Page 60

60

THIN ICE

RORY

“ C areful,” Aidan warns. There’s a raw edge to his voice, and he seems torn between staying where he is and skating to me.

He’s shouting instructions, but fear has a hold of me and it’s buzzing in my ear as I stare down at the splintered surface beneath me. Dark water streams out through the cracks below, spilling across the icy surface. A strong current churns underneath. If I fall in—I’m gone .

Aidan shouts again,drawing my attention and bringing him back into focus.“Rory, you have to trust me.”

“I DON’T trust you!” I snap back, my body shaking uncontrollably. “That’s the problem.” Fear and panic bypass my filters, the truthspilling out.

“You were running.”

It’s not a question, but I answer it anyway.“I can’t stay—It’s only a matter of time before you or your family use me too.” I’m frozen in place, unsure which way to go… While it’s true no matter which way I choose, I could fall through. If I go further out where it’s likely to be more unstable, it’s a risk… but then again, going back the way I came seems dangerous too… Considering the agitated Irish enforcer waiting for me…

Danger either way… I look anxiously back over my shoulder, weighing my options.

“I promised to protect you, Rory.” The raw emotion in his voice pulls at my heartstrings and I turn to face Aidan with wide eyes. “If you wanted to leave… all you had to do was ask.” There’s a sad expression on his face and he looks like he might take a step toward me for a second before deciding against it. His gaze hardens. “Where?” he asks.

I stare back at him, mouth open, but my voice fails me.

He tries again. “Where do you want to go? Where will you finally feel safe?” He adjusts the hat on his head and a lock of his hair falls partially out of the front. “Wherever it is, I’ll take you there.” His eyes find mine. “I promised I’d protect you, and I will. I keep my promises, Rory.” He exhales sharply, frustration evident in his gaze.

My mind races as I study his eyes—his face. Even from this distance, I can see the hurt he’s too panicked to hide flashing in his green eyes that shine bright against the endless white surrounding us. “What do you want from me, Aidan?” I ask the question almost too quietly for him to hear me.

“I’m the second son of the Irish, heir to a legacy of blood. An enforcer both on and off the ice. I’m no stranger to violence. I’ve killed before and I’ll kill again.”

I see emotions in his eyes—fear, vulnerability perhaps—that I’ve never seen before. It’s unsettling, but I can’t look away…

“I stole you…Tied you up… Threatened you…” All true . I wrap my arms tighter around myself. The feeling of a phantom gun tracing along my jaw sends a chill through my body. “I let you go—physically,” he nods, his eyes never leaving mine. Both of us stuck out here in the middle of this icy lake, neither of us able to go forward nor backward until we have this out.“But I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I tried distancing myself—I tried to stay away, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t. And when that bastard hurt you…” Pure rage replaces fear and his fists tighten at his sides. “He died too fast—deserved far worse than what I gave him. I would burn that city to the ground if it would keep you safe. I’d never hurt you, not when I—” he stops, his eyes going to the sky while running a hand down his face. “Since the moment I first saw you. Those steel-blue eyes of yours wide with fear… Oh, I hated you,” an echo of a smile graces his lips.,“but I wanted you, nonetheless.”

“You’re lying,” I bite out, but the words come out weak—uncertain.

“Am I?” Aidan asks, tilting his head as he studies me, his expression unreadable. “You’ve felt it too, haven’t you? This… whatever this is between us. Look me in the eye and tell me you haven’t.”

The urge to run is so strong and I would—if it didn’t mean falling to an icy grave. So instead, I bite my lip, fighting the truth. His gaze is intense, like a magnet, the relentless force that even now draws me toward him. I’ve felt it since the moment we first crossed paths. Even when he threatened my life, held his gun to my head—I felt it. And hated myself for it. A connection that defies logic and defies loyalty. I open my mouth…

The ice cracks again. This time I feel the shift and I let out a little scream, falling to my knees.

“Spread your weight out,” Aidan urges, still obviously torn between remaining where he is and racing for me. But he’s nearly twice my weight and if he does, he’ll doom us both.

Shakily, I lower myself to the ice’s surface and reluctantly push out my arms and legs.

“Good. That’s good. Deep breaths, Rory,” he encourages and the ice quiets again.“Now crawl.” I start forward. “Slowly, slowly.” His voice rises in pitch when the entire area groans under my movements.

I let out a slow breath before I put one palm forward and push myself with the opposite leg, moving inches at a time, painfully slow.

All the while, Aidan paces the safe zone like some kind of caged animal.

I’m about ten feet away when my skate lands a little too heavy behind me and a shudder rings out in a ripple beneath me. I only have one second, which I used to find Aidan’s eyes before I feel the bottom give out from under me and I scream. But the six-foot-three defenseman dives forward, his hand wrapping around mine and hauling me towards him. I fall hard against his chest and he pushes us both back from the icy edge, putting a safe amount of distance between the two of us and the dark water visible now through the wide, gaping hole. All that’s left of the ice that seconds ago I was lying on.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I breathe out, absorbing his warmth. I lay on his chest panting, struggling to catch my breath. The relief I feel in his arms. Safe . I can’t bear to let go of it yet and so I cling to him. He lets me. Running his hand down my hair, gently caressing the strands to calm me. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

I don’t miss the way his own hands shake.

“I don’t want to let you go,” he admits, and I still. His heart beat in my ear while I listen to his words. “I know we said this was temporary—a paper marriage. And we would play pretend just until the dust settles… I can’t do anything more to convince you that you’re safer with me.”

I push myself up so I can see his face, pale even in the rising golden sun.

“I won’t let anyone touch you, not your family, not the Italians and not the Irish.” He’d stand up to his own family— for me? “I promised to protect you until my last breath, and I’ll uphold that promise.”His face drops and he speaks the next few words as if against his will. “Even if it’s me you wish to run from, if you want to go… Rory, I won’t stop you. I’ll take you anywhere you want, anywhere, just — tell me.” Aidan’s arms tighten around me before letting go entirely. Releasing me . “Even if—even if I don’t want you to go…”

My resolve crumbles the longer I stare into his eyes. At the raw, unfiltered emotion I see staring back. Everything Aidan hides from the rest of the world. I have no words—my thoughts are still a tangled mess, so instead I lean forward, pressing my lips to his in a kiss that’s both soft and fierce, pouring into it everything I can’t put into words. I feel the ever present tension in my body melt away when one of his hands finds my hips, pulling me closer, his other hand gently cupping my face.

Both of us are breathless by the time we pull apart. I look up at him from beneath my lashes. “So don’t.”

He stares down at me, searching my face before his lips crash down on mine again. He flips us and the cold ice at my back is a sharp contrast to the heat at my front as Aidan claims my lips as his. His kiss is raw and desperate. I realize I’m as lost in this as he is, and whatever happens next, we’re in it together. Our skates tangle up beneath us.

I let myself fall, and Aidan swept in and caught me. In him I feel something I haven’t felt in a long time. Safety, warmth, love .

“I’m done running.” I pull away just long enough to utter the words before he presses another hungry kiss to my lips.

“Good. But I’m not done chasing you.”