Las Vegas Sidewinders: Karl (Book 3) (12 page)

“I’m glad he was there
for you.” He gently ran a finger along her cheek. “But now I’m here and I need
you to listen to me. If you give me a chance to make things right, I will find
a way to prove to you I didn’t do those things.”

Kate looked up into the
face she knew so well and swore he was telling her the truth. Everything that
had happened made her wary, though, and she didn’t know if she could trust her
gut ever again.

“I need time,” she said
after a moment. “If we try again, you’re going to have to earn back my
trust—there won’t be a third chance if I give you this one.”

He nodded. “I’ll do
whatever it takes.”

Their eyes met and
locked, hers filled with tears and his with remorse. She honestly had never
thought she would be able to look at him again, and yet she fell back into his
arms with barely a second thought.

I love him so much
, she thought
miserably. It terrified her that he could still hold so much power over her,
but when he looked at her, she sensed the man inside was heartbroken too. She
didn’t understand it, but somehow she could feel it.

“Your shirt is ruined,”
she said finally, running her hand along his chest where her mascara had run.

“It’s okay.” He
buttoned his jacket and adjusted his tie, hiding most of it.

She opened her mouth to
say something but there was a commotion behind them. She turned to see Cody and
Suze walking hurriedly toward the door with Dom, Molly, Drake and Erin trailing
behind them.

“My water broke!” Suze
called out to Kate as she ran to hug her. They embraced quickly and Suze winced
as a contraction startled her. She glanced at her husband with a scowl. “Did
the contractions hurt this much
last
time?”

He smirked, his blue
eyes twinkling. “I’m not sure—I wasn’t pregnant
last time
either.”

Suze smacked him.

“Good luck!” Kate
smiled at them. “I’ll be in town for a few days, so let me know if you need
anything.”

Cody and Suze headed
out to the parking lot, leaving the others watching.

“Did I miss something?”
Dante asked, joining them.

“Looks like Suze is
having the baby,” Kate informed him.

“Hey!” Zakk
Cloutier
, the 23-year-old defenseman from North Dakota who
first joined their inner circle when Molly’s ex-husband had kidnapped her last
fall, came jogging over. “Something is going on with Dave’s kids and Tiff, and
I didn’t know if I should get involved?”

Drake, Dom and Karl
immediately followed him with Dante and the girls following them. Tiff was
standing in the hallway, her face red and mottled, tears streaming down as she
clenched her fists.

“I don’t give a damn
what you think!” she was yelling. “That’s what your
father
wanted—if you
don’t believe me, call his lawyer!”

“Oh believe me, we
will!” A younger man—presumably Dave Jr.—glared at her.

“You and your little
bastards don’t get our money!” The young woman beside him, his sister Isabelle,
was also crying.

“Do not talk about my
children that way!” Tiff hissed at her.

“Listen, you little
bitch,” Dave Jr. spoke again. “Just because you got my father to marry you
doesn’t mean we have to put up with your shit! I’ll have so many lawsuits
against you, you won’t know if you’re coming or going!”

“But you’re not doing
that today.” Drake stepped between the man and Tiff. “In fact, you need to
leave.”

“What, you getting a
piece too?” the man sneered.

“Yeah, all of us are.”
Dom stood beside Drake, his eyes narrowed dangerously. As one of the team
enforcers who was 6’5” and 235 pounds of sheer muscle, Dom didn’t usually need
to ask someone to move twice.

“You don’t scare us!”
the woman poked a finger in Dom’s chest. “You think because you’re a tough guy
you’re going to beat us up to make us go away?”

“He won’t,” Molly stood
up straight beside her husband. “But I might.”

The woman gaped at her.
“Don’t any of you people understand what she did? She was a stripper! She got
pregnant so my dad would marry her—”

“We were married for
over a year before I even got pregnant!” Tiff screamed at her. “And two years
before the twins were born!”

“Okay, come on.” Dante
gently took Tiff’s arm. “Let’s go find you a glass of water, while the boys
handle those two.”

Dave’s two children
from his first marriage continued to yell and carry on as Dom and Drake
escorted them out. A crowd had gathered and Molly tried to get everyone to
disperse.

“Did you see the way
Dante handled Tiff?” Erin whispered to Kate.

Kate gave her a faint
smile. “Yeah, that’s how he handles everyone.”

“Even you?”

“Especially me.” Kate
met her friend’s eyes. “And no, we didn’t sleep together!”

Erin giggled and then
clapped a hand over her mouth. “God, I shouldn’t do that at a funeral!”

