Page 80 of My Brother's Enemy
Tears shone in her eyes. “You know that’s not true. They’ll all care. I’m done. No one’s going to want me.”
“I want you.”
Her eyes flashed, and the tears spilled over. “Good to know, but you can’t fix my career now that you’ve fucked me. Now that everyone knows you fucked me.” She whispered, “This is going to get bad.”
Dread settled in my stomach. She was right. This was only the beginning, but we needed to move into damage control. “We need to tell Kashvi who you are. Your brothers. Everything. She needs to be prepared. The team will have a plan moving forward.” I moved to sit next to her, and she rested her head against my shoulder.
I wrapped an arm around her, hugging her close. She trembled in my arms.
I sucked in a breath and held it, because damn.Damn. I needed to do something to protect her. For fuck’s sake. Hours ago I’d hated her. I truly had but needing her had tipped meover. I needed her more than I’d hated her. And now we were here.
“I’m not letting you burn for this.”
She lifted her head from my shoulder and let out a soft sigh. “You should call her back.”
“Yeah.”Fuck.
I called Kashvi, and she answered immediately. “Should I take it that Ms. Connors is with you?”
Rain leaned closer to the phone. “This is Rain.”
Kashvi was quiet for a beat. “Ms. Connors, I would highly recommend that you consult your own media team as well as a lawyer.”
I tensed. “Now wait a minute?—”
“It’s for her protection, Tyler. I’m not saying anything other than that.”
Rain cleared her throat. “There’s more you need to know. The team will need to be prepared if other information comes out.”
“More than if and when you’re identified as the team’s sports psychologist?”
“Yes,” Rain said.
So fucking calm, so fucking resigned. Her eyes seemed tired. Her shoulders slumped, but her chin was up. She was enduring.
Kashvi went quiet again. “Okay. I think you both should come in. I’ll loop in Mr. Benoit, so he’s aware of the situation.”
“Mal knows.”
“What’d you say?” Kashvi asked.
“Mr. Benoit knows what I need to tell you. It was one of the conditions for me taking this job.”
“Conditions on the team’s part?”
“Conditions on mine. You’ll understand once I tell you.”
Kashvi sighed. “Why does this seem like just the beginning of a big storm coming our way?”
Rain didn’t respond, just gave me a tight-lipped smile, so I took over, brushing a hand over her hair and down her back.
“We’ll come to the arena,” I told Kashvi. “Be there soon.”
Kashvi ended the call.
I turned to look at Rain. “I made my decision last night.”
Her bottom lip trembled, but she held my gaze.
