Beautiful Storm (San Francisco End Game #1)

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Luke

W hen I arrive at the stadium, I’m still a little on edge. Amelia may have said all the right things, but I fucked up and I need to make it up to her. Why the hell didn’t I tell her everything when I first found out? She was already stressed about the fire, so we could have gotten it all out of the way and been done with it. But no, I had to go and mess things up again. And I’m still holding something back.

My mind whirs as I get ready, but when I see a message from Amelia, it all clicks into place and I’m finally able to focus on the game.

Amelia: We are rock solid, Luke. I’m going to stop thinking about the past and focus on the now. I love you. Go and kick some Vegas ass

I send off a quick reply as a huge smile lights up my face, and of course Reed notices.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” he teases, his brows raised.

“What’s not to be happy about?” Now anyway . “We’re playing our last regular-season game. If we lose, we’ll still be at the top of our conference. We’re heading into the playoffs stronger than ever. I’m going to have a daughter. Things with Amelia are good and—”

“Hold up. You’re having a girl?”

“I am.” I grin wide and Reed laughs out loud.

“Something about that is poetic justice.”

“Fuck—”

“Get out of my way, Wyatt! I’m going to kill him.” Easton’s deep voice echoes through the room, drawing everyone’s attention as Reed and I spin to find Wyatt holding him back from charging toward Zane.

“What the hell?” Reed questions under his breath. “What happened?”

“I have no idea.”

Zane throws his hands in the air and steps back, but his signature cocky grin remains tattooed on his face. “Fuck off, East. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“You expect me to believe that? You’ve been a cocky little shit since you started here, and I’m the only one that puts you in your place. Was it payback?”

“You may be a grumpy asshole, East, but I don’t care enough about you to intentionally piss you off.”

“Stop calling me East.”

“Think about it, East ,” he begins, ignoring Easton’s request as he steps forward. “When would I have seen her? How the fuck was I to know she was your woman?”

Oh, shit.

My eyes flash to Reed and we both take off toward Easton and Zane, sensing that Wyatt’s going to need backup.

I step between them, waving to get Easton’s attention and hoping like hell that I don’t live to regret it. “He might be right, Easton,” I say, putting myself in the line of fire. None of us have seen Macy since Isaac was born. Zane only started with us this year, so he may be telling the truth.

Easton stills his movements as his eyes flash to mine, but before I can speak, Reed cuts in.

“He’s a rookie, East. I doubt he’s taken the time to learn all of his teammates’ names, and it’s been a long time since any of us saw Macy,” he says, repeating my thoughts.

“Then how the fuck does he know why I’m angry?”

Jesus . The room falls silent as all eyes flash to Zane’s as he rolls his eyes. “She told me.” He shrugs, making me step closer to Easton, anticipating his next move as he tries to break through Wyatt’s block.

Until Zane adds, “After the fact.”

“Fuuuckk,” Easton yells as his fists clench into tight balls, but he stops charging forward. And all I can think is holy shit. East mentioned she’d checked out, but to purposely fuck with him like that…

When Reed moves to talk to Easton, I spin around and shake my head at Zane before he continues to stir the pot. “You may not have done anything wrong because of a technicality, but you better wipe that grin off your fucking face before we let Easton come at you.”

Zane’s eyes widen so slightly that I would have missed it if I wasn’t staring at him, and I’m just about to say more when the door slams open and Adrian rushes into the room. “Luke, I—”

“Not the best time,” Thomas says, stepping closer to cut him off.

“It’s—”

“It’s the perfect time,” Zane calls out and I almost punch him myself. “Maybe he could film this?” This kid has a lot to learn about the bond of teammates.

As expected, Easton rushes forward again, but while he manages to shake off Wyatt, he hits a brick wall when it comes to Reed. “You little motherfucker,” Easton yells, not at all worried about the consequences of fighting with a teammate. “You have no fucking respect and—”

“Don’t you mean wife fucker?”

Easton dives past Reed, but I catch him seconds before his fist connects with Zane’s face. But only because I don’t want Easton to regret it. If it was me, Zane would be a dead man. He deserves it. “Stop. You—”

“Would you all shut the hell up?” Adrian’s demanding voice takes over the room, making us freeze. I honestly didn’t think he had that in him.

He runs toward me as someone starts to apologize, but his words cut them off.

“It’s Amelia.”

His panicked expression has the blood draining from my body as my heart clenches. “What’s happened?”

“She’s here. But I don’t know what’s going on. Jake dragged her into one of the edit suites and locked the door. He’s—”

Fuck . “Where are they?”

“I’ll take you.” I release Easton and rush after Adrian, ignoring the stares of my teammates.

“Luke, you can’t leave,” one of the coaches yells, but it doesn’t stop me.

“I’m leaving.”

“ Luke .”

