Chapter 41 Joelle
JOELLE
Iwake up to pounding on the door.
Emmett stirs beside me. "What the hell?" he mutters, trying to sit up. Pain flashes across his face.
The pounding continues.
"Emmett! Jo! Open the door!"
Is that Collette? My stomach drops, something's wrong. I'm already up, rushing to the door. Collette bursts in, her face is pale, and her phone is shaking in her hand.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry about what?”
Moments later, Emmett joins us.
“The world knows,” she says.
Why is she talking in riddles I don’t understand? "You're banging on our door at ..." I glance at the clock. "Seven in the morning to tell me the world knows what?” I stare at my sister.
“You’re trending,” she says, holding up her phone.
Trending?
I gasp. "No. No. No." It's a photo of Emmett and me in the medical room yesterday. My hands on his face, him looking at me like I'm his entire world, the moment we said I love you.
The headline reads.
MAVERICKS CAPTAIN'S SECRET ROMANCE WITH TEAM PHYSIO
"Oh my god." This can’t be happening.
Emmett is beside me now, looking at the screen. "Fuck."
“They also leaked Pierre and Issy’s engagement, the slimy fuckers,” Collette states.
I’m shaking. "How did this happen?"
"Someone had a camera in the medical area, they posted it last night. By morning, every gossip site picked it up."
"Pierre. Felix. Do they know?"
"I don't know. I came straight here when I saw it. But it's only a matter of time."
Emmett grabs his phone from the coffee table and turns it on. His face goes white. "Thirty-seven missed calls. Fifty-two texts."
I look at mine. Six missed calls from Felix. Four from Pierre. Two from Mom.
"What are we going to do?" My voice is small.
Emmett reaches for my hand. "We tell the truth. We're together. We're in love. The secret's out."
"But my brothers …”
"I'm not letting you face this alone." He pulls me closer. "We do this together."
"Are you sure about this? About us? Shit just got real."
He cups my face with his one good hand and wipes away tears I didn't realize were falling. "I've never been surer about anything in my life."
"Together," I whisper.
"Together."
Before we can say anything else, there's more pounding on the door.
"Emmett, open the fucking door.” It’s Pierre.
My blood runs cold.
"Maybe I should …" Collette starts toward the door.
Emmett and I brace against each other, this is not going to be pretty. Collette opens the door, and Pierre storms in, his face is red with anger, his eyes are wild. Before anyone can say anything, before I can even process what's happening, Pierre pulls back his fist and punches Emmett.
The sound is sickening. Flesh on flesh. Bone on bone.
And I watch in slow motion as Emmett goes down. Hard. His head hits the floor hard, unable to stop himself due to his arm being in a sling.
"Emmett!” I scream.
His eyes are closed, and he’s not moving.
“What have you done?” I scream at my brother.
"What the fuck, Pierre!" Collette shouts.
"He deserved it," Pierre snarls.
"His arm is in a sling!" I'm crying now. "Emmett, please. Wake up."
Felix appears in the doorway, with Issy and Harper behind him. They all freeze when they see Emmett on the floor.
"Jesus Christ, Pierre," Felix breathes.
"What did you do?" Issy gasps.
"What I should have done the moment I saw those fucking photos," Pierre says.
I round on him, fury replacing fear. "You punched him? He’s out cold.
You could have fucking killed him.” I start punching my brother.
“He was defenseless because of his shoulder. You fucking asshole. How could you? I hate you. If anything happens to him, I’ll never forgive you. Do you hear me, never!”
Felix hauls me off my brother.
“What have I done?” Reality settles in for Pierre as Emmett stays sprawled out on the apartment floor.
"Get out!" I scream. "Get out of his apartment!"
"Not until we talk about this," Pierre starts.
"Talk?" I say, getting up into Pierre's face. "You just knocked him unconscious, and you want to talk?"
"He's been seeing you behind my back for who the fuck knows how long."
“I love him!” The words rip out of me. "I love him, Pierre! And you just …" I can't even finish as I turn back to Emmett and drop to my knees, he’s still not moving.
"Jo …" Harper starts.
"Don't." I check Emmett's pulse. It's there. Strong. He's breathing. But he's out cold. "Just don't."
There's noise in the hallway, and suddenly Sully appears in the doorway. He must have his own key as he bursts through the door, and behind him are Bouch, Fish, Nelly, and Evan.
They all stop when they see the scene, Emmett on the floor not moving. Me crying. Pierre standing there with his fists still clenched.
"What the fuck happened?" Sully asks.
"Pierre knocked him out," Collette says flatly.
"You punched Cap?" Fish's eyes are wide.
"He's been lying to all of us," Pierre says. "Sneaking around with my sister."
