Page 15 of Playing to Win

We weren’t asking that much. This whole charade was for his benefit and he couldn’t even make a half-assed effort? If I had to go back and say this dating thing wasn’t working, I’d be the one blamed, not this prima donna.

I tamped down my irritation. I didn’t know what his issue with Frank was. I’d be an asshole if it was something— My brain considered some very dark options.

“Did he, um, do something to you? Or your family?”

From what I’d heard from Faith, in confidence, her dad’s issue had been keeping it in his pants around women, but maybe Faith didn’t know everything. There’d been that Ponzi scheme a few years ago—had Frank been involved in that? Taken money from Mitchell’s family? No, that had been in Canada, and Mitchell was from the US.

“You could say that. But no, don’t. Don’t say anything about him and my family.”

The problemwaswith Faith’s dad, but I couldn’t do much without knowing more details. “Can you separate Frank from Faith? At least long enough for us to show you’re a good guy?”

He started to chew on a fingernail and I was totally lost. I didn’t want to think about what could have happened to make this so difficult. And I couldn’t force him to tell me.

He finally sighed, and his shoulders tensed, testing the seams of his shirt. Looking at my desk, not me, he asked, “If I tell you something, can it be kept just between the two of us? No one knows, and none of the teams need to hear about it.”

I desperately wanted to agree. But this was my job. If his secret impacted the teams, could I keep it from them? “If it’s something illegal, or something that will hurt the organization, then I have a conflict.”

He nodded. “It’s not. The only problem would come from this getting out. It has to stay quiet, or a lot of people will get hurt. You can’t tell the people who work here, or your teammates. Especially Faith.”

I was so curious now I’d probably have compromised my responsibility to the Blaze just to find out what it was. If it was something terrible Frank had done…well, I wouldn’t want to hurt Faith. I held out my hand, pinky finger extended. “I’ll promise.”

His brows furrowed. “You want to pinky swear?”

“I take pinky swears seriously. And if this has to stay quiet, I can’t make up a legal contract to sign.”

He shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m going to pinky swear.”

I wiggled my finger. Braydon stretched out his own pinky and locked it with mine. I wasn’t a small woman, but his hand was much larger than mine.

“I pinky swear that I won’t tell anyone what you’re about to tell me.”

He took his hand back and dropped it on his lap. He drew in a long breath. His knee began to vibrate again.

“Frank Devereaux is my father.”

Chapter6

I should objectify you?

Braydon

Holy shit.I’d just told someone, and now I was petrified. My parents had kept this secret for twenty-five years and I’d blurted it to my new fake girlfriend less than twenty-four hours after I found out.

Most people thought my adopted dad was my real dad—my biological dad. I didn’t look too much like him, but he had a Norwegian background so people expected tall and blond was in the genes somewhere. But if it got out that I wasn’t his, it would hurt him. And my mom—would it bother her if people knew she’d been a single mom? We’d moved to a small town in Montana when she and Dad got married. Would people judge her? It was a conservative place.

What about the Devereaux family? I really didn’t give a fuck about Frank—he’d deserve anything that came to him. But his wife, and Faith—would this blow up their world? I had no idea.

Part of me relaxed though. If nothing else, Jayna could help me when it came to dealing with Faith. I checked, and right now she looked like we’d started a game of statues, and she was the one frozen. “Jayna?”

Damn. She wasn’t going to tell anyone, was she? Had I made a colossal mistake?

She shook her head. “Sorry, that was not what I was expecting. At all. Holy fuck. You and Faith are siblings.”

I had a sister—at least a half-sister. Though after that video she probably wanted nothing to do with me.

Jayna held up her hand. “Don’t worry, I totally agree, that’s not something we want leaked. It’s not going to harm the teams but it will hurt people. If it gets out there, it’s not from me.” She met my eyes. “I promise, beyond pinky swear, that I’ll keep that secret.”

I looked at her, not as part of the PR team dealing with my “problem.” Not as one of the suits, but as my new girlfriend. I hadn’t dated anyone since high school, and that hadn’t been serious. It had coincided with a streak of bad play so I’d decided to avoid dating. Probably not cause and effect, but why take a chance?

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