“It wasn’t Natalie’s responsibility to be there,” I state in her defense. I’m not letting Natalie take the fall for this.
“Maybe not,” Tom continues. “But when we tried to contact both of you, we didn’t get a response. And by then it was too late for someone to come track you down. Not that we should have.”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” I agree.
“Perhaps it isn’t important enough for you to have noticed,” Jeremiah chimes in. “But our stock took a hit from this. We’ve got investors worried that we’re not running a tight ship here, Cassie. This looks bad on us. Tom informed me that you were the right person for this job, and I trusted him.”
I nod. Tom had faith in me. I failed him.
“Is there anything you want to say?” Tom prompts when no one speaks.
There’s nothing for me to say. The only thing left is to save face and hope like hell someone in this room has a little compassion. It’s a lot to hope for, I know.
“I’d like to apologize.” Once more, I meet the eyes of everyone in the room.
“Unfortunately, an apology isn’t going to cut it this time,” Jeremiah says, his tone brusque. “Perhaps we could’ve played this off as a personal emergency, or even an illness, but the details that have come to light make that impossible.”
Frowning, I wait for him to continue. What details is he referring to? Did someone see me at the club? I figure it’s more than likely considering we were still in the hotel.
When he doesn’t continue, I realize he’s waiting for me to enlighten him, but I have no idea what he’s referring to and he’s clearly not going to be forthcoming about this. “What details would those be?”
Tom and Jeremiah share a look, then Tom sits up straight. “The fact that you got married in Vegas, Cassie.”
“What?” My body jerks so hard, the chair moves beneath me. I grip the armrests and stare blankly at my boss.
“Married.” His tone implies I’m an idiot who doesn’t know the meaning.
“I’m sorry, but I think you’ve got some incorrect information.” I didn’t get married in Vegas.
“Is that so?” Tom opens a folder in front of him, then pulls out a sheet of paper. It gets passed down to me as I process this information.
“As you can see, it’s now public knowledge that you are married to Chase Barrett.”
There’s some shifting of papers as the others pull out documents from the folders in front of them.
“Chase Barrett?” someone asks. “The hockey player?”
“The one and only,” another person states. “It’s a wonder this hasn’t made headline news yet.”
Jeremiah clears his throat. “We’re giving you the opportunity to be honest with us, Cassie.”
I don’t answer as I grip the sheet of paper and skim over it. It’s a marriage license. Signed and dated by…
Me and Chase.
My lungs stop working, my head starts pounding, and suddenly I’m overwhelmed by memories of that first night we were in Vegas.
“What are we drinking to?” I ask Chase, my body already numb from the alcohol.
“Casual sex. It’s the name of the game.”
“Not my game.”
“No?”
“Nope. After that last ridiculous encounter, I’ve come to a decision.”
“What decision is that?”
I smile, proud of my decision. “I’m not having sex until I’m married.”
“Wanna get married?”
Chase cracks me up. “Sure. I’ll be Mrs. Chase Barrett and my mom will be over the moon.”
Suddenly I’m getting up from the barstool, but my brain hasn’t processed exactly why.
“Where are you going?”
“To get married. Don’t you know they cater to that stuff here in Vegas?” I’m not really going to get married, but sitting here at this bar has run its course. I want to do something.
“Do they?”
“Yep. And I wanna go check out one of those places.”
“Those places?”
“You ask too many questions. We need a limo.”
“No limos,” Chase states firmly, reminding me of our agreement from earlier.
“Fine. A cab. Or Uber. A shuttle. I don’t care.”
“We should probably get you up to bed.”
“I want to see a wedding chapel.”
“No you don’t.”
How does he know what I want? Spinning around, I find myself stumbling against Chase. My mouth is still lifting into a smile, but I can’t feel my face anymore. “I’ve heard that it’s super-easy to get married in Vegas. They’ll give a marriage license to practically anybody who wants one.”
“Says who?”
“My mother. And if anyone would know, it would be her.”
Chase, being the party pooper that he is, doesn’t move.
“Come on. Don’t be a Debbie Downer.”
That seems to shock him. Good. Maybe he’ll go along with this. What could it hurt just to see what is required to get married in Vegas?
“Please? I just want to see if it’s really that easy.”
“Cassie?”
Forcing myself out of my thoughts, I glance down the table at Tom. “I assume it’s all coming back to you now?” The sneer says he doesn’t believe for a second that I’m shocked by this.
Well, I am.
Realizing that this isn’t going to get better, that I’m not going to retain my job no matter what I say, I figure it’s time to get this over with. “I assume you had a reason for calling me in here this morning. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get to the point.”
“The repercussions of your actions have caused this company great distress,” Jeremiah states. “And in order for us to move forward, we are going to have to let you go.”
I figured as much, but I don’t tell him that.
“We’ve discussed our options. Your contract binds you to a two-year no-compete, which I’m sure you’re aware of.”
“Of course.”
“That means—”
Feeling my patience wearing thin, I interrupt Jeremiah. “I know what it means.”
