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I take a deep breath, scanning the chaotic kitchen one last time before I step away from the mess we left behind.
It feels like a different lifetime.
Yesterday we were cooking together, in bed together, laughter mingling with the scent of garlic and onions and childhood memories, our lives intertwined in a way that felt unbreakable.
Now? Now there's a swirling storm of chaos outside those kitchen walls, and Gabi is MIA, leaving me alone to face it.
My phone buzzes again, pulling me from my thoughts.
Halstead's message flashes on the screen. "Don’t sweat it, man! It's just noise. Everyone knows the truth!"
Manning chimes in next, a little more serious. "You gotta keep your head up, Jack. You and Gabi are solid. Trust that."
Then there's Evan, the team’s ever-grumpy dad, whose words hit home. "Don’t let them define you. Focus on what’s real, kid. Gabi is what matters."
But there’s a void in the mix. There’s no message from Gio.
My chest tightens. I know he’s pissed.
After all, this is his sister we’re talking about—his own blood.
The last thing I want is to lose Gabi in this mess, just as things were starting to feel right. I toss my phone down, frustration boiling beneath the surface. Turning to tend to the dishes, I finally see the note on the fridge.
A note from Gabi, written in her signature scrawl.
My heart pounds.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't. Don't hate me," it reads.
My mind races, but not as much as my feet do. Tearing out of the kitchen, I climb the stairs, combing through the bathroom, the hallway, then the bedroom.
I head back downstairs and do a circle, searching for any signs of Gabi, for any hint of where she could have gone.
Nothing.
Where the hell did she go?
My fingers tremble as I pick up my phone again, ready to call her and demand an explanation.
But then it hits me. There already is one. I just didn't want to hear it. Wouldn't let myself hear it. Or believe it.
Gabi doesn't trust me. She never has. Even last night, I could feel it. As much as she tried to hide it with those soft touches and sweet words, the fear was always lurking beneath the surface.
And now, my worst nightmare is coming true.
I was never going to be enough for my own father, never enough for the woman he married into our family, and now? Now, I'm never going to be enough for Gabriella De Luca either.
My vision blurs as I collapse onto a kitchen stool, staring at nothing but feeling everything.
I should have known better. Should have seen the signs and listened to my gut when it told me something wasn't right.
But instead, I chose to ignore it all in favor of this perfect image I had created in my mind.
Now, all that's left is the harsh reality. Gabi is gone, and she doesn't want me. Wouldn't be the first time someone has walked out on me, but it still stings just as much.
Because I let myself believe in something that was never meant to be real.
Taking a few deep breaths, I try to divert my thoughts back to the one thing that is real. The only thing that hasn't upped and left me in this life. Hockey.