"So, you knocked him out?" Bouch looks between Pierre and Emmett. "Jesus."
"Someone want to explain what the hell is going on?" Nelly asks.
I take a shaky breath as I kiss his temple, silently pleading for him to wake up.
"Fine. You want the truth? Here it is."
And I tell them everything. London. The one-night stand.
Not knowing who each other was. Me coming to New York for the job.
Finding out he was the captain. Trying to stay away.
Failing. The first kiss. The sneaking around.
The charity gala. Vegas. Thanksgiving. Christmas. The party. New Year's Eve. All of it.
"We were going to tell you," I say. "In summer. When the timing was better. But someone took photos at the game yesterday and now the whole world knows."
"You've been lying for months," Felix says, his voice is cold.
“Babe,” Harper says it as a warning to tread carefully.
"We weren't lying."
"You kept it secret. That's lying," Felix adds.
"We were protecting ourselves!" I scream. I'm crying again. "From exactly this! From you all looking at us like we did something wrong!"
"You did do something wrong," Pierre says. "You're a team employee. He's the captain. There are policies."
"I know about the policies! But fuck them right now. All I care about is him and if he’s ever going to wake up.”
"You could lose your job, Jo,” Felix adds.
“I don’t care. I love him.” My tears fall onto his face.
“You love him?” Sully asks.
I look up at his best friend. “That’s what the photo online is of us declaring our love.” His face softens.
“Fuck, guys, they love each other,” Fish says.
“Stay the hell out of this, Fish,” Pierre warns him.
“Yep. Sorry,” he says, holding up his hands and moving out of striking range.
“You think you know what love is after such a short time?” Pierre scoffs.
"I expect you to trust that I know what I'm doing. That I know my own heart. That I wouldn't risk everything for someone who wasn't worth it."
"And he is?" Pierre gestures to Emmett. "He's worth your career? Your reputation? Your family?"
"Yes."
The word hangs in the air.
"Then you're an idiot," Pierre says.
"Pierre …" Issy says sternly.
"No. She needs to hear this." He turns back to me. "You're throwing everything away for him. And for what? Some secret relationship that you're too ashamed to even tell your own family about?"
"I wasn't ashamed."
"Then why hide it?"
“Gee, I wonder why?” I look at my unconscious boyfriend. "Because I knew you'd react like this!" I'm shouting now. "I knew you'd make it about you! About the team! About everything except what actually matters. I'm in love with him and he loves me and we're happy!"
"Happy?" Pierre laughs bitterly. "You think this is happy? He's knocked out on the floor. The whole world knows your secret. Your job is on the line. The team is falling apart. Is this what happy looks like to you?"
I don't have an answer. Because he's right. This is a disaster.
"I can't play with him anymore," Pierre says quietly. "I can't get on that ice and trust him to have my back when he's been lying to my face for months."
"Pierre …" Felix calls out.
"No. I'm done.”
The room goes silent.
"Pierre, that's not …" Sully tries.
“I need to get out of here.” He storms out, slamming the door behind him.
“I’m just going to …” Issy says, running after him.
Felix looks at me, his expression is sad, and he shakes his head.
“I would think very carefully about what you say next, Felix St. Pierre.” Harper glares at him.
“How am I in trouble?”
“We will have this discussion at home,” Harper says. “I’ll talk to you later,” Harper tells me as she walks out of the apartment, Felix walking right after her.
The teammates are still standing there, looking at Emmett and at me.
“This is a great start to the new year,” Evan says.
“I think we should go,” Sully says. The boys all agree. “Message us when he’s cognitive again.” I nod and continue to caress Emmett’s face. The boys all file out and the apartment is quiet again.
“I’m so sorry,” Collette says, bursting into tears as she wraps herself around me.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” I reassure her.
“Is he going to be okay?”
I nod. “He’s knocked out.”
“Who’s knocked out?” Emmett says, coming to.
“Oh, thank goodness.” I cry as I wrap myself around him.
“Why am I on the floor? Where’s your brother?” Emmett asks.
“He’s gone. They’ve all gone.”
“They?” he asks, sounding confused.
“The boys showed up to.”
“They did?” He scratches his head.
“Pierre punched you and knocked you out. Jo tried to knock Pierre out for it.” Emmett’s eyes widen at my sister’s words. “Everything is sorted.”
“He’s okay with us now?”
“Not exactly,” I tell him. “Come, let’s get you up off the ground and onto something more comfortable. How’s your arm?”
“Sore. Same with my eye.”
“I’ll get some ice,” Collette says as I notice the bruise coming up nicely around his eye.
This is a disaster.
A couple of hours later, there's another knock on the door. I freeze. "If that’s Pierre looking for round two, I’ll kill him.”
"I'll get it," Collette says.