Love on Ice (Manhattan Mavericks #1)

33. Felix

33

FELIX

“ H ow are you feeling?” I ask my brother as we take off from Florence Airport inbound to New York.

“Relief, if I’m being honest,” he says.

“Why didn’t you tell me how unhappy you were?” I ask him.

“You were going through your own shit. I couldn’t unload my shit onto you, too.” He takes a sip of his scotch.

“What happened? You guys seemed happy.”

“Fucking ego. I thought bagging a baddie supermodel like Kitty meant that I had made it. Then, when people started celebrating us, and the endorsements started to roll in, and the money, the next thing I knew, I was turning into someone else. It wasn’t until I went back to New York and attended Alberto’s funeral, and I saw Issy again that I realized how far I had deviated from who I was. Got swept up in the accolades, the fame, the money.”

“I’m sorry, I had no idea,” I tell him.

He shakes his head. “Everything went south when I got home from New York, everything about Kitty irked me. She was oblivious to it because she is that self-absorbed. I didn’t have time to think about my personal life because we made the playoffs and we were determined to win The Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, we didn’t, and before I knew it the wedding was around the corner. I thought it was too close to cancel anything, but in hindsight, I wish I had.”

“You can’t keep bottling things up,” I tell him.

“I know.”

“How are you feeling about what you saw? I can’t imagine that was good. I just heard my ex-kissing, I think seeing her fucking would have pushed me over the edge.”

“I felt numb. At least it explained the weird tension between us, why she was always on the phone whispering. She would tell me it was wedding stuff, and I didn’t have the mental capacity to care. I never suspected she would be screwing the owner who is like thirty years older than her.”

“Not sure what’s worse, a young teammate or an old billionaire owner,” I try to tease him, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Neither is good.” He smirks. “It was nice of Harper to pull through for me, especially as she hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you.”

“Oh no, she hates me, with good reason. Wish I could turn back time and change the stupid choices I made.” My brother sighs.

“Like not cheating on Issy?”

His head whips around. “You know about that?”

“Just found out recently. Harper accidentally spilled the beans. Issy doesn’t know, I know,” I warn him. “Why would you mess around on Issy?”

“Because I was fucking stupid. I got engrossed in all that frat boy shit, the whole big man on campus, succumbed to peer pressure, stupid shit. Issy loved me and I fucked it up, for what?”

“Why did you never go after her all these years later?” I ask him.

“She seemed happy. Plus, she made it obvious she wanted nothing to do with me. It was a mistake, and I guess I needed to live with the consequences.” He sighs as he takes another sip. I don’t know what to say to my brother to make him feel better. “You seem happy with Harper.”

“I am. Are you surprised?”

He shakes his head. “The fact that that girl has held a grudge against me for over a decade means she’s loyal as hell.” He chuckles. “Is it serious? I know it’s fairly new.”

“I like her, but we agreed to just date for the summer,” I confess to him.

“Oh, why?” he asks. I tell him everything, I need my brother to guide me, and hopefully, my shit will help him deal with his shit.

Then my sister Joelle calls and informs us that she told Kitty that the wedding was off. This sent Kitty into a huge meltdown where she started to destroy the home by throwing things, she was hysterical. I guess I can understand, slightly humiliating. Jo said that she wouldn’t listen to her when she was trying to explain why without embarrassing Kitty, but then her parents and bridesmaids got involved and were saying pretty horrible things. So she told them that Pierre caught her in the garden earlier screwing someone else. She told us how they went on and on about the lies, except Kitty, who got awfully quiet as did her bridesmaids. Her parents wouldn’t stop abusing her and the rest of the family, so she showed them the video which shut them up quickly. They said they would deal with their daughter and cancel the wedding quietly. Not sure how you can cancel a wedding for two hundred and fifty people quietly, but that seems like a them problem. Harper arranged for her driver to go back once he had dropped us off and wait for my family until they were ready to leave, and then he was given instructions to take them back to Florence for the night. My mom and sisters have decided they are going to stay in Italy and explore, which I think is a great idea. The three of them never get time together.

“Hey, do you mind if I join you guys?” Harper asks.

“Of course,” I tell her.

