anything.”
“You didn’t have to ask.” He turned back to packing his clothes. “You think I’m doing this for you? Don’t flatter yourself, sparrow. You’ve made your feelings about me perfectly fucking clear.”
He’d quit the team. He’d quit the team and he was moving out of the hockey house. Just when it felt like we were starting to get our shit together again, he was leaving me.
“Stop,” I rasped and grabbed his wrist, forcing him to look up at me.
My hurt must have shown in my expression, because he dropped the shirt he was folding and dragged me into his arms.