I continue to ignore them as I get to the door, but when Thomas steps forward as if to come with me, I finally pay attention, shaking my head almost violently.

“I love you, man. But no. You’re needed here,” I tell him.

With that, I take off after Adrian, running through the halls as a sharp pain rips through my chest like a stab to the heart.

Amelia has to be okay.

She has to be. The alternative isn’t an option.

A melia calls out as we reach the door, her voice shaky before she sucks in a frantic breath. My panic turns to sheer terror as I yank on the door handle, desperately trying to get inside.

“Open the fucking door, Jake. Security is on their way.”

Adrian stiffens beside me as he grabs his phone, and two seconds later, he says, “I need you to call security to meet us at the edit suite.”

“Thanks. God, I—”

The door flies open, stealing my focus, and I rush into the room, my eyes struggling to adjust to the low light as I search for Amelia.

“I’m here,” she calls out. “I’m okay.”

I race toward her voice just as my vision improves to find her huddled on the floor, her arms wrapped protectively around her knees, her body trembling. “I’m okay,” she repeats but there’s a waver in her tone.

Dropping to the floor in front of her, I cup her cheeks and search her face, looking for signs of pain as the room is bathed in light.

Amelia blinks a few times before grabbing my hands and nodding, her eyes boring into mine, her expression neutral in an attempt to reassure me. But it doesn’t.

Lifting her to her feet, I make sure she’s stable, before pressing a kiss to her head and spinning around to face Jake, reaching back to clasp Amelia’s hand.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t hurt you?” I seethe.

“You’re overreacting. We were just looking at some footage. Though it was rather interesting. Did you know Amelia’s afraid of fire? And not even real fire. All I did was show her a clip of a house burning to the ground and she freaked out, began hyperventilating. I think she was having a panic attack, and it made me question if someone’s been lying. You said the fire wasn’t a big deal. That you all got out easily. And yet…”

“It means nothing,” Amelia snaps, her voice still hushed as she works to calm her breath.

“It means everything ,” Jake retorts. “Admit that you lit the fire, Luke, and I’ll leave Amelia’s name out of the show.”

“You’re delusional. You’ll never get the sign-off for that. Management will shut you down before the first episode has aired.”

Jake laughs and the vile sound echoes through my head. “We’ve already got the sign-off from your owner. We can air whatever we want as long as it gets ratings. He’s selling the team. This show is his final send-off, ensuring he continues to make money after he’s gone.”

What the fuck?

“You’re lying.” I step forward and push up my sleeves, threatening him with my stance.

But he doesn’t flinch. “I’m not. All he asked was that I provide proof.”

“You don’t have it,” I say confidently but fuck , he better not have it.

Jake shrugs and his careless attitude has my muscles tensing. Who the fuck does he think he is? I clench my fist, but I don’t get a chance to move before Amelia’s fingers curl into my tee. “Luke,” she whispers under her breath as though attempting to stop me, but we both know she’s barely making an effort. She’d let me go if I asked.

And I really want to ask.

“If it’s not the fire,” Jake continues, “I’ll just go with my next story about how the show’s former director slept with one of the players while she was still married in an effort to extort information for the show. That one might be juicier.”

And I’m done.

“Or,”—I race forward as I speak—“I could break your jaw.” I grab him by the shirt, my fingers curling into the fabric as I force him back against the wall. “How’s that for a fucking story?”

“It’s perfect. Because now I have witnesses,” Jake calls out over my shoulder, his words pulling me to a stop. I drop my hold on him and spin to face the door, the blood draining from my head when I come face-to-face with our GM and one of the guys from security.

Jake shakes his head as he steps around me, his expression manic.

“He came at me. He attacked a crew member of the show when all I did was ask him a few questions.” He leans in close to me and adds, “This is the stuff awards are made of.” He chuckles quietly until my GM speaks up.

“I’m here to protect my player. And you should be made aware that these rooms have security cameras.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Jake asks, his voice strained all of a sudden.

“It means the security team was already on their way here. They saw you threatening Amelia.”

Jake’s deep growl bellows in the air, drawing my attention as he steps toward Amelia, his shoulders stiff as he stares her down, threatening her with his stance. “You,” he shouts, sending me into a rage.

“Eyes on me, asshole . Stay the fuck away from her.”

Jake glares my way for the briefest of seconds, and his smirk sends me over the edge.

“You’re a dead man.” I launch toward him but he backs away just as Amelia calls out, stepping into his path with her hands raised in the air.

The world stills and everything moves in slow motion. I watch helplessly as Jake hits the edge of the desk, stumbling toward Amelia and sending her crashing toward the ground. I take off in a run as she grabs her stomach and spins to change the direction of her fall, slamming her head into the metal cabinet.

The room falls silent while I cry out, “Amelia,” catching her seconds before she hits the concrete floor.

But it’s too late.