Kate snorted, putting
her own hand over her mouth, and then the two of them dissolved in laughter. Molly
pulled them into the bathroom, horrified at their behavior.

“What is so funny?” she
demanded, her green eyes glittering knowingly. “Were you talking about how
Dante moved in on Tiff?”

They started laughing
all over again.

“Please tell me you
tapped that while you’ve been broken up with Karl,” Molly whispered, trying not
to laugh too.

Kate shook her head,
instantly sobering and looking down. “I couldn’t even look at another man,” she
admitted. “Although, to be fair, there was a
kiss
.”

Molly gaped at her.
“Nah-uh,” her eyes were wide.

“Just a little one,”
Kate amended, and she and Erin dissolved into giggles again.

“Was it hot?” Molly
demanded.

“It
looked
hot!”
Erin snorted.

“Not Karl hot,” Kate sighed.
“I don’t think anything will ever be as hot as when Karl touches me.” She
sagged a little. “I love him so much—what do I do, you guys? He almost
destroyed me. If something ever happened again…”

“I truly believe it wasn’t
what you think,” Erin said, looking at Kate earnestly. “Kate, we’ve been
through everything together, and you know I would never tell you to go back to
him if I believed he’d done those things. But I’ve talked to him, and seen him
suffering too. He
cried
, Kate. But you didn’t hear that from me.”

“He cried?” She blinked
at her friend.

“He cried?” Molly
repeated.

Erin nodded. “I thought
Drake was going to implode, because when Karl started crying, I started crying,
and he didn’t know which one of us to take care of first.”

They all snickered
again before falling silent.

“Are you going to go
out there and forgive that big blond Swede who loves you?” Erin finally asked
Kate.

Kate nodded numbly. “I
can’t do anything else—I can’t breathe when he’s not part of my life. Even with
someone like Dante
Lamonte
telling me he would try a
real relationship if I gave him a chance.”

Another silence filled
the room. Molly narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at Kate suspiciously.
“You’re bullshitting us.”

“No.” Kate looked
confused. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Did you even hear what
you just said?” Erin demanded. “Dante
fucking
Lamonte
was willing to try being in a relationship with you—
hello
?! Does that
not mean anything to you?”

“Um, that he likes me?”

Both women rolled their
eyes.

“Someday, after you
actually eat something, I will explain all of this to you…” Erin dragged her
out of the bathroom by the arm.

“Explain
what
to
me?!” Kate was sputtering.

After leaving the
funeral home, everyone gathered at Coach Barnett’s house for a celebration of
Dave’s life. Tiff seemed to be getting more fragile by the minute, and it was
amazing to watch Dante looking out for her. He had been the only one able to
calm her at the funeral home, and she’d wound up riding in the limo with them
to Brad and
Andra’s
.

Karl had been giving
Kate space as she and Dante hovered over Tiff, but when
Andra
took Tiff upstairs to freshen up, Dante wandered over to some of the younger
players, leaving Kate standing by herself by the sliding doors that led out to
the pool. Karl reached out to gently tug a lock of her hair and she glanced up
at him with a small smile.

“What?” he asked.

“You changed your
shirt.”

Karl nodded. “I
borrowed one from Brad—I was dying in that jacket. It’s 150 degrees outside and
I just got back from Sweden, where it was like 60.”

She reached out her
hand and he took it, bringing it to his lips. She closed her eyes, savoring the
feel of his lips on her skin.

“What is it, baby?” He
brought her closer to him, looking down at her.

“I need you to hold me,
but I can’t do it in front of an audience.” Her eyes searched his.

He took her hand,
pulling her through the house and into the guest bathroom. He shut and locked
the door before turning to her. He opened his arms and she fell into them,
pressing her face into his chest. She inhaled his aftershave and the faint
smell of sweat. Her hand slid inside his shirt, her palm pressing flat against
his stomach. There were no words to express how much she’d missed him and a
tiny sob escaped her.

“Hey.” He tilted her
chin up and stared down into her tear-filled brown eyes. His lips moved over
hers, gently, waiting for her to open up to him. When she did, his mouth
claimed hers without hesitation. His tongue toyed with hers as he nibbled her
lower lip. Her fingers curled around his shirt, drawing him closer to her. When
her breath caught in her throat, she moaned against his mouth.

His hands moved down her
back, exploring her slimmer body with trepidation. When he brought them around
to circle her waist, he lifted his head so he could look into her face. “What
have you done, baby? You’ve lost so much weight in such a short time—how are
you so skinny?”

“I couldn’t eat,” she
said, biting her lip like she always did when she was nervous.

