Page 40 of Ice-Cold Obsession

Finally, everything is going as it should. The team forgave me, Scarlett is my girlfriend, and everything seems normal again. Or maybe it isn’t. Scarlett has been giving me suspicious looks here and there.

If she figures out I’m using her, it could all be over.

After lunch, Scarlett and I head back to our dorms together. She’s talking about some photo series she wants to do for her portfolio, and I’m nodding along and trying to focus.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, so I pull it out and glance at the screen.

Now.

Fuck.

“Hey,” I say to Scarlett, cutting her off mid-sentence. “I have to take care of something hockey-related real quick. Can I meet you at your dorm in an hour?”

She frowns. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just team stuff. Won’t take long.”

“Okay.”

I give her a quick kiss and head in the opposite direction. My heart’s pounding by the time I reach the parking lot near the edge of the campus. The black car is already there, but this time,he’s standing outside of it.

He’s wearing a hat and sunglasses that hide his face. My gaze falls on the walking cane with golden ornaments on the hilt, and I flinch.

“Sir,” I say, stopping a few feet away.

“Lose the next game.”

I gape at him. “What?”

“You heard me. Lose the game.”

My mind races. I know I shouldn’t argue. Every instinct I have is screaming at me to just sayyesand walk away. But if I throw a game now, the team will turn on me again. Scarlett will ask questions. Getting the captaincy back will be out of reach, and everything I just fixed will be ruined.

I have to try.

“Sir, please listen. I’m just getting back to the position you want me in. I got Scarlett to be my girlfriend. I’m gaining back my teammates’ trust. Messing with that now could cause problems in the future if you want me to get back the captaincy.”

His head tilts slightly. “Are you seriously doing this?”

“Please.” My throat tightens. “I’m asking you to reconsider, just this once.”

He doesn’t respond right away, and for a second, I think maybe he’ll listen and realize that I’m right.

“I said, lose the game,” he says slowly. “Yours is to do what I say and not asks any questions. Haven’t you learned that already? I guess you need a reminder.”

He lifts the cane, and before I can move, two guards step out from behind the car and grab me. Their hands grip my arms, and I try to pull away, but they’re too strong.

“Wait,” I say, panic rising in my chest. “Wait, please—”

The first blow comes before I can finish.

Chapter 24

SCARLETT

GABRIEL’S BEEN ACTINGweird ever since he got back from wherever he went after lunch with his teammates yesterday. When I try to touch him, he pulls away slightly, as if he’s flinching but trying to hide it. At practice earlier today, he was stiff and not quite himself. Worried, slower, and less precise. But still fine enough that most people didn’t notice, but I did.

As I lie on my stomach on his bed, working on editing some photos for a project, I glance up at him. He’s at his desk and staring at his laptop screen, but I don’t think he’s actually reading anything. His shoulders are tense, and every few minutes, he shifts in his chair like he can’t get comfortable.