The Mafia's Legacy

Chapter 4: Ice Queen Tori

Victoria P.O.V

Victoria faces the ice rink, her elbows leaning on the thick blue barrier behind her, drinking deeply from her water bottle. It's nearing 10pm, so there aren't many people left at the rink. Those that do tend to stay this late are the older, more experienced kids, such as herself.

And Noah Grayson.

Noah was the first person Victoria ever met at an ice skating rink. At the age of eleven, he was already much more experienced than she was with eight years already under his belt. He would laugh at Victoria when she tripped and grumble to all the adults that her failing around was making it hard to practice on the ice.

But he was the only kid her age who brought her ice packets and showed her tips to take care of her skates and blisters. He would stay on the ice far longer than he needed to with Victoria, her stubborn nature not letting her step off the ice until she was confident her muscles had memorized each movement.

They've been rivals and friends ever since.

Her gaze flicks up and down his form now, watching the way his calves and thighs tense under his black pants. He lands the move – an easy triple axel – and raises his hands up in triumph before pointing at her. Even though he's placed third at the Olympics twice already, he still gets excited every time he lands a jump.

Victoria places her water bottle on the barrier behind her. Lips quirked, she raises her hands into the air and starts clapping. Noah bows dramatically before skating to his coach on the other side of the rink for feedback.

She clenches her jaw as a stab of envy ripples across her stomach. With her identity as Tori the ice skater being a well-guarded secret – one only Elina, Richard and Cora are privy too – she could never afford having a proper coach like the others. Everything she's learned has been from her own hard work studying and peer guidance.

Her eyes slide to her mother behind the rectangular glass window taking up a good chuck of the wall to her right. Elina's small frame is bundled up in a white fur coat as she chats with a few other women still waiting. Richard is standing behind her chair with a small smile gracing his lips, but Victoria can see the way his eyes constantly scan the room and how his hand hasn't left the back of Elina's chair since she sat down.

It's been a couple days since the Amato's had come over for dinner, and Victoria hasn't seen any more hints of something being amiss from either of her parents. She can still sense the tension in the air though, like a hound sniffing the wind.

'Ever alert and always on guard, just like you taught me, Richard,' she reflects.

“How was that?" Noah boasts with a sniff. His brown shaggy hair is dripping with sweat, some of the drops flying onto her as he skids to a stop.

Victoria makes a show of wiping his sweat from her covered arm before tilting her head and smirking. “Eh, not bad. I did one last week."

Noah's light blue eyes glimmer as incredulity shadows his face. “Prove it," he demands, voice low and dripping in challenge.

Victoria huffs before she takes off across the ice. She circles the rink twice, gaining momentum after every curve. With arms raised in front of her, she centers her core and balances on her left foot. She takes a deep breath, willing the butterflies to quiet in her belly, before she bends her knee and jumps.

Her ponytail whips over her shoulder as she spins in the air, the room blurring past her three and a half times, before her right skate is touching down on the ice. She leans forward into the momentum, letting her left leg swing out behind her.

She glides lazily back over to a slack-jawed Noah and shrugs.

Noah groans and flops across the barrier. “Good job, Tori. As usual," he mutters.

Victoria giggles and pats Noah on the back reassuringly. “Don't worry Noah, I'm sure by the end of year competition you'll be able to stand to my left on the podium."

“Um, excuse me." Noah snaps up and crosses his arms, that competitive glare electrifying his eyes once again. “You'll be taking third, not me. Especially with how often you've been skipping practice."

Victoria's brows knit together in defensive annoyance as she scans his face. Any touch of amusement has fled, leaving only hard eyes and a tense jaw in its wake.

“What's that supposed to mean?"

Noah takes a deep breath, side eyeing the lingering skaters in faux contemplation. “Exactly what it sounds like. You're hardly ever here anymore. I mean, these past two and a half months you've been here, what, like thirty-five times? That's under half the number of times you should've been here. So how can you expect to receive high scores if you don't put in the effort during practice?"

“Was that not effort?" Victoria points a finger toward the rink, her voice becoming shrill. Her triple axel scars are still etched deeply in the ice, the shaved ice dustings only now starting to shift across the rink as the cold breeze whooshes from the air conditioning ducts. She can feel a pair of eyes drilling holes into her neck and knows Richard has taken notice of the situation.

Noah runs a hand through his hair in frustration and faces Victoria directly. When he speaks, his voice is hard and cold just like the ice they stand upon. “Everyone here knows how talented you are, especially me, Tori. You forget, I've been beside you from the start. It was me who brought you tissues and ice cream when you decided not to progress to the Olympics. I was the one who reminded you there are still competitions throughout the year you can partake in. But what's the point in finding a new focus if you aren't going to give it your all?"

Victoria takes a gulp and turns to face the glass windows. Her eyes find Richard's immediately. His brown eyes are narrowed in concern as they rake over her body looking for any sign of injury. She notices his body is facing the door leading into the rink, ready to bolt inside and whisk her away. All he's waiting for is permission.

Victoria doesn't give it to him.

She shakes her head and rests her elbows on the barrier, her head hanging in between her arms. She hears Noah glide toward her before a weight is placed on her lower back. His hand burns like cold ice through her thermal shirt. Somehow, it melts any residual anger from her body.

He's right. He's 100% right.

She made the decision in high school not to progress to the Olympics, Noah's coach had offered to aid in her training. They were confident she could win gold – the talent, the perseverance, and the soul were all there.

But she couldn't commit. Because she's the daughter of Giuseppe 'Joe' Russo, the boss to the number one mafia family in New York City. She couldn't let the ice-skating protégé 'Tori' leave these cold blue walls, no matter how much her soul yearned to.

So, like Noah said, she re-focused her attention to hometown competitions. Making a name for herself amongst the ice skaters of New York wasn't as dangerous as the whole globe. She could drive to a rink, compete for gold, grab a place on the podium, and be back in time for dinner with her family.

It was meant to be a win-win situation. A highly favorable compromise.

And easier said than done.

“Look, Tori." Noah leans his forearm on the railing, one hand still on her back, and lowers his face so it's eye level with hers. His voice is soft when he speaks and his eyes are gentle, the blue reminiscent of a calm summer sky as they gaze into hers.

“All I'm saying is that I know you're a university student and becoming a lawyer is important to you, but skaters from all over New York are going to be at the end of year competition, people who live and breathe skating much more than you and I. We'll have to bring our A-game if we want to win gold, ok?"

Noah removes his hand off her back and flicks her forehead. Victoria yelps, lifting a hand to press on the reding skin as her lower lip juts out in a pout.

“As my rival you're doing a piss poor job of convincing me to quit." Victoria laughs, a weight she didn't know she was carrying lifting off her heart as she reaches up and flicks Noah's forehead too. “But as my friend, you're doing a perfect job reminding me why I stay."

Noah shrugs nonchalant. “Three lap race to finish up?"

“You're on." Victoria takes off, Noah right behind her.

With the cold wind pelting her face, and her throat drying out as she tries to control her breathing in between laughs, Victoria vows to make her dream into a reality.

No matter who or what tries to stop her.