22. Hudson
HUDSON
I find Nik before practice while the locker room is still quiet.
Most of the guys haven't arrived yet.
Nik sits at his stall, taping his stick.
Focused.
Methodical.
The same way he approaches everything else.
I wait until he finishes before I speak.
“Need a minute.”
He smooths the tape down, then finally looks up at me.
“Make it quick,” he says. “Coach wants us on the ice in ten.”
“It’s not about practice.”
That gets his attention.
He sets the stick aside and jerks his head toward the hallway.
“Walk.”
We step out into the corridor. Nik stops near the end of the hall and turns to face me.
His dark eyes narrow a little as he sizes me up.
“What’s going on?”
He doesn’t waste time with small talk, just straight to the point.
No bullshit.
That’s why he’s the captain.
I rub a hand across the back of my neck.
“I need to take a leave of absence.”
His face hardly changes, but I notice something shift in his eyes.
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not how this works,” he says.
“I know.”
“Try again.”
I let out a slow breath, trying to stay calm. “A couple of weeks, maybe three.”
“For what reason?” he asks.
“Family issues,” I stress the word family so he understands. “I just need to get out of town for a while.”
His eyes get sharper.
“You in trouble?”
I huff. “You could say that.”
That’s as honest as I can be with him.
Nik shifts his weight and folds his arms across his chest.
“With the law?”
“No.”
“Team-related?”
“No.”
His stare gets even harder.
“Then what the hell is it, Hudson?”
I hold his gaze for a moment before saying, “I’m trying to protect someone.”
The silence drags on, uncomfortable.
Nik studies me carefully.
“Is this going to follow you back here?” he asks finally.
“No.”
That’s easy to answer because it’s true.
He nods once.
“And this someone,” he says, “worth it?”
I don't answer.
Nik looks at me for a moment, then lets out a quiet hum.
He knows exactly what I mean by family issues. It’s not surprising, since he married a mafia princess.
“We need you,” he says bluntly. “You’re playing the best hockey of your career, and we’re closer to playoff contention than we’ve ever been. This is a terrible time to disappear.”
“Vadim can handle it,” I say. “He’s been waiting for a real shot.”
Nik’s expression stays tough, but I see a hint of understanding.
We’ve never been close, but he always seems to notice more than he shows.
He gives a slight nod.
“I’ll speak to management. Three weeks, Cross. You have three weeks to get your shit sorted out, or you’ll be in breach of contract.”
I feel a wave of relief.
“Thank you.”
Nik lets out a short snort and turns away.
“Don't make me regret it.”
Then he heads back to the locker room to get ready for practice.
I stand there for a moment after he leaves, take a slow breath before making my way toward the parking garage.
The drive to the clinic seems to take forever.
Traffic moves around me, steady and normal. People go to work, run errands, and live lives far from people like Martin or places like ours.
I feel like an outsider looking in.
It’s like I’ve landed in the wrong world.
Forty-five minutes later, I pull into the clinic parking lot and turn off the engine.
The place looks normal in daylight. It’s small, quiet, and forgettable.
For a moment, I have no idea what the hell I’m supposed to do.
Usually, I show up in the middle of the night, sneaking in the back with someone bleeding beside me.
But this time is different.
Should I walk in the front door and ask for Doctor Patel like anyone else?
Or should I go around to the back?
Maya is one of the few people I’ve tried to keep away from the Iron Eagles, and from me. Walking in the front during the day feels too obvious and too easy to trace.
In the end, I choose the back entrance.
I park a street away and walk to the clinic, texting Lucian to see if he’s still there.
Hudson: I’m here.
Lucian: Give me a minute.
A few minutes later, Lucian opens the back door and lets me in.
He quietly leads me down the hall to Eva’s room.
“She’s sleeping right now,” he says in a low voice. “She woke up earlier and asked what happened. I told her what I knew.”
He pauses for a moment.
“She’s having a hard time.”
Guilt settles heavily in my chest.
Maya finds us halfway down the hall.
“Hudson,” she says, by way of greeting.
“Maya,” I nod. “Thank you again.”
