Final Score (24 page)

Gary gave Ryan’s arm a gentle squeeze. ‘I don’t know what to say, mate. I mean, I knew you had stuff going on when you were playing down in London, but surely…’

‘I didn’t do it, Gary. What they’re saying. I didn’t do it.’

‘Were you involved? In any way?’

Ryan sat back, pushing both hands through his hair, letting out the longest and heaviest of sighs. ‘Not in the way they’re saying.’

Gary leaned forward, hanging his head. ‘I’m assuming the new boss wants a word?’

‘Max is on his way. I can’t deal with this on my own. Max was there; he knows the truth.’

‘Then he’ll sort it, won’t he?’

Ryan said nothing. He just stared straight ahead, at the untidy dressing room, the bag of footballs sitting in the corner, the various bits of kit that were thrown over the benches that lined the walls. And he felt sick at the thought of losing the life he had – a life that enabled him to play the game he loved. When all was said and done, you could take away the money and the fame and the endless string of women that could all be his if he so chose; you could take all of that away, as long as he was still able to play the game. Take that away from him and who was he? He was nothing.

‘Ryan? Max
will
sort it, won’t he?’

Ryan turned to look at Gary. ‘I don’t know, Gary. I really don’t know.’

*

Amber stared at the TV, watching the yellow ticker as it scrolled across the bottom of the screen, signalling
Breaking News
. She kept reading it, over and over again, unable to take in what it was saying.

‘Is this true?’ She’d heard Jim walk into the room, but she didn’t turn around to look at him. Her eyes were still focused on the TV, although she wasn’t really listening to the words coming out of her fellow presenter’s mouth as he broke the news live on air.

Jim dug his hands deep into his pockets, staring at the TV. ‘I don’t know, Amber.’

She turned around, her legs crossed underneath her as she sat on the couch, dressed in one of his t-shirts and a pair of cut-off denim shorts, her dark-red hair piled up messily on top of her head. She looked beautiful, devoid of make-up and fresh out of the shower. And he’d never been more in love with her than he was right now.

‘I need to speak to him.’

‘Why? Anyway, your dad’s on his way here with Rico.’

‘Yeah, I know. But I just want to see if Ryan’s… what? What’s the matter?’

‘Max will be with him, Amber.’

‘No, that look you just gave me. Jim, this is serious. If Ryan is involved in some kind of illegal betting ring…’

‘Was.’

‘Sorry?’

‘He
was
involved in an illegal betting ring. That’s what they’re saying.’

‘Are they?’ She got up from the couch and started walking over to the kitchen, but Jim stopped her before she could get there, slipping an arm around her waist.

‘Amber?’

She looked at him. That carefree Amber he’d seen in Vegas was slipping away from him; he could see it happening, right there in front of his eyes. Exactly what he’d been afraid of. Exactly what he’d known was going to happen the second they’d set foot back in the UK.

‘This isn’t something you need to be worrying about, honey.’

‘He’s Rico’s dad, Jim. So, yes, it
is
something I need to be worrying about.’ She broke free of his grip and walked into the kitchen, turning around and folding her arms as she leaned back against the counter. ‘I know he’s not my problem any more, but…’ She pushed a hand through her hair, turning her head away from Jim to look out of the window. ‘Oh, I don’t know. I think I’m just overtired. We haven’t had much sleep since Vegas, have we?’

Jim smiled at her as her eyes met his. ‘No. We haven’t.’ He walked over to her, resting a hand on her hip as he gently stroked her cheek, kissing her softly. ‘I didn’t want to sleep. I wanted to stay awake, I wanted to make love to you; that’s all I wanted to do. It’s all I
still
want to do.’

She pulled him a little closer by his shirt, kissing him quickly, but long enough to let the feel of his mouth against hers calm her slightly. ‘Yeah, well, there’s a little thing called
work
getting in the way of that.’

Jim groaned, throwing his head back, his hand still resting on her hip. ‘I wish I didn’t have to go in today.’

‘It’s your first official day in charge of Endleigh United, and you’ve got a big press conference this afternoon, so you can’t exactly miss all of that, can you?’

He cupped her cheek in his hand as he kissed her again, and all Amber wanted to do was slide up onto the counter, slip out of her shorts, open her legs and let him back inside. But that fantasy was soon forgotten as the doorbell ringing signalled the arrival of her dad and Rico.

