Page 57 of Tye

Demi’s eyes widened, and she smiled at me. “That would be wonderful!”

“Ice, I want a word,” Dad called, sticking his head into the room.

“Coming,” I replied. I kissed Demi one more time and walked to Dad’s study.

When I got there, I was surprised to see Axel, Spike, and Ace were also there.

“Take a seat, son,” Dad said, and I did so warily.

“You’ve got an issue,” Spike announced.

“I have?” I asked.

“Yeah. You work in Chicago and travel from October to April unless you make the cup, which would be longer. Other than that, you’re here and a prospect. Demi trains horses at the ranch, which means her business isn’t portable. What ya gonna do?” Spike demanded.

“We haven’t discussed that yet, but I’m not asking Demi to give up the jobs she loves,” I replied.

Dad nodded. “You had plans, Ice. What were they?”

“I wanted to play for another nine years and start a career coaching kids in my scholarships. But I know Demi’s life is four hours away. I’m not sure what the solution is yet, but we will find one. I’ll quit playing if I have to,” I answered honestly.

Dad sent Spike an ‘I told you so’ glare, and Spike huffed.

“And Rage?” Spike asked.

“I do not want to give it up. Nomad is an idea we could consider,” I suggested.

“Okay, son. Go back to what you were doing,” Dad ordered, and I got to my feet.

I gave Spike a dark stare. “Won’t give up Demi. I’d rather lose everything than her.”

“Understood,” Spike replied.

I left the room wondering what the hell that had been about.

???

The alarm went off that afternoon at two p.m.

Everyone moved. Security snapped into place; Mom got the kids down into the safe room and locked them in. Carmine and Harley also got their girls in there too, alongside Demi’s family, who protested all the way. Dad, Carmine, Christian, Harley, and I grabbed weapons and prepared to defend our home.

“What do we have, Liz?” Dad asked as we inserted earpieces Matthias had delivered.

“Movement in the trees. A single person but headed straight for us,” she replied from the camera room. “Motion sensors are going nuts.”

“Not Fury then,” I said.

“No, and I just captured an image, I’ll clear it up,” Liz responded as we waited by the front door.

“Looks like your problem has had enough of pissing around. That’s Keiran West, and he is armed. He’s got on a jacket with dynamite strapped to it, and I can see a gun in his waistband,” Liz replied moments later.

“We can’t let him close to the Hall. Depending on how much he has, the motherfucker could do some major damage,” Dad said.

“Let’s end this. I’m tired of being hunted,” I agreed.

“Your call, son.”

I opened the door and asked Liz where West was. He was coming in from the direction of my ice rink. It was easy to set up an ambush and wait. Security surrounded us as well. All armed. The agreement was that we didn’t let West get near the Hall and to take the kill shot if we had to.