Las Vegas Sidewinders: Dominic (26 page)

“How convenient.” Toli shook
his head. “Everyone stepped up to protect you, so all you had to do was protect
her
, but you were so wrapped in yourself that you forgot about the most
important thing in the world—the woman who helped you get back to where you
are.”

“I didn’t forget shit!” Dom
spat at him, his fists clenched at his sides.

“You hurt her,” Toli said,
slowly dropping his bag. “And I warned you not to hurt her. I
told
you I
would be unhappy if you did.”

“What the fuck does that
mean?” Dom ground out. “You think you’re gonna take me on?”

“No one is taking anyone
on,” Cody tried to step between them but neither man moved. “Dammit, guys, this
is not the place!”

“Tell me where she is!” Dom
yelled, shoving Toli backwards. Toli came back fast, catching Dom around the
middle and knocking him to the ground. Dom was six-five and two hundred and
thirty-five pounds of pure muscle; Toli was six-two and two hundred pounds, but
he was fast and strong. They rolled over on the dressing room floor, swinging
wildly. Dom connected with Toli’s jaw, but Toli came back with a blow to the
chest that had Dom gasping for air.

“Dammit, stop it!” Cody
grabbed for Toli and Drake stepped in to pull Dom back. Drake was probably the
only guy on the team who could hold Dom back, and they did a short dance as Dom
struggled to get away.

“
What the fuck
?”
Coach Barnett stepped into the dressing room, his eyes blazing angrily. “Both
of you—in my office now!” He turned on his heel after glowering at them.

Dom and Toli followed, Toli
wiping blood from his lip and Dom holding his side. They didn’t look at each
other as they walked, and then stood on opposite ends of the room as Coach
Barnett slammed the door to his office.

“Are you fucking kidding
me?” he yelled, looking between them. “I thought the trouble on this team would
be Karl kicking the snot out of Marco—not the two of you! You want to tell me
what
the fuck
is going on?”

Neither of them spoke and
Brad raised an eyebrow. “This is about Molly.”

Again, no one spoke and Brad
slammed his hand down on his desk angrily. “Somebody better start talking or I
swear to God the two of you will be doing laps Herb Brooks style!” The
reference to the 1980 US Olympic team didn’t seem to faze either of them.

The two men glanced at each
other and finally Toli spoke. “It’s nothing. Dom and Molly had a fight and he
thinks I’m trying to steal her, but I am not.”

Dom stood stone-faced, still
breathing hard.

“Dom, you gonna speak up or
do laps until next week?”

“What do you want me to
say?” he snapped. “Apparently Molly’s mad at me, but no one will tell me what I
did wrong!”

“And you brought this to
work?” Brad rolled his eyes. “Dom, I thought you were good?”

“I’m good!” he practically
snarled. “I just want to know where my girl is.”

Brad glanced at Toli. “Toli,
knock it off—this isn’t high school. Don’t get involved in their relationship.”

“I’m not involved like he
thinks,” he said seriously. “They had a fight and she came to me because she
didn’t think she could go to him. She asked me not to tell him where she is and
I’m trying to be there for her because she has no idea how to handle being in
the middle of all this bullshit in the media. If Dom hadn’t been so busy thinking
about his career and how he looks to the NHL, maybe he would have been there
for her instead of me.” He shook his head. “She doesn’t love me, Dom—she loves
you—but you hurt her and I’ll be damned if I abandon her in the middle of all
this. I would never go out with your girl behind your back—you should know
that.”

For a while no one said
anything and Dom finally sank into a chair. “I don’t know what I did,” he said.
“I swear to God, I thought she needed time to rest and let the worst of this
blow over. She told me—all of us—to go out and play, so that’s what I did.”

“That was
before
they
called her a whore on TV,” Toli interjected.

Dom blanched, realizing how
ridiculous he sounded right now. God, he’d fucked this up royally. He rubbed
his hands down his face and sighed.

“So are you two okay?” Coach
Barnett shook his head. “Dom, you can’t be doing this shit. I’m cutting you
some slack because the last few days have been hell, but this is it. You
understand me?”

“Yeah, Coach.”

“Will you tell Dom where she
is, Toli?” Coach Barnett asked.

“I cannot.” Toli shook his
head. “If I betray her trust, she will run from me too, and then what will we
do? She has to have someone who has her back right now—” Dom started to
interrupt, but Toli stopped him. “Right now, I’m all she has—if I betray her,
she will be alone.”

For a moment they were
quiet. “Toli—thirty laps. Go.” Brad motioned with his head and Toli headed out.

Dom started to get up but
Brad held up his hand. “Listen to me. As your coach, I have to give you thirty
laps just like I gave him. But as your friend, you need to get your head out of
your ass and fix things with Molly.”

“I don’t know where she is
or how to get her to listen! I’ve called and texted a hundred times.”

“You’re a smart guy with
money—use your resources, son.”

Dom nodded wearily. “What
happens if she doesn’t want me back?”

“She will,” he said. “You
just need to prove to her that you’re going to step up to the plate—NHL or not.
This wasn’t on you, Dom. You did a good thing; you’re not in trouble with the
league.”

“Fuck.” He was frustrated.

“You’re still holding your
stomach. You all right? Can you skate?”

Dom gave him a wary smile.
“A head butt from a Russian isn’t enough to keep me down, Coach.”

Brad just shook his head.
“Go.”

Lying on the cool,
comfortable bed, Molly was grateful to be able to rest. She and Mack had flown
in this morning and even with the drugs she’d been in pain. They arrived in
Chicago and Mack immediately checked her into the private clinic where she did
surgery and her patients subsequently recuperated. Molly was tired and sore,
her face throbbing and her ribs killing her. She started to doze off almost
instantly, even as Mack checked her temperature.

