Chapter 49
49
Isaac
I was playing like shit, and I knew it.
But where the hell was she?
Cortland was up, 3:0. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t focus. All I could see, all I could hear, was Tovah crying under the shower spray as I laid into her. Had she lied to me? Changed her mind? Was she running away, even now? If so, I’d deserve it—even if I’d kidnap her back, if I had to.
Jack kept passing me the puck, and I kept missing it. Finally, he gave up on me, shoving into me and growling, “Get your damn head in the game,” before shooting the puck into the goal himself.
But seconds before it passed the goalie and hit the net, the horn sounded.
Second period was over.
Dejected and pissed, our team headed into the guest locker room.
The moment I got inside, the whole team turned on me.
“What the fuck, Jones? What has gotten into you?” Nick McPherson shouted, shoving me against one of the lockers.
Fuck that.
I shoved him back, raising my hand to deck him, when I was being dragged away.
Judah and Levi shoved me down on the bench, holding me there. Jack got in my face.
“What the hell are you doing out there, asshole? And where is Tovah?”
“That’s what I want to fucking know,” I growled, making my way over to the locker where my bag—and phone—was. I needed to see her location for myself, know she was at least safe, even if she was leaving me.
Judah snorted. “Of course. Girl trouble.”
Coach slammed into the locker room, rounding on me. “Jones, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but you’re playing like you can’t even stay on your skates.”
“Girl trouble,” Judah offered.
“I don’t goddamned care what kind of trouble it is. We look like clowns out there, and it’s because of you. I’m benching you for the rest of the game. Gavin, you’re up,” he said to my backup.
“Oh, shit, sir, yes sir,” Gavin said, jumping to his feet and saluting like a complete dipshit. I would’ve laughed, if I wasn’t such a damn mess.
“See you out on the ice,” Coach said, and slammed back out of the locker room, probably to give interviews and try to explain why I was playing like a kid who’d just learned how to skate.
“Alright, fucker. Talk. Tell us what’s going on,” Asher, who’d been watching the whole thing, said. “And if you hurt Tovah, I’m going to take my blade to your neck.”
I glared at him, but then slumped, covering my face. I had hurt her. Maybe she wasn’t over it after all.
“I thought we worked our shit out, but then why is she not here?” I groaned into my hands.
Jack raised a hand. “Hang on. I know what it’s like to fuck up with a woman.”
Asher grunted.
“Isaac, we can’t help you if you don’t tell us what’s going on,” Jack said, his tone calmer.
Sighing, I did exactly that.
I told them everything. My obsession with Tovah from the day we’d met, the monster I’d try to banish by hating her. Stalking her for months, the interview, her blackmailing me and me blackmailing her back. Fucking her. Falling for her. And then the fallout over the past few days, ending with the blow-up in the shower this morning, and the make-up after. I even told them about me, how I was secretly crown prince of the Silver dynasty, and I’d been hiding from it for years so I could play hockey and pretend my violent inheritance wasn’t real.
When I finished, Judah clapped.
“What the fuck man?” I said.
“I didn’t think anyone could make more of a mess than Jack did with Aviva. But you deserve a crown for this shit.” Judah shook his head.
Asher was stuck on something else. “You’re Abe Silver’s son?”
I nodded, watching him warily.
He brushed a hand over his head. “I guess that makes us mortal enemies.”
“Guess so,” I said.
He put out a hand, and after a moment, I shook it.
“Fortunately,” he said, “I have no contact with that part of the family, so you’re good.”
Judah shook his head again. “It’s like we’ve been living The Prince and Me , except it’s The Mafia Prince and Me ,” he said.
Levi, however, didn’t say anything. He hadn’t looked surprised, either.
“You knew,” I guessed.
He shrugged. “I know more than any of you realize.”
I didn’t want to touch that.
“How did you leave things with her?” Jack asked. He already knew who I was, and didn’t care.
“We were fine,” I said. “We worked our shit out.”
“So then where the hell is she?” Judah asked logically.
Levi smacked him on the head. “That’s what he’s trying to figure out.”
Grabbing my phone out of my bag, I pulled up the tracker app. Tovah’s phone was still at home, thank fuck.
But a bad feeling made my scalp tingle, so I pulled open the other tracker app—the one that was tied to the tracker I’d put in her armpit.
The dot that showed her location was not at home. It was moving down I-278 East. Headed toward Ocean Parkway.
Toward Flatbush, Brooklyn.
No.
There was no fucking way.
But I couldn’t deny that she was headed in the direction of my childhood home in Brooklyn. Where my family lived.
Without a thought, I unlaced my skates, leaving them on the floor as I slid on my sneakers, not even bothering to change back into street clothes. I was going to pay for this. I’d be benched for sure, maybe for the rest of the season, maybe kicked off the team.
I didn’t fucking care. All I cared about was getting to Tovah.
I scrolled through my phone until I found my father’s number and hit the call button as I dressed.
He picked up after three rings.
“Do you know what today is, son?” he asked.
His voice sounded hoarse, like he was in pain, but I didn’t have the time to wonder why.
“Why the fuck is my girlfriend headed to the house?” I asked.
“Ah, so you admit you have a girlfriend now. Tovah Lewis, is it? I’ve spent some time getting acquainted with her mother…”
Which explained why Tovah was headed in that direction. How the hell she’d gotten her car back, I had no idea. Nor did I care at this damn moment.
“Don’t you fucking touch her. Don’t you fucking touch either of them, or there will be hell to pay.”
My father chuckled, the laugh making the hair on my neck stand up. “I don’t think you’re in the position to be giving orders, son. At least not yet.”
Seething, I forced out, “What do you fucking want.”
“Ah,” he said. “I’d like you here for Shabbos dinner. We’ll have some special guests, and it’s in your best interest to attend. Sundown is at seven. Don’t be late.”
He hung up before I could say anything else.
“What the fuck just happened?” Judah said, and the guys crowded around me.
“What’s going on?” Asher asked.
I couldn’t even respond. My whole body felt like it was on fire. The last time I’d felt fear like this was when I’d watched my mom’s car get shot up and seen her body. I’d never thought I’d feel fear like this again, because I never thought I’d care again.
My father had her. Was doing god knew what to her. She might not even be alive.
I could’ve lost her. Could lose her still. She was mine, and we’d finally worked our shit out, and my father was trying to take her from me. And knowing Abe Silver, he would do everything in his power to succeed. My body felt like it was tearing itself apart.
I didn’t even realize what I was doing until the pain drove through my hand and up my arm.
I’d punched in one of the lockers. There was a huge fucking dent, and my hand was bleeding.
“Holy fuck,” Judah exploded. “Isaac, you need to breathe. Breathe.”
“What I need is to get the fuck out of here. My dad has Tovah. I don’t know how much time she has left before?—”
I punched the locker again, barely registering the pain.
“Isaac, this isn’t helping,” Jack said. “Get your shit together. She needs you.”
I shook my head, clearing it. He was right. There was no time for emotion.
“Go,” Lawson said. “We’ll cover for you.”
But was there time? It would take four hours to get to Brooklyn. My father could do anything in that time.
I tried my sister’s phone, but it rang and rang.
I texted her.
Call me. I need you.
I ran out of the locker room, keys in hand. I had no idea what tonight would look like, or what was happening to the woman I loved.
I only knew one thing.
If my father had touched a single hair on her goddamned head, it didn’t matter who he was to me, or that I’d never wanted to become a murderer.
Because I would kill him.