Crossing Center Ice

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  “It just seems too soon.” Every scar she bore as a result of Julian’s attack on her seemed to ache. He’d been sentenced to twelve years, so she’d thought she had a couple more years before she’d have to deal with this. “He should be inside forever.”

  Max gave her a rueful smile as he shook his head. “That was never going to happen. I’m actually kind of surprised that he ended up in prison for as long as he did. I figured for sure that consideration of who he was—who his father was—would get him out early. I think the only thing that has kept him in prison this long was that he kept getting into trouble. He certainly wasn’t going to get out of there on good behavior.”

  “So why is he getting out early?”

  “Apparently he has been doing better for the past year. He’s been involved in some therapy, so I guess they’ve decided that maybe it was time to release him.”

  He probably hadn’t had to spend as much time in therapy as she had as a result of what he’d done to her. Avery clenched her hands together, fear growing within her. “What about Benjie? Does he know about him?”

  “As far as I can tell, he doesn’t, and I’ll do what I can to keep it that way.” Max shifted, straightening in his chair. “And the first thing I’m going to do is have my lawyer apply for a restraining order on your behalf. He may be getting out of prison, but I’ll be doing my best to make sure that he never gets anywhere near you or Benjie.”

  She wanted to believe him, but fear was undermining everything. “Should we move?”

  She’d come back to her parents’ home in Winnipeg after she’d gotten out of the hospital, but even though Julian had never wanted to visit her parents during their short marriage, that didn’t mean he couldn’t hire a private investigator to try to find her. And given that she and her mom still lived in the same home, obviously it wouldn’t be too difficult to locate them.

  Avery wouldn’t have cared if it was just her—well, she wouldn’t have cared as much—but there was Benjie… She never wanted him to know about his father beyond what she’d told him already. At least not until he was old enough to comprehend what had happened. While he might be able to understand that his dad had tried to kill his mom, he would not be able to grasp that he had been conceived during that horrifically violent encounter. Had she already been pregnant, it was highly unlikely that he would have survived the attack.

  If she could help it, Benjie would never know of the violence of his conception. She had no clear memory of it herself, for which she was thankful.

  “Let’s see if we can get the restraining order in place first. Has he tried to contact you at all during the time he’s been incarcerated? Letters? Phone calls?”

  “At the beginning, he sent some letters, but I refused to open them, so I don’t know what they said. My lawyer at the time did something that made sure that he couldn’t send me anymore. I changed my number after I got out of the hospital, and any social media I have is under a name he wouldn’t recognize.”

  “How about his parents?” Max asked. “Have they reached out to you at all?”

  “No, but they never really approved of me or our marriage, and I think they held me responsible for how he snapped.”

  “Say what now?” Max asked, his brows drew low over his eyes as he frowned. “Julian chose to take steroids and then attacked you in a ‘roid rage, and it was your fault?”

  Avery shrugged. She figured it was easier for them to hold her responsible than to take any responsibility for themselves. Especially his dad. The standard to which he held his son had been impossibly high, and, in her opinion, was the main reason Julian had turned to steroids in the first place. So if anyone was to blame for everything that had happened, it was Devon Marcus who had believed his legacy as a football star had been at risk when his only son had faltered and then been injured.

  “I was the easy target.”

  “Well, you’re not anymore. Just remember that. Whatever wealth Devon Marcus might have, I have more. Whatever reach Devon Marcus has, mine goes further. Any power he might think he wields when it comes to his son, I wield more when it comes to you.” Max sighed. “I know telling you not to worry is probably just a waste of my breath, but truly, let me handle all of this. I just wanted you to know so that you weren’t taken off-guard by reading about Julian’s release on the web or hearing about it on the news. If anyone manages to contact you about this, let me know right away, and if it’s okay with you, I will assign a PR person to this situation so that all inquiries can be directed to her instead of to you.”

  “I don’t want to have to accept your help,” Avery said, still not reassured and feeling fear like she hadn’t in almost a decade. “But Benjie… I would do anything to protect him.”

  “I feel the same way about Maya.” Max reached into his suit coat pocket and pulled out a slim silver case. He popped it open and slipped out a card. He held it out to her. “Here is a card with my personal contact information on it. I want you to feel free to call me at any time, for anything.”

  “Thank you,” Avery said, feeling the embossed lettering on the heavy card as she took it from him then folded her hands together.

  Max reached out and covered her clenched hands with one of his. “I’ll be praying for you, Avery.”

  Avery nodded again, trying to keep her emotions in check. She was glad it was the end of her day there because she needed to get to the sanctuary of her home.

  “Will you be okay to get home?” Max asked, concern clear in his gaze.

  “I’ll be fine.” She’d been strong enough to survive the attack and to testify at Julian’s trial. She would be strong enough to deal with this, but first, she had to fall apart.

  Kenton watched Avery as she recorded the results of the latest test. Something had changed in the past week. Though she’d never been super outgoing, over the past week, she’d definitely been more withdrawn. And on top of that, she seemed very distracted. There were times when she just seemed to zone out, even when she was working with him. That was unusual for her since she seemed to always take her work so seriously.

