Jacob’s grin faltered. “But they didn’t. You got there. And then the cavalry showed up. We’re okay.”
Tane pulled him closer, wrapping both arms around him despite the shoulder’s protest. Jacob melted against his chest, face buried in Tane’s neck.
“I’m okay,” Jacob whispered again. “Really.”
Tane held him tighter. “You scared the hell out of me.”
Jacob’s arms came around Tane’s waist. “I know. I’m sorry.”
They stood like that for a long minute—heartbeats slowing, breathing syncing, the adrenaline finally ebbing into bone-deep exhaustion.
Tane kissed the top of Jacob’s head. “No more restaurants without security for a while.”
Jacob huffed a small laugh. “You think?”
Tane pulled back just enough to look at him. “And no more excitement tonight. We’ve had enough.”
Jacob’s eyes sparkled—still bright, still a little wild.
“But it was kind of hot, right? You charging in like a knight, taking down two guys?—”
Tane rolled his eyes so hard it hurt. “Bed. Now. The guard might have been talking about us lying low, but Tremaine will need us. Hockey tomorrow.Onlyhockey. From here until the Cup is in our hands.”
Jacob grinned, unrepentant. “Fine. But you have to admit?—”
“Jacob!”
“—that you looked really sexy doing it.”
Tane shook his head, but the corner of his mouth twitched. The boy was incorrigible.
“Bed,” Tane repeated, steering Jacob toward the hallway. “Before I change my mind and make you do push-ups in the living room.”
Jacob laughed—real, bright, alive—and let himself be guided.
They had survived the night.
But there was still business left to sort out on the ice.
And they wouldn’t stop, not until the trophy wastheirs.
Chapter 28
Jacob
A week had passed since the situation in the alley behind the restaurant. Jacob felt safe with Tane, and knowing too that the Cardini family were handling things. And just as Tane had said, the pair of them were straight back into training with the rest of the squad. Jacob even managed to have a joke about it all with the senior players like Conor and Alex, both of whom had plenty of their own experiences when it came to this kind of thing.
The Cardini family had handled the fallout: no headlines, no police interviews, no lingering questions from the league. They were masters of their world, that much was clear to Jacob. Tane even told Jacob a few more stories from his time with the Cardini family over the years. There were some wild moments, that was for sure. But Jacob was increasingly finding himself normalized to it all.
That said, adrenaline high Jacob had ridden that night had burned out fast. By day three the excitement had developed into something quieter: gratitude, mostly, mixed with a bone-deep awareness that the world outside the rink was bigger and uglier than he’d ever let himself think about. He still woke upsometimes with the echo of those shots in his ears, but the thrill was gone. What remained was clarity.
Jacob and Tane were back in the apartment now, the safe-house stint over. Morning light slanted through the kitchen windows, catching on the granite counters and the two steaming mugs of coffee between them.
Jacob sat at the island in sweatpants and one of Tane’s old Enforcers hoodies, too big across the shoulders. Tane stood at the stove, flipping protein pancakes with the same steady focus he brought to face-offs.
Jacob poked at his plate with a fork. “These smellamazing.”
“They’ll taste better if you actually eat them instead of staring at them,” Tane said without looking up. “We need to make sure our nutrition is on point. Nothing can be left to chance. Not now we’re so close.”