He traced his finger
down the front of her shirt. “What can I do to make this better?”

“Love me?”

“I do.” He pressed his
forehead against hers, wrapping his arms around her waist. “More than
anything.”

She smiled against the
sudden darkness that was threatening to overwhelm her. “Karl?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t feel so
great.” A wave of dizziness washed over her.

He looked down in
alarm. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I feel kind of dizzy
and tired.” She rested against him, suddenly so exhausted she could barely
stand up.

“Okay, come on.” He
opened the bathroom door and then scooped her up in his arms. He made his way
up the stairs to one of the guest rooms and gently laid her down on the bed.
“I’m going to get you some water and something to eat, okay?”

“Okay.” She closed her
eyes.

Karl went down the
stairs looking for Dante. He headed straight for him, pointing a finger at him.
“What did you do to her?”

“What are you talking
about?” Dante narrowed his eyes.

“Why is she so tired
and lethargic?” Karl leaned in, barely containing the growl in his voice. “I
know you act all
gangsta
in your circles, but
if I find out you’ve been drugging her to make her like this, I will
fucking
kill you.” His voice was low but deadly.

“If anyone made her
like this, it’s you,” Dante met Karl’s gaze without flinching. “You’re the one
who broke her heart and made her stop eating because she thought she was too
fat.”

“I
wasn’t
the
one who said that!” Karl hissed, taking a step closer.

“Stop it.” Drake
stepped between them, using his arms to separate them. “This is not the place
for this discussion—I already told you both that.”

“She can’t even stand
up,” Karl ignored him, refusing to back down. “What is she on?!”

“Nothing!” Dante
scowled at him. “Do I look like a fucking drug addict to you? And if I was
doing that to her, do you think I’d have brought her here? The only reason
she’s with you now is because I
brought
her to you, bro. That mess you
made while you were in Sweden—
I’ve
been cleaning that shit up. Who got
her through the worst days of her life when the whole world was going around
talking about
no more fucking fatties
? Who do you think showed her your
apologies on Twitter? Who do you think flew her out here to make sure you were
at the same place at the same time? She’s my publicist and my friend, and I did
not
fucking
drug
her!”

“Then what’s wrong with
her?!” Karl snarled. “Because that girl up there has more than a broken heart!”

“Karl, I don’t think
she’s been eating.” Erin moved next to the two men, laying a comforting hand on
Karl’s arm. “I didn’t see her eat more than a banana and some yogurt during the
four days I spent with her, and she has yet to put anything in her mouth today.
Did she eat on the flight?” She glanced at Dante.

“I never see her eat
either,” he said quietly. “But she must eat? It’s been how long since you broke
up? 7-8 weeks?”

“Kate’s mom was really
awful when that hashtag went viral,” Erin said softly.

“Her mother?” Dante
frowned. “When did she talk to her mother?”

“I don’t know exactly,
but I know she told her that no one would ever marry her at her weight and that
if she would just stop stuffing herself with food, maybe someone would stay
with her.”

Dante muttered
something in Spanish that sounded vile and Karl clenched his jaw. “I want to
choke that woman!”

“Let me go talk to
her,” Erin said. “But you two need to play nice. Kate won’t be happy if you’re
not getting along.” She looked at both of them meaningfully before going up the
stairs. She found Kate asleep on one of the beds and she sat beside her,
touching her shoulder. “Kate?”

Kate didn’t move and
Erin shook her as gently as she could. “Kate?” Worried, Erin leaned over to see
if she was breathing. She was, but it seemed shallow. She felt a moment of
panic before she yelled for Drake.

Hearing his wife’s cry,
Drake took the stairs three at a time, running into the room.

“She’s unconscious!”
Erin was struggling against her pregnant body to sit her friend up.

“Let me,” Drake slipped
his arms behind Kate and Erin stuck pillows behind her.

“What’s going on?” Karl
and Dante rushed in.

“I think she needs
help,” Erin whispered.

“Oh, God.” Molly had
come up too and she pulled out her phone, dialing 911.

Everything seemed to
happen in slow motion after that. The paramedics came and put in an IV,
covering her face with an oxygen mask. As they asked about drugs and alcohol,
Dante answered steadily, denying he’d ever seen her have more than a few
glasses of wine, and that she had not been drinking today.

Karl got in the
ambulance with Kate, sitting on one side of her as one of the paramedics sat on
the other. He held her hand, watching her face intently for any sign that she
was alive.

“She’s weak,” the
paramedic told him quietly. “But her heartbeat is steady.”