“In return for you signing a nondisclosure that will restrict you from speaking about this incident publicly, we are willing to pay you a six-month severance.”
“No,” I say immediately.
Jeremiah doesn’t seem too thrilled with my rebuttal. He looks to Tom, who merely shrugs.
“What is it that you want, Cassie?” Jeremiah asks. “You’ve acknowledged your actions and you’re aware of the fallout.”
“I am. I made a mistake.” I sit up straighter. “A very human mistake. So, if I’m going to be your scapegoat—which I assume that’s your intention—then I’m going to request two years’ severance in return for signing a nondisclosure agreement. Plus, Natalie Davis will not be reprimanded in any way for this incident.”
I know I’m not going to get the money, but I figure I’d better go big so they’ll counter with…
“Cassie,” Tom scolds.
“I think it’s more than fair,” I counter. “I’ve given my life to this company. The same company that clearly has zero tolerance for mistakes. What do you think the media will think of that? I mean, I do have Chase Barrett in my corner. We could easily take this public, too.”
“One year,” Jeremiah says. “And that’s final.”
“Fine.” I know how far I can push and I’ve just reached my limit.
Jeremiah is instantly on his feet. “I’ll leave the lawyers and HR to handle the rest.”
Without another word, he turns and walks out of the room, as do most of the others. When there are only four people remaining, including Tom and me, it’s clear that I was right.
From the moment I stepped into this room, I didn’t stand a chance.
Chapter 23
Although I keep my interviews on a personal level, I had to get in a couple of questions in regard to how the Tornadoes have played
the last couple of seasons. Who better than to offer his perspective than Chase himself. So, I asked the most obvious question. “What improvements do you think the Tornadoes need to make in order to reach the overall objective?” Chase simply smiled. “By overall objective, you’re talking about the Stanley Cup?” The guy catches on quickly. “I can’t tell you what needs to happen. I can only tell you what I will be focusing on because that’s the only thing I have the ability to change. Myself.”
—Excerpt from Sports Unlimited’s Bad Boys of Sports edition
Chase
I admit, I’m not a patient man. On the ice, I’ve honed my ability to wait, to seek the perfect opportunity for a shot. However, there are times when you only have milliseconds to make a decision, one that could go either way.
That’s how I feel right now.
Rather than sit at home and wait for someone to call me—whether they actually will or not is still to be seen—I decide to head over to Cassie’s. She’ll have to come home sooner or later and I want to be there when she does. For one, I know that she’s going to want me to fill in the blanks when it comes to us getting married. Not that I have all the answers, but I do remember some of it.
I still wish like fuck that I’d been the one to tell her about it, but I’m sure Natalie’s right. Those assholes are going to break the news to her and no one is going to be there to calm the waters. I know Cassie. She’s going to freak out. And having to deal with this work bullshit on top of it…
I have no idea what I’ll be dealing with when she gets home.
As I’m pulling into Cassie’s driveway, my phone buzzes with a text.
Natalie: I offered to drive Cassie home, but she refused. She’s not acting like herself.
I don’t bother to answer, but I do get out of my car and head to the front door. I debate for half a second on just waiting outside instead of letting myself in, but I figure what the hell. If she’s going to go off on my ass, she can do it inside the house, versus outside.
I go through the main parts of the house and flip on all the lights. More so because I need something to do, but also because the cloud cover has made the interior of the house dark. We’re expecting storms, but I have yet to see a drop of rain. Kind of fitting for today.
Twenty minutes later, I realize I’m pacing once more. Seems to be the thing today, but like earlier, it does little to ease my mind. I stop and stare at the metal sculpture in the foyer. I shift my head, trying to find the right angle, the one that will make this thing make sense.
It doesn’t work, so I keep pacing.
I wish I could heed my dads’ advice right about now. Both Chief and Dad told me to take a deep breath and it would all work itself out. I’m not sure that’s the case, but neither of them has ever steered me wrong. Granted, they were both interested in details, curious as to how this all came about. I wasn’t able to tell them because I really don’t remember much. I’m sure once the fog from that night clears, it will all click into place. I hope so anyway. To be honest, I’d give anything to remember that night.
When the front door opens, I’m standing directly in front of the couch.
Cassie walks inside and, based on her body language, Natalie’s right, she doesn’t seem like herself. I fully expected her to be on a rampage. That, or possibly in tears. She seems to be stuck in a state somewhere in between, maybe.
Her shoulders are slumped and she looks defeated, as though she’s carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.
I’m so used to this woman being full of confidence and spunk. She’s funny and smart and everything she does reflects that. I’ve been drawn to her from the very first day I saw her for those reasons. I hate seeing her like this.
Fucking hate it.
“Hey,” I say, eyeing her carefully.
She drops her purse onto the table near the door, her eyes slowly lifting to meet mine.
“How’d it go?” Not like I don’t have an idea, but I need something to break the ice.
“We’re married.”
Well, okay. That’s one way to get it all out there.
“Did you know that?” She sounds dumbfounded, as though that can’t possibly be true.
