Chapter 50
FIFTY
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Sam pitched eight scoreless innings but fell short of another perfect game. If anyone could make history, Sam could. But he settled for pitching a damn good game. Cannon closed, and Sam got the win while Cannon got the save.
As we left the suite, I pulled Granddad aside and asked if we could meet tomorrow.
“Everything okay?”
“I would appreciate your advice. I need some direction and want to run a couple of scenarios by you.”
Kendra watched me, and I could sense her discomfort. God, I hated that she had to deal with this shit. But I knew that if I handled it without her, it would be worse for her.
“Should I come to the park? Or do you want to come to the house?”
“Kendra and I can come to you.” Our eyes met, and she gave a slight nod.
I’d promised her we’d do this together, and that meant that I wouldn’t do anything that took away her control of the situation.
Even though I wanted to, God, I wanted her to never need to worry about that sorry fucker ever again.
When we got back to my place, I drew a bath for her. She hadn’t complained, but I could see that the celebration had barely masked her exhaustion. Her body, mind and spirit had been pushed to the max today, and unless I forced her to take time off, she wouldn’t.
“We’re playing hooky tomorrow.”
She slipped her clothes off and slid into the tub, gesturing for me to join her. “God, this feels good. What about the meeting with your grandfather? That surprised me.”
My clothes dropped to the floor, and she moved forward so I could climb in behind her. “I’m at a loss for direction, and wanted to talk through the strategy. A straight trade would be great, but you can’t just dump him on another team. He’s a liability.”
“Isn’t that what happened when we got him?” Her point hit hard, here I was thinking we were getting a great deal and closing some holes in our line-up, instead I forced Kendra to face her past trauma anytime she saw him.
“Probably. But at this point, we’ve told no one about our plans with him. He’s delivered exactly as expected on the field. We have no reason to trade him.”
I massaged her shoulders, feeling the muscles begin to relax as I worked the knots that had formed. “Maybe we don’t trade him yet.”
“I can’t have him around you, Ken.” I heard my voice crack, and I couldn’t ignore the ice-cold fear that raced through my veins as I thought about Tucker anywhere near her.
“I’ve been living with this for years. I’ve worked my ass off in therapy and prepared myself to see him in the stadium, at events, and on the field every game. A little longer isn’t going to kill me. We have to focus on what’s best for the team.”
That’s when it clicked. I had grown up knowing that I would eventually run the team; it had been the reason for everything I’ve done since I was old enough to understand what I’d inherited. I would risk it for her, but I would never risk Kendra for the fucking game.
“The only reason I haven’t dragged that motherfucker out of the locker room and kicked his ass is because I don’t want you to be forced to say anything about your assault. You say the word, Ken, and he’s done.”
“And when he sues the team and wins? There is an entire team of men relying on you for their careers. Those men have earned their place on the team; they’ve earned the chance to play the game. You cannot take it away from them because Tucker is the problem.”
She leaned back into me, and I wrapped my arms around her. “I want to fix it.”
“From one fixer to another, I’m right there with you. If I saw a way to do it without hurting more people in the process, I would have done it long ago.”
“Has he threatened you?”
“He sent videos to my dad. They weren’t anything bad, but those were a warning that he would send more if I pushed him. J—My dad cannot see that footage.”
I swallowed back a lump in my throat. Yes, I know that Kendra had photos and sex tapes floating around out there.
But the threat of them being released, of her father—fuck—my father seeing them—it was unbearable.
For whatever misguided reason, she had trusted Tucker when they dated, and he’d violated that trust when she tried to leave him, and he’s continued to violate it as he threatened her into silence.
I wanted to promise her that it would never come to that, but I couldn’t. The only thing I could promise was that, no matter the outcome, I would stand with her.
“If only he weren’t such a fucking dick to everyone.”
“He’s always been like that. When I first met him, he was still working to hide his real self. It was only after I left the relationship that he began to take off that mask. I kept only minimal tabs on him while he was in the Minor League, but he came into his own then.”
“I don’t want to talk about him anymore tonight.” Unsaid—I had a strong feeling that Tucker would monopolize plenty of our time in the future.
Kendra turned in my arms, sitting herself on my lap and wrapping her legs around my back.
“Does this change the way you feel about me?” Her wide eyes searched for the slightest hint that something had changed between us.
“It does, Ken. But not in the way you’re fearing.
I dropped you off at the marathon’s starting line this morning and picked up a completely different person.
Yes—it’s still you. But fuck, you changed; you somehow got stronger even as that race threatened to tear you the fuck apart.
So many people crumble under pressure; they fade.
You fucking rose from the ashes, and you let me in.
Your survival has always been about taking care of yourself and your sisters.
You risked that and trusted me with this information.
I can’t begin to explain how much that means to me—but I’m so fucking afraid to fail you. ”
Her wet hands brushed my hair back and tucked it behind my ear, a futile effort to try to take the attention away from my words. She dropped her forehead to mine; her chest heaved with the force of her next few breaths. “I’ve never wanted to rely on someone else.”
“You don’t, Ken. You never will. But that doesn’t mean we can’t help each other.”
“Can we just fuck now?”
“Is that what you need?”
“Yeah, make me forget for a while.”
So that’s what we did. We spent the next few hours buried in each other, enough so that we could forget the outside world existed. When she fell asleep in my arms, her last words were, “I love you.”