Page 91 of Heart on Ice

Fuck.

I skate over to him.

“Felix. Brother,” I scream at him. He’s knocked out cold, he doesn’t move, and everything in me breaks. I launch myself at Stephen. “You fucking bastard. What have you done?” I scream at him. My teammates pull me away as the ref putsme in the penalty box for the rest of the game for misconduct. “Motherfucker, I’m going to kill you,” I scream as my team pulls me from the ice.

“We’ve got him. He’s going to be okay,” Emmett reassures me.

“He cracked his head on the ice. That isn’t good.”

“He is going to get the best medical treatment, okay? Trust me. But you getting yourself into any more trouble is not going to help him.” He’s right. I move into the penalty box and slam my stick against the walls, letting my anger and frustration out. The fans boo Stephen as he’s sent to the other penalty box, he’s been kicked out for the rest of the game too. As the medical team comes and stretchers Felix away, the entire stadium stands up and cheers for him.

I pray he is going to be okay.

29

ISABELLE

“Issy, my love. It’s been too long,” Pierre’s mother, Claire, says, greeting me warmly. I’m not wearing Pierre’s jersey as we are not ready yet to go public with our relationship.

“It’s lovely to see you, too. You must be excited to see your boys play today.”

“I couldn’t be prouder of them.” She smiles before linking her arm with mine. “Thank you for making my son happy again,” she whispers. I’m shocked. I didn’t realize Pierre had told his mother. I mean, our friends know as do my sisters, so of course it would stand to reason that he would have told her. “I always hoped the two of you would get back together after all these years.” Again, I’m surprised she knows about us dating before too. Before I get a chance to say anything my phone goes off.

“Please excuse me,” I say, picking up the call from Sam.

“Hey, I thought you guys would be here by now, the game’s about to start,” I ask.

“Issy. Things have gone to shit. Has no one told you what’s going on?” I can hear the panic in his voice.

“No. Sorry, I’ve been in meetings,” I tell him.

“Josh released AI nudes of Harper today.”

Shit.

“Is she okay?” I ask.

“No. But she’s not coming to the stadium. The media attention would be too huge and she can’t face all those people knowing they might have seen fake photos of her naked.”

“I don’t understand how he can do this to her.” My stomach turns.

“Jackson is looking into it. Don’t worry, I am going to make him pay,” he says angrily. “Harper wants you to reassure Felix that she’ll see him after the game. That she’s wearing his jersey. But she doesn’t want him to know, otherwise, he will be off his game.”

“I’ll take care of it. Look after her,” I tell him before hanging up. I’ve got to find Collette.

The game has started,and Collette is back in the suite with my sisters, who have joined to watch the game. They are all aware of what is going on, and Collette reassured me that Felix thinks she is coming but she’s stuck in traffic so that he doesn’t have to stress. The game is a physical one, and a lot of abuse is being hurled at Felix by his ex-teammates. Then it becomes an all-in brawl between Felix and Stephen, and we watch on in horror as Felix goes down in a sickening fall and doesn’t come back up again. Felix’s family starts freaking out and The Mavericks try to reassure them that everything is okay. The stillness that takes over the stadium just shows how bad it really is. Next thing we know, Pierre attacks Stephen and starts fighting him. His teammates pull him away while he continues to hurl abuse at Stephen, who is also being taken away. He’s sent off for the restof the game for misconduct, same with Stephen. I hate seeing Pierre look so fucking helpless as he smashes the walls of the penalty box with his stick. Marcus, who happens to be in the box, too, talks to the team and we all rush off to the hospital to wait for Felix. I hate leaving Pierre there, but his mother is very upset. Collette said she would stay behind and wait for Pierre. My sisters, Claire, and Marcus all head to the hospital. I text Sam to let him know which one Felix is going to so Harper can come up and see him.

Harper and the gang arrive, and she looks distraught. Claire is with Felix as only family can go in and be with him.

“Issy, is he okay?” Harper cries.

“They’ve rushed him in for some tests. They believe it’s a bad concussion, but they want to make sure there’s no bleeding.” I tell her what I know.

“This is my fault, I distracted him.” She sobs.

“It was always going to be a heated game between Felix and his old team, especially after everything.”

“My shit today probably added to it.”