Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22495 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22495 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
"Look at me!"
She shook her head. Her face was buried against his shirt, and she could feel his heartbeat slamming under her cheek, fast and hard and furious.
"Look at me, Laina."
No, she didn't want to, didn't deserve to—
"Please."
But the moment she heard her Troy say that word—
Her Troy, whose pride she had just destroyed in front of millions of his fans—
Of course, she looked at him.
And of course, she started to cry.
Because his eyes, oh God, his eyes...
They were wet.
Troy Barrymore's eyes were wet, and in seven years of marriage, through every fight and every silence and every closed door between them, she had never once seen that.
"Now tell me," he said hoarsely, "that you love me."
A choked sob escaped her.
"And that you will never leave me again."
Her husband cupped her face, and his hands were shaking. His hands were shaking. The hands that had held a hockey stick through twelve seasons without trembling, the hands that had cradled her body an hour ago with perfect control — they were shaking against her cheeks.
And her heart...she couldn't remember it hurting this much.
"Say it, Laina."
But the pain, for once...was the good kind of pain.
"I love you," she said brokenly, "and I will never leave you again."
"Good."
And oh, the way his voice cracked...
"Now, wait for me here like a good wife..."
She didn't think she would ever forget that either. The way his thumb swept across her cheekbone, wiping the last of her tears, and the way his jaw was tight, and the way his eyes held hers like he was memorizing her face in case she wasn't here when he got back.
"...while I fix things like a good husband."
Laina didn't get to answer, with Troy already kissing her hard. Not tender. Not slow. A kiss that was a seal and a promise and a warning all at once. His hand gripped the back of her neck, and her fingers fisted in his shirt, and for three seconds the world was nothing but his mouth and his hands and the sound of her own heartbeat.
And then...
Just like that, he was gone.
The front door closed. The house went quiet. And Laina stood in the middle of their bedroom in a tangled sheet, with her husband's taste still on her lips and his words still ringing in her ears.
Wait for me here like a good wife.
She sat down on the edge of the bed. His side. The side that still smelled like him.
And she waited.
Chapter Seven
"HOW BAD IS IT?"
In the room were Jonas, his business manager, Garth, his lawyer, Trey Flint, CEO of the Waymakers, and his wife Camilla, who was the daughter of Flint's predecessor. These were the people Troy trusted the most, not only to tell him the truth—
"Every team you've defeated in your career is celebrating right now like they've won the Stanley Cup," Jonas reported. He had his laptop open in front of him, scrolling through something Troy couldn't see from where he stood. "It might also cause sponsors and investors to back out, but for now they're all in a wait-and-see position."
But also, these were the only individuals in the world, aside from his wife, whom Troy could also trust with his truth.
"I don't give a damn about any of those things."
Everyone in the room looked at him in shock. Jonas's hand froze on the laptop. Garth set his pen down. Camilla's lips parted.
Or rather, everyone but Trey, who only looked at him with interest. The Waymakers CEO sat at the far end of the table with his arms crossed and his face unreadable, watching Troy the way he watched everything — like a man who had already run every possible outcome and was simply waiting to see which one would play out.
"All I care about is saving my marriage."
Camilla let out a soft gasp. "Oh, Troy." When she had first read the exposé about Troy's secret marriage, she had really thought it was some kind of fabrication. She had known him almost her whole life, and he had never given any hint of his marriage. It was only when she saw that clip about him referring to the schoolteacher as his wife that she realized all the reports were true, and after that, well...
Trey was the sole reason she hadn't badgered the former Waymakers star to have them meet his wife. She had been dying to meet Laina and find out how they had met and fallen in love, but now...
"It's a lie then?" she asked hesitantly. "When she said she had someone else?"
"Naturally."
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Camilla found herself biting back a smile at Troy's reply, which also caused her husband to smirk. Like recognized like, she supposed.
"But that doesn't mean I didn't mess up." Troy's hands were flat on the table, and his gaze had dropped to the surface between them. It was the first time any of them had seen him unable to meet someone's eyes. "Because in all the years we've been married...I've taken her for granted. I was so focused on proving to myself that I wouldn't let my marriage affect my career that I didn't realize what I had to worry about was the opposite. And that's how chasing for the next trophy blinded me from seeing how my marriage was crumbling from the start..."