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Cooper’s truck is in front of a mansion when I pull up to the address Joanie gave me, and I wonder how long he’s been there. I wonder if he found my dad…if he made him understand. If he explained and they’re toasting and everything is going to be fine.

The nauseous feeling permeating my entire body tells me it’s not likely, but a girl can dream.

“Is this it?” I ask Joanie.

She nods.

“This is the exclusive, private club? It looks like a house.” I feel like I’m making conversation as a way to divert the fear zipping up and down my spine, but it isn’t really helping.

“When Troy and Victor bought the place, they pretty much gutted it to build what they had envisioned,” she says a little absently as we both get out of my truck.

We walk toward the front door, and I have to force one foot in front of the other. I’m dreading what we’re about to find inside, and not just this whole mess with my dad and Cooper but actually stepping foot into this sex club. Will people be doing it in the foyer?

Joanie nods to a security guard standing near the front door, and he opens the door to let us in. She must be a VIP if she’s the owner’s fiancée. Did they meet here? Or did they know each other before this? I realize only now I have no idea how they met even though Joanie and I have gotten fairly close over the last few months.

I don’t know if we’ll remain close after this, though. And I don’t know how my dad will feel knowing that I’ve been sleeping with Cooper, either.

I’m surprised when we walk in and the first room is a foyer with a tall counter in front of us. The room is painted black, but the countertop is white with lights glowing beneath them. Overhead lights are on, too, and we find Cooper and my father facing off. My dad’s hand is on the door handle behind him, and Cooper stares him down with a look of complete and utter devastation on his handsome face.

It scares me.

A lot.

I’m terrified for what’s coming next.

A gorgeous woman sits behind the counter, clearly pretending like she’s not listening to every word exchanged between Cooper and my father, and she glances up toward Joanie and me when we walk in.

My eyes are glued to Cooper, and the tension in here is thick. He doesn’t look at me—not right away.

The fear kicks up a few notches as my heart turns from pounding to thundering. It’s so loud I’m certain everyone in the room can hear it.

Cooper breaks the face-off with my father first as he blows out a long breath and runs a hand along his jaw. He stares down at the ground, still not looking over at me.

“Is there somewhere private I can speak with Gabby?” he asks my father.

“There’s an empty office upstairs.” He grunts the words then opens the door behind him. He leads the way up the stairs, and all four of us trudge up them toward the second floor. He opens another door, and we walk down a hallway. He nods toward a dark room, and Cooper goes in first, flipping a light switch.

I follow him in, and it feels very much like I’m in trouble.

“You can leave,” my father says to Joanie just before the door clicks shut behind us.

The office has furniture in it—a desk with a chair, a small leather couch, and a recliner, but otherwise it’s a vacant office.

I look at the couch since my legs feel like they’re about to give out, but I don’t sit—mostly because I’m waiting for Cooper to make a move first. I want him to pull me into his arms. I want him to pin me against the wall with his hips and kiss me the way he did back in the chapel, but instead he blows out another breath and runs his hand along his jaw again. He’s keeping his distance.

That’s not a good sign. My chest starts to ache as my body prepares for what’s coming.

He perches on the edge of the desk, and he won’t look at me.

“What’s going on? Did you talk to him?” I finally ask, breaking the silence because I can’t take it for another freaking second.

“I talked to him,” he says quietly, staring down at a spot on the carpet. “I told him how we met before I even knew he had a daughter. I told him how we fell in love before you knew I played ball. I told him how we tried to stay away but couldn’t. I told him how you are it for me, how you are the love of my life.”

His eyes finally lift to mine, and the pain in them tells me the rest of this conversation isn’t going to go the way I’ve been hoping.

“He told me I made a commitment to the team and I need to choose between that commitment and you. I…I don’t have a choice.” His voice breaks, and it kills a piece of me since it tells me what decision he’s already come to.

“There’s always a choice,” I interject softly.

He shakes his head, and I wish I knew what the hell my father said to him to cause him to act this way, but I don’t press. He’s made a decision.

Maybe he’d take a different route if he had all the facts, but blurting out I’m pregnant right now seems like it would just be a desperate attempt to hold onto something that he has already determined to be over, and I don’t even have a confirmation from my doctor yet anyway. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

It’s easy to say that to myself. It’s easy to pretend the reason I’m not telling him is because it’s not confirmed, or it’s because I don’t want to seem desperate.

It’s a little harder to admit that maybe I’m more like my mother than I ever thought I could be.

TO BE CONCLUDED IN BOOK 5, HARDBALL