  He was ninety-nine percent sure it wasn’t something he’d done. If anything would have upset her, it would have been the gifts, but it had been almost a month since Christmas, and he’d been pleased to see her wearing the necklace Benjie had chosen for her almost every day, so he didn’t think it was that.

  When he’d tried to subtly probe to find out if anything was wrong, it hadn’t even seemed to register with her that her demeanor would indicate so, and she’d just said everything was fine. Maybe he was going to have to just be a lot more upfront in his inquiries.

  Avery sat staring at the notebook where she’d been recording her results then began to flip back and forth between a couple of pages. Kenton knew that she was probably seeing his improvement over the past three weeks. Instead of being at the bottom of the accepted range, he was now above the mid-point and would hopefully continue to record higher still in the weeks to come. It was encouraging to see some results already.

  She looked up at him, her brow furrowed. After setting aside her notebook, she came over to where he sat, waiting to start working with Hunter.

  “Can I see your knee?” she asked.

  “Sure,” Kenton said, stretching out his leg and pulling the hem of his athletic shorts up to mid-thigh.

  Avery knelt on the floor and reached to touch his knee. She bent forward as her fingertips rested on the sides of his kneecap. As she probed with her fingers, she seemed to be looking closely at the scars, but he had a feeling she was seeing the remnant of the small bruise that had developed after his last injection.

  “What have you been doing, Kenton?” Her voice shook, and he felt her fingertips tremble against his skin. “What are these marks?”

  Kenton felt his stomach clench at the emotion in her voice. Somehow, he knew that what he said next was going to change everything between them in a way he’d never imagined. “I had a recommendation for a doctor who was will
ing to help me by injecting my surgery site with HGH.”

  Avery jerked her hands back and shot to her feet. “Are you kidding me? Why would you do that? Everything was going fine.”

  Kenton opened his mouth to reply, but she wasn’t going to let him.

  “I quit. I can’t work with someone who’s willing to cross this line. I can’t take a chance on what other line you might cross.” She began to back away from him. “I don’t know if Human Growth Hormone is on the NHL banned substance list yet, but I know other professional sports leagues have it on theirs. And even if it’s not on the NHL’s list, it’s a slippery slope that I’m not willing to go down with you. Not now. Not ever.”

  “Wait,” Kenton said, getting up and taking a step in her direction. “I’m just taking it to help with healing and to help lessen my muscle loss. I’m not going to take it once I’m back on the ice. And it’s not like I’m taking steroids.”

  She grabbed her things and spun to face him. “That’s what you say now. That’s what he said too, but once you cross one line, it’s much easier to cross the next. Especially if you’re frustrated with your recovery, like you clearly are. I refuse to work under those conditions.” She paused, blinking rapidly as she stared at him. “I thought you were different.”

  “Avery, please. It’s not like that.” Kenton felt desperation begin to flood his body.

  “It is like that.” She held out one of her arms and shoved the sleeve up, revealing a slender arm that had a long faint pink scar on it. “Google Julian Marcus. That will tell you why I refuse to be around anyone who is willing to cross the line the way you have. I hope it’s worth it.”

  Kenton watched in shock as she left the room. Why didn’t she understand that he’d only done it to help speed up the process so that he would definitely be ready for the next season? He had no plans to continue once he was closer to playing again. And as far as he knew, the NHL’s list hadn’t included HGH yet, though there had been discussions about it. If he’d been playing in the NFL, it would be a different story.

  Though HGH was viewed as performance enhancing, that wasn’t why he’d used it. Some research had shown it was effective in speeding up healing and strengthening weakened muscles. There wasn’t even a guarantee that it would have done anything, even though it did appear to have worked some for him.

  One of the main reasons he’d decided to take it was because of his age, which was working against him. If he’d had this injury early in his twenties, his recovery would have been quicker. All he was doing was trying to even things out with a little help. Why couldn’t Avery understand that?

  And what was up with that scar? What did that have to do with his decision to take HGH? Kenton was having a hard time wrapping his head around it all. The only thing that registered more strongly than anything else was that Avery had walked away. She’d quit and left him.

  “Duuude,” Gabe said, his voice tense.

  “Shut up,” Kenton responded, not really wanting to hear Gabe’s opinion on what had just gone down.

  “No. Seriously, Kenton. Do you not know who Julian Marcus is?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Kenton swung around to look at Gabe. The man stood with his head bent, reading something on his phone. Julian Marcus. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t recall why.

  “Oh no, Kenton,” Gabe said then handed him his phone.

  Kenton took it and read the website headline. Star Quarterback Attacks Wife.

  His stomach lurched as he began to read the article from almost a decade earlier. As he did, the details of the story that had rocked the sports world flooded back. He remembered the coaches talking about it when he’d first joined the NHL, and how Julian’s use of steroids had contributed to the rage that had driven him to attack his wife. He’d ended up being found guilty of attempted murder.

  He felt sick to his stomach as he read the details of Avery’s injuries as they’d been presented in court. The doctors who had testified made it clear that she’d nearly died from blood loss as a result of the wounds inflicted by her husband.

