Page 148
THREE DAYS LATER
ALASTAIR
“Wait. The Gab Post has what?” I ask. They’re a shitty newspaper that follows celebrities and runs stories about them. However, I’ve never had one done about me before.
Henrietta Meyers is part of the PR team and looks sympathetic as she leans across her desk, but I’m having a hard time understanding her.
“If you and your teammates are having fun with a puck bunny, I can see why you’d prefer to do it out in San Diego, but—”
“You’re going to want to be really careful about how you approach me about her,” I growl, making her blink. “I do not fuck puck bunnies, and I haven’t in my entire career. My relationships are not up for discussion with the press, which is why I’m so upset they have a photo. You haven’t told me anything about the type of image they have or why you know about it and I would like some answers. I dislike the way you’re handling this.”
“Of course. I apologize,” she sighs. “You have to understand that I get a lot of misbehaving players in here. Thankfully, the editor at The Gab is a friend of mine. The photo has you, Ciaran, and Draven walking protectively around a woman.”
Henrietta called me in here like I was a naughty child at school. She didn’t ask Ci or Draven to come speak to her, and I’m glad, because the term “puck bunny” doesn’t need to be anywhere near Noor. This is what I was worried about. Fuck.
“What are we wearing?” I ask. I have a feeling I know when it was taken, but want to be sure.
“Formal attire,” she says, pulling up the image and pushing her phone toward me.
“Has this been released yet?” I ask, glancing down. Sure enough, this had to have taken outside of the supper club on our way out. Ugh.
“No, but there is no way to pull it. Who is she?” Henrietta asks.
“The one that got away,” I grunt, my mind racing. I need to call Noor’s family for damage control. “We’re currently dating and we have a child together. I’ve been trying to give her as normal of a life as possible. It’s not that foreign or a concept, Henrietta. Coach knows about it.”
He didn’t know all of it, but he’ll pretend to…
“He does?”
“Yep. I travel twice a week to San Diego. I’m not doing anything wrong. My relationships aren’t something that need to be on Page Six,” I drawl. “You know I’m in a relationship with Ciaran and Draven. We don’t hide it, but we are private people. In the same way, polyamorous relationships aren’t something people understand. Isla isn’t a puck bunny, and she’s not a public relations nightmare to be managed. Is that understood?”
I am typically a lot more professional with the PR team, but Henrietta is the youngest one of the team, and the wrong fucking person to handle this.
“I’d like to speak to Paula, please. I need her looped into this due to your inability to simply ask me who the woman in the photo was. Instead, you drew conclusions. I also want you to get my agent on the phone. Now.”
Henrietta breathes in sharply before she nods. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that she was someone important to you. I didn’t handle this appropriately.”
“You didn’t. I need to get the wheels moving for a retraction. My public life should not impact my personal one. I do not have dirty secrets, and I protect what belongs to me. Ciaran, Draven, the woman in the photo. They are all mine.”
“Yes, sir,” she whispers. Henrietta doesn’t seem to know what to do with my possessive tone, and she hides the flush in her face by grabbing her phone to rally the troops.
I got Noor’s mom’s phone number when I saw her last, and pull it up with a sigh. I could be freaking out about nothing, but seeing my stepsister recently put a sour taste in my mouth. I fiercely want to protect Noor and my son from the bullshit that made her disappear in the first place.
Standing, I move to a corner as I call Rachelle.
“Hello? Is she okay?”
No names, we all know who “she” is.
“She is. I have a crisis I’m working through. Is your lawyer husband around by chance?”
“Alastair,” Henrietta says, and I turn with my brow raised, reminding myself over and over not to be a bastard. “They’re on their way and your agent will be on the call for you.”
“Thank you,” I reply.
“What’s going on? Jared? Can you come here, please. You’re on speaker, Alastair.”
“Okay. Thanks. We went out with Isla last week, and a pap caught a photo of us leaving. I was just informed that the people the photographer sold the photo to are going to run a story with it.”
