I smile before focusing on my prime rib to cut a succulent piece off, then dip it in the horseradish sauce I’d whipped up earlier. “Not as of yet. My goal is to keep my time free so I can watch the rest of the playoffs, but there also hasn’t been anything interesting enough to pull me away.”
“And you’d tell us if something was dangerous, right?” he presses, and it goes quiet. Not one single clink of cutlery to plate or a wineglass tapping against the table.
I sigh as my smile tightens. “Yes. I promised I would.”
My mom intervenes, her tone placating. “Honey… we’d just like the opportunity to talk to you about a potentially dangerous job before you accept it. We just want to be heard.”
“But you have been heard,” I say quietly, setting my knife and fork down. “I know exactly how you feel. But any decision to take a job is going to be mine alone. What I will promise is to be transparent about the risks, and I’ll give you information overload on the security I’ll have so you’ll feel better about it.”
It’s clear from their faces they don’t like this answer. I move my gaze from my parents to Dax, but he just stares back blandly. I have no clue what he’s thinking. If I had to guess, he’s siding with Mom and Dad right now. When I cut my eyes to Regan, her return smile is supportive and sympathetic.
My dad turns his full attention on Dominik next. “You have a stake in this now, Dominik. What do you think?”
I narrow my eyes in Dominik’s direction. He doesn’t look at all uncomfortable to have been drawn into what I think might soon become an actual family squabble.
Does he have a stake in this as my dad suggested? I suppose he has the right to worry, which gives him the right to voice his opinion at least.
Dominik picks up his glass of wine and takes a small sip, which is obviously a bit of a stall tactic so he can ponder his response. I imagine it’s a move that suits him well in business dealings—mastering the ability to not just blurt out his first thoughts.
He sets his glass down, looking my dad right in the eye. “Calvin… I have the same exact concerns you and Linda do. I’ve had my chance to talk to Willow about them, so she knows my position. But, at this point, I have to trust that Willow knows what she’s doing. I respect her abilities, and that she’s damn good at her job. I also have to respect she cares enough about us to give equal respect back about our worries. I don’t want Willow to go anywhere remotely dangerous, but if she has adequate protection, then I can’t do anything but support her fully because she’s fulfilling her dreams.”
It goes so quiet I expect crickets to start chirping. A zing of pure delight courses through me at Dominik’s very public support of me in direct opposition to my parents.
Despite the fact he absolutely hates that my job puts me in danger, he’s telling me that he fully supports my career.
It’s a defining moment for me.
It’s when I realize Dominik is worth risking heartbreak for.CHAPTER 22DominikAdmittedly, things have been going a little too smoothly in the playoffs. We wiped the floor with the Seattle Storm, and the Vancouver Flash didn’t put up a much better fight.
But the Demons are giving us a run for our money, and we’re on the eve of “do or die”. Tomorrow decides our fate on whether we’re able to pull ourselves together as a unified team to take the conference championship or if we go down in infamy as the “team that couldn’t”.
It’s a sad fact we sort of expected to take game five back in Phoenix, pulling out a conference final victory in front of the home crowd. But the Demons came out swinging hard, and we got our asses kicked 4-2.
Game six went back to Los Angeles and while it’s a lot harder to win on the road than at home, we felt—as a team—that we’d be able to grab victory by the horns.
That didn’t happen.
Once again, the Demons seemed to have some sort of mystical fire lit under their asses, along with decibel-busting fans who made so much noise we could barely hear inside their arena during all three periods. They edged us out of a victory, managing to tie the series up at three games apiece.
And now we’re back in Phoenix and tomorrow night, we’ll play game seven. Winner goes on to the Cup series… Loser goes on vacation until next season.
I’m nowhere near ready to go on vacation just yet.
So, in a final bid to make sure my team is as ready as they’ll ever be, I invited the players, coaches, and their significant others to my home for dinner. When I made the invitation that said “significant other,” I made sure to narrowly define it. It meant their spouse or someone they were close to. I didn’t want to prevent someone like Tacker from bringing Nora, but I didn’t want Wylde showing up with some puck bunny he picked up in a bar the previous night. I also clarified I wanted no other family members there. I wanted it intimate so I could have a final moment with my guys and as far as I’m concerned, the one person who is closest to my players and coaches are as much a part of this team as the ones on the payroll.