Page 88 of The Publicity Stunt

"If I ask you something, will you be completely honest?"

Victor nods. "Of course."

"Was Kace seeing other women? Could it be true?"

Shaking his head, he leans back. "My son has never been unfaithful to a woman. He knows how I feel about it, and I made sure to instill that value in him. Besides, he's a serious dater. Once he's with someone, he's with her. So much so, he convinced himself he wanted to marry Sasha. In a way, Rudy saved him."

"Even though our relationship was fake?"

"It wasn't. And I know for a fact that when you brought me out for that game, it wasn't fake for him. Letting you get hurt is the biggest regret of his life, and he'll walk away from everything he thought he wanted because of it. This whole mess has tainted hockey for him."

Standing, he kisses her cheek and leaves the box.

"You don't want this?" Bri asks.

"He didn't buy it for me. He just hasn't had a chance to give it to you himself," he says and opens the door. "Goodbye, Bri."

Confused, Bri opens the box and gasps. Inside sits a gorgeous sapphire heart on a platinum chain. She's not a jewelry expert, but she knows it's likely over twenty thousand dollars.

"It reminded him of my eyes," she whispers and touches the large stone. “Damn you, Lyons men.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Kace

Kace sits in the locker room between the second and third periods. It's the sixth game of the semi-finals, and the Twisters are tied three and three with the Bootleggers. Whichever team pulls off the win moves on to the finals. The stakes are high, and a year ago, he'd be head down, focused on nothing but winning.

For some reason, he can't shake Bri from his mind. He hasn't attempted to reach out since the funeral because he knows how much she needed to process. If she gave in and found comfort in him, he knows it would've been from grief, and the only thing worse than losing Bri would be having her regret time spent with him. That might actually kill him.

"Lyons! Where's your head at?" Coach shouts.

"I'm here, Coach."

"You're here on the ice, but I need you to focus now!"

He turns and nods. Apparently, he missed something important in this major speech aimed to kick their asses into gear and bring them back from the possible loss as the Twisters lead by two right now.

"This is our last chance for the season," he reminds them. "Now, we’re not out there saving lives or anything, but this is pretty damn big. Especially for one of the newest teams in the league. Now, come on! Let's get out there and remind the fans what they came out here for!"

The men all cheer, and Kace joins in. He should be all in. On the ice, he is, but he finds it hard to focus right now. It's like he can feel the woman he's in love with but can't see her.

"Hey, are you in it with us?" Bruno asks, nudging him.

"Huh? Yeah. I'm in it."

Rudy grabs his shoulders. "This has been our dream before all this shit happened with us, okay? Can we pretend, at least for the next twenty minutes, that we're still those guys? The friends who dreamed of making it to the Cup?"

"I'm in the game, Rudy. I have been the entire time. We've been losing on the defense, not offense. I'm the one who got us the two goals we have, remember?"

"I guess I'm just worried your anger with me runs deeper than it does. That you'd throw the game to get back at me."

He shakes his head. "I'm not the plotter of revenge when it comes to the two of us. That's you, remember?"

Releasing him, Rudy nods. "I know."

"My head's in the game the moment my skates touch the ice. And I’m not going to let an entire team down just to fuck with you. You're not that important to me, Rudy."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

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