CHAPTER 3 #2
So did Olivia.
She realized it only after Robert glanced at her.
“You always liked his game,” he said.
“I like winning.”
“Of course.”
The smile at the edge of his mouth irritated her. “Do not.”
“I said nothing.”
“You rarely need to.”
His expression softened in a way that almost resembled the father she remembered. “He is not an easy man, Liv.”
“You think I do not know that?”
“I think you have always mistaken difficulty for depth.”
The words cut because they contained enough truth to be cruel.
Olivia turned back to the ice. “And you have always mistaken control for love.”
Robert’s softness vanished.
Below, a Reapers defenseman hit Alex after the whistle.
The collision drove him shoulder-first into the boards.
Alex rose slowly.
The arena changed pitch. Fans knew. Players knew. Olivia knew.
The defenseman said something.
Alex’s head tilted.
Then he dropped his gloves.
The fight lasted eleven seconds.
Alex caught the first punch on his shoulder, drove his fist into the man’s ribs, and landed two clean shots before the officials pulled them apart. Blood appeared at his lip again. He looked toward the Reapers bench with an expression that promised the conversation was unfinished.
Olivia’s phone buzzed.
Another message.
ASK HIM WHAT THE DEFENSEMAN SAID.
The final period ended with the Titans winning 4–2 and Alex serving the last minutes in the penalty box.
By the time Olivia reached the media level, reporters had already built a narrative.
Alex Morgan was unstable.
The Titans had lost control of their captain.
His history of discipline issues threatened the playoff run.
Olivia entered the press room because her father’s communications director had suddenly become unreachable. That alone deserved investigation.
Cameras turned toward her.
“Ms. Carter, does ownership support Alex Morgan’s conduct tonight?”
“Ownership supports player safety,” she said. “The league will review the sequence in full, including the late hit that preceded the altercation.”
“Are you defending him?”
“I am refusing to reduce twenty minutes of escalating conduct to eleven seconds because it produces a cleaner headline.”
Another reporter leaned forward. “Is Morgan receiving special treatment because of his value to the franchise?”
“No. If he violated league policy, he will face the same process as any player. So will the opponent who initiated contact after the whistle.”
“What about reports that you and Morgan have a personal history?”
The room sharpened.
Olivia smiled slightly. “I have a personal history with half this organization. I grew up in the building.”
“That was not the question.”
“It was the answer.”
She ended the briefing before anyone could turn Alex’s violence into her romantic scandal.
He waited outside the room.
His dress shirt was open at the throat. His hair was damp from the shower. White tape wrapped his right hand. The cut at his lip had reopened.
“You did not have to do that,” he said.
“Do what?”
“Protect me.”
“I protected the team.”
His gaze moved slowly over her face. “You missed Brooks’s second goal.”
She blinked. “What?”
“You said you watched the entire team. You missed his second goal because you were looking at me in the penalty box.”
Heat rose beneath her collar.
“That is an impressively arrogant interpretation.”
“It is also true.”
She stepped closer and lowered her voice. “What did the Reapers defenseman say?”
Alex’s expression changed.
“Who told you to ask?”
“Answer me.”
“He said Evan Hale screamed my name when he collapsed.”
The corridor seemed to tilt.
“You said you did not know him.”
“I said I did not remember him.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“I know.”
The admission was quiet.
Before she could press, Coach Davis appeared at the far end and signaled Alex toward the locker room.
Alex looked at Olivia once more. “Do not go home alone.”
“You agreed to ask.”
“Will you let team security drive you?”
The question sounded painful.
She should not have enjoyed that.
“Yes.”
His shoulders eased by a degree.
Olivia left through the executive garage with two security officers. Neither was the man whose credential had opened the tunnel door. She photographed their names anyway.
After the press conference, Olivia did not immediately leave the arena. She returned to the glass-walled conference room with Alex’s final shift playing silently on a monitor.
The footage confirmed what she had seen from the suite. After Mercer’s late hit, Alex did not explode at once. He looked toward the bench. Coach Davis shook his head. Daniel said something. Only after the defenseman leaned close and spoke did Alex drop his gloves.
Words mattered.
Olivia replayed the moment frame by frame, trying to read lips. The broadcast angle failed. An internal tactical camera near the penalty box might have captured it, but her access had been restricted after Robert learned she was reviewing old foundation files.
The conference-room door opened.
Daniel Brooks entered carrying two protein shakes and a bag of ice against his hip. “You are either working or admiring our captain’s fighting technique.”
“Those are not the only options.”
“They are the most interesting.”
He offered her one of the shakes. She declined.
Daniel sat on the table rather than a chair. Off camera, his grin faded more easily. “He was different tonight.”
“How?”
“He heard something.”
“Do you know what?”
“No. But Morgan fights for three reasons: a teammate is down, someone touches Ben, or someone finds a part of his past he has not buried deeply enough.”
Olivia paused the frame on Alex’s face. “You make him sound predictable.”
“He is, if you understand the rules. Most people only see the result.”
“Do you approve?”
“Of the fighting?” Daniel shifted the ice bag. “Sometimes. Of the way he thinks pain is the only language dangerous men respect? No.”
The answer held more thought than his public persona suggested.
“How long have you known him?”
“Eight years. First camp, he broke my nose because I made a joke about his secondhand skates.”
“That sounds excessive.”
“It was an excellent joke.”
“Do you remember Evan Hale?”
Daniel’s expression went still.
“Barely. I was not at that development camp, but everyone heard rumors later.”
“What rumors?”
“That a kid collapsed and management paid to make the story disappear. That Morgan had hit him. That the medical staff cleared him when they should not have.”
“Which version did Alex believe?”