He had to kiss her. So he did. And the best part was when she kissed him back.
To be honest, Brandon hadn’t even realized someone had been taking pictures. He had forgotten that other people were even there in the first place. All he cared about was that moment with her in his arms and his lips on hers. She had felt perfect, he didn’t want to let her go. Hell, he wasn’t planning on it until Bambridge made his presence known.
In a way, Brandon was glad that Bambridge had seen them. He had never been the guy to believe in marking territory, so to speak, but at least Bambridge would know Seraphina belonged to him, and if anything happened to her while she was with Bambridge, Brandon had no problem taking care of it.
Except something had happened and Brandon had done nothing. And now, Bambridge was using it to his advantage.
“What the hell is this?” Brandon asked, tilting his head to look at Seraphina.
“He has pictures of us,” Seraphina said, glancing over at him and raising a brow. “I don’t know how he got them. I don’t know if he saw what was going on and then took a couple of pictures or if someone else took pictures and he managed to get his hands on them. I guess in the end, it doesn’t really matter.” She snorted and rolled her eyes at the last sentence that came out of her mouth. It was too ridiculous, the situation too tense, and Seraphina couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly.
Brandon raised his brow at her behavior but didn’t comment, which was probably a good thing.
“So he’s threatening to release these photos publicly unless you go through with the trade?” Brandon guessed, standing up straight and crossing his arms over his chest.
“Pretty much,” she said.
Brandon clenched his jaw. Seraphina could feel his fury rolling off of him in hard, choppy waves. It was the kind of anger someone could drown in if they were pulled tightly into his orbit.
“So,” he said slowly, through gritted teeth, “what are we going to do?”
“I’m not going to go through with the trade, obviously,” Seraphina told him, picking her eyes up so she could lock eyes with him. She hoped he knew that, that she didn’t have to actually say that, but she wanted to anyway, just to make sure he really understood.
“When do you have until?” Brandon asked.
“The twenty-eighth.”
Seraphina continued to watch Brandon with wide eyes, wondering what he was thinking about why he was so mad. Yes, of course, the situation was extremely frustrating. Seraphina had spent the past fifteen minutes crying over it. But she didn’t want Brandon to think the situation was hopeless, that nothing could be done.
“What are you going to do about this?” he finally asked. His words were clipped, as though he was trying to figure out what should be done but he also recognized that this was her problem and she needed to make a decision about this as well.
“I…” Seraphina pressed her lips together. Perhaps she should have been researching her options rather than crying about the predicament she was in. She clenched her jaw and internally shook her head at herself. She couldn’t believe she had been so selfish. So helpless. Her grandfather raised her better than that. Don’t mope. Solve the problem the right way. “Honestly, I don’t know. I just know what I’m not going to do.”
Brandon nodded once, quick jabs of movement. “We need to figure this out, Sera,” he told her. “The twenty-eighth is only a couple of days away. He could release those photos at any second and –“
“I know,” she snapped. “Don’t you think I know this? I don’t know what I should do, Brandon. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.”
He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. “Hell if I know,” he said. “Your grandfather’s received offers for me before but he never took them. As far as I know, he never even considered them.”
“Yes,” Seraphina said slowly. “The difference being that my grandfather isn’t around and if he was, I highly doubt he’d be getting blackmailed right now.” She pressed her lips together. “Brandon, what the hell should I do? Should I resign? I could give the team to Kat, but she’s with Negan and…” She groaned, shaking her head.
“Have you spoken to your lawyer?” Brandon asked. Seraphina could tell he was trying to keep his own patience, but she didn’t know if it was due to her erratic behavior or because of the situation in general. “Maybe she’ll be able to help you figure this whole thing out. That’s why you have her on your payroll, right? Talk to her and figure it out.” He placed his hand on Seraphina’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I’m here for you.”
Seraphina forced a smile and placed her hand over his. “Thanks,” she said. “How are you?”
“Honestly, I’d like to fly to Vegas and beat the shit out of Bambridge,” Brandon said, “but I don’t think that’s the healthiest response to what’s going on.” He looked down at her, his pale green eyes brimming with grass-green frustration. “I wish I could do more for you, Sera. I feel like I can’t help you at all and I’m pissed because it’s my fault we’re in this situation in the first place.”
Seraphina furrowed her brow, cocking her head so she could look up at him with a questioning stare. “What do you mean, your fault?” she asked.
“I kissed you,” he reminded her. “I was sick and tired of waiting for you –“
“For me!” Seraphina exclaimed. “I’ve been waiting for you to make your move. I just, I’ve been with a few guys that I’d pursued. I wanted to know I was worth the chase, that someone would go out of their way to try and be with me.”
“And when I did, you ran,” Brandon pointed out.
“I ran,” Seraphina agreed. “I had no idea what I was doing, what I was going to do. But that still doesn’t make the kiss your fault. I need to talk to my lawyer.” She met Brandon’s eyes, her tone firm. “We need to figure this out because I’m not going to let Bambridge try and take you from me. From this team.”
