Page 17

ISABELLE

T he buzzer goes, and I head to the front door to answer it. “Marcus,” I greet Pierre’s manager warmly. “And you, too, Jordan,” I say, greeting Pierre’s lawyer.

I hold the door open and let them both in.

“Fellas, good to see you,” Pierre says, welcoming them.

“Man, what the fuck is going on?” Marcus says as they embrace each other.

“Please apologize to Sonia for cutting your trip to Italy short. Tell her to pick anywhere in the world, my shout for you both,” Pierre tells him.

“You don’t have to do that, but I appreciate the sentiment. It was lucky we had our holiday before the wedding, so we got to see what we wanted to,” Marcus tells him.

“Good to know, but the offer is there. And same to you, Jordan. I appreciate you coming all that way with your busy schedule,” he tells his lawyer.

“Don’t worry about it, like Marcus, I had some time traveling before the wedding. We are both here because we are worried about you.” The boys take a seat in the living room.

“I’ll grab us some bottles of water,” I say, getting up and heading to the fridge while the boys talk. I walk back in on Pierre telling them about catching Kitty and Bill in the garden, and then how Harper and his family sprang into action, getting him out of Italy and back to New York.

“That’s why you have Harper Rose as your new PR. She’s reached out and said she will loop us in on anything she finds online, so we are aware. She’s been great. There has been some chatter online about the wedding. I’m not sure if she’s told you,” Jordan advises.

“She mentioned something this morning about a couple of blind items, but that seems to be all there is right now. I haven’t had a chance to catch up with her again since getting here.

Issy and I flew home to grab Frankston yesterday.

You’re looking into making sure I have custody of Frankston, aren’t you? ” Pierre asks his lawyer.

“Yes. And as South Dakota doesn’t recognize common-law partnerships, Kitty isn’t entitled to anything that you have.

Now, of course, her lawyers could decide to fight but we aren’t there yet.

I haven’t heard anything from Kitty’s lawyers, but today we are here to discuss what we need to do regarding that.

I’m assuming you and Kitty are over?” Jordan asks.

“Oh yeah, we are most certainly over,” Pierre states.

“Just needed to check. There’s no chance of reconciliation or anything like that?” he continues to question Pierre.

Pierre shakes his head. “I’m done.”

“I understand you are angry now, but some people are able to work through infidelity to get back together,” Jordan explains.

Pierre’s eyes meet mine. “Kitty isn’t who I want,” he tells Jordan.

Why is he looking at me? He better not be talking about me. Hell no. This is a second chance at friendship, nothing else.

“Glad we sorted that. Why don’t we sort out your career first before worrying about your relationship? I think that’s more important right now,” Jordan adds as he looks over at Marcus.

“Jordan’s right. As you know, we sent an email to Bill and his team requesting that your contract be paid out for the two years remaining. That you’ve lost faith in the team and leadership, and that the team no longer aligns with your values.”

“Executive speak for you’re a cheating asshole, I like it.” Pierre chuckles.

“Honestly, I can’t believe Bill would be so unbelievably stupid to mess around with one of his player’s partners,” Marcus states.

“I’ve seen men do stupid shit for a beautiful woman,” Jordan adds.

“I don’t get what Kitty sees in him,” Marcus adds.

“Dollar signs,” Jordan says, before stilling. “Sorry, man, no disrespect,” he says to Pierre.

“None taken, I don’t understand what she sees in him either, other than his billions. Look, Kitty and I were having a lot of problems, but I wasn’t expecting her to seek comfort in his arms. Last time she did, at least it was someone her age.”

“She's done this before?” Jordan asks.

“At the start of the relationship. She was living in LA, and I was helping set up the Devils. It was long distance and some photos came out of her with one of her exes. The media at the time didn’t know we were together,” he explains.

“Sorry, man, I had no idea,” Jordan says.

Pierre shrugs his shoulders. “We put it in the past and moved forward. Like someone has told me before, a leopard never changes their spots.” He looks over at me, it’s the same words I threw at him during the wake when he kissed me.

“Issy, have you heard anything back from The Mavericks?” Marcus asks me, pulling me back into the conversation.

“Not yet, but I’m following it up today,” I tell them. Little do they know that later tonight we are having dinner with Harper’s dad and using his position on the board to push for Pierre. “But I’ve also sent out some feelers to other teams.”

“I’ll do the same as well, when I get back into the office. It’s going to be hard talking cryptically about you, but it’s not the first time,” Marcus explains.

“I appreciate it, guys. I don’t want to retire, but I think we might have to look at those options, too, especially if Bill is not prepared to let me go.”

“We put a retirement clause in the contract, so yes, we can invoke that if we have to. But you still have a couple more years before you need to retire. This is not how your career ends,” Marcus says.

“I won’t play for the Devils. And if Bill wants to be an ass, then this is going to be it because either way if I stay with them, he is going to bench me to teach me a lesson, and if he doesn’t, the last thing I want to do is win him a fucking cup.

