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“Rex… What did you do? Why is this pretty boy trust-fund-baby having secret conversations with you? Just exactly what did you promise him? Tell me, Rex. What the hell did you do?”
“Nothing that you didn’t suspect me of doing already.”
“You didn’t,” I blurt out, aghast, getting up from my seat. “Please tell me you didn’t sell the Guardians?”
“No, no. I didn’t sell the club,” he retorts. “At least not yet. But it’s true. Preston did make me an offer. He first came to me with the proposal a few weeks back at Martha’s fundraiser, and he’s been very… insistent that I consider his generous offer.”
“And are you? Considering it?”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.”
Fuck
Fuck.
Fuck.
“But just because one man makes me an offer doesn’t mean I won’t let others put in their bids, too. If I’m to leave all the charities that Martha had invested so much time and energy in, then I have to make the best deal possible. That’s the only way I see myself selling the club.”
Great.
Not only is he actually considering selling off the team to some stranger, but he’s doing it to fulfill his dead wife’s last wishes.
How the fuck am I going to compete with that?
“Nothing is set in stone, Trent. Right now, Lawrence and I are in the honeymoon phase of negotiations. Having said that, I fully intend on getting courted by as many rich suitors as Boston can provide. I refuse to get into bed with the first one that tells me I’m pretty,” he jokes, though I hear the warning in his voice.
“Shit. You’re really set on this.”
“I am. It’s time I go back home. Boston was Martha’s. She’s the only reason why I came out east to begin with. Now that she’s no longer here, I think it’s time to pack my bags and return to my Texas ranch. Cattle and horses are less work than these hockey players anyway. Speaking of which, have you handled the Wilder situation?”
“Yes. It’s handled,” I grumble, still coming to terms with this bombshell he just laid on me.
“Good. Because listen up, Trent, and listen good,” he starts with a menacing glint in his eyes, “if I don’t get top dollar for this club because of one bad apple, I’ll hold you personally accountable. The new owner will want to know who is worthy of staying around and whose head should roll. Don’t make me give him your name, son, just because you couldn’t tame one out-of-control mustang,” he warns. “You know how this plays out. All it takes is one wild horse to run loose for the others to get silly ideas that they can run wild, too. They need a strong hand to show them this is stillmyhouse. Not theirs. Have I made myself clear?”
“Crystal,” I answer through gritted teeth.
“I’m glad that we understand each other.”
Yeah, I understand.
I understand that not only will I have to put up with some stuck-up rich boy who wants to play at being a club owner, but I have to make sure that none of the players fuck this deal up for Rex if I want to save my own head.
Yeah.
I understand perfectly.
And I don’t fucking like it.
Chapter 10
Piper
“This is bad. I mean, this is really bad. Right?” Toby takes his eyes off the laptop to look up at me nervously.
I don’t respond and keep my eyes locked on the screen instead, reading every absurd blog post painting Nathan as the worst thing to have ever happened to the NHL.
There’s bad publicity. And then there is this—a hack job with the sole intent of ruining my player’s livelihood.
