Victor (Chicago Blaze 3)

“Hey, man. I’m so glad you came by,” he says.

“I’ve been thinking of you and wanting to come by, but I actually came to ask your advice on something,” I say sheepishly.

“Perfect. Anything to get my mind off of things. Come on in.”

I step into the stone-floored foyer, and he leads the way into the sunny kitchen, done in dark wood and light granite.

“Water or beer?” he offers.

“Water would be good, thanks.”

We both twist the caps off bottles of water and I ask him how he’s doing.

“I’m okay,” he says, shrugging. “Planning to come back next week, I think.”

“Great. We miss you.”

He nods. “I need something to do with myself. The hardest times are when I’m just alone here with the memories.”

“Is it hard being here in the house?”

“Depends what day you ask me.” He smiles sadly. “Sometimes it’s overwhelming. Other times, it’s all I have left of her and there’s nowhere else I want to be.”

“She was the best of the best, Jonah. I’m so sorry she’s gone.”

Tears well in his eyes. “Thanks, man.” He clears his throat. “Now tell me what’s going on with you. How bad can things be if you need advice from a sad bastard like me?”

“Fairly bad,” I concede, grinning. “Lindy says hello, by the way.”

He turns serious. “I like her, Vic. So did Lily. Don’t fuck it up.”

“I’m doing my best.”

“Good.”

“I guess that’s…sort of what led me here.”

“Let’s go sit down.”

Jonah leads the way to his study, which is really just a man cave of hockey memorabilia and leather furniture. He sits down on one navy sofa, and I take a seat on a matching one across from it.

Now that I’ve talked to Lindy about my past, I don’t feel quite as sick with nerves about telling Jonah. I trust him; he’s like family. But he’s also my peer and teammate, and I don’t like the thought of him knowing. I’m up against a wall, though.

“Bottom line, I guess, is that I’m being blackmailed,” I start. “I know you’re brother’s a detective for the Chicago PD and I’m wondering if he might be able to help.”

Jonah furrows his brow with concern. “Blackmailed over what?”

I take a deep breath. “Photos.”

“Dick pics?” He grins. “Say no more, brother.”

“No.” I wring my hands in my lap, my tone somber. “I mean photos from when I was a kid.”

“I don’t understand.”

Fuck, this is hard. I wish Lindy was next to me right now.

“My mom was a deadbeat loser who needed money for drugs,” I say flatly. “She let men…”

“Oh, Christ.” Jonah runs a hand through his longish hair. “Vic, I’m sorry, man.”

“The last thing in the world I wanted was for anyone to know.” My voice shakes as I speak. “But this guy, who has photos…he’s threatening to release them if I don’t pay him, and the payments just keep getting higher and more frequent.”

“I hope you know this is all on him.” Jonah levels a serious look at me. “You were a victim, of both him and your mom. He deserves to have his nuts removed with pliers. You know that, right?”

I nod. “In my head, I do. I’m working on it. Please keep this between us. Anton and Luca don’t know. No one knows, except Lindy.”

“One hundred percent, it won’t leave this room,” Jonah promises.

“Thanks.”

“Logan works in a sex crimes unit. If you’re willing to go after this guy, I know he’ll do it.”

I scrub a hand down my face. “I want to, but I’m so worried about it getting out.”

“Man, you were a kid. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Yeah, but you know hockey players. I don’t want to hear trash talk about it or have people look at me like I’m a fucking freak show.”

Jonah shifts in his seat, agitated. “I’m telling you right now, anyone who talked trash about this would feel my fucking wrath. I know you feel like you’re all alone, but lots of people have gone through this or know someone who has. You don’t realize how many people are fighting their own demons that you know nothing about.”

I nod. “I get that, and I want to be strong enough to stand up to this guy publicly, but--”

Jonah interrupts. “Lily was pregnant.”

I’m stunned silent.

“Just a few weeks along. We tried hard for so long. And I wouldn’t tell you this if I didn’t know it would be completely okay with her, but one of the reasons the doctors weren’t sure if we could get pregnant was because Lily was molested as a kid. Bad stuff. It left her scarred inside. Like physically, she was permanently damaged.”

“My God. Lily?”

Jonah nods. “It was a long road for her, dealing with all of it. And the pregnancy was a big deal for her, not just because we wanted kids so bad, but because she felt like she had defied that asshole who hurt her. She wouldn’t let him take what meant so much to her, and that was the chance to be a mother.” He chokes up.