Page 61 of Code Violation

“No,” Mason confirms, an unmistakable bite to his tone.

I wince on Tristan’s behalf. Mason didn’t tell him, but his dad died when he was in college.

Next, Tristan turns to Will. “I know the deal with your parents. And my parents can’t even sit opposite each other at Christmas.” He throws his hands in the air. “So, what’s the point? Out of the four of us, only William ‘Everything Is Fucking Perfect’ Jones’s parents are still going strong. If you ask me, relationships are a waste of fucking time and energy.”

With that, Tristan spins on his heel and makes for his bench on the other side of the room.

Will thumbs over his shoulder. “Now do you see what I mean? That guy is a fucking asshole with a bad attitude.” He scoffs and walks back to his bench, where he starts getting padded up.

Mason scrubs a hand over his jaw, deep in thought. Tristan was out of order back there. Everyone knows my defenseman is going through heartbreak over Eloise, and that shit must’ve cut, never mind the painful reminder about his dad.

“You okay, man?” I ask, setting a firm palm on Mason’s shoulder.

He clears his throat, but doesn’t say anything.

“Stanton, you got a minute? Assistant Coach Richards is going to oversee the first part of practice.” Coach Callaghan’s gruff voice grabs my attention. Dressed in black track pants and a black Rogues hoodie, his dirty-blond hair curls around the edges of his white ball cap, the guy does not look impressed.

“Sure, Coach,” I reply, eyes flicking to Mason.

“Any idea what he wants?” Mason inquires, searching through his training bag.

I really want to ask him the latest on Eloise since he’s been so fucking quiet about it all, despite Tristan claiming that he brings her up “every ten minutes.”

I opt to keep quiet about it—the locker rooms aren’t the place for this conversation.

“Not a clue,” I eventually reply. “Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s an invite to Thanksgiving.”

A few minutes later, I’m sitting in front of a sour-faced coach, mentally trawling through my last few performances on the ice. They’ve all been pretty good.

So, why does he look so concerned?

“Thanks for ducking out of practice to speak with me,” Coach says, his voice friendlier than I anticipated. “There are a couple of items I wanted to go over with you that I didn’t think could wait.”

Coach is about to get into it when there’s a knock on his office door.

Theo Cavendish, owner of the Rogues, walks into the room without being invited. I assume he knew about this meeting as he takes a seat on the black leather couch set along the right wall behind me.

I swivel my chair so I can see Coach sitting behind his desk and the British billionaire with black hair and steely-gray eyes. Theo undoes the button on his dark gray suit jacket and crosses one leg over at the knee.

As always, he looks cocky and relaxed and barely gives either of us eye contact.

He isn’t the sole owner of the Rogues, but he does own the majority of the shareholding, making him predominantly the guy who calls the shots.

From his presence alone, I know this meeting just stepped up a gear.

Theo motions at Coach to continue, and I turn back to him.

For a split second, he keeps his eyes set on the owner before he clears his throat and focuses on the paperwork spread out on the desk below him.

“You’ve held the C since the Rogues were formed, Silas, so I won’t stress over how important it is that meetings like this one right here remain confidential until an official team statement is made.”

Oh. Shit.

“Denver Smith was officially transferred to the AHL team this morning, following the acquisition of Rhys Sharpe from the Toronto Bears.”

Theo could not look happier with himself. I have no idea how the trade of Rhys Sharpe went through since Toronto is a high-flying team and we’re struggling by comparison, but if anyone can negotiate a deal, it’s this guy wearing a smirk. With British roots and old money laced throughout his history, I know he possesses sway and persuasion beyond anything I’ve seen before in modern-day sports.

The guy intimidates even me, and that’s saying something since I’ve met a lot of influential people in my life, but none more mysterious than Theo.