Chapter 10: Strength Decides**

Aurora's POV

At nine the next morning, Liam and I walked up to the entrance of the BRC together.

I was the wife of the club's investor, and I had never once set foot inside Liam's club.

At first I was swallowed whole by the house and by Ethan — no time, no energy, nothing left over to go and look at the place. Later, once Ethan was older, I brought it up with Liam a few times, and each time he turned me down politely, smoothly, never saying no outright.

Back then I told myself he was afraid people would find out about the two of us and stir up trouble he didn't need.

Now I know better. He kept me out because he didn't want me finding out about him and Vivienne.

But if he doesn't want me to know about him and Vivienne, then why bring me here to be her sparring partner?

I was still turning that over when Liam's voice cut in.

"Vivienne's on the ice. I have a meeting — I'll have someone walk you over."

He paused, and a warning slid into his voice. "Don't forget why you're here. Don't make trouble for me. The money can be paid out to you in advance, and it can be taken back just as fast."

I lowered my eyes and let the warning stand.

With no money of my own, I had to keep my head down. But the moment I'm back on the ice for good, the first thing I do is put divorce papers in front of Liam.

On the ice, the players were running a scrimmage with no fixed teams.

Steel bit into the surface with a sound that set your teeth on edge. The players in club colors battled for the puck at close quarters, sticks crossing and clashing — fast, brutal, no room given.

Then the center swung hard. The puck tore low across the ice, skimmed the goalie's pad, and buried itself in the back of the net.

The whistle went. Helmets came off and the team swarmed the center, cheering. "Vivienne — that was beautiful. Better than the one Aurora Vale scored at the Olympics."

"Why else would they call Vivienne the next Aurora? She really does have that same championship look Aurora had. And she's two years younger than Aurora was then. The ceiling on her — there isn't one."

A woman on the team, standing close to Vivienne, gave a sly little laugh.

"And that's not all of it. Aurora never had the kind of resources Vivienne has. Liam's given her the best of everything this club has. Give it a while — Vivienne might just end up the lady of BRC."

Vivienne, who still had her helmet on, reached up and pulled it off.

She tossed her dark brown curls with a flourish, and her pretty oval face carried a pair of impish dimples. The corners of her mouth hooked up, the dimples sank deeper — and the color in her cheeks could have been a blush or could have been the flush of the workout.

"Don't talk nonsense. Liam is fair to everyone in this club. He hasn't given all the resources to me."

She said it like that. But the way she said it told everyone in that rink exactly what was going on between her and Liam.

The staff member gave me a look I couldn't read and cleared his throat. "Everyone — I have an announcement."

At that, every head turned.

His tone went flat, all business. "This is the sparring partner Liam hired for Vivienne. She's had some very impressive results in her time. Her conditioning and her competitive experience are both strong. You can all exchange notes with her as you go."

Then he glanced sideways at me. "You can introduce yourself."

I nodded and put my eyes squarely on Vivienne. "Hello, everyone. I'm Aurora Vale. For the next month, I'm Vivienne's sparring partner."

Shock went through them; I heard a collective intake of breath. "Not the Aurora Vale — the Olympic champion? Liam really does have pull. Vivienne's sparring partner is that high-grade."

"But she's been retired for ages. You don't think she's fallen on hard times and had no choice but to take work as a sparring partner? Liam does pay generously."

"I heard she married a rich businessman. Very wealthy. She can't be that bad off."

Vivienne pushed off and glided over to me on her skates. Something vicious flickered through her pale blue eyes, and she tipped her head back with a spoiled, imperious tilt. "At BRC, everything comes down to strength. Even if you really are Aurora Vale the Olympic champion, you still have to pass my test before you're qualified to stay on as my sparring partner. After all—"

She drew the pause out on purpose. "You took Liam's money, didn't you."

So this was how she meant to put me in my place.

If that's all she's got, it's a pretty gentle warning.

I nodded. "You're right. Strength decides it. You can test me, and if I don't satisfy you, I'll leave right now."

A month ago I would never have dared say that to Vivienne. But after a month of training, I was sure of myself — sure I could make her swallow those mocking words.

Vivienne had a brand-new set of gear brought out.

"One-on-one. Whoever scores wins."

Standing on the ice for a real match again after ten years, I felt like I'd come back from another life.

I joined the provincial team at ten, the national team at fourteen, and won Olympic gold at twenty. The first twenty years of my life were spent on the ice.

Everyone called me a hockey prodigy, and I never let down the people who believed in me. At twenty I stood on the top step of the Olympic podium, the youngest player on the roster.

I should have had a far brighter future ahead of me. Instead I threw it away for love — let Liam use me, stumbled out of the game with my head in a fog, and burned ten whole years.

I'm going to stand at the top again. I'm going to tell everyone who wrote me off that I am the queen of hockey — at twenty, and at thirty.

Only Vivienne and I were left on the ice. We faced off at center, both of us locked into combat mode.

The whistle sounded. Skates carved arcs into the surface, stick blades pressed low, eyes fixed on each other.

Vivienne broke direction. In almost the same instant I swept my stick out to cut her off, and the two blades met with a dull crack. I used the contact to slide my stick under hers and shoved the puck clear.

Then my legs were driving, my stick swinging up to lift the puck. It rose high and headed straight for the goalie's shoulder.

It grazed past the goalie's shoulder and dropped clean into the net.

A ripple of hisses and murmurs went up from the players along the boards. Nobody cheered for me.

So what?

I pulled off my helmet and looked up at Vivienne. "I won."

Something furious and flustered flashed through her eyes, but the smile stayed on her face.

"No wonder Liam picked you for me. You passed. So — you can start training with me now."

She turned and skated off to the far side of the rink without waiting for an answer, and the rest of the players came down off the boards and onto the ice.

They circled me, and it wasn't friendly.

A big, solidly built woman stopped in front of me. "Since you're that strong, why don't you have a go with me?"

I backed off two steps on my blades. "I'm Vivienne's sparring partner. I don't train with anyone but her."

The big one glared at me. "Is that so?"

"At BRC the team is one body. You're Vivienne's sparring partner, so you're ours too."

She lifted a hand and waved the others in. "Everybody over here. Let's teach the new girl what the rules are."