Chapter 30
Thirty
Sean
The second I unlocked my phone this morning, headline after headline about her being offered the head coaching position for our team filled my screen.
I don’t know who opened their fucking mouth, but somebody did, and when I find out who, I might just remove their tongue so they can never speak again.
When I stepped off the ice and saw the notification showing where she was, a knot lodged in my throat, and I felt like I was suffocating.
There’s no way in hell I’m letting her roam around the city alone with paparazzi, reporters, and every creep in Manhattan tracking her down. Fuck that. I need more eyes on her.
Pulling up my contacts, I tap the call button and place the phone on speaker.
“Mac.” As usual, Nate forgoes a greeting and gets right to the point.
“Nate. It’s been a while.”
“You’re not! She’s gonna kill you!” Aiden protests in a hushed voice.
Covering the receiver, I press my finger to my mouth, giving him the signal to shut up.
“Did I lose you?” Nate asks, pulling my attention back to the call.
“Sorry. Sorry. I’m here,” I say, knowing this idea might come back to bite me in the ass but not giving one single fuck at the moment.
“I figured it’d take you a while to come around after . . . well, we don’t need to rehash that, do we?”
“No. We don’t. Listen, I’m out of state, and Hannah is at The Warehouse. Can you send someone you trust to watch out for her?”
There’s no one in the city with connections as deep as Nate’s, and his men are feared by the worst criminals. Rumor is there’s something to that, but I don’t ask questions.
“Do you not trust her?”
“I trust her with my life.” The words rush out of my mouth without hesitation. “But she’s in the middle of the city at a rave with an elderly woman, and they’re by themselves. It’s not her I don’t trust, it’s the people around them.”
“She went to a rave with an old lady?” He chuckles. “Fuck, man. That girl is always full of surprises. Yeah, I’ll send Antonio. Will that work?”
“Can I trust him to keep his hands to himself?”
He barks a laugh. “Let’s just say he’d probably enjoy having his hands all over you. She’ll be safe, man. But you know I don’t do shit for free.”
Here we go.
“What do you want?”
“I hear Viv got a job in New York—”
How the hell did he hear that?
“No. Absolutely fucking not. I’m not trading my sister like some whore in return for protection for my girl.”
He tsks. “What kind of man do you take me for, Mac?”
“Do I even need to answer that question?”
“No. I suppose you don’t.” He laughs. “I need her to design some leather outfits for the auction I’m having in a few months.”
“Jesus Christ. What are you into . . . you know what? Never mind. I’ll figure something else out. I don’t want to be wrapped up in whatever sex trade bullshit you’re running.”
“You know I don’t fuck with that shit,” he says flatly, clearly irritated and offended I would even make the accusation.
“That’s not how I operate. The girls on auction have signed NDAs and consent forms. I may deal in dirty business, Mac, but I do draw the line at sex trafficking and sexual assault. ”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I huff a sigh. “Sorry. Yeah, I know that.”
What the hell do I do?
Viv is an adult, and he’d probably throw enough money at her to set her up in a nice little penthouse in Manhattan for the next six months. I wish she wasn’t so stubborn and would let me take care of her.
“Keep your hands off my sister and you have a deal,” I say, reluctantly bartering with the devil.
“Can’t make that promise, Mac.”
Well, at least he’s honest about it; I’ll give him that. I just don’t want her wrapped up in whatever he has going on.
“You’re wasting precious time that could have Antoinio’s eyes on your girl.”
“Fine. I’ll send you Viv’s contact and Hannah’s location.”
“Good. Talk soon . . . and Mac?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Don't know what he’s thanking me for. Handing my sister over to him on a silver platter, maybe? I end the call and grab my towel off the bench beside me so I can take a quick shower before the press conference.
Aiden raises a brow. “You know he’s gonna fuck your sister.”
For some reason, that triggers every single thing he said to me about Viv at Cal’s wedding.
“Shut the fuck up, Aiden Brodie. I don’t want to hear another goddamn word about my sister from your mouth.”
I don’t place any blame on Aiden. Guys talk, and he had no idea who Viv was to me, but fuck . . . I heard way too many details to last me a lifetime. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get the visual images out of my mind. I love my sister, but she’s a little pinche cabrona for pulling that shit.
Aiden’s voice echoes in the stall next to mine. “I just want to get my little girl from Kat and go home. It’s too late for her to be out.”
Drying off, I wrap my towel around my waist, then step out of the shower. I’m damn near crawling out of my skin to get back home to my girl. “Book us a commercial flight, and I’ll talk to Coach.”
Normally that wouldn’t fly with Coach, but we don't have a game tomorrow night, so everyone is heading back to New York anyway.
“I don’t know how I’m gonna do this, man . . . Dragging her place to place . . .” Aiden trails off, pulling clean clothes out of his bag. “It’s not the life I wanna give her, but I can’t leave her with someone else either. It makes me sick to even think about being away from her.”
“You’re a good dad, you know that?”
“I’m trying.”
“Hannah grew up on the road and look how she turned out. She’d be the first to tell you it’s one of the things she loved most about her life. Don’t beat yourself up,” I say, grabbing my bag and heading toward the conference room for the post-game interview.
