When she hangs up, she turns to me with exasperation. "Are you trying to make this impossible?"
"I'm just admiring my wife working."
"Your wife is trying to control a PR disaster."
I take her laptop and set it aside. "My wife is brilliant at her job. And the disaster is already controlled."
"How do you figure that?"
I pull her onto my lap. "Anyone who matters already knows the truth. Coach Anderson, the team."
"The public?—"
"The public will believe what they want regardless." I press a kiss to her temple. "In hockey, you learn quick that the only opinions that matter are in the locker room. Everyone else is just noise."
Her hands rest on my chest. "Your endorsements aren't noise. They're your future."
"My future is right here." I touch her face, letting my thumb trace her cheekbone. "The rest is just details."
At first, I was worried about how hard she was working to fix this. But watching her in action—the intelligence, the strategic mind, the absolute competence—my concern has shifted. I don't worry for her anymore. I pity anyone stupid enough to stand in her way.
"Anya's releasing the security footage now," she says, checking her phone. "The full audio transcript will go to selected journalists within the hour."
"And then?"
"And then we wait." She sighs, finally putting her phone down. "Monitor social media response, adjust our strategy if needed."
I pull her closer. "Or we could not do that."
"Sebastian—"
"Kyle's already lost, baby. He just doesn't know it yet." I run my fingers through her hair. "You've outmaneuvered him at every turn."
A small smile finally breaks through her serious expression. "It was pretty satisfying to tell that gossip blogger exactly what Kyle said to me before you intervened."
"See? Crisis handled."
She studies my face. "Why aren't you more worried about this?"
"Because I've already won everything that matters."
"Your career?—"
"Is important, but not everything." I meet her gaze directly. "I've proven myself on the ice. Multiple times. Won the championships, broke the records, earned the contracts. If I never played another game, I'd be at peace with what I've accomplished."
"You don't mean that."
"I do." The realization had come to me at the cabin, watching her sleep in the early morning light. "Hockey was everything because I didn't have anything else. Now I do."
"Sebastian..."
"I'm in love with you, Maddison. Not for the cameras. Not for the contract. For real."
She sucks in a sharp breath. "This wasn't part of our agreement."
"Sue me." I plant a kiss on the corner of her mouth. "I fell in love with my wife. Shocking development. Breaking news."
Her eyes search mine, looking for any sign of deception. She won't find any.
