Page 22

CHAPTER 22

Rafferty

T he drive to the arena is quiet, filled with the kind of tension that comes when you’re on the brink of something monumental. We’re both lost in thought, and yet it says something that I’m comfortable with Tempe in the silence, as she clearly is with me.

We hold hands the entire way, and that’s really all I need.

But as we pull into the players’ garage of the Titans’ arena, a case of nerves strikes and I wonder if this is a mistake. I push it aside though, because I trust in Tempe and well… I trust in myself.

It’s New Year’s Eve and there’s a rock concert tonight at the arena so there’s a lot of bustle and activity as we walk through the bowels to the elevator that leads to the executive offices. When we exit on the top floor, it’s quiet given it’s a weekend with no game. The main lobby’s lights are on but the hallways beyond are dark. Callum awaits our arrival and I reintroduce him to Tempe.

“Thanks for getting this together so quickly,” I say as we follow him back to the inner sanctum.

“Sounded like this was critical to your innocence, so it didn’t seem to leave any other options,” he says amiably.

Brienne’s office door is open, and as we approach, I can see the river and city skyline through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind her desk. The office used to belong to her brother Adam, who managed the team but unfortunately died in the crash. The space has been done in dark woods with thick burgundy carpeting and heavy, gold-framed oil paintings. It’s clearly masculine, a holdover from her brother’s time, I suppose, and very reminiscent of Brienne’s family home.

Brienne stands from behind her desk, casually dressed in designer jeans, a cream sweater and red plaid scarf around her neck. Her hair is loose but held back by a matching plaid headband. She moves our way, her expression welcoming, but I see the worry in her eyes.

Her eyes land on Tempe and she blinks in surprise before turning to me. “I didn’t realize you’d have your girlfriend with you.” She looks to Tempe and her smile is genuine. “It’s nice to see you again, Tempe, but perhaps you’d like to wait out in the lobby.”

Tempe stiffens at my side but I quickly clear things up. “Actually, I need her to stay. She can corroborate what I’m about to tell you.”

Brienne motions toward the round conference table in the corner that seats four. “Let’s sit down. Do you two want any coffee or water?”

“I’m good,” I say, and Tempe echoes the same.

When we’re settled, Brienne clasps her hands on the table and looks me right in the eye. “First, let me say I’m incredibly upset about these false allegations against you. I know this is upsetting and I know you’re not happy with the suspension. You can be assured you have my full support and we’ll get to the bottom of this quickly so we can get you back on the ice.”

I take a breath, let it out slowly. “I really hope you mean that, Brienne. Because what I’m about to tell you will explain why these fake reports occurred and you’re not going to be happy about it.”

“I see,” Brienne murmurs, and I can’t help but think… You really don’t . “Why don’t you just lay it out for me then.”

I clear my throat. “First, thank you for meeting with us on such short notice,” I start, steady despite the turmoil inside. “And I appreciate the support you’re giving me just on my word alone.”

“You volunteered for a drug test right away,” Brienne points out. “That was all I needed to know, and I’m well aware that fake stories happen all the time. I fully expect we’ll uncover the truth of what happened.”

“I do too,” I reply, my eyes moving between Brienne and Callum, ultimately landing on Brienne. “But you need to know, your cousin Tansy Carmichael is behind it all.”

Brienne’s mouth drops wide open, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head. “Tansy? I don’t understand.”

“It’s a long story, so bear with me,” I say, and I cycle through all the pertinent information so I can give her a complete picture without droning on and on. “I had a one-night stand with Tansy several weeks ago. I knew she worked for the organization, but I didn’t know she was related to you. I guess that’s not really relevant, but it was consensual and then it was over.”

I stare hard at Brienne, as I want to be sure she understands that it was only a hookup, as seedy as that might make me seem.

“Go on,” she says, her words clipped.

“Tansy didn’t want it to be over though. She kept showing up at places I frequented and made innuendos that she wanted to see me again. Then she just started asking me to go out again. At first, I was trying to be polite and didn’t quite know how to say no to her without hurting her feelings. But she never got the hint, and then one night, when I was at the grocery store, she showed up.”

“Was this a grocery store she usually goes to?” Callum asks.

“If you’re wanting to know if this was coincidence, I can’t say for sure, but it didn’t seem like one to me. At any rate, I panicked when I saw her walking my way, and well… I grabbed the woman standing next to me, which happened to be Tempe, and kissed her.”

Once again, Brienne’s jaw drops but she doesn’t say anything.

