Page 50 of Violent Little Thing

I gestured at Charleigh and me, but Charleigh didn’t offer any of her usual commentary.

She was glaring so hard at the door that I reached out and touched her hand. “Charleigh.”

She whipped her head around, a scowl so ferocious on her face that I raised my brows at her. “I want to set them on fire.”

Noe snorted.

I patted her hand. “Hold on to your temper, dear. We don’t want to start the party early.”

“Set them on fire after waterboarding them with gasoline,” she continued to grumble.

I’d heard the elder Cottonwood, Lauri’s dad, out there huffing and puffing about “having to wait” for ten minutes now.

He was certainly very vocal about the fact.

Though I would point out later in the meeting that I still had fifteen minutes until said meeting, and he could calm his proverbial tits.

Maybe he shouldn’t have arrived so early.

Though I knew what he was doing.

The more commotion, the better.

A high-pitched whine had me putting my hand onto Charleigh’s thigh and saying, “Don’t.”

That high-pitched whine belonged to my ex-sister-in-law.

She was Lauri’s doppelgänger, and every time I saw her, I felt a pinch inside my chest reminding me of where Lauri had once resided.

Lauri was nothing like her family.

Where Lauri was kind and caring, her family was rich, entitled, and unapologetic about who they stepped on on their way to the top.

My phone rang, and I glanced at the screen.

“That’s Kenny,” I said. “Do you think you can go talk to him?”

She picked up the phone and placed it to her ear, walking into the corner to quietly talk.

“She’s great,” Noe said, sounding sad. “How long have y’all been together?”

I saw no point in lying, seeing as I tried to start every relationship, professional or personal, with honesty.

“We’re not dating,” I admitted, getting a snort from him that was slightly incredulous. “I haven’t gotten to the catch.” He leveled a look at me. “There’s going to be some heavy opposition from some of the coaching staff as well as one of the owners.”

His brows rose at my words.

“Seraphina. She’s partial owner of the Condors. As well as the other sports team that we own, the Cowgirls. She’s responsible for killing Charleigh’s best friend in high school while driving drunk. She was in the car when the man that was driving her home—who was also drunk—killed a really good friend of mine a few weeks ago. She’s unapologetically uncaring. She has half of the coaching staff and the workers here under her thumb. She’s manipulative, has some sort of hold on people that helps them overlook her faults. And she’s invited my ex-in-laws here today, knowing that I was having an interview with a prospective coach, because she wants the old coach to stay.”

“Does she make sports bets?”

I frowned. “Not that I’m aware, but that honestly wouldn’t surprise me. Why?”

“I’ve been following the Cowgirls for a long time.” He shrugged. “The Condors as well. But I’d noticed all throughout last season that she was pretty damn smug about losing. All her interviews were fairly happy, despite having lost. Like she was getting something out of it. I only noticed because my mom was a die-hard soccer fan. She played professionally herself. She was actually part of the league when it first started up in 1985. With her not being able to get out of bed the last six months or so, we watched a lot of TV. That was just one of the things I’d noticed as a professional coach, how the team owner handled the interviews. Just struck me as the only reason she’d be happy, paying off refs left and right, and losing a game was if she was betting on them. It is also one of my stipulations upon coming to this team. I don’t want to deal with her at all. Any and all communication between the owners and me needs to be done through you, her,”—he jerked his head at Charleigh who was talking animatedly with her hands—“or the board.”

I leaned back in my chair. “I’m officially buying Benedict Vanderbilt out at the end of this week. Seraphina Vanderbilt will retain her ten percent ownership.”

Charleigh groaned and pocketed my phone, returning to her seat moments later.