God, could she sound any more sappy? After the night she’d just spent in Brett’s arms, the way he worshipped her body and made her come more times than she ever had in her life, she couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.
How ironic that she’d fallen for another athlete and a younger one to boot. The age difference between them wasn’t huge in the grand scheme of things. After everything Brett had been through, he acted older than his age when he was with her. In the public, prior to the last couple of months, he’d acted younger than his twenty-five years. She hoped the public would come to know and love the Brett she did.
Love.
She let the word float around her mind. Yes, it was what she felt for Brett. After finding out where he spent every Sunday morning and why, her respect for him had grown even more. Something she never would’ve expected to happen.
“Are you planning to stand in the doorway all day, Cassandra?” Frank’s booming voice burst her daydream like a kid popping a bubble.
Giving herself a mental shake, she stepped inside, making sure she closed the door behind her, and sat in one of the chairs opposite Frank. “Morning, Frank. How are you?”
Her attempt at being bright and breezy drew a frown from her boss. “What’s happened? Did Brett Hunter do something completely stupid last night so we have to engage damage control?”
Anger rose up inside of her at his assumption. Sure, Brett hadn’t been the best client, but ever since she’d taken him over, there hadn’t been a sniff of bad behavior from him. “Don’t you think that’s a bit of an insult to me and to Brett? After all, since he became our client, he’s kept to himself. He’s been amazing on the show he’s working on. There hasn’t been a hint of drama between him, Mitch and Drake.”
Frank sat back in his chair and studied her. She could quite honestly say that she would defend any client of hers in the same way as she defended Brett. It had nothing at all to do with her growing feelings for him. Cassandra prided herself on her professionalism, even though she and Brett had slept together. She needed to keep that off Frank’s radar.
“I suppose you’re right. But after that call from the nursing home, anything is possible.”
“Yeah, about that call…” It was as good a lead in as any, she supposed.
“Is it true?” Frank leaned forward and rested his elbows on his mahogany desk. “Does he go to the nursing home? And how can we use that to further strengthen the public’s perception of his character?”
His questions were the ones she’d been expecting. Heck, they’d gone through her mind the moment she’d first found out he visited the place. It would be the perfect opportunity to show a caring side to Brett, a more human side. But the TV show was showing that as well. Once it aired, Cassandra had no doubt Brett would receive nothing but positive publicity from it.
She still had no idea how she was going to get out of telling Frank the truth about his visits. She’d promised Brett she wasn’t going to use what he’d told her. She had no plans to renege. Now, to convince Frank he didn’t need to know the truth either.
She took a deep breath and said a silent prayer—for the first time in her career she was about to fabricate the truth to her boss—all to protect the man she loved.
“There’s nothing out of the ordinary about his visits to the nursing home. With the way the show is panning out, we won’t need to do anything else. The public’s gonna fall in love with the Brett they see on TV. I think we keep the status quo with what we’re doing.” Cassandra paused and looked down at her tablet. She pulled up her calendar then looked back at Frank. “I’ve got another couple of charity appearances lined up for him as well. Also, there will be the show’s premiere party which will highlight the strengthening relationship he has with Mitch and Julia.”
To her mind, everything she told Frank sounded perfectly reasonable and positive. She only hoped he felt the same way.
“Let me think on it. We want to use every avenue possible to us. I mean you’ve done a remarkable job so far in changing certain perceptions about Brett. Dan has informed me his sponsors appear to be a bit more relaxed about him than they were a couple of months ago.” Frank tapped his chin and Cassandra waited, dread roiling in her stomach. “You never know with the editing of the show as to how they plan to portray Brett. You and I both know the producers wanted him to provide conflict to the show. If they don’t have it, then why will people want to tune in and watch it each week?”
There was no denying the point. She and Brett had discussed it. When she’d been on set, there were numerous times the producers had tried to manufacture drama between all three athletes. The problem was, being athletes, they’re all naturally competitive. Each one wanted to win. When the opportunity arose, they trash talked one other, mainly between Mitch and Drake, but it was all done in good spirits. There was no way they were going to deliberately sabotage the other. They were all teammates at the end of the day, no matter the history between Mitch and Brett.
“Of course, they’ll want to see if there are any fights, but I’m confident they’ll keep watching because of the kids. We don’t need to draw the attention away from the show to the visits Brett makes to a quiet nursing home. They don’t matter in the grand scheme of things.”
“In a perfect world, that’s what will happen.” Frank sat back in his chair. “Cassandra, you know people thrive on drama nowadays. One comment taken out of context, or one tweet misunderstood, and social media explodes. The real truth can get buried at the bottom, never to see the light of day.”
“Which would make it more sensible not to say anything about his visits.” Cassandra leaned forward. “Please, Frank, let’s just stick to my plan. Everything is working out well. You said so yourself. The show’s going to premiere in a month. Shooting is winding down. I think Brett’s turned a corner and doesn’t plan on creating any more scandals.”
