AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stared silently at the photos. I knew exactly what they were. A threat.
“The wrong kind of injury, and his hockey career would be over before it even began…A badly broken ankle or leg, and it’s goodbye NHL.”
A tear slipped from my eye. My heart felt like it was ripping in two. I knew exactly what Trent was doing. He was threatening Asher, and there was nothing I could do about it. He’d already demonstrated how easy it was to get to him.
“Getting a career-ending injury isn’t the only possibility of colliding with something big and damaging…Let’s say a truck, yeah, that’s good. There are scenarios where he’d be lucky to limp away with a broken leg. He could die.”
I stared down at the picture until the lines blurred, tears making it impossible to see. Numbness had been spreading in my chest, reclaiming all the ground that I’d just thawed out with the help of Asher and his friends and family. I felt it creeping over my heart. I’d known it would come to this. I’d felt the foreboding in my soul. After I finally had something to lose, it would be ripped away.
“Well? You’re awfully quiet, Winter. Are you worried about your boyfriend? Don’t you want him to live a happy, long life, doing what he loves?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked up at the monster leaning toward me. “What do you want?” I could feel the ice rising up inside me, forming crystals around my heart.
It was always going to end in tears, really. Of course, when I found someone who saw through my bullshit and actually cared enough to stick around, I’d lose them somehow. It was my destiny to be alone.
“What do you think? Stop avoiding me. Stop saying no to me…and break up with Martino and never see him again. If you care about him at all, it’s the least you can do.”
“And if I do? You’ll leave him alone? You and your fucked up connections will steer clear of him?”
“I’ll consider it,” Trent said, a cruel smile playing around his lips.
“No. You have to promise. He’s off-limits,” I heard myself say. If I had to sacrifice my newfound happiness to make sure Asher was safe, there wasn’t even a choice to be made.
Trent considered and then nodded. “Make the breakup really fucking hurt, and we have a deal.”
“You’re sick,” I snapped at him.
Trent just shrugged. “The heart wants what it wants. Do we have a deal?”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You want to test me? Okay, sure. Should I start with his legs, or maybe a head injury? Those are always fun.”
“Stop it,” I ground out, the very idea of Asher being hurt making me feel sick.
“If you’re thinking about telling him everything and letting the tough guy and his friends try and handle it, consider what else I might have on the people you love.” He flipped a page in the folder. A clear CCTV image met my eyes. Selena. Strapped to a bed. Three guys stood to the side in the picture.
He turned another page. “How about this?”
Eve in her ice dancing uniform, walking on campus.
Melly Martino at the market, smiling at a man handing her a bulging bag of produce.
My mother, walking into The Dunes, the thick binder with her charity activity notes under her arm.
My dad being loaded into an ambulance from afar.
A tear fell from my eye and dropped onto the last image.
“Tell Martino about any of this, and I go down the list, or maybe I’ll randomly shuffle and see who gets to be hurt first. What do you think? What’s your happiness worth, Winter? How much suffering does your happiness justify?”
“We have a deal,” I heard myself say. I pushed the folder away. “I’ll do what you want, just stop.”
Trent grinned and grabbed the folder. “If you go back on your word, or make trouble, the deal’s off, and Martino is fair game, as are your mother and friend. Pleasure doing business with you. There’s that fundraiser for the sports department tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up at seven. Make sure it’s done by then.”
Then he walked away and left me bleeding.
I gasped down air. I felt dizzy. I felt like I was going to throw up. This wasn’t about money anymore. I could have bluffed my way out of my dad’s company being threatened, because we could live well with much less than we had. But Asher and his future? That was something I couldn’t gamble with. Never mind the innocent bystanders in our lives. No, I couldn’t risk any of them.
