LOGINPierce's POV
My phone was still in my hand when Rowan called.
When Rowan's name came up on the screen, I picked up before the first ring finished.
"They got her out," he said.
I stopped walking.
"She's alive?"
"She's alive. They're taking her to the hospital in Reykjavik right now. Soren too." He paused. "She's stable, Pierce. She made it."
I was already moving toward the exit.
The drive to the hospital took thirty-five
Scarlett's POVWhen I woke up, the room was lighter than before.Afternoon light was coming through the blinds, which meant I'd been out for several hours. My body felt heavy in the specific way that happens after something bad, like everything had used up whatever reserves it had and was now presenting the bill. My legs still felt strange, a kind of deep residual cold that hadn't fully gone away yet.I turned my head.Pierce was sitting in the chair beside my bed.He was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, looking at his phone, but he looked up the second I moved. Like he'd been waiting for exactly that."Hey." He sat up straighter. "You're awake.""Yeah." My voice was still rough. I cleared my throat.He reached for the cup on the tray table and held it out to me. Water, with a straw. I took it and drank and said nothing for a moment.He watched me with the careful attention of someone who wa
Pierce's POVMy phone was still in my hand when Rowan called.When Rowan's name came up on the screen, I picked up before the first ring finished."They got her out," he said.I stopped walking."She's alive?""She's alive. They're taking her to the hospital in Reykjavik right now. Soren too." He paused. "She's stable, Pierce. She made it."I was already moving toward the exit.The drive to the hospital took thirty-five minutes. I made it in twenty-eight.By the time I got there, they'd moved Scarlett out of emergency and into a regular room. A nurse at the station told me she was awake and responsive. I stood in the doorway for a second before going in.She was sitting up in the bed, a thermal blanket pulled up to her shoulders, her color still a little off but her eyes open and clear. There was a small cut at her temple that had been cleaned and bandaged. Her hair was still damp.She look
Scarlett's POVI don't know how long I was in there.Time does something strange when your body is shutting down from cold. It stops feeling like time and starts feeling like pressure. Like something heavy sitting on your chest.I could still hear Soren above me, calling down every thirty seconds or so. "Stay awake. Don't close your eyes. Talk to me."I tried to answer but my voice wasn't working right anymore. The words came out slow and thick, like they had somewhere else to be first.My legs had stopped hurting, which I knew was not a good sign.I reached into my jacket pocket. My phone was still there. The screen came on when I pressed the button, dim and cracked at one corner from when I'd grabbed the ice wall on the way down. The battery was at three percent.I opened my messages.Preston's name was at the top of the list.I don't know why I went there.I started typing.Do you ever like me even a littleThe send button turned grey. No signal. I stared at the words on the screen
Scarlett's POVThe glacier was nothing like I expected.Vatnajokull, Europe's largest ice cap.The Skaftafell area drew serious hikers, not tourists who wanted a quick photo. The trail Rowan had mentioned was a standard route, maybe four hours round trip if you kept a steady pace.What I hadn't accounted for was the cold. Not the temperature itself, which I had dressed for. More the way the cold came from every direction at once. Off the ice. Up through my boots.I had been walking for about forty minutes when I saw him.Soren Voss was easier to recognize in person than I expected. He was tall, maybe six-two, moving across the ice with the particular ease of someone who had done this route dozens of times.Dark jacket, no poles, moving at a pace that said he wasn't out here for the scenery.I picked up my own pace."Hey," I called out. "Soren."He stopped and turned around. He looked at me the way people look at strangers who know their name."You're not with the tour group," he said.
Scarlett's POVTwo days later, I was on a flight to Iceland.The in-flight map showed the little plane icon crawling across the North Atlantic.I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes, running through what I knew about Soren Voss. Twenty-six years old. Icelandic national team. Three Grand Slam titles in the past four years.He was exactly what the youth program needed. Someone the kids could actually look up to, not just a name on a poster.The plane landed at Keflavik right on schedule. I grabbed my bag, cleared customs, and headed straight for the local club facility on the east side of Reykjavik.I hadn't even made it through the front entrance when I heard a familiar voice behind me."Scarlett? No way. What are you doing here?"I stopped walking.I knew that voice.I turned around slowly. Pierce Sterling was standing twenty feet away, carry-on bag slung over one shoulder, looking at me like he'd just run into an old friend at a coffee shop."Pierce." I kept my voice flat. "Wha
Scarlett's POVMy phone went off at seven in the morning.I grabbed it off the nightstand without opening my eyes. The second I saw Sarah's name on the screen, I sat up."Sarah. What happened?""We have a problem." Her voice was clipped. "I just got off the phone with Evan's manager. Beaumont Group has been in contact with him. More than once. Their acquisitions team reached out earlier this week and they're moving fast."I was already out of bed.Evan Callahan.Twenty-three years old, fastest skater in Iceland's national league three years running, and one of the most marketable players in the sport right now. We had been in negotiations with him for months.His numbers were elite, his brand was clean, and his commercial value was the kind that could put a brand-new hockey company on the map in a real way. Not someday. Right now.And Beaumont Group was circling him.Of course they were."How serious is it?" I asked."Serious enough that his manager called us. He wanted to give us a h
Scarlett's POV"You already figured something was off about her," Preston said. "I just found out exactly how off."We were still standing outside the bank. I had the loan documents in my hand and the afternoon sun was doing too much, but I didn't move."I had someone look into Madison's background
Scarlett's POVI typed out the message before I even got back to my car.Did you call the bank manager?The reply came fast.What do you think?I think you did, I wrote back. And I think you're not going to admit it unless I ask directly.You're too smart for your own good, you know that?I laughed
Scarlett’sPOV“Madison?”"Sounds like you've made yourself quite a few enemies," the one beside me said."Apparently."I kept
Scarlett’sPOVThe reporters pounced like sharks smelling blood in the water."Ms.Huntington, you just admitted your PR team coached you on how to manipulate public sympathy. Can you explain that?"