‘And there’s another reason why we have to start behaving.’ Amber smiled, planting one last kiss on her husband’s lips before running off to answer the door.

She almost flung it off its hinges, letting out a tiny squeal at the sight of her beautiful baby boy. ‘Has he been okay?’ she asked Freddie, taking Rico straight from him and kissing her son’s warm cheek. He snuggled in against her, pulling at her t-shirt, and all Amber wanted to do now was sit down and cuddle him and not move until she had to.

‘He’s been fine,’ Freddie replied, quickly kissing Amber before closing the door behind him, throwing his bags down onto the hall floor. ‘So, how was Vegas?’

‘It was perfect.’ She was looking down at Rico as she spoke, watching as his tiny hand wrapped itself around her finger.

‘You certainly look happy,’ Freddie continued, following Amber into the kitchen where Jim was making some fresh coffee. ‘You okay, Jim?’

‘I’m good, Freddie, yeah.’

Amber watched as two men who’d once been the best of friends tried their hardest to regain that friendship. Two men she loved very much. And even though she knew their relationship could never be the same as it once had been, she really hoped they could carry on growing closer.

Freddie turned his attention back to Amber. ‘You looked beautiful, by the way. The photo in Debbie’s column, the one you released? You looked beautiful.’

She smiled at her father, Rico still gurgling away in her arms.

‘That’s because she is,’ Jim said, and Amber turned to look at him, her eyes locking onto his, a smile passing between them that promised so much. ‘She
is
beautiful.’

Amber broke the stare, turning back to her father, and it didn’t escape her notice how uncomfortable he still looked whenever Jim spoke about her in that way. She guessed it was always going to be hard for Freddie to get his head around what had happened between her and Jim all those years ago.

‘This house… it’s something else,’ Freddie said, quickly changing the subject.

‘It’s going to take a while before I can start thinking of it as home,’ Amber sighed. ‘But, now that Jim and I are married, and Rico’s here, well – it feels more like a family home, that’s for sure.’

Freddie looked at her, his face expressionless for a second or two, before he allowed a slight smile to appear. ‘I’m going to miss you, kiddo. And that little one. I was just getting used to having him around.’

‘We’ll be up north all the time, you know that,’ Amber said, although her eyes were back on Rico, who was now pulling gently on her t-shirt. ‘Because you’ll miss your granddad, won’t you, baby?’

‘And you’re sure that taking him with you to work – you’re sure you’re okay with that? You’re sure Cloud Sports are okay with that?’

She looked up sharply. ‘Yes, I’m okay with that. And yes, Cloud Sports are absolutely fine with it. And no, I’m not getting a nanny, okay? It’s not happening.’

‘Amber, sweetheart, all I’m saying is…’

‘It won’t be easy, I know that. I’m not naïve enough to think this is all gonna work out perfectly, of course there’ll be problems, I know that, too. But I’ll work through them.’ She looked at Jim, his smile giving her all the support she needed. ‘
We’ll
work through them.’

‘Okay, I’m sorry. I just worry about you, that’s all. Now that you’re based down here and I won’t see half as much of you as I used to… I just want you to know that, if you need me or your Aunty Kim, or any of us – if you need
any
help you just call, do you hear me?’

‘Yeah, Dad, I hear you.’ She gave Rico to Jim before going over to her dad, giving him the biggest hug. And only then did she realise just how much she was going to miss him. Ever since her mum had died they’d spent so much time together, and now that time was going to be limited.

‘Yeah, well, no being all stubborn and thinking you can cope. If it all gets too much, you know where we are.’

Amber let him go. ‘Do you want some coffee?’

‘Please.’ Freddie’s eyes focused on the TV still playing away at the other end of the family room. ‘You’ve heard about Ryan, then?’

Amber nodded as she spooned sugar into her father’s mug. ‘I should speak to him, really.’

‘Why?’

‘That’s what I said,’ Jim muttered, cradling Rico in the crook of his arm.

Amber swung around to face them both. ‘He’s Rico’s dad. What’s the problem here?’

‘Now’s probably not the best time, Amber.’ Freddie leaned back against the counter, folding his arms. ‘I know Dave French, and I know that the last thing he’ll want is something like this blighting his early days in charge of Newcastle Red Star.’