She crosses her arms over her chest.
“Again and again and again,” she mutters. “As you know, I have limited space, and I can’t keep people long-term. What is your plan?”
“I’m taking her to my lake cabin for a couple of weeks.”
Maya raises her eyebrows a little.
“And after that?” Lucian asks.
I rub my hand over my face.
“I’ll figure it out.”
Lucian looks at me like I’ve completely lost my mind.
“So you plan to take your captive, whom you’re not supposed to care about, to a secluded cabin and then what?” he asks. “Play checkers and stare at the lake until this fixes itself?”
I stay quiet because there’s nothing helpful to say.
“Then what?” he presses. “You come back and play for the Reapers as if none of this happened? She takes an Uber home and marries the fifty-year-old psychopath who murdered your mom?”
“Jeez, Lucian,” I snap. “Give me a minute to think.”
Maya glances toward Eva's room.
“Guys,” she says quietly. “This is not the place for this conversation.”
She gives us a warning look, then steps into another exam room and closes the door.
There’s a brief silence.
Then Lucian folds his arms.
“I’m going with you,” he announces.
“The hell you are,” I say immediately.
“I can’t stay there with him after what he did,” Lucian says. “Fuck that.”
“You have to.”
His jaw tightens instantly.
“So I’m just supposed to pretend none of this happened?”
“Yes,” I snap, harsher than I intend.
Lucian freezes for a moment.
I scrub a hand down my face and force my voice lower.
“Listen to me,” I say quietly. “Martin watches everything. The moment he thinks you’re involved, you’ll become leverage.”
My throat tightens as I say it.
Because if anyone ever paid for my mistakes in that house, it would be Lucian.
“Right now, he has no idea you know any of this,” I continue. “He doesn’t know you know Eva exists. That keeps you safe.”
“Safe,” Lucian repeats, bitterness in his voice.
“Safer,” I say. “And it keeps you useful.”
He says nothing.
“Stay back,” I tell him. “Keep your head down. Be my eyes and ears in Chicago. If Martin looks for us, I need someone inside to hear things before they happen.”
Lucian looks away, swallowing hard.
“Let me handle this. We’ll figure the rest out later,” I say. “Right now, I just need to get her out of here.”
“What if she…what if she just wants to go home?” he asks. His brows furrow.
I look over at Eva.
“Then I let her go.”
I’ve already thought this through.
Her father didn’t come for her.
Neither did Baron.
They were fine with letting her rot.
I don’t know how she feels.
If she wants to disappear, I can help her do that.
If she wants to go back to her life, I may have to let her.
Somewhere along the way, killing her stopped being an option.
Lucian walks over and gently takes Eva’s limp hand. He stands there for a few seconds, looking down at her sleeping face, then sets her hand back on the blanket.
Seeing that hits me hard.
I step toward him and grab the back of his neck, pulling him close.
He stiffens in surprise for a moment.
Then he lets me.
We press our foreheads together.
We haven’t done this since we were kids, but it feels right now.
“Hud,” he says quietly, his voice rough. “I thought I understood what the club was. I thought I got it.”
He swallows hard, struggling for words. “I was wrong. And I’m fucking scared.”
“You should be.”
His eyes lift to mine.
“But don’t let anyone see it. Stay smart, don’t give Martin a reason to look at you.”
I give the back of his neck a quick squeeze.
“I’ll get you out.”
He reaches up and does the same, putting his hand on the back of my neck.
We need to figure this out now.
Because I can’t lose him, either.
I pull back, meeting his eyes.
“Go,” I tell him. “Before anyone starts wondering where you are.”
He hesitates, glancing toward Eva before looking back at me.
“Take care of her,” he says.
“I will.”
He pulls away, takes a long shaky breath, nods, and walks out.
I wait for the door to close behind him, then turn back to the bed.
To her. The weight of everything settles on me again.
I have three weeks, a secluded cabin, a woman I was supposed to kill, and no idea what the hell happens next.
I stop beside the bed and look down at her.
“Yeah,” I mutter under my breath.
“This is going to be a fucking disaster.”