“This is going to sound random, but I’ve been sitting here running over a PR strategy for you because once the news breaks of your runaway groom expedition, things are going to explode media-wise, and it’s going to be hard to put that genie back in the bottle.”

“Fuck,” my brother curses as he rakes his hands through his hair. “I haven’t thought of anything other than getting the hell out of there. How the hell am I going to be able to play for my team after all this?”

Shit. I was lucky that my breakup happened when my contract was up so I could peace out of there. “Is there a clause in your contract? Something about the team doing something to you?” I ask him.

“I’m going to have to talk to my agent. Fuck. I don’t know if anything like this has ever happened before.”

“Look, I know it’s not the same situation, but Harper was able to help me win against Cynthia,” I explain to my brother, who looks at me confused. Yeah, I forgot to mention about that. “Cynthia tried to take our home in LA for her silence. Harper has a friend who did some digging and was able to find out that not only was Cynthia cheating on me with Stephen, but she’s cheating on Stephen with her best friend, her best friend’s husband, who is a teammate and another teammate all because they host sex parties. Anytime I thought she was going over there for girls’ night, which was once a month, she went over there to screw other athletes and celebrities instead.”

“Fuck,” my brother curses.

“Anyway, I don’t know how, but Harper’s friend was able to find out info. I mentioned what they had found to Cynthia’s lawyer, and she pulled her request for the house. Harper also warned me about how Cynthia might try to blame me publicly for the breakup and say I was abusive or anything like that to make her look good in the public eye, and she isn’t as huge as Kitty is in the influencer world,” I explain to him.

“You think she would do that to me?” Pierre asks, looking panicked.

“She might, but I think you should get a lawyer to approach Bill’s and tell him you know what he has been doing with Kitty behind your back. That you would like to be let go of your contract, but you need the contract paid in full in exchange for your silence. Do you have long on your contract?”

“Two years. You think he would take that?” my brother asks.

“A couple of million to a man who is worth billions,” Harper states.

“Would be closer to twenty million.” Pierre grins.

“Shit, well, that is a lot of money. Good on you. I still think it’s cheaper than a divorce from his wife of forty years who is probably entitled to half of his billions.” She’s right there. “Do you think you would be okay with staying silent over the situation?” Harper asks him.

“If it means I never have to play for his team ever again, hell yeah,” my brother answers.

“I know it seems easy now, but depending on what kind of contract Bill’s lawyers draw up, it could be ironclad. I’ve seen some and they are horrible. You would have to watch every single word that comes out of your mouth forever,” she explains.

“That sounds horrible,” I add.

“What choice do I have?” Pierre asks.

“You don’t have to worry about that now until something is presented by the lawyers. He may decide to be an asshole and not let you out of your contract.”

“Why the fuck would he not let me out of it?” Pierre asks.

“I know nothing about hockey, but I’m assuming you’re a good team?” Harper states. Pierre and I both nod. “Then it’s got to do with money, sponsors, all that stuff, and I’m guessing you’re the draw card.”

“He is,” I add.

“Bill is going to way that up, too. Unless Bill and his wife have an understanding, I doubt he wants her to find out he’s been messing with Kitty. I still believe that is going to be your biggest leverage, but please make sure when a deal is given that you way up all options,” Harper warns him.

“Maybe I should be hiring you to help with this nightmare.” My brother chuckles.

“If you need my services of course I’ll help,” Harper states. Pierre stares at her in shock. “You didn’t deserve this, but I will say it’s kind of epic karma.”

Pierre bursts out laughing. “You’re such a bitch, Harper.”

“Hey,” I warn my brother.

“I’m saying that in a nice way. You’re ruthless, and I know what it is like to have you as an enemy. It would be nice if we could be on the same side for once,” he tells her.

“My reign of terror is over, we’re all good, Pierre,” she tells my brother.

“Just like that?” he asks, surprised.

“Yes. Karma has delivered and now I’ll help you get out of this mess. This is going to be huge when it blows up. I’ve already set Google alerts up for both of your names as well as Bill’s so I can get notified as soon as anyone mentions anything about any of you.” My brother looks over at me and back at Harper. She is so fucking hot right now. “We have a long flight, we should all be brainstorming. Have you heard from anyone yet?”

“I turned my phone off,” Pierre says.

