Las Vegas Sidewinders: Dominic (24 page)

There was speculation that
there was a romance between Toli and Molly, and for the time being Dom was okay
with that. The people that mattered knew the truth, and after all the trouble
Dom had been in with the NHL, it seemed easier to let Toli take the heat. Coach
Barnett had been firm with the press, saying that there would be no questions
about the incident before the game and that they would make statements
afterwards.

In the meantime, Dom had
spoken to Molly on the phone an hour ago, and though she’d said all the right
things, he could hear something in her voice that he couldn’t quite put his
finger on. When he’d questioned Suze, she’d demurred as well, and he figured
she couldn’t tell him while she was with Molly. It bothered him, but not too
much, because he would be going back to the hospital as soon as they finished
here. Molly was most likely feeling insecure about the injuries to her face,
and he was just going to have to remind her how much he loved her.

The game was over before he
knew it, and Dom barely remembered scoring the team’s first goal or had a
chance to enjoy the camaraderie in the locker room after they sent the Kings
home with a 4-2 loss. Drake, Cody and Zakk had all scored as well, so they were
a happy group until they sat through what felt like hours of interviews with
the press. Dom was surprised at how invested the media was in hearing Molly’s
story, and he quickly realized she wouldn’t like the way it was starting to
spin. She wasn’t just a victim; she was also possibly to blame. After all, a
woman who was dating a professional hockey player while still married to
someone else had undoubtedly done something to antagonize a decorated police
officer. Listening as reporters asked Toli question after question, Dom knew he
had to get out of there before he lost his temper.

Gathering up his things, he
went out the back door of the arena and got into his car. He drove straight to
the hospital, still wearing the suit he was required to wear for press
conferences. He left his jacket in the car and rolled up the sleeves of his
dress shirt. He was coming down off the high of winning the game, and the press
conference had left him with a headache. Part of him just wanted to take Molly
and run away to protect her from all of this, but that wasn’t in the cards. He
had a career and they had a life here. This was home now, and he really didn’t
want to leave. He just hoped Molly still felt that way after she got wind of
everything being said about her. Though Toli had handled everything
beautifully, the fact that she was still technically married had been brought
up multiple times.

She was sitting up in bed
when he came in, and he leaned over to kiss her. He greeted Sergei and Suze,
and asked them to leave the two of them alone for a little while. They were
happy to comply and Dom took her hand as soon as they left.

“Hi.” Molly gave him a weak
smile. “You were good tonight. What a great game.”

“It was pretty great,” he
agreed.

“What’s wrong?” she asked
him, noting the tired look in his eyes and the way he seemed to be avoiding her
gaze. “Dom?”

“Have you had the TV on?” he
asked.

“We turned it off after the
game. Why?”

“There’s just been a lot in
the press about… everything that happened.”

“You mean about me?” She
blinked up at him.

“Yeah.” He swallowed.

“Dom, just tell me.” She met
his eyes squarely.

“It’s just, you know,
everything about you and Tim is all over the press.”

“Is the NHL mad at you?”

“No.” He shook his head. “In
fact, I’m hardly involved at all. This is all on Toli and he’s been great,
but…”

“But what?” She had a bad
feeling about this conversation and she squeezed his hand. “Dom, tell me.”

“The press has you under a
lot of scrutiny—and you know how the media can be.”

“I don’t actually,” she said
slowly. “I mean, I know they sensationalize a lot of stuff with celebrities,
but what part of my story is like that?”

“You’re not divorced and
you’re dating a professional athlete. No wonder Tim lost his mind. Maybe you’ve
done this before and the poor guy had just had enough. Then you got involved
with your boyfriend’s brother too.” He looked at her guiltily.

Molly’s mouth fell open. For
a moment she couldn’t even process what he was saying. Then her eyes narrowed.
“Are you kidding me?” Her heart was hammering in her chest as she stared at
him. “They’re making me out as some whore who drove her husband to beat her?”

“Toli made it clear that
wasn’t the case, but there’s still a lot of speculation and once they get hold
of something, well…” He let out a breath and sat on the chair next to her. “The
team’s PR department is all over it and I’ve already got this publicist from
New York working on my stuff, so—”

“So I’m getting thrown to
the wolves?” She stared at him in disbelief.

“No!” He shook his head and
leaned forward. “Babe, that’s why I wanted to tell you what was going on. We’re
in this together.”

“But I’m the one the press
is calling a whore, and Toli is the guy sticking up for me.” For the first time
since she’d met Dom, she didn’t understand him. Until now, he’d fought so hard
for her, but she suddenly had the feeling he was more worried about his career
than anything else.

“No!” He ran his hands
through his hair in frustration. “Molly, if you want me to announce to the
world that we’re together, I will. I just thought it would be better to let
Toli handle it since—”

“Since he isn’t in trouble
with the NHL.” She spoke icily as she realized he was backpedaling. “That’s
fine, Dom.”

“Baby, I know you’re upset
but we can fix this. What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing.” She waved her
hand dismissively. “I’m a big girl. After what I’ve lived through, I can handle
this.”

“Molly, you make it sound
like you’re going to handle this alone, and that’s not what I’m saying.”

“But you’re not really saying
anything
, are you?” She pulled her hand out of his.

“Molly, come on.” He reached
for her but she moved out of his reach.

“Just don’t.” She gave him a
stare he’d never seen before.

“Please don’t do this,” he
said wearily. “It’s been a really bad couple of days and I just want to give
you a chance to get better before we deal with anything else.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m going
to do.” She turned away, staring at the open door. She couldn’t believe this
was Dom, calmly telling her to relax and forget about being called a whore all
over sports media.

