“Darling,” his mother said softly, placing a hand on his arm. “Just remember that we want you to be happy, notbetterorbest. You don’t have to be any of that. So it’s okay to accept help from your father.”
“Good God.” Shaking his head, Gareth rubbed his face. Seeing him so unnecessarily upset and tense because his parents weren’t listening to him was starting to make Hazel angry. They only heard certain words and twisted them to suit their needs.
“Above all, we want you to stop believing that you’re the best!” Mr. Clark interjected. “Your last name doesn’t make you a genius, Gareth.”
“He has never claimed to be one!” Hazel exclaimed. She couldn’t possibly sit idly by and listen to this tragically one-sided conversation. She leaned forward and shook her head at Gareth’s father. “Of course, he’s not a genius! Then he’d be worrying about climate change, not an ice hockey team.”
Mr. Clark looked at her, stunned. “Excuse me?”
“Hazel,” Gareth muttered, shaking his head. “Leave it alone.”
She interlocked her clenched hands behind her back and glared up at him. “No! They’re not listening to what you’re saying! They’re accusing you of things that aren’t true and it annoys me.”
Mr. Clark cleared his throat sternly. “Ms. Barrow, not that this is any of your business, but Gareth certainly believes he’s the best in many areas of life. He always has.”
“Yes, because he is the damn best!” she retorted defiantly. “And not because his name isClark. Do you have any idea how smart your son is? How disciplined? How hard he works?”
“Uh-huh,” Mr. Clark said, unimpressed.
“It’s the truth!” She glared at his parents. She knew she should shut up instead of making things worse, but she couldn’t. “Gareth is…fine the way he is,” she whispered. Judging by the surprise in his mother’s eyes, they both heard her anyway. “He always has been. He doesn’t need anyone to tell him how to live his life or do his job. He just needs to know howhewants to live it. My goodness, Mr. Clark, you left the team to your children. If you wanted to keep making important decisions, you should have stayed. But the Hawks belong to Penny and Gareth now, so stop meddling!” Her gaze flicked to Gareth, who was staring at her, his lips parted in surprise. “Your parents should be ashamed that they don’t know you. They don’t even make an effort to listen properly to what you have to say, or even try to change!”
Shocked, Gareth’s mother gasped, but his father just turned to him with raised eyebrows. “I was wondering how she managed to manipulate you into paying such a high sum for Devreaux. Apparently, a few compliments are enough.”
Hazel’s stomach felt as if someone had pumped stones into it.
A muscle bulged in Gareth’s jaw as he narrowed his eyes. “Back off, Dad,” he replied coldly. “One thing has nothing to do with the other.”
It didn’t, did it? He wasn’t going to pay more than necessary just to sleep with her. He…Hazel looked at him and frowned. Shit, maybe she had pushed Gareth too hard because she was still so angry at him for ruining so many job opportunities for her. Maybe she should have lowered the price and been nicer to him. No, maybe she should never have taken on Devreaux as a client. She’d known from the start that he wanted to join the Hawks and that she would complicate things for Gareth. She just hadn’t realized at the time how much his father’s low opinion of his work methods bothered him. Maybe she should tell Devreaux he needed to find another agent, and not free Leon from his sleazy agent after all. If Gareth’s father always gave him trouble whenever she appeared on the scene, it would make things easier for him. At least then, he’d have less stress with his parents, and perhaps he would never wear that exhausted expression she hated so much again. Then maybe he’d be that happy version of himself from this morning. Maybe she should just meet him halfway so that…
She bit her tongue and took a step back in shock.
No. She couldn’t be serious.
No, no.
She knew better than she did back then! Of course she wouldn’t…she wouldn’t…
“Are you okay, Hazel?” Gareth asked worriedly, gently squeezing her hand. “Are you all right?”
She turned slowly and looked up at him. His gaze was so warm, and her panic was unfounded. She’d worried too much back then and wouldn’t…
“Oh, my boy,” Mr. Clark said sharply. “Please don’t tell me you’re sleeping with her.”
Hazel’s stomach flip-flopped and her entire back stiffened. Shocked, she yanked her hand out of Gareth’s grasp.
But it was too late. Mr. Clark was already looking at her disparagingly. “Perhaps it was the right decision not to hire you back then, Ms. Barrow, if you believe it’s okay to sleep with your associates to negotiate a better deal.”
The blood drained from Hazel’s face, and the panic she’d just fought down hit her stomach again with full force.
Shit. Shit, shit.
That was exactly what everyone would think, wouldn’t they? The public, her clients, her competition... Gareth would get away with sleeping with her, but she… Her hard work over the past few years would be for nothing.
What had she done?
“Whatdid you just say, Dad?” Gareth snapped at his father, but Hazel wasn’t paying any attention to him.
A ringing started in her ears, and suddenly she felt transported back seven years in time to a place she had never wanted to be again.