“Could this have
happened because she’s been starving herself?” he asked.

The paramedic glanced
up at him. “Yes. Is that what she’s done?”

“I don’t know. She
just, well, she’s lost a lot of weight since I last saw her.”

The paramedic made
notes and when they arrived at the hospital, Karl didn’t know what to do with
himself. He stood at the doors where they’d taken her, watching as doctors and
nurses surrounded her.

“It’s going to be okay.”
Dante’s steady voice behind him was a surprise.

He spoke without
turning his head. “I knew what Therese did would hurt her, but it never
occurred to me she would hurt herself.”

“As much as it pains me
to say it, this is not entirely your fault.” Dante stared in the direction
they’d taken Kate as well. “We all have our demons, and hers has been her
weight and self-image. What you—
Therese
—did, broke her heart, but what
her mother did apparently broke her spirit. That’s far worse. I’ve been with
her almost every day the last few weeks and I did not know about that phone
call.”

“I had finally
convinced her that she was perfect, and then all of this…” He waved his arm
impatiently. “What was I supposed to do?
Not
go to my mother when I found
out she had cancer?
Not
stay with her after she had the heart attack? I
asked Kate to come—in fact, she had just carved out a few days in her schedule
when all of this happened.”

“So someone had access
to your phone all along and worked to sabotage you.”

“My sister and my ex.
Although I’m pretty sure my sister didn’t know that Therese would go as far as
she did. Emilie’s a little self-absorbed, but she’s not evil.”

“I thought the public’s
acceptance of her as my good luck charm would repair some of that damage, but
it seems that it was not enough.”

“She doesn’t really do
that stuff before a game, does she?” Karl finally looked at him.

Dante made a face at
him. “You think I spend hours—years—perfecting my game so that my success
hinges on a woman I’ve known for two months kissing my bat?! Is that how you
stop goals?”

Karl snorted.
“Definitely not.”

“Guys, is there news?”
Erin joined them, her face drawn with worry.

“Nothing
yet.”

They sat and waited. People
came in and out of the emergency room, sirens whined and babies cried, but no
one brought news about Kate. Slowly, more and more of their friends came to
join them, until they took over most of the waiting room. Nearly four hours
later, Tiff arrived, her face pale and devoid of makeup. She sank into a seat
between Karl and Dante and looked from one to the other.

“What’s going on?”

“We don’t know
anything.”

“Oh, for heaven’s
sake.” Tiff got up and stalked to the desk. They couldn’t hear what she said,
but the nurse’s face went from annoyed to resigned and finally to something
akin to fear. She picked up the phone and spoke to someone. Within minutes, a
doctor came out looking for Karl.

“That’s me.” Karl stood
up.

“I apologize for the
delay.” The doctor was a middle-aged man with a bald head and John Lennon
glasses. “It’s been a busy day and with Ms. Lansing’s symptoms not being
life-threatening, we made her comfortable while we dealt with a few more urgent
cases.” He swallowed. “We weren’t aware she was part of the Sidewinders
organization or—”

“I don’t care about
that—just tell me how she is!” Karl finally interrupted the man.

“I’d like to run a few
more tests, but from what I can see, she’s dehydrated and suffering from a mild
form of starvation.”

“Sonofabitch.” Karl
closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe deeply.

“There were no signs of
drugs or alcohol in her blood work, so I’m assuming she has a history of
anorexia?”

“No, she doesn’t!” Erin
had joined them and looked at the doctor angrily. “This has never happened
before and I’ve known her for more than 12 years.”

“There was a trigger,”
Karl said guiltily. “My Twitter account was hacked and someone called her fat
on my feed. I think that set her off.”

The doctor studied him.
“You understand that Kate has no business being at her current weight? Though
she might look like a stereotypical young woman these days, this weight loss
was too fast, and too extreme. She was beginning to have trouble breathing,
she’s shaking, and I can see signs of distress in her skin, nails and hair.”

“I was out of the
country for a family emergency when all this happened, so I didn’t realize what
was going on,” Karl said. “And her work has kept her much busier than normal,
so none of us realized how bad it was.”

“Anorexia can be
extremely dangerous,” the doctor said. “Even if it’s situational and it’s the
first time she’s done this.”

“She won’t do it
again,” Karl said firmly. “We’re getting married and I’m going to make sure of
it.”

Dante cut a look at
him, but said nothing.

“Can we see her?” Erin
asked.

“One at a time—she’s
asking for Karl.”

“I need to see her,”
Karl said to Erin. “But I’ll come out and let you go back once I know she’s all
right, okay?”