“It’s off the table. If you want to talk about the big donation he just made to Alzheimer’s research, that’s one thing. But using his mother’s funeral as a defense would be gross.”
“I agree, and I won’t. I can’t speak for how the media will twist things, though, and it would garner plenty of sympathy.” She changes the subject before I can further comment. “I know Jack will want this cleaned up quickly, so keep him off socials, and I’ll do what I can to mitigate.”
“Does the team know?” I ask quietly.
“If I know, you can bet your ass Jack will be calling Mav in first thing this morning,” she says.
“What should I do?”
“Don’t leave his side, but if you can, find out who else was there,” she suggests. “Maybe we can use that to spin attention away from Mav. Or if we could figure out who’s behind this place, we could use that somehow. I don’t know. I’m just brainstorming here.”
Don’t leave his side.That’s going to be a tough one considering he has every right to feel hurt and betrayed by me after promising my father I wouldn’t name him. But it’s what I’m being paid to do, so I’m out of options. I guess it’s better than her other option of figuring out who’s behind this place since I already know the answer to that.
“Okay.”
We end the call, and I walk over to Maverick’s place, crossing my fingers that this won’t be as bad as I think it will be while my heart thunders in my chest.
CHAPTER 36: Everleigh Bradley
Back to Enemies
He throws open the door and glares at me. He doesn’t invite me in. Instead, he leans on the doorframe, and I stand in the hallway as he waits for me to go first.
“So we’re back to being enemies, I see,” I say dryly.
“We’re not enemies.” He sighs, and it’s a deep, aching sort of sigh. “Everybody always leaves, and I’m really goddamn sick of it.”
“I’m not leaving you,” I protest, but it’s weak.
He sidesteps my words. “What’s the plan?” When my brows furrow, he adds, “I assume you’ve spoken with Ellie.”
“We’re going to do our best to bury it,” I say. I don’t admit that Ellie hinted how talking about his mother’s funeral would be one way to cast the story in a different light. He doesn’t need to hear it when he already feels betrayed by me. “Can you name anyone else who was there so we can throw attention off of you?”
“If I’m notnaming your father, I’m not naming anyone else who was there,” he says flatly.
I nod. “Understandable. Ellie’s going to issue a statement so we don’t invite too much speculation. It’ll be brief and essentially say it’s a non-story and you’re not in any trouble, you’re cooperating fully, blah blah blah.”
“I’mnotcooperating fully,” he points out. “I didn’t give them the name they wanted.”
“Did you tell them you knew the name?”
He lifts a shoulder. “I was noncommittal about it.”
“Ellie told me to keep you off socials and stay by your side today.”
He shakes his head.
I roll my eyes. “Come on, Maverick. I don’t want to go back to hating each other.” I move in toward him a little, but he doesn’t move. He’s a wall of man in his doorway. A hot wall of man who’s clearly upset with me. “Please don’t hate me,” I whisper. I want to reach around him to wrap my arms around his torso, but I stay put.
He’s quiet a long beat. Eventually, his eyes flick to mine, and he says darkly, “You know I don’t.” He reaches for me and hauls me into him. “But I can’t be with someone who refuses to choose me.”
“They’re my family, Maverick,” I say softly. “If you name him, he’ll go to jail. How could we ever have a future together if it’s you putting him there?”
“Sometimes we choose, and right now, you’re choosing to put my reputation and my career in danger.” His voice is soft.
“You’re putting me in an impossible position.”
“There’s always a choice. I need to get to practice.” He practically walks into me, so I move out of his way as he reaches into his pocket and grabs his keys. He locks his door. I could get in the elevator with him to give us more time…but I don’t even have shoes on, let alone my car keys, my tablet, myphone, my purse—all the things I need to take with me to watch him at practice all day so I can work to try to find some way out of this disaster.