“I won’t go into the details but suffice it to say, I pretended that Tempe was my girlfriend and she went along with the ruse. Tansy didn’t believe it, so I convinced Tempe to keep up the fake girlfriend bit and she came to the next few team events with me so that Tansy would hopefully leave me alone.”

“Except she didn’t?” Brienne guesses.

I shake my head. “She said she never believed we were the real deal, and the ironic thing is, we became the real deal, but Tansy still didn’t let up.”

Brienne’s voice is cold. “And it never occurred to you to come to me about this? Or at the very least, go to human resources?”

“No,” I say truthfully. “She’s your cousin. She kept threatening to go to you, which implied to me that there was a loyalty there that the truth wouldn’t breach. So I kept quiet, hoping she’d let it go. But she didn’t. The last exchange was at the party at your house, and she threatened again to go to you. I’d finally had enough and told her to leave Tempe and me alone and to mind her own damn business.”

Brienne stands abruptly from her chair, walks over to the window and crosses her arms over her chest. She’s silent as she ruminates but then looks over her shoulder at me. “And that was your last interaction with her? A week ago?”

“Yes,” I reply and say no more. The story is out there.

Brienne turns back our way but doesn’t approach. She looks at Tempe. “And you can attest to all of this?”

“Yes, ma’am,” she says, and Brienne impatiently waves that off.

“Call me Brienne.” She moves back toward us, then bends over and places her palms on the table. Her eyes snap back and forth between me and Tempe. “These are very serious allegations.” I swallow hard, a lump forming in my stomach. “But I don’t think you’d make up something like this.”

I hold my breath, but Tempe doesn’t. She lets out a relieved sigh.

“You believe Tansy really fabricated these drug allegations because you ended whatever arrangement she thought you had?” Brienne asks, piecing together the motives behind the scandal.

“Yes,” I confirm. “I mean… I can’t say one hundred percent for sure, but no one else would do this to me. I hate to say it because she’s your cousin, and I’m sorry if this offends, but I’ve only seen her be vindictive, and I can only assume she did this to retaliate. To be clear, I’ve never taken any performance-enhancing drugs. The evidence against me, whatever it is, has been falsified.”

Brienne taps her fingers on the table, her expression thoughtful, then looks directly at me. “If what you’re saying is true, we need to act swiftly to clear your name and handle the person responsible.”

“I’d appreciate that,” I say, although I’m not quite sure what that means.

Callum nods, his mouth set in a grim line. “We’ll need to investigate, get our legal team involved, and verify everything you’ve told us. We’ll also need to manage the PR aspect carefully.”

“No.” Brienne straightens and walks to her desk. “I’m going to call Tansy to come in and meet me right now. This gets settled today.”

Oh shit. Now that I didn’t expect.

Brienne grabs her phone but looks back at me. “Are you okay with that?”

“Do you want me here when you speak to her?” I ask, not really wanting in the fray but absolutely willing to call out Tansy face-to-face.

“No,” Brienne says quietly. “This will be handled privately between me and her, but I want you to know a few things. It’s true that she’s my cousin, which is not something I publicized, and that’s because I had nothing to do with her being hired. I don’t play favorites and no one works for this team who isn’t qualified. She was hired by our chief marketing officer and I had no input. I have no supervisory authority over her and trusted that she would do a good job. By all accounts, she has, but I won’t tolerate this type of behavior by her or anyone. You should have trusted me on that, but I also understand you’re new to the team and don’t know me that well. I hope you’ve learned something from this.”

Yeah, I’ve learned that Brienne Norcross has my undivided loyalty until the day I die. “Consider me educated,” I reply solemnly. “And I’m sorry for everything. I handled it poorly.”

The corner of Brienne’s mouth tips up, her eyes going to Tempe, then back to me. “I think some things seemed to have worked out okay.”

More than okay.

Tempe and I rise to leave, and Callum promises to keep me updated. He won’t commit as to when I will be cleared to return to the team but says he’ll let me know something by the end of the day.

“Go enjoy yourselves tonight. Celebrate the new year,” he says as he walks us to the door.

That’s the last thing on my mind at this moment, but I’m sure we’ll still go to Foster and Mazzy’s party. I thank Callum, and Tempe and I head to the elevator hand in hand.

As we wait for the car to arrive, I turn to her. “Thank you for talking me into that.”

She smiles, leaning in to give me a kiss. “I planted the idea. You decided to go for it.”

“We make a good team, huh?”

“The best.”