Skating Towards Danger: A Mafia Hockey Romance – Dante’s Book (Mafia Hockey Series 2)

I take steady breaths as I stake backward, trying to concentrate on the music and the feeling of the cold soaking into me – trying but failing.

I’m struggling.

The ice isn’t centering me like it used to, not because I’m in danger, because I’m not anymore. Dante says I’m safe and I believe him. Not only is there a guard at every entry point at the arena, but the man who wanted me is now dead, and he admitted he was the one who killed him.

I still don’t know how I feel about it, and my head is still a raging mess, the kind of mess that makes me want to run. He’s being open and honest, something every girl asks of their partner. He’s not keeping me in the dark, and I’m grateful I am, but so many questions keep flittering through my mind.

How deep was my dad?

Did my momma know?

Would Royal have been a made man?

Would I have had to marry someone else of my father’s choosing?

If I had been promised to Jose, would my family still be alive today?

Would Dante still have chosen me if he wasn’t forced to watch out for me?

So many questions filling my mind and searching stuff up on the internet is not helping. I need answers and I don’t think I can give my all to Dante until I have them but I just don’t know if I’m ready for them.

I take a deep breath and pick up speed, adamant about quieting my mind. I swing my arms and hips before I jump and spin midair, then land on my left foot, my body slightly bent over, my arms out beside me skating backwards. I twist and skate forward, moving my arms to the music as I toe my feet before me.

I’ve barely spoken to Dante, especially since I found out he moved me into his apartment and ended my lease early with Tanner and honestly, I don’t know if I’m pleased about that or pissed, or maybe both.

I hated living with Tanner but I also didn’t want to use the money my father left me, adamant to invest it in a charity for underprivileged kids and Dante wanted me living with him despite us not being together for long.

Something about a wife living with her husband.

Wife…

I still can’t get used to the fact that I am a wife, me, the person who didn’t want to live, a wife, married without my knowledge, married for love apparently.

I swallow hard and skate faster, trying to focus before perfecting the axel jump, once, twice, three times while chastising myself for thinking of Dante yet again and what he did behind my back.

He says it wasn’t just to protect me, he says he loves me and wants me for the rest of his life but it hasn’t even been six months. Surely, he can’t know I’m always his, that I’m his one when he has a pick of women, then again, what do I know? The thought of not having him in my life sends me into a panic.

Deep in my gut, I know he’s my future, so who am I to question if he knows I’m his?

But can I trust him, though?

I squeeze my eyes tight and get down on one knee, just keeping it from touching the ice and bring my left arm back, arching a little and tilting my head to the side as I glide along the ice. I get myself back up and skate forward before jumping around so that I’m skating backward.

I’m not scared of him like I thought I’d be. In fact, I feel nothing but safety when I’m in his orbit, but that could mean I’m just an idiot.

I skid to a stop, spraying ice and breathe hard as frustration builds inside me.

I can’t concentrate, and it’s infuriating.

Why can’t I quiet my mind?

“I forgot how amazing you looked on the ice peanut…”

I sigh at Uncle Rocco’s voice and look down as I put my hands on my hips.

That is probably why.

I felt him when he walked into the rink an hour ago. I knew it wasn’t Dante because he’s at an away game, and I did a quick side eye after the whole gun thing, which confirmed it was my uncle, whom I had dodged for two weeks, as well as Aunt Tyra.

I can understand keeping me in the dark for a few years after my parents died, but I’m nearly twenty-three, and I was almost killed all because he didn’t tell me the truth. I wasn’t aware of my surroundings. I wasn’t aware that I was in danger.

“Dante requested that I give you time and it’s been two weeks, Paige. We need to talk, sweetheart. Your aunt and I miss you,” he continues, and I look his way.

His gray eyes are full of sadness, and I hate it, which is probably why my feet have decided to pull me towards him. He holds his arm out when I get near, and I grab it, using him as a crutch as I climb off the ice. He passes me my guards, and I quickly put them on, then make my way to the stands where my bag is and take a seat.

Uncle Rocco sits next to me as he passes me a water bottle. I mumble, “Thanks,” before taking a large swig.

“You’re going to blow everyone away with this tribute, Paige. You haven’t lost your touch at all,” Uncle Rocco says, breaking the ice.

I shrug slightly and admit, “I feel like I’m not good enough after I quit, that I’ll let Momma down.”

“Your mother, peanut, would be so proud of you,” he says, and I look his way with a raised brow because, really?

I lost my virginity to my teacher, for Christ’s sake.

Uncle Rocco smiles and admits, “Anyone in your position would have lost themselves, Paige. You were struggling with survivors’ guilt and didn’t know how to handle it. Heck, your aunt and I didn’t know how to handle it.”

I look forward, pick up the water bottle, and reassure him, “You did the best you could, Uncle Rocco. I was lost and hurt, but you and Aunt Tyra never gave up. You were always there for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have you both in my life.”

“Even though I spent years lying to you?” he asks quietly.

I hum a little and admit, “Even though…You and Aunt Tyra kept me above water,” I look at him, “I was drowning Uncle Rocco. I skipped school, cut my hair off, tried slicing my wrists, and did drugs and things with a teacher that I regret every single day,” I look back at the ice, “You made sure I didn’t drown through all of that.”noveldrama

Uncle Rocco sighs and admits, “I should have told you…”

I nod and agree, “Yeah, you should have. I had a bounty on my head, and I had no idea, and now I’m questioning everything about myself and my family.”

