His Dangerous Love On Ice (Olivia and Zane) novel Chapter 74

ZANE’s POV

Eight hours ago.

The plan had been simple-walk into the Hopkins office, prese the forensic evidence about the deepfake video, secure the partnership, and walk out before my father could interfere.

Simple. Clean. Effective.

Except nothing involving William Mercer was ever simple.

He’d been calling me nonstop since yesterday-emails, texts, voi emails, each one more demanding than the last. End the deal with Hopkins. Cut ties with the girl. Come back to the game Focus on the next hockey season while I clean up your mess.

A mess he’d helped create by manipulating Sophia into her little revenge scheme.

He thought I didn’t know. Thought I was too distracted by Olive to see the strings he’d been pulling behind the scenes.

He should’ve known better than that.

I’d orchestrated everything before it even happened-the meeting this morning, the forensic analysis, the media blackout. Every piece positioned exactly where I needed it.

Now I just had to deal with the fallout.

I pulled out my phone, scrolling to a contact I hadn’t called in weeks.

The line picked up on the first ring.

“Boss.” Lucifer’s voice was steady, professional. He never asked questions.

“I’m sending you an address,” I said, my voice clipped. “Change all the locks. Install a new security system-top of the line, unhackable. And sweep the apartment for cameras. There are at least three hidden somewhere. Make sure every surface is cleaned. Thoroughly.”

“Got it, Boss.”

I ended the call, my fingers tapping against the mahogany desk in my office.

One. Two. Three.

Right on cue, the door to my office burst open.

William Mercer strode in like he owned the place-which, technically, he did. Owned this building, this company, this city. probably half the people in it.

His face was twisted with barely contained rage, his usual mask of cold control slipping.

“What did you do?” he demanded, slamming his hands down on my desk hard enough to make my laptop jump.

I didn’t flinch. Didn’t react at all.

“I’m asking you a question, Zane.”

“What question?” I said, my voice calm, controlled. I let a smirk url at the corner of my mouth just to piss him off further.

It worked.

“You pushed the merger through,” he spat. “You were supposed end it. Walk away. Let Hopkins collapse under the weight of their own incompetence. And now I have five investors asking about opening new hockey clubs and hosting the next league tournaments through our corporation. The scandal shou’ve been enough to tell you she’s using you!”

“The scandal.” I repeated, standing slowly, deliberately, until we were eye to eye across the desk. “Or the one you orchestrated?”

His expression flickered-just for a second, but I caught it.

I tapped a button on my desk and the projector mounted on the wall flickered to life, displaying the deepfake video in all its damning glory.

“What is this?” William asked, his voice tight now. “Why are you howing me this again? Shouldn’t you be ashamed?”

“Ashamed?” I huffed. “You think it’s real?”

“Of course it’s real,” he snapped. “And you have nothing to prove otherwise. Zane, if you’re going to sit in my office and try to accuse me of something, you’d better have actual evidence. She’s a con artist, and she’s going to bring you down with her.”

He reached forward and slammed the projector button, cutting off the video mid-frame.

“You need to think clearly about this partnership,” he continued his voice dropping into that dangerously calm tone he used when he was about to destroy someone. “Hopkins is our competitor. They don’t like us. If anything happens, it affects us first. And that girl-she will destroy you.”

“Then I suppose you’ll have to learn to accept the truth,” I said quietly.

He laughed. Actually laughed-this dark, hollow sound that echoed off the walls.

“The truth?” He leaned forward, his eyes burning into mine. “Oh the truth can be deadly, Zane. You think I don’t know your games? I’m your father. I know every single move you make, every secret you keep, every lie you tell yourself.” He paused. letting the words sink in. “But she doesn’t.”

My jaw clenched. My hands curled into fists at my sides. But my face stayed blank, emotionless.

Never show weakness. That was the first rule he’d taught me.

“What do you have on me, William?” I asked, using his first name deliberately. A power play. A reminder that he might be my father, but he wasn’t my master.

He chuckled, leaning back, looking at me like I was a chess piece that had just made a predictable move.

“Oh, the truth,” he said softly. “I know the truth about what happened six years agoand coupes with the other secrets that we have been keeping. And you don’t want her finding out about all of them.”

My blood went cold.

The room tilted for just a second before I forced myself steady.

“That’s what I thought,” William said, reading my silence like a book. “You don’t have anything to say. Because you know I’m right. I hold all the cards here, son. All of them.”

He turned and walked toward the door, pausing at the threshold

“End it with the girl,” he said without looking back. “Or I’ll end it for you. And trust me-my way will be much messier

The door closed behind him with a soft click

For a second-just a second-I couldn’t breathe.

My chest constricted, tight and painful, like someone had wrapped barbed wire around my lungs. Sweat beaded at my temples. My hands shook.

That memory. That fucking memory I’d buried so deep I’d almost convinced myself it wasn’t real.

It came crashing back now-images, sounds, smells, sensations kept locked away for years.

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