God, she hoped she wasn’t giving Frank any indication she’d developed feelings for Brett. Looking back, she may not have advocated as much for her previous clients as she was at the moment. But Naomi didn’t deserve the scrutiny she’d be put under if Brett’s secret came out. From what he’d told her, Naomi would get agitated to the point of hysteria if reporters showed up at Spring Mountain.
For the sake of that poor girl, Cassandra would do everything in her power to keep the accident and Naomi’s condition out of the press.
“As I said, I’ll think about it. Now what about Andrea and Ursula? What have you got planned for the new dynamic singing duo?”
Thank goodness he was letting it go. Consulting her tablet again, she gave him a rundown of her preliminary plans for their newest clients. Mentally, she crossed her fingers, hoping this meeting would be the last they’d need to have regarding Brett and the nursing home.
* * *
Cassandra jolted awake as cold air kissed her naked body.
“Wha—? What’s wrong?” In her sleepy haze, she worked out that Brett had thrown the covers off her when he’d gotten out of bed.
“Sorry, babe,” he said as he pulled them back over her. “My phone is ringing. I’m going to grab it.”
“Okay.” Cassandra snuggled down and inhaled, breathing in Brett’s scent on the pillow next to hers. She loved that her bed smelled like him. They’d spent nearly every night together over the last couple of weeks. The sex had been amazing—out of this world, never before experienced anything like it—amazing.
She turned her head, looked at the clock, and then sat up quickly. Brett’s phone ringing at 3:30 a.m. was not good. Her thoughts turned to Naomi. God, Cassandra hoped the other girl was okay. If anything happened to her, Brett would be devastated.
Hopping out of bed, she grabbed her robe and shrugged into it as she padded down the stairs to find him.
He was standing in the middle of her living room, his back to her. Even without hearing the conversation, she knew it wasn’t good news. His back muscles bunched tightly in the soft light of the small table lamp he�
��d turned on when he walked into the room. She wanted to go to him. Lay her hand on his back in a show of support, only she held back. Her senses screamed she shouldn’t do it, so she didn’t.
“I don’t care. I’m not commenting.” Brett’s words were harsh and he tossed the phone on her couch.
Still she didn’t move.
There was something wrong. Something major had happened and she wished she knew what it was so she could help alleviate his pain.
“You okay?”
Brett whirled around, venom shooting from his eyes.
What the hell?
She’d never seen him looking so angry. The worst thing was, that anger was aimed directly at her.
“Why did you do it, Cassandra?”
“Do what?”
Brett laughed harshly and strode toward her. Her self-protection instinct had her wanting to take a step back, but she held her ground.
“Oh, please, don’t act all innocent. It’s not going to work. I can’t believe you did this. Haven’t I done everything you asked me to do? Dan told me today that because of what I’ve done recently, I’m getting new sponsorship offers. I don’t get it. I don’t get why you had to do it.”
She had no idea what he was talking about—oh no.
No!
Frank wouldn’t have gone behind her back, would he? He was ruthless when it was called for, but she hadn’t told him anything about who Brett saw at Spring Mountain.
“I didn’t do it,” she whispered.
His hand slashed through the air, as though tossing her words away.
“Don’t lie to me, Cassandra. I don’t appreciate it.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I need to get out of here.”
Cassandra jumped out of the way as he strode past her. She waited a heartbeat before following him up to the bedroom.
“What’s happened, Brett? Tell me so I can fix it.”
“Spare me the innocent act.” He thrust his leg into his jeans. “Why would you want to fix something you deliberately instigated? The whole press knows about my visits to Naomi. Spring Mountain is surrounded by reporters, at fucking three thirty in the morning, all wanting to get close to the woman Brett Hunter visits every week. They couldn’t even wait until the sun was up. I trusted you when I told you about her. And this is how you repay me, by using it as a PR opportunity.”
It was as bad as she thought. No, actually, it was worse. How could Frank do this to her? More to the point, how had he found out about Naomi?
She’d said nothing, nothing to Frank.
The betrayal that he must have asked someone else to chase down the Spring Mountain lead cut deep. She never would’ve thought Frank could stoop so low as to use a girl who had health concerns for a PR opportunity. He’d never been so cutthroat before.
She couldn’t let Brett leave like this. Although stopping him from leaving was going to be a feat in itself.
“Brett, wait, please.” Surprisingly he halted. “I didn’t say anything to Frank. You have to believe me. I know how much Naomi means to you. No way would I expose her or you like this. I told Frank that there was no need to highlight your trips to Spring Mountain. The public didn’t need to know.”
Brett closed the distance between her and her heart skipped a beat, hoping he believed her.
“I want to believe you, but I don’t think I can. You came to me and told me Frank had the information. You’re the person that has been working solely with me. I need more than your word.” He leaned in, as though to kiss her, but he pulled back at the last second. She swallowed hard to stop the tears building in her eyes from falling. “Goodbye, Cass.”
Without a backward glance, he walked out of the room. The moment the click of the front door closing echoed through the silent house, her knees gave way and she collapsed to the floor, the tears falling hopelessly down her cheeks.
Her heart had gone with Brett. She didn’t know if she would ever get it back.
