Chapter 20
Chapter
Twenty
NATHANIEL
I had no idea where Cutter got his temperament. Savannah and I both ran hot, sometimes too hot, but Cutter was as cool as a cucumber about everything. After his fall yesterday, the doctor had to reset his dislocated wrist, and even though he cried some, he didn’t put up a fuss or scream. Once it was set, Cutter was excited to choose the color of his cast and had the doctor sign it. He wanted bright red, of course. Which made total sense, considering Savannah was going to attack me like a bull when she saw it. Part of me was looking forward to it.
Cutter looked adorable wearing a replica jersey and a Kings baseball cap. He stared out the window as we pulled closer to the front doors of the arena. I found joy in his enthusiasm, something that I’d lost—for almost everything—years ago. It felt as though I was seeing the world for the first time.
Cutter’s eyes were wide, his mouth hanging open as we pulled up in front of the Staples Center. I guess it was the Crypto.com Arena now, but I couldn’t get into calling it that. Those standing on the sidewalk stared at the massive vehicle, probably hoping it was Taylor Swift. They were going to be extremely disappointed.
“Wow,” Cutter said, and nothing was wiping the smile off my face. “This is sooo cool.” I had to hand it to Aaron. Now and then, he came up with a great idea. “I wish Hailey and Holly could’ve come,” Cutter said to Titus, who was sitting at the far end of the limo.
“Trust me, they wanted to come too,” he said, smiling.
Ivan knocked on the window and then opened the door. “All clear, Sir.”
Unbuckling Cutter, I let Ivan pull him out of the car, but I picked him up as soon as I stepped out. There was no way that I was letting him out of my sight here. My balls would be ripped off my body and fed to me in tiny pieces if I had to tell Savannah that I lost our son at a hockey game.
We made our way to the VIP entrance door, and the entire time Cutter was pointing and talking non-stop. I caught my reflection in the glass doors, and we looked like any other family. I’d decided to wear jeans and a matching jersey to the one I’d gotten for Cutter. All my rings were off, except for my wedding band, and I even had the guards dress down for the occasion. For just a moment, it didn’t feel like I was Nathaniel Mikhailov, son of a mafia don and a don in my own right as heir to an empire. I was just a guy out with his son. I was a dad and nothing more.
Had my father found not a single drop of joy in bringing me to my games when I was little? I remembered him there, but he was always on his phone and never remembered what I’d accomplished. I would never do that to Cutter. If he wanted to play hockey, win a spelling bee, or be a damn ballerina, I would be there for every moment. He was never going to question if he was loved.
I hadn’t stepped foot in a hockey arena since I gave it up. Part of me had never left the rink and the dream of what could’ve been if I’d been just a little bit more talented. I had once lived for the smell of the ice, the sound of my blades scraping in rhythm as I tore down the rink, and the feel of a hard hit before the siren and excitement when the puck found the back of the net.
Aaron had somehow managed to book us the premium suite for a playoff game. I wasn’t complaining, but I figured it would’ve already been occupied. We walked as a group toward the escalator, looking like a guy’s night out. A small party of girls dressed up in glittery dresses looked our way and smiled as they flirted with their eyes and wiggled their fingers at Cutter. Cutter happily waved back. I smiled, thinking about how Savannah would rip their eyes out if she were here.
“Oh man, you’re in so much trouble when he gets a little older,” Aaron leaned in and said.
“Yeah, thank god I didn’t have a daughter. I’d kill anyone that thought they could touch my little girl.”
“Dude, you just jinxed yourself. I’ll bet you a cool grand on it.”
“Shut your mouth,” I growled at him, making him laugh. “Keep laughing, and I’ll wish triplet girls on you.” That snapped his mouth shut.
It might look like we were out for a casual night, but I knew my guards were on high alert for any sign of a threat.
“Dad, can I have nachos, pizza, a hot dog, and soda,” Cutter asked as we rode the escalator up, and the smell of food hit us.
“You can have all that and more if you want once we get to the box,” I said, and Cutter tapped his chin, which I’d quickly figured out was his ‘ I’m thinking hard’ look.
“Why are we going to a box? Can we see out of it?”
Aaron laughed beside me as Ivan smirked. “It’s not a cardboard box. It’s a season ticket holder box.” Cutter’s brow furrowed, his lips pressing together. “You’ll see when we get there.”
As we stepped into the room, all decked out in black leather, I put Cutter down, but he didn’t run off like I thought he would. Instead, he held up his good hand for me to take, and some irrational part of me wanted to grab his hand and never let go. When Savannah got back, I was keeping her under lock and key until I knocked her sexy ass up. In what felt like a few short years, Cutter would be looking to party, date, drive, have sex, and then get married and have his own kids.
I blinked as Cutter tugged on my hand. “Dad, are you okay?”
Clearing my throat, I smiled. “Yeah, I…got lost in thought. Come on, let’s get something to eat. The game is going to start soon.”
