Page 35 of On Ice

I bug my eyes. “You’re sorry? You think that fixesanything?” He doesn’t respond. “What exactly did you think would happen if you didn’t obey me, Evan? Did you think me and all my mafia pals were just going to say, ‘Oh, well. Gambling isrisky?’”

He slowly pushes up on one elbow, blinking at me as blood slowly drips down his chin from his split lip. As pissed as I am, I can’t deny that, even crumpled and bleeding on the floor, he somehow manages to look like something out of a sexy sports team calendar.

“Betting on this game wasn’t supposed to be risky,” I say harshly. “It was supposed to be a sure thing. I told them it was a sure thing, Evan. But thanks to you, I now have some very dangerous people furious at me because they lost millions of dollars from your little stunt.Millions.”

He winces.

“In addition to those people I’ve got bookies, loan sharks, dirty officials all furious with me, wondering what the hell happened. They’re all wondering how Luca Barone made such a huge, fucking blunder. What do I tell them, Evan? Huh? Should I tell them the captain of the team didn’t feel right about throwing the game? He didn’t think it was the right thing to do? How do you think that’s going to go over?”

“Not well,” he says hoarsely.

“Bingo,” I spit out. “It won’t go well at all. They’ll want someone to pay. They’ll want blood. Some of them will want my blood because they’ve been waiting for an opportunity to watch me fail. To stick a knife in my back. Congratulations, Evan, you just handed me over to them on a fucking platter.” I grit my teeth, shaking with anger.

“That wasn’t my intention.” He wrinkles his brow. “I didn’t mean for this to blowback on you.”

“You thought my associates would be fine with losing money on the game?” I ask disbelievingly.

“No. I wasn’t think about that.”

I curl my lip. “No, you weren’t. You seem to live in some dreamland where you do what you want and there are no consequences. Well, hate to burst your bubble, but in my world, there are consequences, Evan. Huge ones.”

“You need to make an example of him, boss,” Marco says, eyeing Evan with a menacing stare. “You need to show the other’s you’ve handled the situation.”

He’s right. He’s a hundred percent right. “Get up,” I say to Evan coldly.

He gets up quickly, leaning against the bar with one hand. He wipes at his bleeding lip, staring at me with his feverish gaze. His eyes look like green jewels in his pale face. I can smell his faded cologne mixed with sweat. He’s trying hard not to show how terrified he is, but I can see it clearly. He knows he’s fucked.

“Please don’t hurt Noah,” he whispers.

I frown. Most men in his position beg for their own life. He’s pleading for his friend? “You should worry about yourself.”

He shudders, but says, “Noah had nothing to do with my decision not to throw the game. He has no idea who or what you are. I’m the one who fucked everything up for you. Take your anger out on me, not him. I did this willingly.”

Marco makes a sound of disgust.

“I hope it was worth it to you,” I say, my eyes burning into Evan.

He lifts his chin. “It was.”

I rasp, “It was a fucking hockey game. You threw away your life for a hockey game?”

A flush moves up his cheeks. “You don’t understand.”

I narrow my eyes. “What don’t I understand?”

“It wasn’t just a game to me. It wasn’t just a game to my team. Hockey is our life. For some of us, it’s all we have. What keeps us going is the dream of getting to the playoffs. Being the best.”

“You’re an idiot,” Marco rumbles. “You’re not the best.”

“Fuck you,” Evan snaps, glaring at Marco. “Why would I care about the opinion of someone like you? Do you even have morals? Honor? Or do you just do whatever crooked thing Luca tells you to do, like a well-trained monkey?”

Laughing, Marco shakes his head. “You’re unbelievable. One foot in the grave and you still think you were right to do what you did? Once you’re dead, your teammates will just have to throw the next game, dumbass. You didn’t save them. You just got yourself killed for nothing.”

“At least I believe in something bigger than myself.” Evan meets my gaze, looking disgusted. “All you people care about is power and money.”

My face warms. “You seem to think because I don’t care about you, I don’t care about anything. You’re wrong.”

“Yeah, right.” He shakes his head.

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