“Turn it back on. Let’s work out what the hell we are dealing with,” Harper tells me.

“She’s bossy,” my brother says, looking over at me.

“It’s hot.” I grin, which makes him gag, but Harper sends me a blinding smile.

“Fuck.” Pierre’s phone lights up and a million and one messages come through. “Look at the last message that came through from Bill.”

Bill: Don’t do anything stupid, boy.

“Looks like he might be willing to negotiate.” Harper grins.

“Here, do with it what you want,” my brother says, handing his phone over to her. “The passcode is 6969.”

“Seriously, that’s your code?” Harper asks my brother. He rolls his eyes. “And you’re giving me access to your phone?”

“I have nothing to hide, but also, I can’t deal with those messages,” he tells her.

Harper’s face lights up. “This is going to be so much fun.” She sits back and starts scrolling through his phone.

“Can’t believe you handed over your phone,” I whisper to my brother.

“There were so many messages. I don’t want to listen to whatever bullshit Bill and Kitty have to say. Plus, Harper isn’t going to do anything with the information she finds, client privilege and stuff,” he explains.

“She’s not a lawyer,” I remind him.

“No, she’s better.” He grins. I’m not sure how I feel now that my brother and Harper have buried their feud. It’s creepy that they are getting along.

“What happens if Harper’s right and Bill is willing to let me go just before the season starts? I can’t not be on the ice. It’s too early for me to retire, but this could ruin my career. I don’t want this to be my legacy.”

I understand where he is coming from, but my brother is a freaking legend on the ice. “You’d be a free agent. You’re the top scorer in the league, every team would want you.”

“You think The Mavericks would?” he asks.

I still. “You’d want to play for my team?”

“I want to play with you. We’ve never played on the same team before, but I sure as hell know we would be unstoppable together.”

This makes me smile because we would be. “You think we could work together? You know I hate it when you boss me around.”

“You’re my little brother, it’s my job to boss you around,” he teases.

“Not at work,” I warn him.

He just smiles. “I’m not your Captain, so no, I wouldn’t boss you around on the ice. But off it …”

“How does any of this sound appealing to me?”

“Oh, come on, I’m joking,” he says.

I don’t believe him, but it would be awesome if we played together. “I could mention something to Issy but no guarantees,” I tell him.

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“Wait, what about Collette? She works for your team,” I tell my brother.

“Shit.”

“We could add Collette as part of the deal, too, unless she wants to stay,” Harper adds.

“Can you text her and find out? I don’t think she would want to stay but I can’t make that call for her,” Pierre says.

“Of course,” Harper says as she furiously types out a message to my sister.

“Thanks,” he says.

“You would seriously move back to New York?” I ask him.

“It’s close to Mom and an easier commute to see Joelle.”

“And Issy?”

“Don’t start. She is not the reason I want to be in New York.” He points his finger at me.

“Collette is into jumping ship,” Harper says.

Pierre looks relieved. “You’re not looking to hire people, are you?” he asks Harper.

“Me?”

“Just a thought,” Pierre adds.

“Hadn’t thought about it, but she’s sports marketing, right?” she asks. We both nod. “My agency doesn’t deal with a lot of sports, but maybe I could talk to Issy for you.”

“Would you?” my brother asks.

“Yeah. Look, it’s going to be delicate, but I’ll try,” Harper tells him.

“Thanks, again.”

Pierre’s fallen asleep after dinner exhausted from the day. Harper is furiously working away.

“Thanks for all this, I owe you,” I tell her.

She looks up from her phone and gives me a bright smile. “Is it wrong of me to say I love all this because it’s very sad but exciting?”

This makes me laugh. “I get it.” She puts all her things down, slides over into my lap, and wraps her arms around me. “Sorry, we had to cut our holiday short. I was looking forward to fucking you in Italy.”

“Me too,” she says, hugging me tightly.

“Things with my family are about to go to shit, so I don’t know what that means for us,” I confess to her.

“I’ll be here for you, whatever you need,” she says.

I stroke my hand down her hair. “Thanks, you’ve already done so much for me and my family.”

Harper looks up at me. “Isn’t that what good girlfriends do?”

“Don’t know, I haven’t had any till you,” I confess as I lean down and kiss her gently.