Double fuck.Why was that the question that had to be asked just as he was lifting his head? All of the others were total and complete bullshit. But that...that was the truth. And whenever paps hit on the truth, it hit a nerve, and when something hit a nerve, it usually showed on his face. He was a shit poker player for that reason. Or maybe he just sucked at poker.
He prayed his expression gave nothing away as he approached the hostess. There was a flicker of recognition in her eyes as she scanned the pack of paps behind him. He could feel the tension in the set of his jaw as she stepped to the side, allowing him entrance, leaving the bottom feeders behind.
How did they know about Munich? How did they know about the surgery? Who leaked it? No one knew. His family didn’t even know. Well, except his twin brother, AJ, and he’dnevertell anyone.
Niko forced his features into a mask of practiced indifference as he made his way to the bar.
The bartender leaned over, his hands resting on the bar top. “What can I get you?”
“Double Macallan neat.”
The bartender gave him a quick nod. Grabbed a rocks glass and poured Niko a double shot of scotch. He’d just finished it when his phone rang. It seemed his TMZ friends must have been live-streaming their impromptu portable press conference, because Jessie Sloan, publicist extraordinaire, didn’t waste time. If she was calling, she had something to say.
“Hello, Sunshi?—”
“Park City? I didn’t even know you were back in the country.”
Technically, he wasn’t supposed to be back for another week, but since his grandma, Yaya, was getting married and his PT was shit, he figured the extra four days weren’t going to be the miracle cure to get him back on the mound next season.
“Yaya’s getting married,” he explained.
“In Park City, Utah?” Jessie repeated in disbelief.
“No, in Hope Falls. Park City was a detour.”
“When is the wedding?” Jessie asked, thankfully not pushing for details regarding his detour.
“Today. It’s at Liam’s house, Niko and I are walking her down the aisle.”
“Post about it.”
“Jessi—”
“You need to clean up your image. Brands want multi-generational appeal, not controversy. We need beverage, sportswear, auto, watches, and corporations. And to even consider network, you have a lot of work to do to repair your reputation and?—”
“It’s not that bad.”
Niko may have been a little off the rails, but he’d had some shit going on in his head. Shit he hadn’t talked to anyone about, because who would he talk to? AJ wasn’t really the warm and fuzzy type. His baby sister had enough on her plate, and she’d been the emotional rock for their family for far too long. Despite being the youngest in the family, she’d been the glue that held everyone together when their dad died while Niko acted out by misbehaving, their mom drowned her devastation in a bottle and depression, and AJ didn’t speak. He would never add any more on Frankie’s plate.
“Yes, it is,” Jessie maintained. “Over the past few years, you’ve…”
While Jessie listed very stupid, reckless decisions he’d made since turning 28, which was the age his father was when he passed, Niko zoned out. He knew what he’d done, he didn’t need to hear his fuck-up credentials listed. Once she was finished lecturing him, he’d take her advice, and she’d fix whatever the issues were. She was the best at what she did, that’s why he hired her. He knew she’d come up with a plan.
When he no longer heard her speaking, he rejoined the conversation with a half-hearted joke defending his actions. “People love a bad boy.”
“In your twenties it was fine, charming even. You’re in your thirties, and your career is…winding down.”
Her one-second hesitation felt like a knife twisting his heart. Jessie was the most straightforward, tell-it-like-it-is, no-bullshit, no-sugarcoating person he’d ever met, with the exception of his brother AJ, but that had more to do with his brain chemistry than with a ruthless gene that some people had and others did not, Jessie had it. The fact that she’d felt the need to soften that blow, to pull that punch, had the opposite effect and felt like a hard uppercut to his solar plexus.
She went fullA Few Good MenJack Nicholson and did not think he could handle the truth. His career was over. The eight weeks he’d just spent in Germany to repair his shoulder hadnotbeen the miracle cure the doctors had been hopeful it would be. He would not be returning to the Waves next season as a starting pitcher, or as anything at all, he knew that in his heart. He hadn’t said the words out loud, and neither had his agent, Jessie, or anyone from the Waves organization, at least to him, but he knew that was the truth.
“Looking towards your future, positions such as analyst, commentator, pundit, or sportscaster, atanynetwork those are grown-up, responsible, family-friendly positions. You have the charisma, charm, and looks to be in front of the camera?—”
“Jessie, I didn’t know you felt that way about me. You’re gonna make me blush,” Niko teased, trying to lighten the mood by pretending she was flirting. She wasn’t. Jessie was a happily married woman to a world-champion boxer, Zach Courtland, who Niko loved. Not that he was the reason she didn’t flirt, Jessie was the epitome of professionalism years before she met her husband and had zero interest in Niko Costas.
She ignored his comment completely. “If you want executives to put you in front of the camera, you need to show them a grown-up, responsible, family-friendly man.”
Niko tapped on the bar top, indicating he wanted another drink.
