ick

hing to wash away the lingering irr

l did I end

stakes. I didn't lose control. Yet, my memory of

the cold marble floor. My penthouse overlooked the city, the C

here was h

shattered. The image of her wide, terrified eyes-shimmering with unshed tears and a desperate defiance-flashed in my mind. Instead of the usual disgust I felt for women

ght to ground me. I started my daily ritual, stickhandling a puck on the practice mat. The

and. It was my agent, Leo. I swipe

the speaker, frantic and shrill. "Why aren't you answering any of my messages

d, my jaw clenching. "A

to a crystal glass on the bar. It shattered, the s

of security, with digging into her background. My gut told me she wasn't a s

music. Dancing with a girl who laughed like she meant it, her eyes crinkl

. Especially the ones who got too close. My adoptive father, J

hospital, his body finally failing him. The last few times I'd tried to v

't recognize. I almost ignored it, b

, his voice thick with tears. "You need to come

ned to ice. I grabbed my keys, not even bother

y engine a useless scream against the silence in my

Matilda, was there, flanked by her two ch

of manufactured grief. But I saw it. The brief glint of tr

r voice shrill. "It's your fault! You and y

e from an orphanage, put a hockey stick in my hands, and forged me into a champio

d softly. "His heart just gave

of time. All the arguments, the misundersta

Garrick, darling. Don't be too sad. Your father

awling on my skin. I shook her

ht on her trembling hand. Then I saw it. The half-empty water glass on the nightstand, right next to his dai

ore he passed?" I asked the doctor, my vo

ilda. "Mrs. Sinclair was with him.

d quickly-a little too quickly. A flic

my gut. I had no proof, but I knew her. I fixed my g

o had just arrived at the

w could you? Let your father rest

ction was all the co

ooked at my lawyer and s

the sterile, suffocating quiet of the hallway, I p

. I need you to investigate

nst the cold wall, a profound, ho