Hard and Fast
Page 21
“I feel fucking fantastic,” she said.
I knew it was true. I could see it in every line of her body. And yeah, she went back to grab Gia’s hand, but there was no fear in her eyes. Cassie was good. After everything she’d been through, she was finally good.
I handed Sophia over to the cop, watching with satisfaction while he handcuffed her. She wasn’t silent. Not Sophia. She started with, “How dare you?” then progressed with a stream of, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? You owe everything to me. Everything!”
I threw an arm around Cassie, and we hugged like we hadn’t seen each other in years. Behind my back, Sophia was screaming curse words. Something about how she had made me.
And then she pulled out a new one.
“I slept with your coach. It was the only way I could get you into the minors. I had to sleep with him to get you your start!”
I straightened and turned back to her, shaking my head. This last attempt at making me feel guilty was appalling. It didn’t help her, and it tarnished a good man’s name. I stared at her, wondering how I ever could have let her control so much of my life. It shocked me.
“Anything else you want to confess?” I asked.
“Connor!” Gia whispered from behind me. “There are camera phones everywhere.”
Good. Let Sophia’s real face get shown to the entire world. In fact, I pitched my voice loud enough to be picked up by every microphone. “Hey, Sophia. You’re fired.”
Then she was dragged away, screeching curses the whole time. The woman would never be quiet until there was no audience, but damn, that felt good. And there was something else I had to say.
I grabbed Cassie and pressed a kiss to her forehead. I searched her face and was relieved to see a fierce pride in her face. For herself. For me.
“I’m fine,” she said as she hugged me.
“I know,” I said as I returned the embrace. Then I caught Gia’s hand and drew her close. I touched her face and rolled my thumb over her full, beautiful mouth.
“I’m the liar, not you. I hated myself for what I had to do to keep Sophia contained. I lied to myself about the cost of that. I lied every time I thought I was helping her. It was all a big lie, and I hated myself for it. So I turned that anger onto you.”
“Connor, you don’t need to say anything right now.”
“But I do. I’m sorry, Gia. I’ve been wrong about so many things.”
“It’s okay—”
“It’s not. I love you. I’ve been in love with you from the very beginning, but I couldn’t let myself have anything as good as you. Not with Sophia in my life. Not when I was lying about everything she was doing to destroy Cassie and me.”
Gia opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Her eyes were misting with tears, and I prayed I was seeing love shine through those beautiful brown pools, but I didn’t know. And I wasn’t sure I deserved her.
“Will you forgive me? Please?”
Suddenly, she was kissing me, and I was kissing her. We were wrapped around each other while cheers rang out. And when we finally separated, Gia touched my face and my lips.
“Of course. I love you, too,” she said.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Connor
The video went viral. Not just Sophia and Theo getting caught, but me firing her, and that moment when I finally said, “I love you” to Gia.
I loved it. In fact, I’d saved the whole thing permanently to my phone. But Gia and Joe weren’t as thrilled. Social media was a delicate balancing act, and they were afraid that the whole family squabble would tarnish my image.
Again, I didn’t care, especially when Theo cracked like a broken egg to the cops. He told them everything—that Sophia had ordered him to frighten Cassie, but that he’d taken off when the cops had gotten involved. But after I’d had that showdown with her in Gia’s office, Sophia had found him and paid him to step it back up. To make Cassie break, so that Sophia could come in and rescue everyone.
She was delusional, as I told her when I officially ended my contract with her company. I also told her to take that two million dollars in cash that she owed me and put it toward therapy. Then I washed my hands of her completely.
That did not get reported in the media, thank God. That was because I did absolutely everything Gia told me to do. I made a statement to the press, which Gia wrote. I did the appearances, the articles, and the just-shut-up-and-smile exactly when and how she said to. And I did one more thing.
I played spectacularly. I busted through the .300 batting average goal and landed at .302.
I hadn’t hurt my knee when I chased Theo down, and all the therapy had paid off. Plus, it was amazing how powerful I felt now that I could say the truth. I was in love, Sophia was a liar and completely out of my life, and I could hit the damned baseball, even with crappy knees.
We won the World Series in four games straight. I even had my own grand slam home run.
And now, six months later, we were going to try for it again. It was the beginning of the new season. I wasn’t quite the hitter that Rob was, but I was coming close. And now that I was playing first base, my knees were holding up better than ever.
Things were fantastic, especially right now as we lined up at the opening of the season. We all stood proud and tall as we received our World Series ring. It was sparkly, huge, and ostentatious. And I held it up to the cameras with a huge grin on my face. We all did.
But I’m the only one who walked to the side of the dugout where Gia was standing. I’d worked this out ahead of time with Joe, and he’d ordered her to wait right there, with cameras discretely aimed to catch her face.
“Connor, what are you doing?” she asked when I didn’t follow everyone else inside.
I grinned as I went down on one knee before her. I grabbed her hand, and I held out my World Series ring. “Gia Claire Kubic,” I said. “Please make me the happiest man in the world and marry me.”
Off to the side, I could hear Cassie cry out in joy, but my gaze was locked on Gia’s wide eyes and open mouth. She wasn’t talking, and I had a moment’s panic. She couldn’t… She didn’t…
“Yes!” she finally gasped out. “Yes!”
I slipped the ring on her finger. I’d had it sized just for her. And then suddenly, she was in my arms and we were kissing. And laughing. And touching while the fans were screaming.
Best game ever.
Best girl ever.
Best forever.
Did you love this Brazen? Check out more of our steamy titles here!
Don’t miss another book by Kathy Lyons! Sign up for the Brazen newsletter here.
About the Author
Kathy Lyons writes light, funny, sexy stories for Brazen. She loves the faster pace of category books and that her humor can shine through. She leaves the dark, tortured love stories to her alter ego, Jade Lee. Visit them both on the web at www.kathylyons.com or www.jadeleeauthor.com!
Discover the Locker Room Diaries series…
Hitting It
Sliding Home
Also by Kathy Lyons…
Dream Nights with the CEO
One Night in the Spa
Two Week Seduction
The Makeover Mistake
The Player Next Door
If you love sexy romance, one-click these steamy Brazen releases…
Scoring the Player’s Baby
a WAGS novel by Naima Simone
After divorcing her cheating football player ex, Kim Matlock would rather cut out her own heart than work at a wedding expo. The last thing she expects is to be kissed breathless by a hot giant looking to fend off a stalker. She doesn’t want relationships, but she agrees to one scorching night with the sexy stranger. To her shock, she finds out afterward that a) he’s a pro football player, and b) she’s pregnant.
Taking a Shot
a Montana Wolfpack novel by Taryn Leigh Taylor
Hockey star Brett Sillinger’s never been afraid of a little trouble. But when his personal
life ends up in the tabloids, he knows his career is on thin ice. Luckily, a new team decides to take a chance on him. All he has to do is keep head in the game. But when Chelsea London, the owner’s daughter walks in, looking for one night of nameless, no-strings passion, well, what’s a guy to do?
Playing By Her Rules
a Sydney Smoke Rugby novel by Amy Andrews
When style columnist Matilda Kent accidentally lets slip that she was once romantically involved with the captain of the Sydney Smoke rugby team, she suddenly finds herself elevated to the position she’s always wanted – feature writer. The catch? She’s stuck doing a six-part series on her ex. Still, there’s no way she can turn down a promotion…or the chance to dish the dirt on the guy who so callously broke her heart.