“Well, first of all, you, my dear niece, are Paige Marino, a badass who has overcome more than anyone should,” he says firmly, but I snort at the ‘Marino’ bit. He continues, “As for our family, ask me anything, and I swear I’ll tell you everything you want to know, I won’t keep anything from you.”

I swallow hard and lean back in the seat.

Do I want to know?

Well, if I want to try and move forward I think I need to know don’t I?

I chew my bottom lip and decide to start with the easy question: “Did Momma know?”

Uncle Rocco hums a “yes,” and I nod. He says, “She loved your father for who he was, not for what our family background was, and Peter promised to keep her and whatever children they may have out of family life.”

“So Royal never would have joined then?” I confirm, and he admits, “He would have been given the choice when he turned eighteen, unlike myself and your father, heck, even Dante and Roman. We didn’t get that choice. The famiglia was to come first, and we were to do what was expected of us, but your father wouldn’t do that to Royal.”

I swallow and ask, “And me?”

“Paige, look at me,” he demands gently, and I look at him. He gives me a reassuring smile and promises, “Your father would have never sold you for an alliance, ever. You wanted to skate, and that is what he had you focus on and he was adamant that you’d marry for love. This whole Dante thing, look, I knew you wouldn’t allow Rhett to watch over you, that you’d get suspicious, so I thought Dante would have been the easier option, especially since he was going to be at the rink anyhow.”

“He was reluctant,” I confirm, and my uncle agrees.

“He was,” he admits, “he just wanted to skate. Hockey was what he wanted to focus on, but he agreed to keep an eye on you for me.”

“He tried to mess with my skating times,” I whisper, and Uncle Rocco chuckles a little and replies, “Because he knew you were his one, and he wanted to punish you.”

I look at him with furrowed brows, and he smiles and explains, “The Marino men when they meet the woman they know they’re going to spend the rest of their life with, they try to fight it. Roman turned the whole college against Morgan to keep her away from him when they first met, only to then put her first to have her with their team,” I snort, “Dante, well, I didn’t expect him to fall for you, peanut, he was a player. I thought he’d keep you safe, that you’d be unaware of our lifestyle, and everything would be okay, but instead, he fell in love with you.”

I look down at his words, wanting to believe them but just can’t, and he sighs, “Paige, he does love you, he wouldn’t have signed the marriage license if he didn’t. All his life, he’s been fighting against what is to come of him while ensuring his brother gets to live his life before taking over from Lorenzo. If there were no feelings involved on his end, those papers wouldn’t have been signed, he wouldn’t have moved your belongings to his place, a place no woman except for family have been, and he most certainly wouldn’t have guards on you. He loves you, sweetheart, so if you can take anything from all this, take that information but now you need to see if you can live with what he has to do every day.”

I chew my bottom lip, then retort, “What, skate?”

He chuckles, “You know that isn’t what I meant, Paige.”

I nod and admit, “I’m not scared of him, he admitted to killing Andrew, the manager at the Diner who I was seeing for a few months to see if I was ready to begin a relationship. He tried to attack me after he was fired, and I fought back before Dante showed up.”

“But can you live with him doing that every day, peanut?” he asks, and I shrug.

“I haven’t thought about it,” I lie, and he chuckles, seeing right through me like a man who raised me would.

“Then why are you here and not in Chicago, where Dante is ready to help his team enter the semi-finals?” he calls me out, and I sigh.

“I love him,” I admit, “I do, I just, I’ve found out he was supposed just to watch me, finding out my family died because my father wouldn’t sell me and now I don’t feel like I even know who I am right now.”

“Paige,” he cuts off my ramblings, “you were your father’s greatest treasure, something you need to understand. It wouldn’t have mattered what would have been threatened, he was never going to allow that man to have you,” he says firmly, and my tears fall as he rasps, “Your father didn’t want you to have this kind of life Paige, and if I thought explaining who he was to the famiglia would have helped your mental state, I would have told you instantly I just, the older you got, the easier it was to keep you in the dark because you were trying to get back on track.”

I shake my head and deny, “I wasn’t on track, Uncle Rocco. I was stuck, drowning in guilt, and Dante brought me out of it. He brought back my passion for skating without feeling guilty,” I swallow, “I don’t know how I would have reacted if you’d told me growing up. A part of me believes it would have knocked me out of my funk, that I’d believe the crash wasn’t my fault, and another part of me thinks I would have killed myself. I-I just, I don’t know… I never thought this world was real, never thought about it, and I’m not scared, which is good, I guess, but I’m just confused.”

Uncle Rocco is silent momentarily before he wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into him. I go automatically and put my head on his shoulder.

“You’re allowed to be confused, you’re allowed to be hurt and angry, but what I won’t allow you to do, my sweet girl, is push Dante away. That man, I have never seen him so in love. He’s never given a woman a second glance, never invited them back to his apartment or introduced them to his family. Yeah, I get it, I was the reason you met him, but he sweetheart took you to meet his new nephew, something I wasn’t aware of until last week,” he rasps, “Your father did what he thought was right, I did what I thought was for the best, keeping a promise to him but Dante, he has done everything for you after he stopped pushing you away which was a lot sooner than what Roman did with Morgan.”

He kisses my head, and I close my eyes, allowing my tears to fall as he whispers, “Don’t let that man go, don’t let your happiness go. Live for yourself, live for him, live for your parents and Royal, and live for me because life without you, Paige, is no life. And know this, I will always have your back, and so will the famiglia which is a family so big, you’ll be begging for some peace and quiet in no time. Now, shall I get the private jet ready?”