Chapter 40 Boone
“It’s so damn hot in these offices,” I mutter under my breath, leaning closer to Cain, who’s typing away like a machine at the conference table in the Prescott & Associates law firm.
I have no idea what he’s writing, but his focus is unshakeable, his fingers moving in rapid clicks across the keys that must be making sentences. He doesn’t spare me a glance from behind his dark glasses, though his eyebrows do twitch slightly, acknowledging my existence without actually engaging.
Guess Maxwell Prescott’s obsession with punctuality only extends to us being on time, not him.
I check my watch again then tug at the neckline of my maroon, Mayhem sweater, the heat in the room feeling more oppressive with each passing minute.
“Aren’t these places temperature controlled?”
Cain grunts. “Yes, but it was warmer yesterday, so the thermostat has trouble keeping up.”
“Season changing pains.”
He ignores me again.
I’ve been here long enough to start wondering if Maxwell Prescott is intentionally making us wait as some sort of power move. Which is ridiculous considering I'm the one who’s paying him.
Maybe it's because he's still mad at me about Rosie and the fact that she kissed me on camera.
I smirk, remembering how it felt when she did it. Who knew a kiss could be that hot? Fuck, I miss her.
Where the hell is she anyway?
My eyes flick to Cain again, and when he pauses his typing for a moment, I pounce.
“Where’s Rosie?”
He finally looks up, his brows lifting slightly as if surprised by my question. His lips roll under his teeth like he’s debating whether he’s going to tell me. That pisses me off. But just as he opens his mouth, the door bursts open, and Maxwell Prescott’s booming voice fills the room.
“Alright, great. Everyone’s here,” Maxwell says, striding in like a man with a purpose. He drops a thick stack of papers onto the table in front of me, the corner of the pile thudding against my sweater-covered chest.
“What’s all this?” I ask, flipping through the pages but already knowing the answer. I’m stalling for time just hoping that Rosie breezes in here to kiss me in public again and tell me she loves me too.
“That’s your agreement to keep us on retainer for your legal fees,” he replies briskly.
“Right.” I knew this was coming. Until the law firm representing the Manhattan Mayhem decide to reinstate me under their umbrella contract, which hinges on whether I sign their new three-year contract, I need the Prescott’s to continue being my lawyers.
Just in case.
Just in case what exactly? I’m not sure. I don’t go out with my teammates anymore. I don’t date. I don’t drink. I hardly even go out in public unless I’m with Rosie.
I scribble my signature on the first page anyway and slide it back toward him. Because it keeps me linked to Rosie, even if she never wants to talk to me again.
“And the next one,” Maxwell continues, pushing another sheet forward, “is for the dissolution of your marriage to my daughter.”
The word hangs in the air, sharp and unrelenting. My chest tightens as I stare at the paper in front of me. The letters blur, smudging together until they’re nothing but meaningless shapes. Dissolution of marriage. My fingers twitch, but I don’t pick up the pen.
There’s no way in hell I’m signing that shit without looking into her eyes first.
I can feel Cain’s curious gaze on me.
“Where’s Rosie?” I ask again, my voice quieter this time but no less urgent.
Maxwell’s brows draw together, his expression twisting in confusion like he can’t imagine why I’d ask that question.
“She’s gone.”
My pulse spikes and my heart races. “Gone where?”
“Not that it should concern you,” he says, his tone clipped, “but I’ve sent her to Los Angeles on assignment. Thanks to our work with you, we’ve secured another hockey player as a client. She’ll be managing his case from there over the next three months.”
Three months?
The words echo in my head, loud and disorienting. Three months without her? Why the hell didn’t she tell me she was leaving? Is this really over for her?
No. It’s not possible. She loves me too. I know it.
“I… I need a day,” I stammer, my voice cracking under the weight of the emotions that are building in my chest.
Maxwell looks at me in stunned disbelief. “A day for what? What’s there to review? It’s a simple dissolution of marriage statement. Do I need to break it down for you?”
I glance at Cain, whose lips are tugging into a knowing smirk. He leans back slightly in his chair, arms crossed as if daring me to say what we both know is true.