22
With a heavy heart, Brett pulled into the driveway of Spring Mountain’s caretaker’s cottage. He focused his thoughts on getting to Naomi and making sure she was okay. He couldn’t let his thoughts turn to Cassandra and her betrayal. When it wasn’t the early hours of the morning, he would call Dan and tell him to terminate the contract with Frank and his firm. He would finish filming the TV show because he didn’t want to let the kids down. Anything else Cassandra had arranged for him, he would pull out of.
But first he had to deal with the fallout from the exposure of his visits.
He was grateful Sue, the director of Spring Mountain, had allowed him to park his car at the caretaker’s place so the press wouldn’t know he’d arrived. The man would escort him into a side entrance. He couldn’t believe Sue wasn’t angrier with him, but she knew he wouldn’t have deliberately exposed Naomi like this.
He got out of the car and was immediately greeted by the caretaker. Brett held out his hand.
“Thanks so much for meeting me, Bob. Sorry to drag you out of bed.”
“Not your fault, son.” Bob took Brett’s hand and gripped it tightly. “Let’s go before one of those wolves comes sniffing around here.”
Wolves. That was an apt name for them. He hoped Naomi was okay and no one from the media had snuck past the security and somehow made their way to her room.
The moment they reached the side entrance, Sue opened the door.
“Sue, I’m so sorry you got dragged out of bed to deal with this crap from the press.”
“Well, it’s not unusual to be called out to attend to something here, but this is the first time the press are the cause of an early wake up call.”
“I’m not happy they’re here. Why the hell would they turn up in the middle of the night?”
“I think they were hoping to catch you when you came tomorrow morning for your usual visit.”
“Is Naomi okay?”
“As far as I know, she’s still sleeping. They don’t know what room she’s in and security has been doing a great job at keeping them from entering the facility.”
Brett was in the middle of saying how grateful he was for everything Sue and her staff, particularly the security crew, were doing to keep the situation under some sort of control when a nurse hurried up.
“Sue, someone found out what room Naomi is in and knocked on her outside sliding door. Security got them away, but they woke her up and she’s scared.”
“Bastards,” Brett ground out as he rushed past them and headed for Naomi’s room. He had to settle her down. His anger at Cassandra grew. How could she do this?
He reached the room, and even through the door he could hear her crying. He knocked gently. “Naomi, it’s me, Brett. Open up, sweetie.”
“No! Go away.”
Brett rested his forehead against the wood. He knew the door wasn’t locked and he could easily open it and let himself in. But it was something he’d never done and he had no plans to start doing it now.
He tried knocking again.
“I won’t hurt you, Naomi, you know that. Please let me in? Dean sent me to check up on you.” Never before had he used Dean’s name as a way to get into her room but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Slowly the door opened and relief poured through him like water over ice. He slipped through the small gap. “Good girl,” he said as he pulled her into a hug.
“I’m scared, Brett. Someone was knocking on my door. It’s still dark outside.”
“I know sweetie, but you’re safe now. You’re not going to be bothered anymore.”
“Are you sure? I want to go home, Brett. I don’t like it here. Where’s Mommy and Daddy? Where’s Dean?”
Shit.
It had been years since Naomi had asked to go home. Her asking for Dean or her parents was pretty normal. He also knew that in a few hours she would forget what he told her.
“He’ll be here soon. This is your home now, remember?”
“Yeah.” She yawned. “I’m tired.”
“It’s pretty early. Why don’t you go back to bed? I’ll stay here until you fall asleep. You’re safe now, sweetie. Nothing’s going to happen.”
He led her over to her bed. She climbed in and snuggled up with her stuffed dog.
“Night, Brett.”
He laid a hand on her head. “G’night. Sweet dreams.”
Within seconds, she was out. God, he wished he could join her in the Land of Nod. He was exhausted, but he knew it was going to be a long time before he’d be able to sleep.
Confident Naomi wasn’t going to be disturbed again, he slipped out of her room and closed the door softly. He looked up and saw Sue waiting for him. Dread landed on his shoulders like a heavy winter coat.
“What’s wrong now?”
“Nothing, but I wanted to know if you planned on talking to the press.”
Talking to a bunch of sleazy reporters had been the farthest thing from his mind. His one and only priority had been to make sure Naomi was okay. Now that he had that under control, he would think about the problem they posed. Familiar with the way they worked, he knew they wouldn’t go away until they got some answers.
There was no way he wanted to bring up his past and relive the accident and Dean’s death all over again, but maybe he had to.
“I will. I’m not sure what I’m going say. It will have to be soon, though, I know.”
“I’m sorry, Brett, I can’t have the press hanging around all day. It’s too unsettling.”
Brett understood. She had a facility full of people with various ailments that didn’t need the disruption of having the press hanging around.
“Okay, I’ll talk to them now.”
“Thanks. I’m going to post some extra security around Naomi’s room just to make sure no one can get to her.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. I’ll pay for the additional security.” He held up his hand when she opened her mouth to object. “No argument. I’m the reason you’ve got this problem. I’ll go get rid of the press.”
Fighting for Redemption (The Elite Book 4) Page 12
