Chapter 7 Delaney #2
“I think that’s a good idea.” What I don’t add is because I. Am. Done. It’s all too much. This day. The way my body hurts. The headache that won’t stop. The fact that there’s a man in my space, even if it’s one I told to stay here. It’s just too much. “You want to watch TV?”
“Yeah, Lane.” He swallows like he knows I’m deflecting. Or maybe just shutting down. “Let’s watch TV.”
The bells over the doors jingle a few minutes after ten the next morning, and I look up from behind the register of Love in Bloom.
Mondays are always slow, and I’m typically alone for the majority of the day, with my boss, Genevieve, popping in to check on everything and getting us set up for the week.
But it’s too early for those bells to be her.
I’m not at all surprised when Ashton, Dillan, Kaleigh, and Lexie walk in with coffees in hand. Well, coffees for them and tea for me. Ashton’s might be decaf, but it’s still coffee. I learned quickly that my sister is a coffee snob. Her body might be made up of more of it than water.
Tori pops up from her bed in the corner of the room and makes her way over to Lexie, who bends down to give my girl all the loving and a cookie she makes specially for Tori.
It helps to have friends who are Michelin-trained pastry chefs.
Lexie works at the bakery and coffee shop at the other end of Main Street.
Dillan and Kaleigh are at Dillan’s book shop, Hopeless Romantics, and my sister teaches baby ballerinas at the ballet studio on the corner.
They started popping in for coffee a few times a week as soon as I got this job. Ashton warned me it would happen and to just accept it because these ladies are amazing at forcing their friendship on you. She wasn’t wrong.
They don’t really take no for an answer. But I kind of appreciate it. Just a little. The rest of me still wants to pull away, hard and fast. But I keep trying to remind that girl this is normal. This is healthy. This is what I’m supposed to be doing.
If I keep saying it, maybe one day I’ll believe it.
“Tea for the newest woman marrying a Beneventi boy.” Dillan hands me my tea with a cheeky grin. “Welcome to the club.”
“Dillan—” Lexie stands and looks at the bruising I did my best to hide with makeup. I failed miserably, but I tried. “Ignore her, Lane, and tell us how you are and what you need? We all wanted to check in yesterday, but Ashton filled us in and told us to give you space.”
“Time’s up on the space, by the way.” Kaleigh leans her hip against the counter and runs her fingers over the hydrangea arrangement I’ve been working on. “We’ve been worried sick.”
“I’m okay,” I tell them on autopilot and force a smile. “I mean, I’m getting married. Woo hoo.”
It’s safe to say my faked enthusiasm falls flat.
“Don’t do that, Delaney. Don’t fake it for us.
” Kaleigh’s words aren’t harsh or mean. She’s coming from a good place.
It’s just still so damn foreign to me that it sets my nerves on edge.
Almost as much as the way my sister watches these women, her eyes paying close attention to my reactions.
“I sat at the hospital until Ryker kicked Hendrix and me out. And even then, I didn’t want to leave.
Your new fiancé kept me in the loop most of the day yesterday too, once I threatened to show up at your place if he didn’t. ”
He did?
“I really am okay. Sore. But not broken.” Not my spirit. Not my soul. “Not where it counts.”
Not a lie.
Bodies heal.
It probably didn’t help that I fell asleep on the couch watching a Schitt’s Creek marathon last night and woke up tucked against Ryker with the old blanket from the back of the couch thrown over us this morning. “I’ll be fine.”
“How’s Ryker?” Dillan asks, not bothering to hide her worry.
“He seems okay. A little in shock, but can you blame him? We’re both processing, I guess,” I admit because let’s face it. I don’t know my fiancé all that well yet, and I’m not sure I’d know if he wasn’t okay. And who in their right mind would be okay with all this?
“What can we do to help?” Lexie asks, looking from me to Ashton, who’s still standing quietly behind the women. “There has to be something.”
“I guess I’ll need a wedding cake.” I may not know much about weddings, but I know I need a cake. And when I look at Ashton, she smiles and nods. Okay. Guess I got that right.
“Done.” Lexie winks. She’s not exactly quiet, but she’s the quietest of these women. “Any flavor preferences?”
I scrunch my nose as I think about it. “Not really.”
“No problem. Once you have the details, we can do a cake tasting, and you can decide what you want and how you’d like it to look. It’ll be fun.”
I lift my tea and try to hide my disbelief, but she sees it anyway.
“Trust me.”
Trust is terrifying.
But I’m trying.
Ryker
“They’re ready for you, Ryker.” My aunt’s assistant rises, notepad in hand, while my interpreter signs her words beside me.