‘And your point is?’ Amber asked, copying her father’s stance as she folded her own arms.

‘My point is, kiddo, that Ryan probably has other things to think about right now. Max’ll be with him…’

‘I said that, too.’

Amber turned her stare on Jim.

He just raised his eyebrows and shrugged. ‘What?’

She shook her head but said nothing, turning her attention back to making coffee. ‘You’re in one of the back rooms, Dad. The one at the end of the first-floor landing. What time do you have to be back in Newcastle tomorrow?’

‘As soon as possible. I’ll be getting up early, I’m afraid. Got myself on a 7.15am flight back up north in the morning. Are you going in to work today?’

Amber shook her head. ‘No. Ronnie might be coming over later, though. Before he heads off to Parkfield for the press conference.’

‘Okay if I come with you to that press conference, Jim?’ Freddie asked.

‘Of course it’s okay.’ Jim gently lay Rico over his shoulder, and Amber felt a pain cut right across her heart as she watched Jim kiss her baby’s forehead, smiling down at him. And as Rico reached out to touch Jim’s face, she felt her heart break just a little bit more. As much as she would never, ever take Rico away from Ryan, she still wished with every beat of her breaking heart that he was her husband’s.

‘Is it alright if I go and take a shower?’

‘Of course it is. I’ve put fresh towels out for you in the en suite, but if you need anything else just shout.’ She waited until she could hear her dad making his way upstairs before she said anything to Jim. ‘You okay?’

He looked at her. ‘Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine.’

‘You okay to keep a hold of him while I finish making this coffee?’

Jim nodded, reaching out to stop her from walking away from him. ‘Hang on, Amber… Look, I know you want to speak to Ryan and – and I understand why. I do.’

‘Do you?’

‘I do. But your dad’s right. Now really isn’t the time. It isn’t our problem, baby, okay? And he’s got plenty of people around him, you know that.’

‘I also know the kind of person he is, Jim. I know the way he handles things.’

Jim slid his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. ‘This isn’t our problem.’

She reached out to stroke his cheek, kissing him gently. ‘I know,’ she sighed.

‘Then let’s just concentrate on us, okay? Me, you, and this little guy here.’ He kissed Rico’s cheek and Amber felt her stomach flip for a whole different reason this time. ‘What do you say, kiddo? Should your mommy stop worrying about your daddy and concentrate on you and me?’

Amber couldn’t help smiling. If this was her life, then she was in love with it already. ‘Well, if you two are gonna gang up on me…’

Jim kissed her again, a little longer and a little harder, but Rico had other ideas, pulling on Amber’s t-shirt in an obvious attempt to gain his mum’s attention.

‘Okay, baby boy, I’m all yours now.’ She took Rico from Jim, cradling him gently in her arms. ‘I’m all yours.’

‘I’ve got competition, huh?’ Jim smiled.

Amber looked up, returning his smile. ‘You’re a very close second, handsome.’

‘I’ll take that. Look, I’d better go make some more calls, get myself ready for that press conference, so, I’ll be in my office if you need me.’ He kissed the top of her head, ruffling Rico’s hair. ‘I’ll see you both before I leave.’

Her attention was back focused on her son, but, as far as Jim was concerned, as long as Rico was the only competition he had to face, things were going to be just fine.

Chapter Sixteen

‘He’s fucking dropped me from the squad, Max! Jesus…’

‘Yes, I was there, Ryan. I heard what he said.’

‘I thought you were gonna sort this.’

‘And I will, but it’s all going to take time.’

Ryan threw himself back against the wall outside the training ground administration block. ‘Shit! This is a fucking nightmare… I don’t know what to do, Max. I really don’t know what the fuck to do.’

‘You do nothing. Okay?
You
do nothing. You lie low, you don’t say anything to any reporters, you speak to no press, you keep quiet. Do you hear me, Ryan?’

‘Yeah, I hear you.’

‘Well, I’m not sure you do.’

Ryan stared at his agent. ‘You’re treating me like a kid again.’

‘I’m just making sure you know the score, that’s all. Because there is going to be so much digging into your past now… you got anything else I don’t
know about that you might want to share with me?’

Ryan held that stare, shaking his head slowly. ‘You know all there is to know.’

‘You better be telling me the truth, Ryan. Because the last thing I need is some new “surprise” coming from out of nowhere giving me problems I really don’t need.’