Page 40

ISABELLE

“ I ssy, my love. It’s been too long,” Pierre’s mother, Claire, says, greeting me warmly. I’m not wearing Pierre’s jersey as we are not ready yet to go public with our relationship.

“It’s lovely to see you, too. You must be excited to see your boys play today.”

“I couldn’t be prouder of them.” She smiles before linking her arm with mine.

“Thank you for making my son happy again,” she whispers.

I’m shocked. I didn’t realize Pierre had told his mother.

I mean, our friends know as do my sisters, so of course it would stand to reason that he would have told her.

“I always hoped the two of you would get back together after all these years.” Again, I’m surprised she knows about us dating before too.

Before I get a chance to say anything my phone goes off.

“Please excuse me,” I say, picking up the call from Sam.

“Hey, I thought you guys would be here by now, the game’s about to start,” I ask.

“Issy. Things have gone to shit. Has no one told you what’s going on?” I can hear the panic in his voice.

“No. Sorry, I’ve been in meetings,” I tell him.

“Josh released AI nudes of Harper today.”

Shit.

“Is she okay?” I ask.

“No. But she’s not coming to the stadium. The media attention would be too huge and she can’t face all those people knowing they might have seen fake photos of her naked.”

“I don’t understand how he can do this to her.” My stomach turns.

“Jackson is looking into it. Don’t worry, I am going to make him pay,” he says angrily. “Harper wants you to reassure Felix that she’ll see him after the game. That she’s wearing his jersey. But she doesn’t want him to know, otherwise, he will be off his game.”

“I’ll take care of it. Look after her,” I tell him before hanging up. I’ve got to find Collette.

The game has started, and Collette is back in the suite with my sisters, who have joined to watch the game.

They are all aware of what is going on, and Collette reassured me that Felix thinks she is coming but she’s stuck in traffic so that he doesn’t have to stress.

The game is a physical one, and a lot of abuse is being hurled at Felix by his ex-teammates.

Then it becomes an all-in brawl between Felix and Stephen, and we watch on in horror as Felix goes down in a sickening fall and doesn’t come back up again.

Felix’s family starts freaking out and The Mavericks try to reassure them that everything is okay.

The stillness that takes over the stadium just shows how bad it really is.

Next thing we know, Pierre attacks Stephen and starts fighting him.

His teammates pull him away while he continues to hurl abuse at Stephen, who is also being taken away.

He’s sent off for the rest of the game for misconduct, same with Stephen.

I hate seeing Pierre look so fucking helpless as he smashes the walls of the penalty box with his stick.

Marcus, who happens to be in the box, too, talks to the team and we all rush off to the hospital to wait for Felix.

I hate leaving Pierre there, but his mother is very upset.

Collette said she would stay behind and wait for Pierre.

My sisters, Claire, and Marcus all head to the hospital.

I text Sam to let him know which one Felix is going to so Harper can come up and see him.

Harper and the gang arrive, and she looks distraught. Claire is with Felix as only family can go in and be with him.

“Issy, is he okay?” Harper cries.

“They’ve rushed him in for some tests. They believe it’s a bad concussion, but they want to make sure there’s no bleeding.” I tell her what I know.

“This is my fault, I distracted him.” She sobs.

“It was always going to be a heated game between Felix and his old team, especially after everything.”

“My shit today probably added to it.”

“It’s going to be okay,” I try to reassure her.

It’s a long time before another doctor comes to speak with us.

“Is there a Harper here?” he asks the waiting room.

Harper stands up. “That’s me.”

“He’s asking for you.” The doctor smiles, and I see the relief on her face.

“Is he okay?” she asks.

“Mr. St. Pierre has a severe concussion. He’s going to be out for two weeks to recover,” the doctor advises.

That’s not good.

“Can I go see him?” she asks the doctor.

“Yes, just one at a time for the moment. He’s in Room 2105,” he states. I give her the thumbs up, letting her know everything is going to be okay. She follows the doctor, and moments later, Claire comes back still looking pale but lights up when Pierre rushes in.

“How is he? Is everything okay?” He looks frantic.

He sees his mother crying and rushes over to give her a hug “He’s fine, he’s going to be okay.” She sinks into his arms, the relief on his face as he looks over his mother’s shoulders to me is palpable. He releases his mother and walks over to me. He cups my face and kisses me.

“I fucking love you,” he declares.

“I love you, too.” My hand grazes the bruising on his face from the fights on the ice.

“I was so scared for him. That fall was bad.” I can see the anguish on his face.

“He’s going to be fine. He’s out for two weeks, but of course, the team doctor is going to have to clear him. It was a bad concussion, and they are going to want to observe him. I think they won’t play him until the season starts, they don’t want to risk it.”

“I agree. He’s going to hate that.”

“I’m sure Harper will help him recover quicker.” Pierre pulls a face, but at least he is smiling. “I don’t want to hide us, Issy. I wanted you by my side today in the crowd where I could see you.”

“Don’t you think it’s too soon?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t care what anyone thinks. I care about you and me.”

He’s right. “Okay. Probably a good time to go public while everyone’s distracted.”

“Is Harper going to be okay? Collette filled me in on what happened. I can’t believe her ex did that to her.”

“Harper’s strong, especially now she has Felix by her side.”

“Guess that means Harper is going to become my sister-in-law,” he says, scrunching up his face.

“Yep.”

“Lucky I love you.” He grins as he kisses me again.