“Of course it is,” I say, dropping the phone in my apron pocket. “I like hockey, coffee, and three people in the whole world.”
“Am I one of them?”
“Sometimes.”
He just grunts. But for his sake, I don’t resume chatting with Neil until my shift is over. I call him on my way home, catching him after the morning skate.
“So what kind of date should we have when I come home?” he asks me.
“Well, we did the watching-sports-with-friends date already. Is it time for a movie?”
“Hmm.” His low voice in my ear makes me happy. “How about a comedy club? Those are fun.”
“I’ve never been.”
“It’s not glamorous,” he says. “The tables are too close together, and the drinks are watery. But if you sit up front, the comedians will make fun of you.”
“And that’s a good thing?”
“Oh, totally. I’ll look around and see who’s playing. Thursday night, right? I checked your schedule.”
Warmth curls through my chest. “That’s right, and there’s a goalie clinic. So I’ll be done early.”
“Smashing.”
“Are comedy clubs dressy?” I have to ask.
“Not at all. But you’re required to wear a low-cut top and do those smoky eyes. It’s part of the dress code.”
“Interesting. Can’t wait to see you in a low-cut top with smoky eyes.”
He cracks up. “Wear whatever you want. And if the comics bomb, we can sneak off and find a pool table somewhere. Oh—wait. Bad news, babe. My sister hit me with another gala fundraiser for next month. And you won’t have any excuses, because the women’s playoffs will already be over.”
“Ouch. Another benefit? For what?”
“A children’s hospital. My sister is on the board.”
“Huh. I guess you can’t say no to a children’s hospital.”
“No, you really can’t. And I was once a patient there. You might even get to see a picture of fourteen-year-old me in a hospital johnny.”
“You should’ve led with that. Now I’m looking forward to this.”
“Better send that blue dress to the cleaners, then. I better run—there’s a team lunch, and then we’re doing video.”
“Send me the deets on that comedy club.”
“You bet, baby. I love you and miss you.”
I stop walking. I love you, too. I could say it right now. Just four little words.
But nope. I chicken out. “Come home safe to me,” I say instead.
“I will.” Neil’s voice is a scrape. “See you Thursday.”
We hang up, and I start mentally cataloguing my inventory of tops, which is not vast. None of them are low cut.
I’ll just have to borrow something from Fiona, then.
Totally worth it.
I’m still wandering around like a dreamy-eyed schoolgirl as I leave the rink on Thursday evening. My plan is to hurry over to Fiona’s, let myself in with her key, and grab one of the tops she and Sylvie left out for me to choose from.
“Try the velvet one first,” Sylvie had said. “It looks sexier on the body than it does on the hanger.”
After that, I’ll have a half hour to do my makeup before I take the train into Manhattan to meet Neil.
These are my deep, important thoughts as I round the corner of the training facility and head towards Water Street. For once in my life, I’m feeling happy-go-lucky.
Which means that for once in my life I don’t scan my surroundings.
Which proves to be a mistake.
Two hands punch at my shoulders and shove me against the corner of the building. My back slams against the bricks. My reaction is a half second slower than it ought to be, so when I knee my assailant in the balls, he has just enough time to swerve his hips and dodge.
“Fuck you,” Robert spits. “Hold fucking still.”
As if. My heart is all the way up in my throat. “Get your hands off me!”
“Shut up,” comes another man’s jeer. “Robby, let go. People will stare.”
Robert removes his hands from my body, but it doesn’t help. All my blood vessels constrict at once. I know that voice. I’m scared shitless of that voice.
Then my living nightmare looms in my peripheral vision. It’s Gianni—Robert’s father.
Oh no.
Oh no no no.
“Hey, Charli,” he says in his two-pack-a-day voice. “Long time no see.”
Sweat pools under my arms. “This is my place of business,” I say in what ought to be a calm voice. But it’s shaking. “Robert, I told you to leave me the hell alone. You got what you wanted—a free month’s rent.”
He laughs. “You think that’s all I wanted? Think again.”
“We need something from you,” Gianni says.
“Can’t get blood from a stone,” I try. But I’m already trembling.
“Cut the crap,” Gianni says. “You’re married to a goddamn billionaire.”
“I already explained that’s a lie. It’s a stunt,” I manage to say.
“Sure looks real,” Robert says with a smirk. “We saw you taking groceries into his pad.”
They watched me? My hands are icy, and yet a drop of sweat runs down between my breasts.
“How did you pay for his stuff?” Robert asks.
I summon a little zap of much needed anger. “What do you care? Don’t you have anything better to do than watch me shop for groceries? I did him a favor.”
“Like you married him for a favor?” Gianni says.
“Yes!” I hiss. “Exactly like that.”
“You dirty little whore,” he whispers, looming so close that I can smell the stale cigarette smoke on his jacket. “What other favors do you do for him?”
My mouth is so dry that I can barely make my next threat. “Take two steps back, or else I’m going to scream.”
“The fuck you will,” he snarls. “Better not scare us off until you hear what we got to say. You’ll be sorry.”
“This guy—Drake. You have access to his money,” Robert says. “You get us ten grand, Charli. And then ten more next month.”
“You’re high,” I gasp. “I don’t have his checkbook.”
“Get. It.” Gianni bites out. “He won’t even miss it. You don’t do it, we have naked pictures of you to show around town.”
“You do not,” I spit. “Fuck you.”
Gianni slaps me. It’s just a quick, open-hand slap, but I am already so scared that I stop breathing as the sting sets in.
“Look, you little bitch. Here.” He thrusts a piece of printer paper at me, with a single photo centered in the middle.
It’s me behind the bar at the strip club, my hair teased, my breasts bare save for the little pasties they made us put on our nipples. I’ve got a bottle of liquor in each hand, and I’m pouring a drink. A Long Island Iced Tea, maybe.
“H-how’d you get this?” I stammer, too shocked to hold the question in.
Robert actually laughs. “I thought Dennis told you we got jobs at a club. I work security. Do you know what else they still got? Video. I can get video of you behind that bar. I’m going to sell it to TMZ unless you do as I say.”