Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Disappointment sliced into him as he remembered tonight’s loss. He’d managed to push it out of his mind while he was fucking Hayden, but now the memory returned. The taste of loss souring his mouth again. The Warriors weren’t moving on to the next round. Their season was over. Done.
But… Fuck, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. As much as he wanted to hold that Stanley Cup in his hands again—it had been too many seasons since the Warriors had won that damn thing—maybe it was better that the season had ended.
“If we won the championship this year, everyone would wonder if we’d earned it,” he said, the realization bringing a sick feeling to his gut.
Hayden nodded slowly. “They might, yeah.”
“There are too many questions around this season, all the games we played, the ones that might have been rigged. Maybe it’s better not to be moving on in the postseason. Who the fuck knows what this investigation is going to turn up.” He bit his lip. “All the players are being interviewed next week. Mine is scheduled for Monday.”
“What kind of questions will you be asked?”
He shrugged. “They’ll probably ask us what we know about the allegations, try to coax confessions out of us, quiz us about whether we know if another player was involved.”
“Are they going to ask about my dad?”
“I assume so.”
Resting her hands on the counter, she went silent for a moment, her pretty features shadowed by worry. He could tell she was upset by all of this, especially with everything she was learning about her father, and though he had no intention of making her feel worse, he unwittingly did so with his next statement.
“It was pretty much confirmed to me today that your dad fixed those games.”
Her gaze rose to meet his, her mouth forming a startled O. “What? Are you serious?”
He nodded.
“You’re saying you know for sure that he did it?”
Fuck. Maybe he shouldn’t have spit it out the way he had. But the confrontation with Wyatt had been eating at him all night, and he’d been hoping to talk it through with Hayden before the league’s investigator interviewed him. He knew he had to tell the truth if asked, but he wanted her advice, wanted her to tell him how to handle the time bomb in his hands without looking like he was betraying his teammates or the team owner.
But he hadn’t realized confiding in Hayden meant confirming her doubts about her father. Up until now she’d only suspected Presley had fixed those games, but with that one sentence he’d turned those suspicions into reality, and the crestfallen look on her face tugged at his insides in the most powerful way.
He wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know how.
So he kept his distance, releasing a slow breath. “He did it. I’m ninety-nine percent sure of it.”
“Ninety-nine percent,” she repeated. “Then there’s still a chance Dad wasn’t involved.”
“It’s unlikely.”
“But there’s still a chance.”
“Look, I know you want to see the best in your father, but you’re going to need to accept that he’s probably guilty.”
Her eyes widened, the color in her cheeks fading fast. “Are you going to tell the investigator that? You’re going to say my dad is guilty?”
“I don’t know what I’m going to say yet.”
He could see her legs shaking as she walked across the tiled floor toward him. Eyes wild with panic, she touched his arm and tilted her head to look up at him. “You can’t do it, Brody. Please. Don’t turn against my father.”
Twenty-Seven
Hayden didn’t know where the words were coming from, but she seemed to have no control over her vocal cords. In the back of her head she knew what she was asking of him was wrong, that if Presley was truly guilty he deserved to pay for his crimes. But this was her father, the only parent she had, the only constant in her life.
“You want me to lie?” Brody said flatly.
She swallowed. “No, I… Maybe if you just didn’t say anything…”
“Lying by omission is still lying, Hayden. And what if they flat-out ask me if Pres bribed anyone? What do I do then?”
Desperation clawed up her throat. She knew she had no right asking him to do this for her, but she couldn’t watch her father’s entire life shatter before her eyes.
“He’s my only family,” she said softly. “I just want to protect him.”
Compassion flickered in Brody’s eyes, but it quickly faded into annoyance. “What about me? Don’t I deserve to be protected, too?”
“Your career isn’t at stake,” she protested.
“Like hell it isn’t!” His eyes flashed, and he took several steps away from her. “My integrity and reputation are on the line here. I won’t throw away my career by lying to protect the team owner, not even for you.”
Tears stung her eyes. Not because of what he’d just said, but because her mind was functioning properly again, and she suddenly felt so very stupid. What the hell had she been thinking, asking him to lie for her dad? Her only defense was that she hadn’t been thinking. For a split second there, the fear seizing her insides was so strong it had overpowered her ability to think logically. Suddenly, she’d been the lonely little girl who’d grown up without a mother, who didn’t want to see her father carted off to jail even if it meant breaking the rules to keep him out of a cell.