“What happens when we run out of options, Sera?” Brandon asked. There was an edge to his voice, a sound that wasn’t familiar to Seraphina’s ears. She didn’t like it, truth be told. It was negative and angry and frustrated all at one time. “What happens when your lawyer comes back to us and tells us that we’re screwed. I would rather you trade me than give the uncles your team.”
“We don’t even know if that’s what it’s going to come down to,” Seraphina said. “Please. Don’t talk like this.”
“What do you expect, Sera?” he asked. He wasn’t yelling, exactly, but his words were pointed and sharp. “You were right about everything. Our first kiss and it’s being used to blackmail you into either admitting you love me or getting rid of me.”
Before Brandon could continue, Seraphina reached up and pulled his head down so she could lock lips with him. He was tense under her touch but after a moment, relaxed into it and allowed her to kiss him.
“I’m sorry,” he said, taking a step back. “I can’t think about anything else. Not until we figure this out.”
“Brandon –“
“I can’t lose you, Sera,” he told her. “I love you. And I have you. You aren’t the type of girl I can just let go of.”
Before she could stop him, Brandon left, all but slamming her office door behind him.
Chapter 21
Seraphina was in the Sea Side gym when Katella found her. Seraphina was in workout clothes – shorts that just covered her backside and a tank top that clutched her curves and kept everything in place. Her hair was thrown up into a ponytail and her earphones were in her ears. She was running; even though she absolutely detested it, but she needed a healthy way to get the frustration out of her system. And this seemed like the most logical choice. Interestingly enough, it seemed to be working.
She had been here for the past couple of hours, going between running and walking and then back to running. She started out cycling but needed to stretch her legs, needed to move her entire body and pretend she was actually getting somewhere. Because she certainly wasn’t
getting anywhere with her personal and professional life.
“Sera.”
Seraphina glanced to her right and found her sister in a light blue Gulls shirt and white jeans. She had no idea how Katella could look so pretty without putting much effort into her appearance. Even now, the only makeup she had on was lip gloss and mascara.
Seraphina nodded at her sister but made no move to get off the treadmill. Katella rolled her eyes and reached over to turn the treadmill off. Seraphina furrowed her brow and shot Katella a look.
“Can I help you with something?” she asked as the treadmill came to a stop.
“Yeah, you can tell me what the heck is going on Sera,” Katella said. “You’ve been incredibly withdrawn all day. I saw Brandon stomp out of your office and he looked pissed. I don’t even think you’ve had lunch yet, and you’ve been running for who knows how long. I’m allowed to be concerned about my baby sister. I’m allowed to check on you.”
Seraphina looked like she wanted to respond. She wanted to snap back, but she couldn’t. She was exhausted and Katella was right. Seraphina was acting off, Brandon was pissed for good reason, and Seraphina was… exhausted.
“What’s going on, Sera?” Katella asked. “Did you and Brandon get into a fight?”
“What?” Seraphina furrowed her brow and shook her head. “No. No, of course not.”
“Then why did he stomp out of your office, completely pissed off?” Katella asked, placing her hands on her hips.
Seraphina looked away. “Because Phil Bambridge is blackmailing me,” she said in a low voice. “And he’s using Brandon to do it.”
Katella’s eyes went wide and she took a step back. “How’s he going to do that?” she asked in a voice just above a whisper even though there was no one else in the gym.
Seraphina clenched her jaw and looked away. She hadn’t told Katella about the moment she had shared with Brandon in the lobby of the Vegas hotel while she was waiting for Phil Bambridge. She hadn’t told anyone about that kiss. Now, Phil was ready to tell everyone, to reveal something that needed to be kept secret.
“Brandon and I kissed in the lobby,” Seraphina told Katella. “It just happened. We were arguing and he just kissed me and I let him. I even kissed him back. But Phil caught us. Apparently, he whipped out his cell phone and took three shitty pictures of me and Brandon while we were kissing before he let us know that he was even there.” Seraphina furrowed her brow and shook her head. “I never should have…” She couldn’t even finish that sentence. If she finished that sentence, that meant that she would have to regret the kiss. And despite the predicament she and Brandon were in at this moment, there was absolutely no way she could ever regret that kiss. “I got swept away, Kat. I didn’t even realize he was there. Hell, I completely forgot that anybody else was there. That’s how distracted I was. I feel like such an idiot.”
Katella reached out and gently squeezed her sister’s shoulder. “Don’t feel like an idiot,” she said. “We all get swept away in kisses, especially if they’re from our true loves.”
Seraphina raised an eyebrow at her sister. Katella rolled her eyes.
“Look,” she said, “I know it sounds corny, okay? Trust me. Negan and I have only been dating for six weeks but I already know that he’s the one I’m going to settle down with, the one I’m going to have kids with. I can’t explain how I know, I just do. So when you tell me Brandon kissed you and you forgot about everything and everyone else, I believe you. You don’t have to explain it. What I need you to explain is why Phil Bambridge is blackmailing you. Are the pictures definitively you and Brandon? Can you make the argument that there’s nothing conclusive about them?”