The table housing everything from steak to the coveted hotdog was on display, and once we overfilled Cutter’s plate, I took him to a seat where we could watch the game.
“Do you ever miss playing,” Titus asked, nodding toward the ice.
“Less now, but I did,” I said, and Cutter gasped and grabbed my arm. I immediately went for my gun and looked around before I realized he was just excited.
“Dad, you played hockey for the Kings?”
I chuckled and smiled at him. “No, but I wish I had. I wasn’t quite that good.”
“But you know how to play?” I nodded at his excited face. “Can you teach me how to skate? But don’t tell mom.”
“Oh, that I can’t do. Your mom will string me up from the ceiling by my ankles if I don’t tell her.”
“But then, how do I make it a surprise?”
“Ah. Hmm. Let me think about keeping it a secret, but I will teach you to skate and play hockey.”
“Yesss!” He cheered and grabbed half of the hamburger, taking a bite before jumping off the couch and going to Ivan, who had called him over.
“Alright, I’ll concede, he’s kinda cute,” Aaron said.
“Ha, he’s fucking adorable,” Titus added, and I puffed out my chest.
“He really is, isn’t he?”
“So you gonna admit that Savannah might have done the right thing keeping him away from the family and the constant shitstorm,” Aaron asked, and I shot him a glare.
“Not a fucking chance, at least not out loud.”
Grabbing my beer, I took a sip and walked over to Cutter as they announced the national anthem. He immediately took off his hat and held it over his heart. Who was this kid?
“Let’s take a picture and send it to your mom,” I said, picking Cutter up to take a selfie with the rink in the background. I took dozens of him making funny faces while I laughed.
During the second intermission, the camera panned the boxes, and Cutter was standing on the chair waving like a madman, plastering his face all over the arena. My phone dinged, and I nodded to Ivan to move over to make sure Cutter didn’t fall.
S: Why does our son have a cast on his arm, and why didn’t you tell me he broke something?
Oh shit. I looked around and realized we were on national television. Fuck, I was an idiot. She had to be watching the game.
YSAH: His wrist will be okay. It was just dislocated, I swear. I didn’t want to worry you while you were away.
S: It hasn’t even been forty-eight hours, and Cutter dislocated his wrist and is now trending on social media. I’m never leaving you two home alone again.
YSAH: You going to spank me?
S: Don’t tempt me.
There was suddenly a loud bang, and Ivan grabbed Cutter and dove behind the half wall, completely smothering his body as two guards tackled me to the ground. Everything was chaotic, but all my mind could focus on was Cutter.
I could hear him crying, and panic gripped me. I growled at my men. “Get off of me.”
“It was just a bunch of balloons,” Titus called out, and my guards slowly relaxed and moved. And just like that, the reality of who we really were punched me in the face.
“I’m sorry, Little Man. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Ivan said, handing Cutter his hat, but his lip was trembling, tears silently rolling down his face.
“Are you hurt,” I asked, checking him all over. My phone rang, and I knew it had to be Savannah. He shook his head, no, but our night was over. He wrapped his arms around my neck and buried his face.
I took a deep breath to calm my own racing heart before I answered the phone.
“He’s okay, we’re okay, it was only balloons,” I said as I answered the phone. “The guards are just very cautious.”
“Oh my god, Nathan, I had a heart attack. They showed Ivan diving for Cutter, and I thought…I’m going to be sick.”
“He’s okay, we’re okay, I promise.”
“I’m okay, mommy,” Cutter said, and I could hear Savannah sigh on the other end of the line.
“I don’t know if my heart can take this, Nathan.”
“What do you mean,” I asked, my arm tightening on Cutter as thoughts of her leaving me flashed through my head.
“I mean, we need to get this threat stopped. I don’t care what you have to do. Find Cesare and force him to remove the hit. I’ll even hand myself over, but they can’t hurt Cutter.”
I sucked in a ragged breath. “We’ll talk about it when you get back, but you’re not handing yourself over. Don’t even suggest it again,” I ordered. “I found out Cesare has been in Vienna and Greece. No excuse for him not to call, but according to my sources, he is going to be back in a couple of weeks. If I have to sit on his doorstep, I will.”
“Can I talk to Mommy?”
“Yeah, here you go,” I said, handing Cutter the phone. Any other time, I would’ve smiled at how adorable he looked holding the phone, which was too big for one hand, in both of his. But my mind was swirling.
I’d lived with threats my whole life. I’d grown used to people wanting to shoot at me and having guards around at all times. When I was twenty-one, Goran took a bullet for me out at a club when a local cartel decided they wanted to make a mark by taking me out. Here I was, preaching to Savannah about safety, and meanwhile, I’d been too blasé about trying to reach Cesare, but no more. Just because nothing had happened yet and tonight was just balloons didn’t mean that someone wasn’t lurking around the next corner.
He would call off the hit, or I would start a war.