Page 55 of The Secret Play

“Why the hell should I?” he shot back. “Because you don’t like hearing the truth?”

“Because this isn’t the place for it,” I said, stepping away from the lockers. “Come to my office. Now.”

I was relieved when he followed instead of taking the chance to catch me with my guard down. But I trusted Nico—locker slams aside. He was a good man, and he wouldn’t attack me from behind. I hoped.

The walk to my office was tense, Nico trailing behind me with barely restrained fury. I felt the weight of his glare on my back the entire way, and by the time we stepped inside, my own frustration simmered.

How dare he attack me in front of the team?

I couldn’t just let that shit slide. If I did that, the team was lost. I shut the door and turned to face him, my hands on my hips. But what I saw on his face wasn’t anger anymore. It was pain. I’d hurt Nico, and that took the steam out of me. “How did you figure it out?”

His jaw clenched. “Seamus.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. Of course. I should have known. He’d been out most of the season with the flu and was just coming back. He had been trained for the clergy before joining the team, so ice cream was his only vice. Perfect for helping him regain some of the weight he lost with the flu. I’d told him to eat as much of it as he could, which made this my fault.

How the hell had I missed him being there? Because I was too messed up about Gemma to pay attention to anyone else. So, it was doubly my fault.

I shook my head at myself. “Seamus was at Sprinkles, wasn’t he? He saw us?”

Nico nodded once.

“All right. Let’s get this out in the open.”

“Yeah, let’s,” he said, crossing his arms.

I took a deep breath, steadying myself before I spoke. “Yes, I’ve been seeing Gemma. According to her, Winnie is my daughter. And I know it in my bones. She even has almost the same birthmark as me.”

Nico’s jaw tightened, his knuckles white where they gripped his arms.

“But it’s not what you think,” I continued. “I didn’t know about Winnie, Nico. The night we met at the masquerade, I didn’t know Gemma was your sister. When we met again here, I didn’t know about Winnie—I didn’t know about anything until recently.”

“And you didn’t recognize Gemma when you saw her again? Are you screwing that many girls that you can’t keep up with them? You’re just like the rest of them, aren’t you?”

“The night at the masquerade…we didn’t share names. We called each other by our mask colors. I was Red, she was Blue. We kept our masks on during the sex?—”

He held his hand up to quiet me down. “That’s enough. I don’t need more details about that. She’s my sister.”

“Understood.” I had to change the topic or he’d shut down. I read it on his face. “If I’d known, Nico, I would’ve done things differently.”

“Would you?”

“Yes,” I said firmly. “I’m not proud of how this happened, but I care about her, Nico. I care about both of them.”

“That’s not the point,” he said, his voice rising again. “You knew the rules, Coach. No fraternizing with family. You drilled it into all of us from day one, and now you’re the one breaking the rules. You’re a hypocrite.”

I flinched, guilt twisting in my gut. “I know.”

“You’re supposed to be better than this, better than all of us,” he said again, his voice cracking slightly. “You were like a father to me, Coach. To all the guys. And you’re banging my baby sister? You were the guy we looked up to, the guy we trusted to set the example. And now?—”

He broke off, shaking his head as he paced the room.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

He stopped, turning to face me with a look of pure disbelief. “Sorry? That’s all you’ve got?”

“I don’t know what else to say. What could I say that would make you feel better about any of this?”

“You could’ve told me about you and Gemma,” he said, his voice trembling. “You could’ve trusted me. But instead, you snuck around behind my back, like a rat.” He glared at me, part rage, part pain.

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