The secret job
1344 Words
Piper
I didn’t stay long enough to see Liam’s reaction.
I turned on my heel, grabbed the cardboard box from the kitchen island, and walked out.
By the time I crossed the glossy lobby, I had already decided I would not waste my tears on a man like Liam.
Outside, the city hit me like a blade. I walked anyway. I didn’t stop until my lungs burned.
Three blocks later, I found a quiet park bench tucked under a bare tree. Only then did my body finally give up on holding everything together.
I lowered myself onto a bench and set the box beside me. For a few seconds, I just sat there, staring at nothing, waiting for my breathing to even out.
But it didn’t. It only got worse.
God, it hurt.
A sob came out before I could stop it.
I bent forward, burying my face in my hands, shaking badly.
In a single day, I had lost my job. I had lost the man I thought I loved.
Liam’s voice kept repeating in my head. “You’re nothing without me. You’re just another struggling therapist.”
I cried harder but it didn’t lessen the ache in my heart.
“Hey—hey!”
The sudden screech of tires made me flinch hard.
I lifted my head just as a black SUV came to a sudden stop beside the curb.
The engine was still running when the driver’s door opened.
A tall figure stepped out and moved quickly toward me without hesitation.
Connor.
My brother moved quickly, crossing the distance between us in a few long strides.
He dropped down in front of me without hesitation. His hands came to my shoulders immediately as his eyes scanned my face with alarm. Then his gaze dropped to the box beside me.
Panic and anger flashed across his features at the same time. “Piper,” he said sharply. “What the hell is going on? Why are you sitting out here like this? Why aren’t you at the clinic?”
I tried to answer, but my throat closed. Another sob broke through before I could speak.
Connor did not rush me. He wrapped his coat around my shoulders as if it could block out the entire world, then pulled me into his chest.
He had always been that person. The one who had raised me in the spaces our parents left behind. The one who had turned survival into something like success. Just like how from nothing, he had built himself into the head coach of the city’s premier NHL franchise.
“Hey, it’s alright. Tell me.” He held me as I cried, one hand rubbing slow circles over my back.
“I lost my job…” I finally managed to say.
I felt his body go still.
He pulled back just enough to look at me. His brows drew together. “What do you mean you lost your job?”
“I reported Dr. Evans.” I said, swallowing hard.” He cornered me in the supply closet. I reported him, and they fired me.”
A dangerous expression crossed Connor’s face. “I will kill him.” he said under his breath, voice low and controlled in a way that made it more terrifying, not less. “I swear to God, Piper, I will bury that clinic.”
“Connor.” I said quickly, grabbing his arm before the words could turn into action. “There is more.”
That made him pause.
I wiped at my face, forcing myself to continue. “I have been seeing someone. For eight months.”
Connor blinked once. “Who?”
I hesitated. The name felt like something that still had teeth.
“Liam.”
For a moment, he remained silent.
“Liam?” He repeated slowly, as if he needed to make sure he had heard correctly.
I nodded.
It took him a second longer to connect it but when he did, his face hardened.
Liam was not just anyone. He was a rookie forward on the rival team, the one Connor’s franchise had been locked in a bitter war with for years.
“You were dating that prick?” Connor asked.
“I was…” I said quietly and swallowed again. “But today…” My voice broke. “I went to his apartment after I got fired. I thought he would at least… I don’t know. I thought he would care. But I found him with someone else. In his bed. Chloe Jenkins.”
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Then Connor stood up slowly with anger flashing in his grey eyes. His hands clenched at his sides. “Where is his building?” He asked.
The tone of his voice made my stomach drop. “Connor, don’t.”
“Connor, don’t.”
“Piper.” He said intensely. “Give me the address.”
“I am serious.” I said as I got to my feet and grabbed his arm with both hands. “He is an NHL rookie. You are a head coach. If you go anywhere near him, you could lose everything. He is not worth your career.”
Connor turned back to me, his eyes burning. “He broke you. Do you think I give a f**k about my career now?”
“He wants me broken, Connor.” I raised my voice, even though my voice shook. “He told me I was nothing without him. That’s exactly what he wants… to make me small. If you go and fight my battles, you prove him right.”
That made him stop.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke. The wind moved between us coldly as Connor looked at me like he was trying to decide whether anger or logic should win.
Finally, he exhaled slowly and dragged a hand over his face.
“Okay..” He said at last as he looked down at the cardboard box sitting on the ground between us. “So what are you going to do now?”
It broke me once again.
“I don’t know….” I admitted. “I don’t have a job anymore. I don’t have a plan. I don’t really have anything.”
Connor studied me for a long moment. Then he finally spoke, “I might have something,”
I frowned slightly. “What?”
“A private job…” He stepped closer, lowering his voice as if the idea itself required secrecy. “I have a player who needs a rehabilitation therapist. A good one. But more than that, he needs someone who knows how to keep things quiet. He doesn’t trust team doctors. He won’t go near them.” He paused, then added, “But there is an issue.”
“What?”
“He is stubborn. He listens to no one.”
“That doesn’t sound like someone who listens to therapy either…” I said quietly.
Connor almost smiled at that, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “He doesn’t. That’s why I need someone who can handle him.”
He placed a hand on my shoulder again, steadier this time. “The pay is double what you were making.” he said. “And if you succeed, your reputation will reach the sky.”
I hesitated. “Who are we talking about?”
Then he said the name.
“Ryder Vance.”
A gasp left my lips immediately.
I knew the name, of course. Everyone did.
The captain. The enforcer. The player who played like every shift was a war he intended to win, no matter the cost. Brilliant on the ice, brutal off it.
I looked down at the box beside me again, at everything I had carried out of my old life.
I thought about Liam’s voice. About the clinic door closing behind me. About everything that had been taken and everything that had been said.
Then I looked at my brother. The hesitation didn’t last long.
“When do I start?” I asked.
- Writer