I hesitantly nod. “I suspected it. But I didn’t get confirmation until this morning. I had my lawyer looking into it.”
“So you remember?”
“Not everything, no.” I’ve been racking my brain, trying to get the memories to surface, but to no avail. “Do you?”
She shrugs, then moves over to the sofa and eases down onto it. I sit down beside her, keeping a decent amount of space between us.
“Bits and pieces, I guess. I remember leaving the hotel, the cab ride, getting the marriage license.”
So, it looks as though we’re on the same page. Those are the parts I remember, too.
“We can get the marriage dissolved,” I inform her, not sure what she wants to hear.
Cassie waves me off, as though that doesn’t matter.
Her actions are confusing me.
“Why did you let me talk you into it?” she asks, her head swiveling around, blue-gray eyes full of curiosity coming to rest on my face.
“I…uh…” I frown, thrown by the question. “I wasn’t under the impression you talked me into it.”
Cassie stares at me blankly. I wish I could read her mind. I’m relatively decent at predicting what she’s thinking, but right now, I’ve got nothing.
“But I kept pushing it,” she states.
“What are you talking about?” Maybe we don’t remember it the same way.
“Me forcing you to marry me.” The look she gives me says I’m the biggest idiot on the planet.
“Cass, you didn’t force me to do anything.”
“But it was more of a dare,” she notes.
“Really?”
“Well, that’s how I saw it. I continued to push you, waiting for that moment that you backed out.”
“And since I didn’t,” I acknowledge, “you think you forced me.”
Cassie nods, then drops her head into her hands. “I can’t believe how badly I’ve screwed everything up.”
“You?”
“Yes, me.” She shakes her head. “I convinced you to marry me, seduced you, missed my presentation, ruined my friendship with Natalie, I probably blew my friendship with you, as well. I’ve made a mess of everything.” She sighs. “And on top of that, my mother thinks we’re in a secret relationship, so when news of this gets out, she’s going to broadcast it to anyone who’ll listen.” She casts a sideways glance my way. “What the hell is wrong with me? Since when did I get to be so selfish?”
Okay, so I see what the problem is. She’s being Cassie. She’s taking all the blame on herself.
“I think maybe you need to stop and think about this for a minute,” I tell her.
“Chase, I’ve done nothing but think.”
“No. I mean, seriously think about it for a minute, Cass. Forget about what your parents think, forget about Natalie, or…the sex. Let’s focus on the night we…uh…got married. What exactly do you remember?”
I want to know because I can tell you, I damn sure don’t see it the same way she does. Doesn’t matter that half the night is still a blur.
Cassie
I’m not sure how else I can think about all that’s happened these past few days. Even through the haze of alcohol that night and the fact that my memories were completely blocked for several days, I know exactly what happened. Well, mostly. I have yet to remember the actual ceremony.
“I remember filling out paperwork,” I tell him.
“Yep.”
“Then going to the chapel.”
“Did you get the marriage license?” The lady who introduced herself as Maggie glances between me and Chase.
“We did,” Chase tells her.
“I never expected us to get that far,” I tell Chase now. “I remember thinking that you were going to call a halt to it from the second we got into t
he cab.”
“That was your plan?” he asks.
“Sort of.” I smile, but keep my head down. “Seriously, Chase. Married?” I laugh, but it’s strangled. “I kept thinking there was no way Chase Barrett wanted to get married. And definitely not to me.”
Chase grunts, but he doesn’t speak. I’m not about to try to decipher what that means.
I let my mind drift back to that night.
“Somewhere along the way, it all became a game for me,” I explain. “I thought it had for you, too. Of course, I blame the tequila that diluted the blood in my veins.”
Chase doesn’t laugh at my attempt at a joke. I don’t blame him. This is no laughing matter.
“I remember thinking that in order for me to win, you had to be the one to put a stop to it. I knew you would before it was too late, and that’s the only reason I continued to push.”
God, it all comes back to me like it was yesterday.
Maggie takes the paperwork and skims it from top to bottom. When she smiles, I know that it’s exactly as it should be.
“You’re all set. Did you want to see our wedding package options?”
Wedding packages? Now, that sounds like fun. “Of course we do,” I say, fully expecting Chase to intervene at any moment. “Right, honey?”
I figure that’ll get him to back out of this.
I mean, people get married in Vegas all the time, right? It’s a thing, maybe. I don’t know, but the tequila is telling me that I need to see this through. What’s the worst that could happen? We end up married for a couple of days? On the plus side, if I do marry Chase he won’t be able to pawn me off on some fool for the rest of the trip. When we get back home, we can get the marriage dissolved and all will be fine.
I feel Chase’s eyes on me. He seems confused, but he’s going along with it. He’s testing me. I can feel it.
I stare at him, waiting for that moment when Chase tells me I’m crazy and that there’s no way we’re going to get married.
But the forced smile and somewhat cheerful “Absolutely” is what I get instead.
That seems to please Maggie to the roots of her gray hair because her smile widens.
Bad Reputation Page 19