He knows that I love his sister. He’s always known. My feelings for Rosie are real. I don’t want this.
And I don’t think Rosie does either.
But I need to hear her say it. I need to see her face, look her in the eyes, and hear the words fall from her lips. If this is over, I need her to tell me herself.
This isn’t the end.
This is my test. My chance to fight for her. And I’m going to.
I stand abruptly, leveling her father with a sharp look. I don’t want to be disrespectful to Rosie’s father, but I also want to be sure he understands that I’m not signing this shit today.
“Look, sir,” I say, forcing my tone into something that might pass as respectful, “I’m not signing this paperwork.”
“What?” he roars, his voice reverberating through the room so loudly I swear his whole office can hear outside the glass. I don’t care.
I stand firm, my jaw tightening. “Not until I talk to Rosie. I’m in love with your daughter. Hell, I think I was in love with her before I even met her.” Back when I thought she was just Rose the stripper.
I lean forward, my voice steady, unwavering. “And there’s no way in hell I’m letting her leave for the West Coast without telling her that—again. Because I already have. I’ve told her I love her. And while she hasn’t said it back just yet, I know that she loves me too.”
Her father’s face twists, his jaw tightening as if the words physically hurt him. “The… you’re… what?” he sputters, shaking his head like he’s trying to clear it. It looks like he’s oscillating between confusion and anger, but I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.
I press on. “Thank you—for setting me up with her. Because honestly? I’m not sure she would’ve given me the time of day if you hadn’t.
She’s incredible, sir. Smart, hardworking, kind, and gentle.
She’s completely out of my league. But you know that already, which is why you’re so surprised by this.
You helped raise an amazing woman. And those parts of her, the ones she doesn’t show to just anyone?
I love them all. I want to date her properly.
And someday, I want to marry her properly too.
Vows and everything.” I tap my knuckles against the surface of the office table.
“I hope you'll be there when we say I do.”
Maxwell's face reddens further, and he points an accusing finger at me, his voice rising. “You’re out of your damn mind if you think she feels the same way. She already signed the paperwork!”
Cain, who’s been quietly observing from his spot at the table, finally speaks up, shaking his head. “Sorry, Dad, she didn’t. She took the paperwork with her on her flight, but she never dropped it off.”
The fight drains from her father’s expression as he drops back into the chair. His hands go to his temples to rub, and he places his elbows onto the table before looking over at his son.
“She didn’t sign it yet?”
Cain shakes his head no.
For a moment, I almost feel bad for him. Almost. Because I get it—losing a daughter like Rosie would be hard as hell. But he’s not losing her. If anything, he’s gaining a son-in-law who would die before letting anything or anyone hurt her.
"I'll protect and cherish her until my last breath."
"I… I don't understand," he says shaking his head firmly.
“Somewhere between the fake appearances we fell in love,” I say, softening my tone. “It was easy to do once she opened to me. I only respected her wishes by playing along.”
“You love her,” he repeats it again, less as a question and more as a statement this time.
I nod. “I do. Now I’m going to play this game tonight, and then I’m getting on the first flight to Los Angeles to see her.
I’ll tell her everything I just told you and more.
And I promise you, sir, with everything I have, that I’ll protect Rosie and love her the way she deserves.
Her love is the most precious thing in my life.
She’s more important than anyone or anything in this world. ”
I stand, sliding the blank paperwork off the table and folding it neatly before tucking it into my pocket. My heart pounds, but not from nerves anymore, from determination.
Because this?
This is it.
I’m ready to leave everything on the ice tonight and then leave everything I am with Rosie. I head for the door, feeling more alive than I have all weekend, a fire burning in my chest that tells me nothing can stop me.
Maxwell's voice stops me in my tracks before I can make it through the doorway.
"Tremblay,” he clears his throat. “If you really mean what you said, and my daughter is in love with you too, you better not fuck this up. And if she tells you to piss off, I expect you to do exactly that. Got it?"
My lips twitch slightly into a smile as I nod my head. "Got it, sir."
Game first. Next get my girl.