God help anyone who ever hurt the women we loved. Because there would be no stopping us then.
I drove to the arena without thinking then messaged Mila from the parking lot, asking her to meet me on the roof. The rink was dark at that hour, practice long over, security minimal. I took the back stairwell to the rooftop, the metal door creaking faintly as I pushed it open.
Cool air hit immediately. The town’s lights blurred in the distance, indifferent to family wars and boardroom power plays.
I braced my hands against the railing. For once, there was no strategy forming in my head. Just pressure. Footsteps sounded behind me ten minutes later. I didn’t turn.
“You could’ve at least warned me it was chilly up here,” Mila called lightly as the door shut behind her.
“Come here.” I pulled off my hoodie and handed it to her.
She grinned then put it on as she leaned against the railing beside me, close enough that our shoulders brushed. “How bad?”
I exhaled once. “Exactly what you’d expect.”
“Your dad?”
“Yes.”
“And your mom?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t rush to fill the silence. That was the difference with her. She didn’t try to manage my reaction. She let me ease into an explanation when I was ready.
“They’re not upset about the party,” I explained finally. “It’s about exposure.”
Her brows furrowed. “Exposure to what?”
“Edwardo’s mafia connection… and you.”
Her posture stilled slightly.
“They think Dunn will use how you’re connected to me. And how your mom is connected to Ruiz—who’s linked to Ferraro.”
She absorbed that without dramatics.
“What’s different this time?” she asked.
“Drew.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What about him?”
“He’s not smoothing things over. He’s hiding things. With them.”
“Against you?”
“Not directly.” I watched the lights below. “Just… positioning.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
And that was the part that bothered me. My father was predictable. He was all anger, control, volume. Drew was precise.
Mila shifted in front of me then, forcing me to look at her. Her hands came up, warm against my jaw despite the cold. “You’re not cornered,” she said.
“It’s not about being cornered.”