“You’re mad at me, aren’t
you?” He took her hand again even though she tried to pull it away. “Molly, you
need to look at me.”

“No, I don’t.” She closed
her eyes. “I’m really tired and I don’t want to talk anymore.”

He was surprised at her tone
and gently let go of her hand. He’d known she would be upset, but as much as he
wanted to make things right, he really didn’t want to jump back into the fire.
He loved her and had no problem going public with their relationship; he just
didn’t want to do it
now
. The season was just starting and he’d made a
fresh start here in Las Vegas. If he made a public statement that he was the
man she’d been seeing, it still wouldn’t change the public’s perception of
her
,
and it would only put him back on the NHL’s radar. There was no point in that,
but he wasn’t sure how to make her understand that without making himself look
like a selfish jerk.

“You should go get some
rest,” she told him after they’d sat in silence for a while.

“Molly, do you want me to
make a statement about us?” he asked. “If that’s what you want, I’ll do it.”

“No, that’s not what I want.
There’s no point in putting yourself in a negative light so soon after you were
cleared by the league.” She glanced at him. “I just need a little time, like
you said.”

He suspected that was a lie,
but maybe if he let her think about it, and most likely talk to Suze, she would
realize this wasn’t his fault. They just had to lay low for a little while, and
then the media would forget about this. He would talk to his publicist, Kate
Lansing, and see what she could do as well. He’d find a way to fix this, and in
the meantime, Molly could heal.

“I’m going to go home and
sleep,” he said softly. “But I’ll be back tomorrow, okay? I’m going to talk to
my publicist and maybe we can figure out a way to make this go away.”

“Okay.” Molly nodded.

“Babe?”

“Good night, Dom.” She
turned away from him when he tried to kiss her and he hesitated. “I’m fine,”
she said when he didn’t leave.

“You don’t seem fine.”

“There’s no point in talking
about this—we can’t fix it tonight. Go home; you look tired.”

“We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”

“Yup.”

Realizing she wasn’t going
to be rational about this tonight, he figured he’d give her some space. Kissing
the top of her head, he headed out. Tomorrow would be a better day. They both
needed a little time to think about everything that had happened and he
desperately needed a good night’s sleep. He ached all over, and they would be
leaving the day after tomorrow to play in L.A. for their second pre-season
game, so he couldn’t afford to be tired this early in the season. After a good
night’s sleep, he’d talk to their lawyer and publicist, and then he’d be able
to calm her down.

Molly sent Sergei and Suze
both home not long after, telling them that Dom would be back to sit with her.
She hated lying to Suze, but she knew she would probably get completely
hysterical if she told Suze what had happened, so it was easier to be alone.
Though it made her a little nervous, she didn’t believe Tim would be able to
send anyone after her after everything that had happened. Even if the press
thought she was a tramp, it still didn’t excuse a man from killing her, and one
way or another, this would blow over. What bothered her was the way Dom seemed
to shut down on her. She’d never seem him like this and felt like a fool for
trusting him. All his talk about making babies together and falling in love had
been nothing more than a summertime fling while he worked out his issues. Now that
everything had come to a head, he was going to turn tail and run.

She turned on the TV and
found a sports station. As Dom had told her, she was all over the news in
connection with the Sidewinders. They were using a picture of her from high
school and she cringed. Though they were kinder than Dom made it sound, there
was still a lot of speculation about who she was and how she’d become involved
with Toli. Watching them talk about her on TV was the strangest feeling she’d
ever had, and after half an hour she turned it off. She picked up the cell
phone Dom had recovered for her, and stared at it for a moment. Her instinct
was to call him, but she couldn’t do that now. Not after the way he’d behaved.
Instead, she texted Toli.

Can you talk?

It only took thirty seconds
for her phone to ring. She answered softly. “Hi.”

“Molly?” Toli sounded like
he was half-asleep.

“I’m sorry, I woke you.”

“No, is okay. Toli takes a
long time to sleep after a game. How are you?”

His soft, concerned voice
brought out all the emotion she’d been holding in and she completely broke
down, sobbing so hard she couldn’t talk.

“Molly?” Toli was awake now.
“I’m coming—just wait, I’m coming.” He hung up abruptly and pulled on a pair of
jeans and a T-shirt. He grabbed his keys and headed out.

Molly was still sniffling
when Toli walked into her room and he immediately reached for the box of
tissues on the counter. He sat on the edge of the hospital bed and slowly wiped
her face, careful not to hurt her. She looked at him miserably and he instinctively
reached out to put his arms around her.

“What is it?” he whispered.
“What’s happened?”

The tears came all over
again and he held her as she sobbed against his shirt. Somehow she managed to
tell him about her conversation with Dom and he understood immediately. Dom was
an idiot, he thought to himself as he stroked her hair. He was getting caught
up in his career and not thinking clearly. Though he understood his need to get
his career back on track, how could he sacrifice the woman he loved? It had
definitely been a stressful couple of days, but Molly needed him now more than
ever. Dom and Toli had tons of experience dealing with the bad sides of the
media; Molly had none and he should know that.

“You must not hurt yourself,
yes?” He gently pulled away, handing her another tissue. “Your eye is already
swollen—you must not cry.”

“I know.” She tried to blow
her nose but everything was still too swollen and the pain nearly made her cry
out.

“Do you want Toli to talk to
Dom?”

“No.” She shook her head
sadly. “If you have to tell him that he’s hurt me, he can’t possibly love me.”