“Because… you’re…” She gestures a hand at me. “Chett’s… stepfather.”
“Ex-stepfather. Chett’s mother and I are divorced.”
“Still, it would be…”
“Weird? Wrong? Ill advised?”
“All of the above.”
“Your privacy and safety have been compromised.”
She wraps her arms around her body.
“Harley, a coward who places spy cams in tenants’ apartments is capable of way worse.”
Nothing.
“Move in with me until you get back on your feet. Having a roof over your head where you feel safe will make it much easier for you to achieve that.”
I want to help her. I feel guilty I played a part into her getting fired, and this dump of an apartment isn’t a home. She needs a soft place to land.
She considers me, her lips twisting this way and that.
“This is non-negotiable,” I say. “Over my dead body am I going to leave you here at the mercy of a pervert. I won’t be able to sleep at night. So, either you move in with me or I’m moving in with you. The choice is yours.”
Her eyes widen so much, they take over her face.
Chapter 7
More than a string of failures
Kazimir
After filing a non-consensual videotaping report with the police, I suggested we stop by one of my restaurants in Brooklyn for a late lunch.
Harley didn’t argue.
“This has to be the best craft burger I’ve ever had in my life,” she says. “And these hand-cut fries…” She does a chef’s kiss.
Her spirits have lifted.
Good food is salvation for the soul. “Everything tastes better over open flames.”
“I believe you,” she says, taking the last bite of her burger.
Watching her eat food from one of my restaurants with such gusto is the greatest compliment.
“Dee-licious.” She wipes her mouth with a napkin.
“Glad it hit the spot.”
“So, how does a hockey legend become a restaurateur?”
“The restaurants were an investment while I was still collecting Stanley Cups. I have great staff and my CEO was kickass. It so happened she got married to an Australian wine maker and moved Down Under at the same time I had to come to the conclusion that if I didn’t retire from playing hockey, the next injury might be one I wouldn’t recover from. I was thirty-eight at the time and the deciding factor was simple. I was too young to spend the rest of my life walking around with a cane. So, last year, I hung up my hockey jersey and took over the management of my restaurants and the brewery. It was a steep learning curve, but thank God, I belong to a club that allows me to tap into the knowledge of some of the most successful businessmen and women in New York.”
“And a few months after Number 22 retired, you made history off the ice.”
“Yeah, I made history for having the most acrimonious divorce ever. My ex-wife was a godsend for gossip sites.”A pro at tarnishing my reputation.
