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AIDAN

T he ice arena buzzes with excitement and anticipation, but this time, it’s not for hockey. With every seat filled, all eyes are on the rink as Rory skates to center ice, sliding gracefully to a stop. Her gaze is fixed straight ahead, calm, focused, ready .

I’m the complete opposite; a mess of nerves, feeling everything she isn’t. This is the moment she’s worked for—years of training and sacrifice and overcoming challenges no one else in this arena could possibly understand.

Liam elbows me excitedly from my right, but I don’t dare take my eyes off the ice for a second. “This is insane!” My brother exclaims, marveling at the sheer magnitude of it all.

I wish Reagan was here to see it. She would have loved this… but no one’s heard from her. A few days after everything went down, Koen got a text from our sister telling us not to worry and that she’d call when she was ready …

Her last pinged location showed New York. Just before her phone went dark…

We tore that city apart looking for her, but it’s a big place and Volkov territory. And if Reagan doesn’t want to be found… the little menace could pull that off.

Alex stayed back, continuing the search. But the longer she’s gone, the more I worry. The silence is unnerving.

Rory waits patiently for her music to start, about to perform her much anticipated long program on the Olympic stage. Flags of every color decorate the arena ceiling above her. Her short program was already next to flawless. The competition is hers to lose and even I’m feeling the pressure. I grip the railing in front of me tighter.

“Any tighter and you might just tear through metal,” says a cool voice in my ear, cutting through all the surrounding chaos. I steal a peek at my white knuckles and loosen it a tad, rolling my eyes at my older brother watching the performance with his arm in a sling.The Irish boss, just a little out of place in the colorful crowd.

Rory’s music begins and she starts strong, hitting each mark with fluid precision. Her skating dress is very similar to her old one. Except instead of all white feathers, they’re tinged in black, like the fallen angel she is.

Rory launches into her first jump with explosive power and speed. She’s barely landed before she draws herself into a tight spin with a graceful transition into the complicated footwork section.

I catch a glimpse of her face as she twirls and spins and switches from back to front and back again. Her blades move in intricate patterns while the rest of her body makes it look effortless.

“C’mon, c’mon.” I clench my fists, urging her on as she comes into the most difficult section of her program: the triple-triple.

She rounds the far end of the rink, digging deep for speed, and launches herself into the first jump with an intensity that sends a roar of delight through the crowd. Three tight rotations and she’s landed it! I hold my breath as she brings her skate back with force, jutting herself back into the air and pulling in tight.

“Yeah! Baby Kostalova, get it!” Liam shouts from beside me, clapping his hands together.

I shove him without looking, growling out, “It’s O’Rourke, asshat.”

Still, his support and cheers puts a small smile on my face. I can feel Koen beside me watching with the same cool intensity he watches most things. His body tenses each time she launches herself into the air, silently willing her through it.

When Rory lands the last jump, her concentration breaks for but a moment. Her smile takes up her entire face. Excitement bubbles in my chest and I lean forward. This is it. With the hard parts done—if she finishes the rest out clean…

Rory glides across the ice, her leg high above her head in a crowd pleasing spiral before throwing herself down across the ice into an artful lunge. Perfectly timed to the most dramatic section of the song, arching her back as she slides across the ice on one skate, coming to a stop right in front of the judges.

The music stops, and the arena erupts in cheers.

She’s breathing hard, her eyes on the crowd—searching—looking. Her blue eyes are bright in the spotlight when they find mine and her smile widens, pointing right at me, shouting me out.

In response, I raise my hand, pointing right back at her. She did this. It was all her.

I know without needing to check, the cameras have found me. The announcers are likely eating up this moment up for everyone back at home: “Hockey star Aidan O’Rourke here cheering on his wife, Rory O’Rourke on the Olympic stage.”

Rory’s eyes lock on mine and for a moment, and everything fades away.

I raise my hands, clapping furiously. A loud whoop sounds out from my left and I turn in shock to witness Koen with both hands over his head shouting out Rory’s name.

He throws his good arm around me, pulling me close. “That’s your girl right there.”

I nod in agreement, “That’s my girl.”

He gives me a little shove, “What the fuck are you waiting for? Go get her, Ace.”

I move past him and make my way down to ice level. My all-access pass gets me through security to the skaters and coaches staging area.

It’s crowded and busy as the competition continues, but I’m looking for one skater in particular.

She’s giving an interview to a reporter when I find her and I slow my pace, wanting her to have her moment. But the second she sees me, she bolts, racing over and leaping into my arms. I catch her, spinning her around, eyeing her blades cautiously and relaxing when I see she’s got her guards over them. Setting her back down, I tug her in close for a kiss.

“What you just did out there was magic.” I brush a stray hair out of her face.

She smiles, and it’s one of genuine delight and happiness, one I’ll hold close to my heart for the rest of my life. “It felt like magic.”

The staging area is a blur of excitement and noise. Rory’s coach draws her away from me for the score announcements. It’s no surprise to anyone when she takes gold.

I stand at the side of the rink, beaming up at her on the podium.

She’s practically glowing.

As soon as the award ceremony is over, Rory comes skating off, heading right for me. I’m shaking my head in disbelief and awe. This beautiful creature is all mine .

When she’s within striking distance, she swats me in the face with her bundle of roses and I’m reminded there’s still a little brat in there somewhere.

“You did it,” I tell her, my heart swelling with pride.

“We did it,” she corrects, “together.”

She’s referencing the last several weeks we both spent training, bleeding, sweating and working .

Rory for the Olympics and me for the tail end of the season. Keeping up the eight game winning streak the Breakers are currently on moves the team up into the second place spot going into playoffs.

The board is happy. Next week, I sign a four-year extension, keeping Rory and me in Boston and close to my family and her brother. Though I’ve taken a step back from my role as the mob’s enforcer, letting Koen establish his rule with the help of the newfound truce between the Irish, Italians and the Russians, for however long it lasts.

I can leave the Mafia business in my brother’s more than capable hands and just focus on Rory and hockey.

In that order.

There are no more promises to be made and no certainties to cling to. Whatever comes next, Rory and I will face it.

Together.