Page 26

TWENTY-SIX

jack

Sam’s lips tug into a tight line.

“So, what kind of backlash are we looking at, Rex?”

“Who the fuck cares about backlash?” I jump out of my chair and slams my palms on the table.

“Jeremy is still under the supervision of that prick. He was too scared to admit the truth, and now he’s back home with his monster of a father. And there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Rex Ashton folds his hands together and presses them to his forehead.

“Jack, you assaulted the guy without cause and he will come after you because you’re a celebrity and he’s going to bleed everything he can from you.”

“I don’t give a damn about the money,” I bellow.

“I care about Jeremy. Do you realize what the hell that guy will probably do to him now?”

“Well, isn’t part of that you’re fault?” Brixton slants me a look.

“If you’d have gotten the facts before you went after the guy, you could have handled it differently and protected the kid.”

“Fuck you, Brixton,” I shout.

“How the hell was I supposed to look the other goddamn way? Would it have been that easy for you? To just sweep shit under the rug and hope it just goes away quietly?” I shove my chair into the edge of the table.

“He needs help.”

“If he needs help, he could have asked. Don’t project onto the kid,” Brixton snaps.

My eyes open wide. “Are you fucking kidding me? You dare say that to me?” I stomp toward him, adrenaline shooting into every limb.

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. You don’t know what this guy is telling him, what kind of threats he’s spewing to keep Jeremy in line. He’s probably scared shitless about being kicked out of his house and having nowhere to go. He’s a child, for God’s sake. Maybe all alone. What the fuck do you expect him to do? Risk saying something that might get him hurt way worse than he's already been? Risk the fact that someone will actually give a shit and want to help?”

I stop next to Brixton and lean down, getting right in his face. “You’ve gone through tough times, I know, but I bet you never had to worry about feeding yourself or clothing yourself or having a place to sleep. I fucking did. And I did what I needed to survive my own hell.”

“Jack—” Sam starts to say.

“No,” I say, my eyes still on Brixton. “Just know that we let the kid go home with that asshole today, and if something happens…” My voice trails off, replaced by the growing lump in my throat. “That’s on us. All of us. And all of the fucking idiots uploading videos of me punching that guy. Nobody is paying attention to Jeremy, and he’s the real victim here.”

Rex runs a hand through his hair. “Jack, the kid wouldn’t say his father is the one who hurt him. Without an accusation, the authorities can’t do anything but monitor the situation.”

“I know what he did,” I say, a dark tone clouding my words. “I know better than anyone. ”

“You have no proof,” Brixton says. “Get the kid to talk and then we can go after the bastard.”

I scrape a hand down the front of my face. “I’d given him my cell phone number the first time I saw the bruises. Just in case he needed to talk. I sure as hell hope he uses it if he gets into trouble.”

“And what about the videos?” Sam asks Rex. His eyes flicker at me. “This isn’t about backlash on Play It Forward, it’s about backlash on you. You know this kind of thing can have a lot of repercussions, not only for you, but your teammates. You need to let Rex handle things as he sees fit.”

I roll my eyes. “Okay, well, I’m not kissing anyone’s ass or writing an apology letter or any of that shit.”

“You’ll read a prepared statement to the press and you will apologize,” he says in a stern voice. “You also will not impart your own personal beliefs about the guy because that would be slander if you’re proven wrong.”

“I can’t do it.” I fold my arms over my chest and shake my head. “I won’t apologize for anything. He’s lucky I only got two punches in.”

“Jack, you need to think about your future,” Carter says. “You just started with a new team. Coach Enver, management, they’re all going to flip out when they see these videos. You need to stop the bleeding.”

“This is why you pay me the big bucks, Jack.” Rex leans back in his chair. “I know how to navigate these situations, and I will handle it for you. But you need to abide by my rules.” His eyes land on Brixton and he lifts an eyebrow. “Not everyone in this room follows instructions. Don’t be that guy. Your career will suffer for it. Some people, like your pal Brixton here, managed to get lucky in the past, but we can’t bank on luck or stardom here. We need to handle things carefully and swiftly.”

I fist the sides of my hair. “This shouldn’t be about me, dammit. I don’t care about what it means to me. I care about the kid and what he’s going through.”

“You’re a famous NHL player. Of course it’s going to be about you. And I get that you care about what Jeremy is going through, but that’s out of my hands. If you want to smooth things over as fast as possible for your benefit and the benefit of your team, you’ll do as I say.” Rex sighs. “I need a couple of days to figure out what we’re dealing with, what this guy wants, and how we can settle up and close this thing out neatly before we move forward. In the meantime, I want you to get the hell out of here and lay low until you hear from me. Think you can handle that?”

“Do I have a fucking choice?”

Everyone in the room answers in unison. “No.”

“Where can you go for the next couple of days to keep away from the press?” Rex asks.

“I’ll take him home with me.” Carter speaks up. He looks over at me. “It’s my grandmother’s ninetieth birthday party. I was going to head home tomorrow for an overnight trip. You can come with me. It’s a small town, no paparazzi. It’s better than staying home and having the press camped outside your door, ready to pounce.”

“Great. Small town birthday party sounds perfect and safe.” Rex goes through some details that I half-listen to, my focus on Jeremy and what he’s going through right now. I can’t check on him without an address. The only way I’ll know if he’s okay is if he shows up here for our next session.

And that’s a whole weekend away.

The meeting breaks up. Rex tells me to sit tight, stay out of trouble, and that he’ll be in touch. I drum my fingers on the table, my mind racing.

Brixton stops next to me on his way out. He claps a hand on my shoulder. “I didn’t know, Jack. I’m sorry,” he says in a low voice. “And if there’s anything I can do to help with the kid once we know for sure what’s going on, let me know. If he’s hurting his kid, we’ll make sure he’s punished.”

I nod stiffly. “Thanks.”

Okay, maybe he’s not a complete dickwad.

Sam gives me a small smile as Brixton leaves the room. He leans down next to me and whispers against my ear. “Go have a good time tomorrow. You need it, and Carter is the perfect person for you to be around. He’s obviously in this with you. And we’ll do whatever we can to keep Jeremy safe. I promise. I’ll get in touch with a few people who might be able to help us track him down, keep an eye on things.”

“I appreciate that,” I say, my voice tight. He gives my shoulder a squeeze and walks out of the room.

When Carter and I are finally alone, I collapse into a chair.

“You know, we could have come up with a different way to handle that,” he says. “You flew off the handle like a lunatic after Sam asked you not to.”

My jaw drops. “How can you even say that after everything I told you about my past? Was I really supposed to just ignore what I saw? What everyone saw?”

“I’m not saying the guy’s innocent, but you needed to leave this up to people who have actual power in these kinds of situations. I think it’s possible that you did project onto the guy and it pissed you off when Brixton called you out on it.”

I suck in a breath. “Look, maybe I went a little too far, but…”

I want to tell him. I want to tell him so badly.

“But what, Jack?” Carter’s voice softens. “Tell me. I’m on your side. I always was. And we’ll figure it all out, okay? Please be honest with me. I want to understand.”

Would he, though? Could he?

And if he doesn’t, then what ?

Well, I already know what.

He’d break my fucking heart and I’d be left picking up the pieces.

My arms drop onto the table in front of me and I slump forward. “It’s bad. Really bad. And believe me, the assault on Jeremy’s father isn’t the only thing that can crush my career.”