Jade runs to Aiden with pom-poms in her hand and squeals, “Daddy! That game was AWESOME!”
“Did you have fun, princess?” he asks, picking her up and twirling around.
I swear her giggles are the best fucking sound.
“I did,” she answers, shaking her pom-poms in his face. “Look what Mammaw bought me.”
He glances over at Katherine as she fiddles with her necklace. “Hope you don’t mind if she calls me that. I-I guess I should’ve asked you first, but she heard Tucker and—”
“It’s good, Kat. Thank you for including her.”
Coach storms out of the conference, red-faced and fuming.
“Is it time for us to go in?” I ask.
“Press conference is over,” he snaps. “Who the fuck told them about Hannah?”
Like Hannah, Coach obviously doesn’t pay attention to gossip either. Ignorance is bliss until it fucking blindsides you.
I blow out a puff of air. “I don’t know, but I saw the rumors this morning.”
“Dammit! I need to call Hannah.”
“She’s fine. I already called her,” I try to tell him, but he holds up a hand, his phone already out and calling his daughter.
Aiden and I glance at each other as Coach places the phone to his ear. “Hannah, where are you? At a what?! I-I can’t hear you.”
The music is so loud that I can hear it from the other end of the call, and I’m standing several feet away from him.
“She’s at a rave with Granny,” Aiden says.
“A rave?!” Coach yells into the phone. “Are you crazy?”
He takes off his ballcap, slapping it on the side of his leg. Oh, he’s pissed.
“I don’t care if you’re a grown ass woman . . . The paps—” Pulling the phone from his ear, he stares down at it, then cast his gaze to us. “She . . . She hung up on me.”
“Look, Coach. I have someone there looking out for her now, but I want to get back to her before tomorrow. And Aiden wants to get Jade home.”
“Yeah, you two go ahead. Will you text me and let me know that she made it home alright?”
“Yeah.” I clap him on the shoulder.
It’s well after 3am when we come rolling into the driveway.
Aiden parks and lifts Jade out of her booster, carrying her up the steps.
Her little dress shoes dangle from his fingers as he eases the front door open.
The hinges groan just enough to make us both freeze.
I glance over at her, but she doesn’t so much as twitch.
Kid’s dead to the world, head buried in her dad’s shoulder, mouth hanging wide open.
Aiden stops by the panel in the entryway, typing in the code for his security system before the alarm wails.
I leave him to it and head straight for Hannah, sleeping on the sofa.
The sports network plays low in the background with highlight reels from various games flickering across the screen, and I smile to myself.
She may love the sport more than I do. I reach into my back pocket, plucking out my cell, and snap a picture of her to keep for myself before shooting over a text to her dad letting him know she’s home safe.
Squatting down next to my beautiful, sleeping girl, I brush the paint-matted curl off her cheek and kiss her forehead.
Looks like she just came straight in and crashed.
Exhausted, and deciding not to wake her up, I reach over and snatch the yellow throw pillow from the end of the couch, tossing it onto the ground beside the sofa.
Turning off the TV, I settle onto the floor and stretch out on my back, staring up at the ceiling. Funny how not too long ago I thought marriage was a crock of shit, and now I can’t stop thinking about putting a ring on her finger. I wonder what cut of diamond she’d like. Pear, I bet.
I reach up and slip my hand in hers, then let the exhaustion finally drag me under.
“Seany,” a little voice whispers. “Seany, wake up.”
“Mmm . . . just a little bit longer, princess.”
“I wanna play a game.” She shakes me back and forth.
I crack open an eye and groan. “You’re lucky you’re cute . . . you know that?”
Placing her hands on her waist, she juts one hip to the side. “What are you waitin’ for? Get. Up. Seany!”
Yawning, I stretch, then sit up and look around. “Where’s Hannah?”
She shrugs her little shoulders. “I don’t know. She’s not here.”
I grab my phone off the coffee table and glance at the notifications.
Life360 1hr ago
Hannah completed a 15 mile drive safely
Ended at work.
“Where’s your dad?”
“He’s still sleeping.”
Of course she let him sleep in.
“And Granny?” I ask as my thumbs fly across the screen.
“Sleeping,” she says.
Sean
What are you doing at work?
Hannah
Working.
Smartass.
Sean
Why?
Hannah
My leave was up. Not all of us can be rich like you.
Sighing, I glance back up at Jade. She stands there with her arms crossed, waiting for me to finish texting.
“Sorry, princess.” I say, placing my phone back down on the coffee table. “How about I make you a deal? You help me make breakfast and I’ll teach you how to play a game I played as a kid.”
“Yes!” She pumps her fist in the air.
“You just have to promise me one thing . . .”
“What?” Her little brows pinch together in question.
“When my family gets here tonight, you have to kick my brother’s butt at Loteria.”
Tomorrow’s game is against Anaheim, which means I’ll be playing against my brother. Our entire family is coming to watch us play, so everyone will be at my house tonight.
“I can do that!”
“Now you have to be careful. Matty cheats,” I warn her.
“So does Granny! I have experience.” She slaps my hand with a high five.
I have about five or six hours to teach her how to play so she can make Mateo her little bitch.