“You have a fever,” she
murmured. “I’m going to start an IV and get you on a low dose of antibiotics.
If the fever continues, I may have to call in someone else. We were concerned
about internal bleeding, but I don’t have the equipment for that kind of thing
here.”

Molly sighed, too miserable
to do anything but nod.

“Molly, if I have to take
you to a regular hospital, there will be bills.”

“I know. I talked to my
lawyer yesterday and he said I’ll probably be getting a lot more than what we
originally thought since Tim is being prosecuted, so he’ll do a letter for me
saying that the money will be coming, it just may take a while.”

“Okay.” Mack hesitated. “Are
you sure you want to leave things like this?”

“With Dom, you mean?”

“With everyone. You left
your whole life behind, without a backward glance. That can’t feel good, and although
Dom let you down, I don’t believe he doesn’t love you.”

“I don’t know what I
believe,” Molly whispered. “I trusted him and thought he was going to be my
everything—then he just ducked for cover when the shit hit the fan.”

“I think he’s a little gun-shy.”

“I know he is, but at the
end of the day, his career and his reputation were more important than me, and
I can’t live like that.”

“I don’t blame you, but I
also don’t think you should write Dom off just yet.”

“I feel so crappy right now
I can’t even think about him.” Molly closed her eyes and Mack felt her
forehead.

“You’re really warm. I’m
going to start the IV and let’s see how you feel in a few hours.”

“Okay.”

Mack worked quickly and
efficiently, all the while thinking about her options. Molly needed to have
someone here with her. This wasn’t a simple plastic surgery case, and while
Mack was happy to help someone in need, she was beginning to think Molly’s
injuries might be more serious than they’d first thought. Although she’d seemed
okay in Las Vegas, now it was looking like something else was happening. Her
kidneys had been severely bruised and Mack wracked her brain trying to think of
a nephrologist she knew here in Chicago. She knew of a few, but no one she was
close to and Molly’s lack of insurance could be a problem. She understood her
need to be independent after everything that had happened, but this wasn’t a
time to be proud.

Reluctantly, she went down
to her office and picked up the phone. She might regret this, but she wasn’t
sure she had a choice.

The locker room was quiet
after their morning skate on Friday. San Jose would be in town tonight for the
next pre-season game, and the team was trying to stay focused on keeping up
their winning streak. Karl would be in goal tonight, and Marco was stomping
around the room in a snit. Toli and Dom were keeping their distance, making the
vibe in the room different than their first two games. Cody watched them with
concern, wondering how they were going to play together with the tangible
friction between them. The others were picking up on it too, and that wasn’t
good.

Drake was the first one
dressed and he looked at Cody. “Hey, you got a minute?”

“Sure.” Cody followed him
out into the hallway where Drake paced restlessly.

“Look,” he said. “There’s a
situation.”

“What’s going on?” Cody
looked worried.

“It’s Molly.”

“You heard from her?”

He sighed. “She’s with my
sister and she’s had a complication. I don’t know who to tell. Mack is between
a rock and a hard place—she thinks Molly might need surgery and without insurance…”
His voice trailed off.

“Shit.” Cody groaned.

“Molly doesn’t know she told
me—technically, she’s breached patient confidentiality but it’s either that or
Molly might die.”

“Is it that bad?” Cody’s
eyes widened.

Drake nodded miserably. “She
spiked a fever yesterday and today they had to admit her to the hospital. They
think maybe her kidney has disconnected from a blood vessel or something.
Mack’s been trying to find a surgeon who’ll take her pro bono.”

“Dom needs to know,” Cody
said without hesitation. “This ends now.” He turned and went back into the
locker room. “Dom. Toli. Now.” He turned and walked back out again, heading to
Coach Barnett’s office.

“What’s going on?” Dom
demanded.

Cody didn’t say anything
until they were in the office. Coach looked up in irritation, but Cody shook
his head slightly. He shut the door and looked at them. “Okay, here’s the deal.
Molly’s taken a turn for the worse, and she can’t get a surgeon to see her
because she doesn’t have insurance. You two are going to have to figure this
shit out, because Molly’s in trouble.”

“She hasn’t called me!” Toli
said before Dom could react. “Toli would have sent money—you know that!”

“How the hell do you know
this?” Dom demanded of Cody.

“Drake heard from Mack.”

There was a moment of
silence before Dom spoke. “Tell Drake to give his sister whatever money she
needs and I’ll pay him back.” Dom said. “Is she in Chicago?”

Cody nodded.

“Do you know where,
exactly?”

“No, but we can find out.”

Dom turned to Coach Barnett.
“I have to go, Coach. She needs me and I’m going to be there.”

Brad nodded. “Go.”

Dom looked at Toli. “I’ll
tell her that you kept her secret.”

Toli made a slight motion
with his head. “Take care of her,” was all he said.

Dom turned and left the
room.

Arriving at the airport in
Chicago late that evening, Dom rented a car and drove to the address Mack had
given him earlier. He had no idea what he was going to say to Molly, but he had
to figure it out. Being without her even these few days had been miserable.
He’d been so angry and frustrated, both with her and with himself, he didn’t
even know what to do anymore. The idea that she believed he would pick his
career over her was crazy; he didn’t understand how she got that idea. Yes,
he’d wanted to lay low but not because he didn’t want to stick up for her. In
fact, it was quite the opposite; his going public about their relationship
would only confirm to closed-minded people that she had technically been
cheating on Tim. Everything Tim did to her would be forgotten amid the reality
that she’d been cheating. However, he’d taken steps to rectify the situation
before he’d left Las Vegas, thanks to Kate.

He pulled up to the hospital
and hesitated slightly before sending a text. Then he walked into the building.
Mack was waiting for him as she’d promised and he was surprised to see how
tired she looked.