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He’d called the Dame, told her everything, and quit. Because of his father’s corruption. It was such a typical Ren thing to do. Sacrifice himself and walk away.

But it couldn’t be true. Zoe had said it was a rumor . . .

“Shit.” I pushed off the ice, dropped onto a bench, and tore at my skate’s laces. No, no, no. Just a rumor. I had to get to him, fast, before that rumor became fact.

I ditched the skates, pulled on my shoes, and bolted.

“Cam, your skates!?!” Zoe called.

Outside the rink, I tried Ren’s number again. Straight to voicemail. He was probably in a meeting, that was all. A team meeting. Yeah, no need to panic.

Where was the GB team based? Building C. I hopped on a bus, and tried his number again and again until I reached the admin zone. Building C . . . I bolted up the path and in through the front doors. “Team GB?” I asked the woman at the front desk.

“Along the corridor, third door on your right.”

“Thanks.” I didn’t run, but I did walk damn fast down the hall. I stopped outside the door. Sounds of talking came from inside. I knocked, hard, then pushed it open without waiting for the okay. The team were there in their red, white, and blue colors. But no Ren, or Tamsyn. “Uh, hey . . . Ren and Tamsyn are . . .”

I was met with blank faces and some nervous glances.

“You,” a deep, male voice said, from outside in the hall. I stepped back, out of the room.

Goro Hasegawa strode toward me, his face set with hot anger. “You’re the reason my son quit.” He pointed, then slammed a lanyard into my chest. I caught it as it dropped and looked down. Ren’s classic stoic face stared back from the ID.

Ren’s lanyard?

“Ren really quit?” I almost didn’t hear my own voice over the sound of my racing heart.

Goro sneered, inches from my face. “You will never be worthy of an Olympic medal, boy.”

It wasn’t often I was speechless. But I had no idea what to say to Ren’s father as he came for me with the full force of his rage on display.

“Where’s Ren?” I asked, stepping back and shoving the lanyard into my pocket.

“I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew.” He came forward, towering over me. “How dare you fill my son’s head with ideas.”

Ideas? I didn’t have time for this bigoted idiot. If Ren had quit, I had to find him, and fast, before he did something stupid, like leave.

Which was why he wasn’t answering his phone . . .

Oh, fuck no.

I had to find him now.

I turned away from Goro. His hand came down on my arm and gripped it hard. He yanked me back and sneered. “I will see to it you never compete in ice dance again.”

I tore my arm free of him and glared. “You tried that. It didn’t stick.”

“What?”

“You haven’t been told yet? Your bullshit lies have been called out. The panel cleared me, and now they’re coming after you.”

“They can’t . . . Don’t be absurd,” he blustered. “Why would they come for me?”

He didn’t see it, didn’t see the damage he’d done. Ren’s life, my chance at the Olympics, Tamsyn and Zoe . . . the destruction he’d wrought just to potentially give Ren a step up, and he’d driven his own son away in the process. I almost pitied Goro Hasegawa. What a miserable life he must have had to turn that misery onto so many others.

“You know, Ren deserves so much more than a man like you for his dad. He skates as well as he does despite your help, help he doesn’t even want. Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of before they send security. Nobody wants you here, Hasegawa.”

“There’s no evidence I’ve done anything⁠—”