Page 113 of The Last Inch Of Ice
Oksana had been quiet for a moment. “You’re sure about this? Going after Doyle Callahan isn’t like going after some corrupt GM or a bad coach. This is different.”
“I’m sure.”
“Nazar, he has resources. Legal teams. PR firms that specialize in destroying people who threaten him. If this backfires—”
“It won’t.”
She’d sighed, the sound crackling through the phone. “Okay. Give me a week. I’ll reach out to some investigative reporters I know. People who’ve been trying to nail him for years but never had enough to make it stick.”
The destruction of Doyle Callahan will not be a loud, messy affair. No dramatic confrontation. No public accusations that can be dismissed as emotional outbursts from a grieving younger son’s boyfriend.
It will be methodical. A slow dismantling, death by a thousand paper cuts. Documentation. Witness testimonies. A pattern of abuse and manipulation spanning decades, all laid out in black and white for the world to see.
The first cut will be administered by the press. His grandmother’s voice echoes in his head, as it often does when he’s trying to make sense of something:Patience wins games, Nazar.
He needs patience.
The thought of Doyle’s hand on Kai sends a fresh wave of white-hot rage through him. The way Kai sometimes flinches when people move too quickly near his face.
Nazar shoves the rage down. Compartmentalizes it. Uses it as fuel instead of letting it control him.
Patience.
He will not let Doyle destroy Kai’s life. Not like he destroyed Derek’s. Not like he destroyed the life of whatever kid Derek had tried to save — the nameless, faceless player who’d cost his brother everything.
He just needs to get through the rest of the season. Keep his head down. Play his game. Let the media circus around Kai’s relationship with Rey die down naturally.
Because it will die down. It always does. The endless, grinding media cycle will move on to the next scandal, the nextcontroversy. And Kai’s name will be dragged through the mud a little less with each passing week.
And then… then they can finally put all this shit behind them and justbe.
The thought is almost revolutionary. Shockingly simple.
It almost takes his breath away.
And Kai is answering his messages now. Finally. After weeks of silence that felt like dying slowly.
Nazar:that security team I recommended. Did you talk to them?
Kai:Yes
Nazar:and?
Kai:They’re good. Thank you. Don’t forget to kiss your favorite rival next week.
Nazar: very funny, Callahan.
Nazar:sure. i’ll kiss you while i fuck you.
* * *
The arena is one of the older ones, where the fans are notoriously savage and take pride in being the most hostile environment in the league.
Tonight they’ve outdone themselves.
The chant starts in the third period. Crude. Homophobic. Featuring a specific, graphic reference tofistingthat makes Nazar’s jaw clench so hard his teeth ache.
And it’s directed entirely at Kai.
