“Because we Russians understand tragedy and change like no one else.” I reached over to her plate with my fork. “Are the mashed potatoes fluffy?”
“No, they taste terrible.”
“I do not trust you.”
“Right back at ya, Nazarov.”
Passing over her snark, I took a scoop and put them in my mouth. Fluffy, just as I suspected.
“Tell me about Volkov,” she said. “How do you know him?”
“We ancient players are always looking over our shoulders, checking on the little pricks itching to replace us.”
“Smart.”
“Arkady was on my radar for a year or so. Popping up in my feed with all his cute little trick shots.”
“In between your dance videos and BTS clips.”
I chuckled. “You are the dancer. I see that you have kept it up.”
“Good exercise.”
“I can think of better.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Volkov?”
“He has a difficult relationship with his father, but he is also spreading his wings. He needs a strong, yet encouraging hand. Not a martinet. I think a more personal relationship would be good for him. Something not so corporate.”
She finished chewing. “If we hadn’t fallen into this situation, would you have thought of me as a potential agent for him?”
I am always thinking of you. “Of course. You have a good reputation, but more than that, you have been in the trenches. You know what it is like to be a superstar in your field. All those high expectations from an early age. I did not receive the same attention as you did when you started out. The kind of attention Arkady is receiving now. I think you would have much to teach him.”
She looked surprised. She need not. I recognized how good she was—a leader, a listener, a lover of hockey and the people who played it.
“But to get to him, I have to spend time with you.”
I leaned back. “Is it so terrible?”
“It doesn’t make sense. It can’t go anywhere. I have a life that doesn’t include you, Alexei. A life I’m trying to start and you—” She waved a hand. “Are my past.”
As much as that saddened me, I understood. I had hurt her. She had spent years creating a callus over her heart. I was trying to shave it off while she frantically searched for bandages.
Yet, I still had the capacity to affect her. This gave me hope.
“I will call him tomorrow and give him your number.”
But I did not promise to leave her alone. I wasn’t sure I had it in me.
Chapter Fifteen
Alexei
* * *
“You win the Cup and it makes you soft.”
Jason did not like that, but then he was always easy to rile. A man very much ruled by his passions.