Page 48 of Worth the Risk
“How did you know which room was Luca’s?” my uncle suddenly asks.
“We were texting. He told me he had gotten the only single room for that game, so I looked up the hotel records,” I explain.
“You aren’t supposed to have access to that, Hannah. How’d you manage that?” he asks.
“Not revealing my sources. I won’t throw anyone else under the bus. No one else might lose their job because of me today,” I say stiffly.
“I wonder if somehow Woodward found out that you accessed the records? Him just conveniently hiding a camera in Santo’s room is so coincidental.”
“Luca told me about the single room before I accessed the records, though.”
“Fuck, that’s true. This all just doesn’t make sense.”
I look at my uncle, noticing his discomfort. “What else are you gaining here?”
His eyes widen. “Nothing. I swear. Woodward knows family is my weak spot. And he suggested he’d start firing tons of staff here too …”
My brow furrows in confusion as I let his words marinate, until I remember a brief moment at the beginning of the season. A moment I haven’t asked Uncle Bennett about.
“Did he threaten to fire that physical therapist? Elsie?” I ask. My uncle’s expression changes for a split second. “Ah. Now I understand. Are you two together?”
“No. She’s a sweet girl, but no. I’m not — I’m just … not. She can get better than me. Someone her own age. I’m a dinosaur,” he says with a brittle laugh.
“You aren’t a dinosaur. How old is she again?”
“Twenty-five.”
“Uh-huh.” I can tell my uncle is stuck on the age gap between them, but I think it’s nothing big. Age is just a number. If their souls are connected, it doesn’t matter what decade she was born in.
“It’s irrelevant. What can I do to help you right now? I don’t know exactly what Woodward is going to make you do, Han. He really has it out for Santo.”
“Do you know why?” I ask.
“Nothing for certain, but I’ve heard rumors.”
“Of what?”
Uncle Bennett looks directly at me. “The rumor is that Luca slept with Woodward’s wife.”
I stare at him incredulously. “I find that incredibly hard to believe. Luca is a lot of things, but he wouldn’t consciously sleep with his coach’s wife.”
“I’m just saying what the rumor is, Han.”
“But you believe it.”
“I never said —”
“I know you, Uncle Bennett. You believe the rumor. You told me on my first day to steer clear of Luca. You believe everything you’ve heard about him. I get it. He’s made some shitty decisions in the past. I met him during one, believe it or not. But the Luca I know is caring and thoughtful. Sensitive. A family man. I bet he didn’t know she was Woodward’s wife, or he only found out afterward, or it never happened in the first place.”
“Is he worth it, Hannah?” Uncle Bennett blurts out forcefully. “Is he worth losing your job over? Having a vile video leaked, destroying both of your careers? Are you okay if our family sees it? Take a moment and think about this. This is your life we’re talking about.”
“Who’s to say Woodward won’t release it anyway? And frankly, Uncle Bennett, who’s to say he won’t keep dangling it over my head to get me to do all kinds of things? Again I ask: is this legal? Can we go to the NHL? Doesn’t the team have an attorney? This can’t be okay!”
Uncle Bennett rubs his eyes as he sits on the edge of his desk. “I don’t know, Han. I’m trying to protect you, but I don’t know what to do here. Who is involved? Who is also in Woodward’s pocket? If he’ll blackmail us, he’ll blackmail anyone.”
I stand, walking over to my uncle, and give him a hug. “I know. I’m going to go see Aunt Caroline. Is it okay if I take the afternoon off?”
“Sure, sweetheart.”