And that kills me because the team deserves that win,” Pierre says, raising his voice.

“Thanks so much for doing this,” I say to Harper as we leave my home.

We’ve left Felix and Pierre together to hang out while we said we needed girl time.

They are none the wiser, and I didn’t want to get Pierre’s hopes up about The Mavericks if we aren’t able to do it.

After dinner with Harper’s dad, we are meeting up with Kimberly and Meadow for drinks.

I need to get out of the house and away from Pierre’s looming presence.

“It’s no problem at all,” Harper says as we get into the car.

“Who would have thought this is where you would be all these years later, Pierre’s advocate.” I tease.

“The universe works in mysterious ways.” She chuckles. “You two seem to be co-existing.”

“I’m counting down the days till he leaves.” I smile as I hold up my countdown app.

“Issy!” Harper laughs.

“He’s annoying.”

“Guess annoying is a step up from hating him.”

“See, progress,” I tell her which earns me a side-eye. “I’m doing this for you,” I tell her.

“Me?” she questions.

“Because of you and Felix.”

“You shouldn’t be doing this for us, you should be doing it for you. It’s time, Issy.”

“I know. But what am I meant to do if I don’t hate him?” I ask her.

Harper pats my hand. “Maybe you could be friends.” Friends? We aren’t going to KiKi over brunch together. “Judging by your face, that’s a no.”

“It is what it is between us. There’s been too much time and too much hurt. Please don’t push this,” I ask her.

“Noted. No more meddling, I promise. I’m proud of you.”

Her praise is nice to hear. “Thanks.”

“Felix appreciates it, too,” she adds.

We arrive at the restaurant where Harper’s father is waiting for us.

“My girls, how are we?” he says, welcoming us with hugs and kisses.

A pang of grief hits me realizing I’ll never get another hug from my father.

Urgh. Now is not the time to lose it, Issy.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of two beautiful women for dinner? Not that I would ever complain.” He chuckles.

“Dad, we need your help,” Harper says, cutting right to the chase.

Mr. Rose’s face drops from a smile to serious. “What is it, my love.”

Harper launches into why we are back from Italy earlier than was planned.

She explains what happened to Pierre because of Bill and Kitty.

And then she explains how Pierre wants to see if there is a chance that he can move to The Mavericks to play with Felix.

He sits there for a long time in silence, absorbing the news.

“That is one big mess,” he finally answers.

“I know, but we thought there was a chance that you could sway the team in his favor,” Harper says.

“We’ve put feelers out with The Mavericks, but it’s hard to explain why. He technically has two years left on his contract with the Devils, but as you can understand, he does not want to stay there. Pierre will consider retirement if Bill won’t let him go,” I explain.

“That boy still has a couple of good years left. He was the highest scorer in the league this season.”

“He thought he would be finishing his career in South Dakota, but now he wants it to be here in New York with his brother,” I add.

Mr. Rose shakes his head. “Having the two of them on the same team would be a game changer, not just for the game but for the club. Could you imagine the PR and opportunities it could provide? Ticket sales would go through the roof. Is Felix okay with this?” he asks Harper.

“Yes. He is.”

“Then I guess I’ll see what I can do. I’ll arrange a meeting with Coach Anderson to see if there is a chance that the team has space. I’m not sure who is in or out for the next season,” he explains.

“Thanks, Dad, we really appreciate it,” Harper says.

“Not a problem at all, my love, now fill me in on what’s been happening with you two.”

“That went well,” I say to Harper as we say goodbye to her dad.

“We just have to wait now and see. It’s going to start getting harder to contain the story because Kitty has been silent on her socials, and from someone who posts as frequently as she does, the public is becoming suspicious.

Even her bridesmaids are silent, and they post as much as she does.

All the guests have thankfully been respectful and are just showing how much fun they are having in Italy or wherever they are.

I’ve spoken to his family, and they are still having the best time in Italy, and no one has spotted them yet, but time is ticking on this story. ”

“I don’t get what Bill is playing at.”

“Probably thinks Pierre can’t do shit and is hoping he freaks out and succumbs to his threats,” Harper advises.

“He’s still threatening him?”

“I’m assuming he is, but Pierre hasn’t said anything. I just remember seeing the messages come through on his phone while on the plane,” Harper explains.

“I saw them too.”

“You did?” she asks, surprised.

“Pierre’s been suffering panic attacks,” I tell her.

“He has? Felix hasn’t told me. Is he okay?”

“I think so. He said Frankston would make things better, and I’m assuming they are as he seems slightly more relaxed. I muted the notifications on his phone from anyone who wasn’t family because every ping of his phone stressed him out,” I explain to her.

“Good idea,” she says. “I think boys’ time tonight will help too. So how about we forget all about everyone’s shit and go have some fun. You deserve to let off some steam.”

“I so do.” I grin.