Luka looked at me for a long moment. “Dean.”
“Yeah?”
His lips twitched again. “You are smiling.”
I chuckled. “Can’t think why.”
He was still smiling when the train arrived.
Chapter Forty-Two
February 18
Luka
For two daysI’d been expecting another knock on the door.
Sokolov’s silence had become worse than the meeting itself.
And speaking of Sokolov…
Mila followed my gaze to the main doors of the rink. “He isn’t coming.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No, I don’t.” She pushed away from the boards. “But I do know you’re driving yourself insane, waiting for the ax to fall. Maybe he truly meant it when he said he was leaving the gala skate in our hands, that it was our story to tell.”
I stared at her for a second before letting out a snort. “You didn’t believe that any more than I did.”
Mila huffed. “Of course not.” She skated a slow circle around me. “You realize we can’t skate that exhibition program. Not the way we planned it.”
I squared my shoulders. “No, we can’t.”
“Good.” She came to a stop beside me. “If we skate that program now, we’re finishing their story.”
I looked down at the ice. A jagged scrape marked the surface near my blades. “It was never ours.” When there was no response, I jerked my head up.
Mila flashed me a cool smile. “Exactly.”
For a moment neither of us spoke. Then she tapped my arm. “What do you want to do?”
The Japanese pairs team swept past us, close enough that the rush of air tugged at my jacket. I watched them complete their lift, set down cleanly, and continue across the rink.
Mila waited. She knew me too well to fill the silence.
At the far end, a coach shouted instructions. Someone restarted their music. The rink carried on around us.
“What do you want to do?”
I knew she was repeating it because she wasn’t going to let me escape behind a non-answer.
I laughed. “You always were relentless.”
“It’s an occupational hazard.”
For years every major decision in my life had arrived already made. There had been discussions, certainly. Meetings, expectations dressed up as opportunities…
This was different.
