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Book 2 Cross checking 2
Their argument was interrupted by Natasha, who approached with caution visible in her expression. “Sorry to interrupt, but Franklin’s nurse just called. He’s asking for you, Emma. Something about feeling ‘not right.”
Emma immediately shifted focus, personal grievances secondary to concern for her grandfather. “I’ll head there now. Can you arrange for the car?”
“Already done,” Natasha assured her.
Emma turned back to Alek. “We’re not finished with this discussion.”
“I’ll meet you at the mansion after I wrap things up here,” he said, professional mask firmly back in place.
The drive to Franklin’s felt interminable, Emma’s mind toggling between worry for her grandfather and anger at Alek’s omission. By the time she arrived, her emotions were a tangled mess.
She found Franklin in his study rather than his bedroom, which was somewhat reassuring. He sat in his usual armchair, color better than it had been in days, though fatigue lined his face.
“There you are,” he greeted her. “How was the carnival?”
“Successful,” Emma answered, kneeling beside his chair to check him over with her eyes. “What’s wrong? Natasha said you weren’t feeling well.”
“Slight chest discomfort,” Franklin admitted. “Nothing serious. The nurse insisted on calling you.”
Emma pressed a hand to his forehead–no fever. “I’m calling Dr. Winters.”
“Already examined me,” Franklin waved dismissively. “Said it’s likely just indigestion from those spicy crackers Walter smuggled in.”
“Grandpa!”
“A man’s entitled to simple pleasures,” Franklin defended himself. “Besides, it gave me an excuse to get you home early. You looked upset when you walked in.”
Emma sighed, unsurprised by her grandfather’s perceptiveness. “It’s nothing.”
“That’s the same nothing that’s had you and Aleksander circling each other like wary opponents for weeks,” Franklin observed. “Only now it seems worse.”
Before Emma could respond, the front door opened and closed distantly. Moments later, Alek appeared in the study doorway, still in his suit from the event but with tie loosened and hair slightly disheveled.
“How are you feeling, sir?” he asked Franklin, pointedly avoiding Emma’s gaze.
“Better than you two look,” Franklin replied bluntly. “What happened at the event?”
“Nothing,” Emma and Alek said simultaneously, then exchanged irritated glances at the jinx.
“I see.” Franklin looked thoroughly unconvinced. “Well, since I’m apparently fine, I think I’ll retire early and let you two sort out this ‘nothing‘ that has you both looking like you’ve been cross–checked into the boards.” After Franklin left, escorted by his night nurse, Emma and Alek stood in uncomfortable silence in the study. “I should have told you about Elise,” Alek said finally. “I apologize for that.”
< Book 2 Cross checking 2
“Why didn’t you?” Emma asked, needing to understand.
Alek moved to the window, staring out at the garden now illuminated by security lights. “Because I was
embarrassed.”
“Embarrassed?” Emma hadn’t expected that answer.
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“Elise left me at my lowest point,” Alek explained, still facing away. “Right after my injury, when my career was over, when I had no idea what came next. She said she’d signed up to be with a hockey star, not a has–been with a limp.”
Emma felt a flicker of sympathy despite her anger. “That’s terrible.”
“It was a long time ago,” Alek said dismissively. “But having her back in our organization, having to explain that history to you… I kept putting it off.”
“And now she’s working with our team,” Emma said. “That’s going to be uncomfortable.”
“I’ve made it clear to her that our interactions will be strictly professional,” Alek turned to face her. “And
limited.”
“When exactly did you make that clear?” Emma asked, something in his phrasing triggering suspicion.
Alek hesitated, just a heartbeat too long. “When the committee’s decision was finalized.”
“Try again,” Emma said quietly. “The truth this time.”
His shoulders sagged slightly. “I had dinner with her last week. To establish boundaries before she started working with the team.”
“Dinner,” Emma repeated flatly. “Just the two of you.”
“A business dinner,” Alek clarified quickly. “In a public restaurant.”
“Which you also didn’t tell me about.” Emma’s voice remained steady through sheer force of will. “Anything
else I should know?”
“No.” Alek took a step toward her. “Emma, it meant nothing. It was purely to ensure she understood our professional relationship going forward.”
“I believe you,” Emma said, surprising herself with the truth of it. “But that’s not the point, Alek. The point is you’re still making unilateral decisions about what I need to know, what I can handle, what affects me.”
“I was trying to protect-”
“Stop protecting me!” Emma’s control finally snapped. “I don’t need protection. I need partnership. I need respect. I need you to treat me like an equal, not a fragile object you have to shelter from every difficulty!” Alek’s expression hardened. “Is that what you think I’ve been doing? Treating you like you’re fragile?” “What would you call it?” Emma challenged. “Hiding your ex–fiancée’s hiring? Pushing for surrogacy to ‘protect‘ me from another pregnancy loss? Moving my things downstairs after surgery? It’s all the same pattern, Alek.”
“I call it loving you,” Alek’s voice rose to match hers. “Loving you enough to want to prevent you experiencing more pain than you’ve already endured.”
“That’s not your decision to make!”
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Book 2 Cross cherkong 2
Their voices echoed in the wood–paneled study, the argument finally breaking through weeks of careful
politeness.
“I watched you nearly die, Alek said, voice suddenly quiet. “Do you have any idea what that did to me? What it
still does to me when I think about it?”
“So this is about your trauma,” Emma realized. “Not mine.”
Alek ran both hands through his hair. “Maybe it is. Maybe I’m not handling this well. But everything I’ve done has been because I can’t bear the thought of losing you.”
“You’re losing me anyway,” Emma said softly. “Every time you make decisions for me instead of with me, we drift further apart.”
The devastating truth of her words hung between them. For a long moment, neither spoke.
“I should go,” Alek said finally. “We’re both tired and saying things we might regret.”
“Running away won’t solve this,” Emma pointed out.
“Neither will continuing when we’re both exhausted and angry.” Alek picked up his suit jacket. “I’ll be at the house if you need me.”
Emma watched him walk away, too drained to call him back. As the front door closed behind him, she sank into her grandfather’s chair, shoulders slumping with the weight of everything left unsaid.
Her phone buzzed with a text. Likely Alek with a conciliatory message or Natasha checking in.
Instead, she found Jack Reynolds‘ name on her screen. They maintained occasional cordial contact since his move to Seattle, primarily about league matters.
With a sense of foreboding, Emma opened the message to find a link to a gossip website with the message: Thought you should see this. History has a way of repeating itself.
The link opened to photographs clearly taken with a long–range lens. Alek and Elise at a restaurant, heads close together in what appeared to be intense conversation. His hand reaching across the table to touch hers in one frame. The headline above screamed: “TROUBLE IN HOCKEY PARADISE? Blades Owner’s Husband Spotted With Mystery Woman.”
Emma’s blood ran cold as she scrolled to the final image–Alek and Elise embracing outside the restaurant. The photograph, stripped of context, painted a damning picture.
The phone slipped from Emma’s suddenly numb fingers, clattering to the hardwood floor.
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