Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Chapter Twenty
Anton
Adam jogs down the stone front steps of his apartment building, and my blood immediately starts pumping. I push off the wall I’m leaning against and start following him, a baseball cap pulled down low to conceal my face.
It’s been a long damn time since I was in a premeditated fight. On the ice, fights break out in the heat of the moment. It’s gloves off right now. But I’ve had four days to think about confronting Adam. Four very long days.
Mia’s expression when I got to her apartment that night will be burned in my mind forever. She didn’t look scared or sad so much as defeated. Adam will pay for her forlorn expression.
I trail a good distance behind Adam for a couple blocks, biding my time ‘til he gets to a place with fewer people.
At first, I couldn’t get to him because he was in jail. Then I had to travel with the team, which he got suspended from. But now I’m back in Chicago, he’s out of jail, and it’s on.
Mia’s doing okay. I’ve been calling and texting her often to check on her. Yesterday she sounded almost happy, and she told me she appreciates knowing she’s safe at my place.
I hated to leave town so quickly after her attack, but I had to. There’s been news coverage of Adam’s suspension, and reporters have been asking his teammates how we feel about it.
What the fuck do they think we feel? It’s not like any of us can be honest. “I think he’s a piece of shit I’d like to murder with my bare hands, John, thanks for asking.”
Coach was diplomatic, telling a reporter he plans to let the police do their work and then make a decision about Adam’s future with the team. But I already know Adam’s fucking gone. I came clean to the entire team about what’s been happening with Mia and what I saw the other night, and I let them know then that it’s either me or him. I’ll never play on a team with him again.
Not that it’ll probably even be an option for him. If Adam gets convicted of a felony, he won’t have a job on any NHL team ever again.
He meets up with a woman at a deli and they have lunch together. I wonder if she knows who he really is. When he leaves the deli alone, I close some distance between us, not wanting to miss my opportunity.
I’m not waiting even one more day to exact my revenge. As soon as Adam gets to a building with a long alley, I approach him from behind and grab the collar of his coat, dragging him into it.
“The fuck?” He turns and sees me, his gaze darkening. “You. You dirty motherfucker. Or should I say wife fucker?”
I’m not in the mood to trade verbal jabs with him. I shed my coat and shove him further into the alley. Not gonna risk the chicken shit running away on me.
“How could you, Anton?” He sneers at me. “She’s my wife. And you—”
I silence him by barreling into him, shoving his back against a brick wall. He launches himself back at me and I crouch, landing an uppercut to his stomach.
It feels good. Kicking Adam’s ass feels really fucking good. Every blow I land, every crack I hear, is for Mia. He gets a few good shots in on me—one to my eye and several to my ribs—but this fight’s mine.
I’m driven by something more powerful than Adam ever will be. It’s my love for Mia that fuels every punch that doubles him over, every kick once he’s on the ground.
There’s no trash talk. No threats or insults exchanged. Adam’s gasping for breath, on his hands and knees on the ground, which means I need to keep sending him my silent message.
Never come near her again.
I grab his coat and use it to send him flying into the alley wall, satisfied by the way his head knocks against it. And then I wail on him some more, punching until my fists are sore and a few knuckles are bloody.
He’s a fucking mess, curled up in the fetal position and struggling to breathe. Both of his eyes are swollen and there’s blood coming from his nose and mouth. I bend down over him.
“Anyone asks, we were together and got jumped and robbed. Don’t make me come find you again or you won’t walk away.”
I spit on him and wipe my sleeve across the cut above my eye, reaching down for my coat as I turn back towards the street.
My mind finally settles as I walk the few miles home. I needed to confront Adam. I needed to release the anger. It was one thing to want Mia from afar while thinking she was happily married to Adam. But to see her hurt by him in every possible way?