Ward squared his shoulders and jutted out his chin. ‘No, there’s nothing going on, it’s just … I didn’t want to see anything bad happen to her, OK?’

But Bernie wasn’t buying it.

‘You know I’ve known you way too long, right? You’re a skirt chaser. Everyone knows you are. And this just solidifies your image. Bad boy womaniser – getting involved with another guy’s girl. That’s what working with Hannah was supposed to turn around, but you dragged her right into it, huh? Knight in shining armour, my ass.’

He opened his mouth to defend himself and also to insist that Hannah hadn’t done anything wrong, hadn’t crossed over any professional lines and she shouldn’t be blamed for anything, but Bernie cut him off.

‘You know, everything I arranged for you was contingent on you turning things around. Your recovery, getting off the pills …’ When Ward looked up sharply, his agent shook his head. ‘You think I didn’t know about the pills? That’s part of it too but only a part. Getting you back on track was also tied to the public deciding you aren’t an asshole – that you don’t have anger management problems, that you aren’t a toxic knuckle-dragger. And for a while there, I thought you truly were turning things around. But now you have successfully managed to throw away everything in a matter of minutes by kicking the ass of a pro golfer … a PGA champ in the prime of his career … and it seems becoming involved in some imbroglio with the publicist I arranged for you. Who quits after you pick a fight with her boyfriend on the red carpet! Who knows what the hell else is going on, what else could come out … ’ Bernie paused, catching his breath, as impassioned with rage as Ward had been on the TV a moment ago. ‘Man, you know you and I go way back,’ he continued, ‘but I just don’t know anymore. After all this, don’t expect Panthers’ management to welcome you back with such open arms anymore – Craig Sumners is already in my ear. This kind of stuff is bad publicity. He’s not happy. No one is. They will likely buy out your contract because they have to, but don’t expect to be a part of the squad ever again.’

At these words, Ward’s face fell.

Could his career really be over this time? This kind of stuff was right up Jefferson Prince’s alley, after all …

He shook his head. ‘Sumners is not going to cut me now,’ he started, thinking if he put the words out there, he could make them true. ‘Not after that big public welcome home.’