Page 86 of Player Misconduct
Tarron:Don’t believe everything you see online.
Me:Youliterallysaid “my wife” on camera. I’m not reading into anything… but now, everyone else will be.
Tarron:I was trying to shut him down without dragging you in.
Me:Congratulations. You just turned a rumor into confirmation. Half the internet thinks I’m carrying your comeback baby.
Tarron:I was protecting you, Kendall.
Me:You were protecting your image like you always have. Don’t twist this. Penelope’s furious, the team’s in damage control mode, and if the medical board decides to peek under the rug, my license is toast.
He doesn’t respond right away. Then the dots appear.
Tarron:I didn’t mean to make it worse. Those reporters cornered me. I panicked.
Me:You don’t panic. You perform. You always have.
Tarron:Let me fix it. Please.
Me:No. You’ve done enough.
Tarron:Just meet me. One hour. Luigi’s Pizza—back patio. I promise there won’t be any press and no cameras. It’s near your apartment so it’s neutral ground, right?
My stomach flips.
The same place Aleksi took me after the ultrasound appointment. The red brick patio, the string lights, the back door that opens straight into the alley. Tarron isn’t wrong—it’s tucked away enough that no one would think to look there.
Me:You’re using this as a way to get me to have lunch with you? Are you kidding me?
Tarron:Fifteen minutes. You can yell at me, throw pizza at me, whatever you need. I’ll even spring for the stuffed crust and I’ll order extra sauce in case you throw it at me. It’ll make a bigger mess.
Me:I’m not stupid enough to walk into your PR trap.
Tarron:Then call it closure. Just you and me. I give you my word.
Me:Your word hasn’t meant much lately.
Tarron:You want the truth about the clinic leak? Meet me. Otherwise, keep guessing at who sold you out.
Wait, someone sold me out? Who would do that? The breath catches in my throat.
I never found out who had made the complaint to the medical board years ago when I was working for Florida because the accusations turned out to have no merit to them.
No…He’s bluffing. He has to be bluffing.
Me:You don’t know anything.
Tarron:I know enough to make this right. Fifteen minutes, Kendall. If you hate me after that, you walk out the back door.
I stare at the message.
My heart is pounding, logic screamingdon’t do it,but he’s chosen the one place that feels familiar, the one that’s already tied to something good. Safe, or at least it used to be.
Me:Fine. Back patio. Fifteen minutes. You show up alone, or I’m gone.
Tarron:Deal.
I drop my phone into my bag and rest my hands over my stomach.
