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“Ditto.”
“Did you hear what he said?”
Damien had been trying to force the scene from his mind.
“He found her, what the hell was the word, stimulating? And since he is a happily married man, a devout man, but still felt that way, of course all these poor red-blooded American boys would, too. So she had to go. For the ‘good of the players.’”
“And ‘their souls,’” Damien snapped, the words gouged into his brain like a seared scar. God, one conversation with the small-minded asshole had given him just a tiny hint of what Viv had gone through. He didn’t even want to imagine how demeaning it had been for her all those weeks working in this building.
“And as for Neeley...”
A growl escaped his mouth. Sam heard, and shut his own.
Damien had been the one to fire gernal manager Fred Stoker, with the corporate attorney there at his side. But he hadn’t been in the room when Sam and the new acting general manager, a quickly promoted assistant, had informed Neeley he was being traded. Sam hadn’t trusted Damien to be there, with good reason. Hell, Damien didn’t trust himself around the guy. Damien had met Neeley, and knew the player had a hundred pounds on him. Still, Damien didn’t think he’d have been able to resist trying to break Bruno’s jaw. Damien would probably have snapped every bone in his hand, but it would have been worth it.
“How could anybody be so stupid? I mean, was the guy living in the Dark Ages or something? Who goes after the victim of sexual discrimination?” Sam asked, his mind back on Stoker.
“The Virginia Vanguard. At least, before today.”
“Exactly.” His friend leaned forward, crossing his arms on the desk. “Which is why you’ve got to steer clear of her.”
Damien opened his mouth to argue, but Sam held up a hand, forestalling him. “Our team general manager and several players violated our sexual harassment policy—are you going to tell me you’re ready to break your own rules against fraternization?”
“I don’t work here,” he snapped.
“Legally, it doesn’t matter a damn,” Sam explained. “You practically own the team, Damien. You can’t get involved with an employee—especially not one who we want to keep happy and nonlitigious. I’m not just worried about the league wanting to stay squeaky clean before the launch. If she makes a stink, the rest of the shareholders might get antsy. You are aware they already believe you’re too inexperienced with professional sports to be CEO.”
Damien finally realized what Sam was really getting at. The lawyer wasn’t as worried about Viv causing trouble immediately. He was afraid Damien would cause her to make trouble in the future, for more personal reasons.
“What, you’re afraid I’ll piss her off after you’ve gotten her calmed down, and she’ll sue because of me?”
“It’s happened before.”
Damien slammed a hand down. “Don’t fucking mention that.”
Sam nodded slowly, not continuing the subject. He’d already put the thought in Damien’s mind, which was bad enough. But even the silence was thick and heavy.
“This is nothing like Georgia,” Damien finally said, anger making him tighten his grip on the arms of his chair. “That woman from the Atlanta hotel was running a scam. I didn’t touch her. It was a bullshit lawsuit from start to finish.”
“Yes, and it went away. You were vindicated.” Sam slowly shook his head, getting that wise-old-soul expression on his face, the one he’d had from the day they’d met, when he’d been a skinny, nerdy, computer geek who hadn’t been sure what to make of his rich and spoiled, but also sad and a little lost new roommate. “But this time, it wouldn’t be bullshit, now would it? There is a personal connection. And eventually, when it ends, she could accuse you of just romancing her to keep her from making trouble.”
“She wouldn’t.”
“You can’t know that for sure.”
Damien heard a note of unconcealed anger in the voice, and he eyed his friend closely. He suspected Sam was talking about his own recent relationship, one that had ended badly. Considering the person who had ended it was Damien’s youngest sister, and that the breakup had almost destroyed his twelve-year friendship with the other man, he didn’t want to go there.
“I would never hurt Viv,” he finally insisted, not wanting to rehash something the two of them had already settled. Sam might still have issues with Damien’s sister Johanna, but the two men had moved on.
“Not intentionally.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
