Page 147 of The Obvious Check
Her cheeks flush at the compliment and she shifts from side to side.
“Cade, you’re freaking me out.”
I shake my head, laughing at the thoughts in my head.
I’ll be fine. This fight isn’t going to bethatbad. Luke wants to keep me on the hook. I’m no use dead.
I repeat the mantra in my head, the same lie I've been telling myself for days so I can focus on the right things. Winning this fight. Getting back at Luke. Protecting my family.
And coming home alive.
I let Madison go, forcing a smile as I motion toward the door. My arm brushes Savannah’s as we pass through it.
She doesn’t look at me once.
And I don’t blame her.
Leaning against the window, I watch the passing streetlights blur into streaks of gold as we drive toward what might be the stupidest decision of my life. No one's talking. There's nothing left to say. Everyone's already argued with me, told me I'm a fucking fool for doing this, but I’m more determined than ever.
I’m going to take Luke down once and for all.
Savannah is sitting next to me in the back seat, and she's refused to look at me since we left the apartment. Having Madison walk in on another of our fights wasn’t exactly how I pictured our goodbye before the fight going. If I’m being honest, I would’ve preferred her hands against the mirror while I took her from behind. It was the only place I hadn’t fucked her after last night’s ‘discussions,’ but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
Instead, Henry’s behind the wheel, driving us straight to the club where I plan to remind Luke exactly why he wanted me in his corner to begin with.
His fighters think they’ve got the upper hand. They see a guy who traded blood-stained basements for packed arenas and college ice. A pretty face playing puck instead of fists. They’re about to find out how stupid that assumption really is.
Yeah, I’ve been out of the underground circuit for over a year. Doesn’t mean I’ve gone soft. Hell no. Hockey’s just a different kind of war. Faster. Colder. Legal. But at its core? It’s still violence.
Every shoulder check. Every fight in front of the crease. Every time some prick takes a cheap shot at one of my guys, I fight. Just with a helmet and a jersey instead of wrapped knuckles and concrete floors.
I'm not going there to just survive. I'm going there to win, get Luke off Savannah's back, and then destroy him from the inside. This is just the opening move in a game he doesn't even know we're playing yet.
Henry's thumbs drum against the steering wheel as he bops along to some sugary Bailey Hill track. It's light, upbeat, certainly not the type of music I'd usually listen to when I'm trying to get in the zone. But fuck it, maybe I need something different tonight.
“Will you turn that shit down?” Dash grumbles from the passenger seat, reaching over to do it himself.
“S-sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood since everyone's acting like we're driving to a funeral.”
They start to bicker, but I tune them out. I'm too focused on Savannah, too concerned about the way she's holding herself like she might shatter if she moves wrong.
I reach across the seat and place my hand over hers. When she doesn't pull away, when she actually laces her fingers through mine, my heart clenches. The move was supposed to reassure her, but instead, it anchors me, reminds me what I'm fighting for.
I glance at her out of the corner of my eye and see everything I fell in love with before I ever got the chance to hold her like this. Her strength, even when she's terrified. Her defiance, even whenshe's trying to protect me from myself. Her loyalty, even when I'm making it impossible for her to stand by me.
She's everything worth fighting for.
“I wish you'd stayed at home with Madison,” I say, my voice low enough for only her to hear.
She turns to me instantly, her brows knitting together in that stubborn expression I know so well. “When you're fighting for me? I can't just sit there, playing pretend with your sister while I wonder if you are okay. I had to come because I'm fighting for you just as much.”
My chest tightens as I look at my wife, who's willing to walk into this nightmare with me even when she doesn't have to. Even when every fiber of my being wished she'd stayed safe at home, curled up with Stanley and Madison, far away from Luke's toxic world.
But that's Savannah. She doesn't run when things get ugly. She stands and fights.
Henry clears his throat, catching my attention in the rearview mirror for a split second before pulling into the club parking lot. “Are you sure about this, Cade?”
I look up, meeting his worried gaze through the mirror, and I don't hesitate. “Yes.”