Seraphina shrugged. “I can show you them so you can see them for yourself,” she offered. “I feel as though I’m too close to it to see things from the outside. I know what I wore and I know Brandon like the back of my hand. Phil saw us so he definitely knows that’s us. Brandon did say something about how no one for sure knows it one way or the other but I’m not sure I want to take that risk. It isn’t just about me, you know? It’s about Brandon and the team and ugh.” She gripped her forehead before dropping her hand. “I can’t believe I got into this mess. Not that I regret the kiss, but…”
“Well, let’s not stress right this second,” Katella suggested. “You know who you should talk to before you even get the lawyers involved? Talk to Drew Stefano. He might know laws and what the best way to handle this would be.”
Seraphina nodded. “I’ll call him right now,” she said. “After I shower, I mean.”
“Good idea,” Katella said, wrinkling her nose playfully. “You smell.”
Seraphina smiled despite herself. Count on Katella to say the most ridiculous things to get a smile out of her.
Drew Stefano was good looking and reserved. He was actually very similar to Brandon in personality but with a touch of awkwardness about him, like he knew his position on the ice, but when he was participating in fan events, he wasn’t sure how to act or how to handle himself.
His team gave him shit because there was one fan he seemed to stare at a lot, even though he had a serious girlfriend who acted and did an online talk show for a cable network. From what Seraphina knew, she had blonde hair and was very pretty, but not as put-together as women in the acting world where makeup covered their whole face and they went to a salon before a game.
“Hey,” Seraphina said with a warm smile.
To say Drew Stefano looked uncomfortable would be an understatement. He kept shifting in his seat, almost as though he was expecting the other foot to drop.
“So, I’m not trading you,” Seraphina told him. “You don’t have to worry about that.” Drew’s shoulders sagged forward and a sigh of relief came out of his mouth. “Sorry, I hadn’t even thought that it would totally seem like I was having a meeting with you to tell you that you were being traded. My bad. But we want to hang on to you for as long as we can. You’re an integral part of our team, Drew.”
“So what do you need?” Drew asked. The question came out insistent and perhaps a little sharp but that was probably because he was still getting over the fact that he wasn’t being traded like he originally assumed.
“You majored in criminology, right?” At Drew’s nod, Seraphina continued. “Okay. I need your help in whatever way you can help me. I’m going to talk to you about some sensitive information that I’d like you to keep between you and me. Can you do that?”
Drew quirked a brow, somewhat confused and perhaps a tad intrigued. However, he nodded his head. Seraphina smiled and told him everything – not that she and Brandon were serious about each other but they kissed, Bambridge had pictures, and now he was blackmailing her into a trade that would see the team lose Thorpe.
“So I need to know what to do that doesn’t have me lose Thorpe, put a target on his back or mine, and how to get Phil Bambridge from releasing the photos,” Seraphina concluded, almost breathless. “I know that’s a lot of information, most you didn’t particularly care about. But I trust you and I’d love to get any advice you can give me.”
“Honestly, I would talk to your lawyer about this,” Drew said. “Just to understand what your legal responsibilities are, what you can and can’t do based on what the NHL expects, and how to combat this. However, you asked for my advice, so I’m going to give it to you: in my opinion – and this is in no way actual legal advice – you should take away Bambridge’s power.”
Seraphina furrowed her brows and gave Drew a long look. “And how should I go about doing that?” she asked. “He has the pictures, not me.”
“I know,” Drew said with a nod. “But you don’t need the pictures. Come out head on against him and it takes away all of his power.”
“So,” Seraphina said slowly, shifting her eyes to Drew before looking down at her planner, “you want me to actually admit Brandon and I kissed?”
Drew shook his head. “It does not have to be as obvious as that,” he said. “All you need to
do is come out, tell everyone he’s blackmailing you. You don’t have to get into the specifics. It could be something generic and imply that he’s acting on sexist assumptions. It’s completely your call.”
“By doing this, what happens?” Seraphina asked, pushing her brows together. “I apologize for my ignorance but what does this help me gain?”
“Like I said,” Drew said with a small grin, “it takes away his power. Let’s say you call a press conference and say Bambridge is blackmailing me because he is saying I won’t take his trade due to the fact that he believes Thorpe and I are having an affair. By talking about it before he does, you control what gets released and what doesn’t. Sure, they may question Bambridge and sure, he may release the photos just to spite you. But he’s making a power move and if he has no power, he has no move.”
“He has no move,” Seraphina murmured to herself, her eyes shining. She stood and stuck out her hand. “Thank you very much for this incredibly informative discussion, Drew. You have no idea how helpful this was to me. Thank you.”
Drew stood and shook her hand. He seemed unsure, like he didn’t really think it was already over. “Yeah, no worries,” he said.
When he left, Seraphina picked up her office phone and dialed Brandon’s number. He picked up on second ring. “Brandon?” she asked after he greeted her with a hello. “How are you?”
“Still frustrated,” was his response. “I haven’t thought of a way out of this mess.”
“I think I have an idea,” she said. “I talked to Drew and I’m going to set up an emergency meeting with my lawyer later today if possible, but Drew gave me an idea. I wanted to talk about it with you before I make any decisions because this does involve you. Do you have the time?”
Lip Locks & Blocked Shots: A Slapshot Novel (Slapshot Series Book 3) Page 13
