Page 57 of Heart on Ice

“Are you sure about this? Once it’s out there’s no going back,” Felix asks.

“She can’t paint me out to be the villain when she is one,” I tell him.

He claps me on the back. “I’m here for you.”

My family called from Italy earlier and they gave me their blessing to do whatever I needed to do, that they would stand by me through this, and it’s exactly what I needed to hear. I’ve gone over all the notes Jordan and Harper have given me, and I’m just going to go with my gut and hope that it translates to the public.

“Okay, are you ready?” Harper asks as she sets up the phone and stand to film me on. We’ve gone for a blank wall in the living room so that no one can work out exactly where I am, hopefully. I’m nervous as hell, but thankfully it’s not live and I can redo the video if I mess up.

“I’m ready,” I tell her as I nervously move in my chair. Just treat this like any other media interview, especially one after a bad game where you don’t want to be there, but you have to be. Harper gives me a count in and indicates she’s recording.

“Hi, everyone. It’s come to my attention today that my ex has released a statement on our breakup before our joint statement could come out. I understand Kitty is upset and hurt over my leaving Italy, but she knows the real reason why. I was never going to publicly talk about the reason for my leaving, but she isn’t being truthful about what happened. Yes, I did leave without telling her personally, but I was upset. Finding out your fiancée has been seeing someone else behind your back in the middle of your rehearsal dinner was a shock. Kitty, I was never going to tell anyone about your affair. I would have stuck to the statement we were releasing in a couple of days, that we both had cold feet and realized we wanted different things, that it was no one’s fault. I would have let everyone believe that I was the bad guy to protect you, but you couldn’t do the same for me. I cannot in good conscience let these lies continue in this way and damage my name. I’m not angry at Kitty, I’m disappointed in how things have turned out. We had been having problems for a while and should have called off the wedding months ago, but you feel like you can’t when your wedding has been turned into a circus. But seeing Kitty with another man the night before our wedding, there was no way I could go through with the marriage. Was it a cowardly thing to do, to run away? Yes. But I wasn’t thinking straight. This will be my one and only statement on the matter, so please respect my privacy at this time. And please do not harass or attack Kitty over this either, that is not what I want. I just want to clear my name. Regarding my career, it is with great regret that I inform you all that I have requested to be let go by the South Dakota Devils so that I may start a new life somewhere else. I will be coming into the next season as a free agent. I am so sorry to the Devils’ fans and my team as I feel like I am letting you all down, especially being unable to bring the cup home. Unfortunately, I’m being selfish, and I need this change for me. A clean slate. Wherever I end up, I look forward to seeingthe Devils thrive, they have a real chance at the cup next season. I don’t know what the future or my career holds, but I know now is not the end. I still have some of the best years left in my career, and I hope that I get a chance to show them off. I appreciate your support at this time and hope to see you all on the ice again.”

And with that, I sign off. Everyone is silent.

“That was fucking awesome, so Canadian polite. Everyone is going to lap this up.” Harper squeals with delight.

“You did good, bro,” Felix adds.

“Perfect, there was nothing in there that would get you into trouble,” Jordan states.

“You are going to have so many options from teams when this goes live,” Marcus suggests.

Then I look over at Issy, she gives me a small smile.

“Right, do I have permission to post this?” Harper asks as she plays around on my phone.

“If you think it’s ready to go, do it,” I tell her.

“Perfect.” Her fingers move rapidly over the keys. “It’s done. Gone. Good luck. How do you feel?” She grins.

“Slightly relieved, but who knows what the public are going to think?”

“I’m going to have to go, I have that meeting with The Mavericks this afternoon that I need to prepare for. Fingers crossed they see this, and I have good news,” Marcus tells me. Me too.

“I might head out, too. You’re in good hands here,” Jordan says, following Marcus out of Issy’s home.

“I’ve got to head into the office, too,” Issy says.

“You’re not going to stay?” Harper asks.

“Pierre isn’t the business’s only client,” she states.

Harper frowns at her friend. “Of course. Don’t worry, we’ve got him.” And with that, she disappears upstairs. “Are you two okay?” Harper asks me.

“Sure,” I answer, but it doesn’t sound convincing. Harper looks over at my brother before the buzzing of my phone distracts her. She starts scrolling and scrolling.

“Holy shit, people are losing their minds.”

“In a good way?” I ask.

“Like a Team PSP way.” She grins.

Relief slides over me, thank fuck.

17

ISABELLE

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