  Kenton sank down on the bench, Gabe’s phone still clenched in his hand. No wonder Avery had reacted the way she had. But he hadn’t known what she had experienced in the past. If he had, he wouldn’t have gone the drug route.

  “Why did you do it, Kent?” Gabe sat down beside him. “I never would have thought you’d go in that direction?”

  He rubbed his forehead, pinching the skin. “I only did it to help speed the healing and rebuild muscle. I really had no intention of continuing with the drugs past a couple of months. There are side effects that I didn’t want to mess with if I used it long term. I just…I just wanted to make sure that I could make it back to the game and play at the level I used to.”

  “I hope it’s worth it,” Gabe said as he pushed to his feet and walked to where Hunter stood watching them.

  Kenton’s head dropped forward, and he stared at the floor, trying to grasp the horrible turn his life had just taken. Over the past couple of weeks, he’d come to the realization that he would do whatever he could to keep Avery in his life. He’d felt that they shared a connection that would last even with distance between them. And from things Avery said and did, he was convinced that he wasn’t the only one feeling that connection.

  But now…now he’d messed it all up because of his fear of failing to regain what he’d once had. And the moment she’d walked away, Kenton knew he’d lost the best thing that had ever happened to him.

  He pressed a hand against the ache in his chest. Was there any way for him to rectify what he’d done? Obviously, he couldn’t undo the injections he’d already received, but he could cancel future ones. Would that be enough? He wished that she would have let him talk. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand her concern now that he’d realized who she was and what she’d gone through, but he wasn’t taking the anabolic steroids that were most often associated with extreme mood swings and anger.

  If she’d just had an aversion to the HGH as a medical professional, he might have had a chance. But somehow, with the history he now knew about her, Kenton wasn’t sure she’d give him a second chance. And when it came right down to it, he couldn’t blame her if she didn’t.

  What would make the horrible situation even worse would be when he told his dad what he’d done. And he would have to do that. There would need to be some explanation given for why Avery was no longer working with him. Plus, he just couldn’t keep something like this from his dad. In reality, as he thought about it, Kenton knew that the fact that he’d kept it a secret in the first place should have been his first clue that it was a wrong decision.

  A terrible thought came to him as he sat there. What if she quit working with his mom too? Surely, she wouldn’t do that.

  Kenton let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead. The panic and fear that had flooded him when Avery had walked out of the gym still lingered and was so foreign to him. Even the thought of losing his career—which had sent him down this path in the first place—hadn’t evoked such powerful emotions in him. More than anything he wanted to make things right with Avery. He needed to make things right with her. The thought of not having her—and Benjie—in his life was incomprehensible.

  He had sensed that she’d felt something for him too, but he wasn’t sure that her feelings for him would be strong enough to overcome what was now present between them. Was he too late? Even as he’d realized she was gaining importance to him, Kenton had sensed Avery’s wariness, so he hadn’t pushed. He’d assumed that they had time to proceed at her pace. To slowly build something strong between them that might last the distance they’d have to deal with when he returned to LA.

  As the sick feeling in his stomach grew, Kenton got to his feet. He approached Hunter and gave him a nod. “I need to work out.”

  After a glance at Gabe, Hunter also nodded. “Okay. Let’s do a few stretches and then get to work.”

  Avery was still shaking by the time she got
to the Callaghan home. Though she may have quit on Kenton, she wouldn’t quit on Emily. She’d continue to work with her unless the situation became impossible because of what had happened with Kenton. She hoped that he’d just leave her alone. No matter what she may have begun to feel for him, this…she wasn’t sure that this was something she could overlook.

  It was no longer just herself that she had to protect, it was Benjie too. She didn’t want to take the chance of Kenton making a seriously wrong decision that ended up impacting her the way Julian had.

  She had known that Kenton was frustrated with the test results. That he wasn’t pleased to be rating on the lower end of what the team had given as an acceptable range. However, she’d never expected him to go to such lengths to reach what he wanted.

  If only he’d just been willing to continue working on the program the team had laid out for him. She had no doubt that if he’d continued on as he had been, he would have achieved the goal he wanted without the drugs. After seeing the marked improvement over the past couple of weeks given that nothing had really changed in their program, the realization that something else had changed had struck her out of the blue. Having it verified made her feel sick.

  Emily came into the therapy room with the nurse’s help, greeting her with a smile. Avery responded with one that she hoped looked natural. The older woman had continued to make great progress once she’d made up her mind to actually try to get better. It was encouraging to see, and at that moment, it was the only reason Avery hadn’t quit on her, too. She just hoped that, somehow, she’d make it through that day’s session and be able to leave without seeing Kenton.

  As they made their way through the exercises that were designed to continue to strengthen and improve Emily’s ability to move and walk on her own, Avery knew that it wouldn’t be long before the woman wouldn’t require daily therapy. They had already been able to cut back on the round-the-clock nursing care. They were down to two nurses in the daytime hours who mainly helped with Emily’s personal care.