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There was a black safe next to my desk.
“What is that?” I peered at it. How had she hauled that thing in here?
“Call it a gift from the grave.”
I placed my latte on the edge of the desk and walked around the side, stooping to my knees. There was a passcode on the front. I looked at her.
“7-9-5-8. Your father’s birthday.”
“Oh.” I punched in the numbers and the safe unlocked. I lifted the lid. I stared at files of papers. It looked like a banker’s box of notes.
“What is this?” I picked up the one on top, reading the name: Luke Canton. “Why do you have a file on our quarterback?”
She brought the cup to her lips. “I do not have a file on Luke Canton. Those were your grandfather’s.”
I returned to my seat with the folder. I would have to listen to her entire explanation. Trying to pull bits and pieces out of her wasn’t working.
“Did Granddad leave these for me?”
“He probably didn’t expect you to ever see them, but since you are the new owner of the Warriors, I suppose so.”
I flipped open the top leaf of the file. There were articles. Pictures. And a copy of a check. I read the attached memo.
“Granddad paid off a woman who accused Luke Canton of getting her pregnant?” I was shocked.
She huffed. “That’s what it says.”
“You don’t know?”
She lowered the coffee to the desk. “There’s a file on every single man on the team in that safe,” she answered.
“But Luke is married to Lexi. They have a baby. This is damaging. Ludicrous.”
She closed her eyes, opening them again slowly. “I looked at the dates. It seemed to coincide with when he started dating Lexi. There is also a copy of an invoice from Charlie Maine. She came in and handled the situation according to the notes.”
I closed the file. I didn’t want to know what else was in it. But I was relieved Luke hadn’t cheated. I could only imagine the implications. And I hated to think what it would do to his young family.
“Why did you bring this to me?”
“There’s a file on Dylan James in there. Your dear fiancé. All of them. They have secrets. This entire team is built on secrets and lies.” She pinched her red lips together.
I didn’t know whether to dig through the safe looking for Dylan’s and Isaac’s files so I could keep them safe, or find them so I could read every detail. But I heard the hurt tone in her voice.
“You didn’t know?” I whispered. “You didn’t know this safe existed, did you?”
“I’m learning there are a lot of secrets in this family.” Her voice was monotone.
I had a deep and sudden pit of guilt in my stomach. I was one of them.
“But Grammy, I’m sure he just didn’t want to involve you in team problems. There’s nothing good in these files.”
“Is that how you think your marriage will work? You are ok with years of lies between you? You think it’s ok for a husband to hide things from his wife in a vault? Tell me, Nessa. Are you ok with Dylan keeping secrets? Having another life? Maybe another family?”
“Another what? What are you talking about?” I was buzzing. I’d never seen her like this. Everything about this conversation was out of context. The anger started to make more sense now. As she was going through Granddad’s things she was learning new information—information she didn’t like.
I had too. Like how cheap he was with the team. How he treated the players. How everyone in this building had practically hated him. It wasn’t easy to stomach.
“I thought you needed the safe. And I think you need to bring Charlie Maine in. I like that girl, even if she did keep secrets from me. Steve is a weasel. She’ll know what to do with it. Give her the safe and ask her.”
