Okay. He had a point there. “But he could’ve mentioned the fact that you were the new GM for months now. Or you could’ve said something Friday night.”
“I could’ve.” Brock gave me that grin, the one that used to make me blush and act like a fool. My eyes narrowed now. That grin increased. “Actually, I asked Andrew not to tell you.”
That was an unexpected answer. “Why would you do that?”
“Because I knew you’d never agree to coming on board if you knew,” he answered with some hesitation.
My hands opened in my lap as I tried to think of something to say, and I finally settled on, “I have no idea how to respond to that.”
Brock’s gaze flickered over my face and the line of his jaw softened. “It’s been a really long time since you and I have sat and talked to one another. I know you have every reason to hate me. I don’t blame you.”
“I don’t hate you.” That twisting motion in my chest picked up. What I had said was true. Maybe at one point I did. Okay. I’m sure I had, but I’d never been one to hate anyone. It just wasn’t in me. Well, I hated plenty of fictional characters, but some people would claim they didn’t count. I drew in a shallow breath and repeated, “I don’t hate you.”
Brock was still as he stared at me, a flicker of surprise and relief mingling across his chiseled features. “I’m . . . I’m glad to hear that.”
I pushed all that mess aside and focused. “Why are you even the GM? You’ve probably made enough money to live a very, very long time without having to worry about a paycheck.”
“I have. When I retired from professional fighting two years ago, I could’ve lived quite comfortably for the rest of my life.”
I wanted to ask why he’d retired so young. At his age, he still had a couple of more years left, but I resisted the urge. “So why take this job?”
A frown started to appear. “Do you really need to ask me that?” Before I could respond, he lifted a hand, thrusting his fingers through his hair as he said, “Your father saved my life. That’s not an exaggeration. You know that. If it hadn’t been for him, I would’ve died on those streets. The Academy became my life and it is a part of me. This company is important to me, and even if I’m not fighting, representing the Academy, I still need to be a part of it.”
Lowering my gaze, I squirmed in my chair. Of course I knew that. No matter what had happened, that would’ve never changed for him.
“I love scouting, looking for fresh talent,” he continued. “As the GM, I can still do that. I can give back to your father for everything he did for me. I need to do that. Especially considering how badly I let him down.”
“How in the world did you let my father down?” I asked, genuinely curious. “You’ve won championships for him. Brought so much attention to the—”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Tone serious, he held my gaze. “You never told him why you were at Mona’s that night.”
I stilled.
“If you had, he would’ve—”
My eyes snapped to his. “Brock.”
“And I would’ve deserved everything I had coming to me,” he continued, leaning forward. “And the only reason why I never told him you were there because of me was because you made me promise not to.”
Closing my eyes, I pressed my lips together. I had made him promise not to say a word. I’d begged him, because I knew what would happen if he’d been honest. Brock would’ve lost everything.
The knot was back, expanding in my throat. I couldn’t sit here and think and talk about these kinds of things if I was going to be able to make this job work. Curling my hands together, I opened my eyes. “What happened back then has nothing to do with now. It can’t.”
Brock leaned back and straightened.
“And I don’t want to talk about it,” I continued, struggling to keep my voice steady. “We don’t need to talk about any of that for us to work together.”
He was silent for a moment, his body deviously relaxed, but he was like a coiled cobra, and could strike at any moment. “I don’t agree with that, but I’ll let it go.”
Some of the tension seeped out of my shoulders even though I had a feeling there was an unspoken “for now” at the end of what he said. “That’s all, then? I would like to get my office set up and get to work.”
Brock nodded and pushed off the desk. Walking around it, he scanned the paperwork on his desk. “I do believe we have a meeting today with the sales team. Two o’clock.”
“Sounds good.” I rose on oddly shaky legs and turned to the door. Everything felt surreal.
“Jillian.”
Stopping, I faced him. “Yes?”
His shoulders rose with a deep breath as his gaze drifted over my face once more, and I wondered what he thought about how I looked now. “I really want this to work for us, Jillian,” he said, and I felt the very sharp twisting motion in my chest give one powerful stab. “It’s a second chance for us.”
Chapter 8
“Are you sure that’ll be okay?” Avery asked as I watched Rhage prowl across the living room floor. “I just feel like I’m not giving you a lot of notice.”
Readjusting my phone to my left shoulder, I picked up my feet and curled them under me before Rhage decided that whatever he was doing wasn’t as interesting as attacking my legs would be. Sometimes I thought he mistook my legs for scratching posts. “I don’t have anything planned for Friday. It’s fine. What time will you guys be bringing Ava and Alex over?”