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Chapter 5
Zariah
Get in. Get out. Walk away.
That was my mantra from the moment I opened my eyes at the crack of dawn that morning.
Get in and handle business. Get the trade taken care of, keep Nolan out of trouble.
Get out.
And then walk away, without glancing back.
I told myself the only reason I was doing it was because my ex and I needed some sort of official closure. Not because I cared that, without my help, he was going to get his ass handed to him. He would lose everything he’d sacrificed our relationship for, something I’d considered more precious and important than anything or anyone when we’d been together. None of that, in any way, shape, or form, mattered to me. I simply needed to see him one last time, show him what he’d thrown away by picking his father and baseball over me, and then move on with my life.
Maybe then I could let go of what we’d once had, the perfection that our relationship had been up until…it wasn’t.
Perhaps I’d finally find a guy I wouldn’t compare to Nolan Krenshaw, wouldn’t find them lacking, and be able to settle down. I wanted to fall in love with someone else. Start a family and fill the house that I’d built within the walls of my family’s compound with babies. My mom had been making noises about Zayne and me settling down soon. More Zayne than me, though. But I thought that was more because she worried about him being in Chicago so much. He was alone, and she wanted him to find someone who would love and care for him.
But I knew my brother better than our mom did. My twin was having the time of his life out from under the watchful eyes of our father andZioCristiano. There was no one there to compare him to our cousins Theo or Ryan. He was in control of his own territory, the big dog in the Chicago compound whom everyone feared. He was still too high on that power trip to even think about finding anyone to settle down with.
I didn’t have that same need as my twin brother did. I didn’t crave the power, the scent of fear, or the way people bowed their heads, in a sense, showing their necks in a form of submission to the alpha when I entered a room. At least, not in the way Zayne did. I might have enjoyed the way those billionaire baseball team owners had all shuddered a little as I’d taken over their meeting.
That GM prick had even given me a little bit of a rush when I’d seen the way his eyes had nearly bulged out of his head when Nolan had jumped to his feet, ready to beat the old man’s ass for insulting me, then again when he realized the MLB commissioner was such a close friend of my family—especially my uncle. It made me wonder if the man would piss himself if he knew thatTetkawas even closer thanZiowas. Ryan had a love for baseball just as much as my brothers, andTetkawould do anything to make sure he was happy. When she decided she was going to befriend the commissioner, she’d, in a sense, gone in with guns blazing.
Not literally. At least…I didn’t think so. The man didn’t seem to fearTetkawhen I’d seen them interacting, causing me to assume she hadn’t turned into the assassin she’d once told us stories about when we were kids. Some of the escapades she’d told us like bedtime stories had seemed too farfetched at times, like girl-power-fueled fairy tales. But as I’d gotten older, I’d started wondering if maybe they were all very, very true.
I would have had many opportunities just like the one today if Nolan and I hadn’t been torn apart years before. But he’d made his choices, and I’d had to change my career plans. Fuck, I’d had to change every aspect of my future after being tossed that high-velocity curve ball. Now I was VP over the legal department for my family, a position I had worked my ass off to earn but that I was bored with. It wasn’t that I hated it, but it sure as hell didn’t give me the thrill I’d gotten brokering the trade between two of the biggest rival teams in baseball history.
Despite the high I’d gotten from it, Nolan’s problems were now sorted, and it was time to follow the last part of the mantra I’d been beating into my own head all morning. Picking up my briefcase, I tucked the legal binder with all the signed documents under my arm and nodded at Tony. Unlike Ciana, I only had one bodyguard, something I was immensely grateful for.
She had Gino and Milo because Ryan worried about her. My little sister, who was the only one of us five siblings without a twin, had decided to make our cousin her honorary twin, and the two of them were closer than even I was with Zayne. Being Ryan’s favorite held its perks, I was sure, but it also limited Ciana’s freedoms. For that reason alone, I was all too happy to be an afterthought to my cousin.
Tony straightened his suit jacket, then extended his hand, indicating I should lead the way. I knew he would be only a step behind me, so I didn’t question my safety as I walked toward the conference room door. He’d been my guard before law school and then after I’d graduated from Harvard. Over the years, we’d learned to anticipate each other’s movements and tended to move as one.
Some of the tabloids that still liked to run their mouths about my family would sometimes take my picture with Tony at my side and make accusations that the two of us were together. It amused us both. Little did they know—or anyone else except for me—Tony had a husband. My parents weren’t even aware of his sexual orientation, and his secret would go to the grave with me. Which was how I knew that if I didn’t want them to know anything about my comings and goings—or more specifically, my connection to Nolan Krenshaw—he wouldn’t tell a single soul. Not even his husband.
“I believe you’re forgetting something, Miss Donati,” the GM announced before I could touch the knob.
“Nope. I have everything,” I assured him, popping the “p” with a dry look over my shoulder. “You gentlemen can get back to comparing dick sizes and pissing on things to prove to the world they belong to you.” I turned enough so I could give the old man a smirk. “Since you’re in the locker room enough, I’m sure you are all too aware that Krenshaw is carrying an anaconda in his pants. Don’t be embarrassed when your limp pencil dick doesn’t make the cut.”
Tony, normally a stoic killing machine, coughed to hide his snicker. “I guess we’ll be adding him to the enemies list now,” he muttered half under his breath.
I shrugged. “He’s all bark and no bite, T. Not even a little blue pill could fix his erectile dysfunction. No working dick usually means they don’t have the balls to follow through.”
“Zariah, you’re my ride.”
I fought a sigh at the Yankees’ owner’s voice. He was right. We had driven up together, but I wasn’t in the mood to hear him congratulating himself on getting the pitcher who had won the Cy Young Award four different times. If it hadn’t been for me, the owner would have still just been talking about getting Nolan Krenshaw on his roster. Because until I’d called him at five thirty that morning, he hadn’t made a single move to acquire the prodigal pitcher. I’d brokered the deal on the ride up while Tony drove, and I’d had the commissioner on speakerphone the entire four hours it took to get from NYC to Boston.
I shifted my gaze to the club owner my brothers idolized. Until I’d met Nolan, I hadn’t understood why anyone would care about baseball so much. And then after Nolan, while I might have understood it a little better, I’d still been at a loss as to why it mattered to my family to the point of obsession.
Then again, they didn’t know that the man I’d once loved had chosen the stupid game over our relationship. So I couldn’t really hold it against them without either telling them the truth or coming across as a psychotic bitch. Well, more so than my normal.
“I’ve arranged with your personal assistant for you to travel back to New York via helicopter. This will give you time to get to know Mr. Krenshaw on a more personal level. I’m sure you’re excited to learn all you can about your new star pitcher.”
“Very thoughtful of you, Zariah.” I refrained from rolling my eyes at his tone. It was difficult at times, but usually, I was able to control the urge. “What do you say, Krenshaw? Want to grab some lunch and tell me your life story?”
“What I want is about to walk out the fucking door,” Nolan growled, already on his feet and stalking toward me.