Olivia insisted on the ASL interpreter when I signed with the Kings.
She said it was necessary, even if I thought it was a bit much at the time.
Nobody wants to be the guy who needs something extra. Especially as a rookie.
Turns out, Bob’s pretty damn useful most days.
Most. Days. Today, I don’t want him anywhere near this meeting.
The fewer people involved, the better.
“Thanks, Karen.” I glance between her and Bob. “You might want to wait out here.”
Bob frowns. “Ryker, this meeting is with the GM, Coach, and—”
“And my mother,” I cut in. “I appreciate it, but I’ve got it from here.”
All three people inside that room learned ASL over a decade ago.
He hesitates. Of course he does. I don’t pay his salary, the Kings organization does.
“Pretty sure I’m heading home after this,” I add. “Why don’t you cut out early? Grab takeout for your wife. I’m sure she’d appreciate it.”
His shoulders ease just a little.
“You sure?”
“Go, Bob.”
“I’ve got our boy,” Olivia says, appearing at my side, already signing the words.
“Boy?” I glance at her. “Seriously?”
She grins and dips her shoulder.
Brat.
“Come on, Beneventi. Let’s get this over with.”
And now I feel like I’m about to walk the proverbial plank. Thanks, Liv.
I hold the conference room door open for her, and she walks in like she owns the building—which, to be fair, she kind of does.
Or she will one day. We all grew up here.
Playing in our parents’ offices. Running around the empty halls.
King Corp. is a billion-dollar empire started by our grandfather, who passed away before any of us were even born.
Our parents took the reins and built it stronger than they could have ever imagined.
It’s as much a part of our family as the Kings or the Revolution.
King Corp. is more than football or hockey. It’s family. And as I open the door for Liv and see our mothers and Coach sitting at the long conference table, I wonder if I’m sitting with my family or my team’s management. It’s usually easier to tell the difference.
“Were you really going to meet with Ryker without me?” Liv asks sharply, heels clicking against the polished marble. Her icy glare sweeps the room. Over our mothers first, then Coach. No one escapes it.
“Well, hello to you too, daughter,” Scarlet fires back, unfazed. The two of them are frighteningly similar. “How are you, Ryker? How’s Delaney?”
“He’s fine. Shall we skip the pleasantries and get down to business, Mom?” So, Liv’s in a mood. Hopefully that works in my favor. She drops into a black leather chair, pulls an iPad from her Birkin, and waits.
Message received.
Guess we’re not easing into this, whatever this is.
I take a seat, positioning myself so I can see everyone clearly. Reading the room. Trying to figure out just how screwed I am.
“Fine.” Scarlet arches a brow and nods once.
“Ryker, according to the police report, you beat a man, who had to be put into a medically induced coma, for sexually assaulting your fiancée less than forty-eight hours ago. No charges have been formally filed yet. But the league is requiring us to do our own investigation.”
No surprise there, but it still sucks.
“Are you suspending him?” Liv asks, calm and sharp, and my hands curl into fists at my sides.
I expected this, but it doesn’t make it easier to swallow.
“No.” Scarlet stares at my mother, and something like relief flickers to life in Mom’s eyes and in my chest. “Not yet. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.”
Relief’s gone.
“Pending a full investigation,” Declan adds. “Your last name might be Beneventi, Ryker, but you’re a Kingston. Every move you make is under a microscope. We can’t afford even the slightest hint of impropriety. There can be no bias.”
Of course we can’t. I shift in my seat, my anger like a ticking time bomb counting down the timer. “Spell it out for me, Coach.”
He leans forward in his seat. This man who’s always been an uncle to me off the damn field and a god to me on it. “It means business as usual. Practice. Play. Do what we say, when we say it, while the league investigates and we work to clear your name.”
Olivia busies herself typing notes. “Is this the statement in my email?”
“Yes,” Mom answers. “It’s been sent to both of you and will be released after the meeting.”
Scarlet takes Mom’s hand in hers. A show of strength between sisters. Between family. “We support you, Ryker. You and your . . . fiancée.” Her gaze sharpens. “Let us know if there’s anything either of you need and when exactly we get to officially meet the lucky lady.”
My fiancée.
Not sure when I’ll get used to that.
“Thank you,” Liv announces without missing a beat.
She slides her iPad back in her bag and looks at me, waiting for the nod.
The acceptance that I’m good and the meeting’s over.
Once she has it, she stands. “We appreciate your understanding and will be happy to fully cooperate with any investigation.”
I nod once because really, what else is there to say.
This isn’t over.
Not even a little.
If anything, today was the beginning.
And somehow, this part . . .
The league. The press. The fallout . . .
This is the easy part.