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“A witness,” he answers.
I frown. “A witness to what exactly?” I ask.
“Gary Hayes telling Victor Hayes that hedidin fact drug and rape Leah. It was all caught on camera and the witness is here to speak today.” I dart my gaze to the guys to see they are just as shocked as I am.
“How does this help us?” Saint asks.
“It would mean that the charges Gary has pressed against Corvin and Darius won’t hold much weight now that there is proof their attack was warranted in the defense of Leah Williams. All we need to do is have both Corvin and Darius make a formal apology before anything is mentioned about the merger. When the merger is announced, Darius will then close out the conference by saying he is heading straight to the local precinct and will be out on bail within a couple hours.” A whoosh of air escapes me.
“I’ll still have to go to court though?” I ask.
“Not if I have anything to do with it. Now, let’s get this over with and get the hell out of here because I have a mountain of paperwork to finish and new employee contracts to draft for you boys.”
“And this is why we keep you on retainer, Troy,” Crue jokes, earning a scowl from the old man.
* * *
Istand from my seat and look out at the crowd of reporters, spotting Gary and Victor in the back with smirks on their faces. It brings me great fucking joy to see Gary sporting a cast on his throwing arm. I fucking hate that I have to say sorry to the son of a bitch and act like I mean it. Troy said I have to sell it or I risk fucking up this whole thing up.
“Ladies and gentlemen, firstly we would like to thank you all for being here today. Before we dive into the announcement I would like to address a matter that occurred Friday night at Crestview Heights University involving myself, Corvin and another player from DCU–”
“Is this about the fight?” someone yells. I nod.
“What was the cause of the fight?” a woman shouts.
I recite the speech Troy had told me to. “An explicit video was shared by Gary Hayes involving Corvin’s underage sister. Gary drugged and raped her.”
“Allegedly!” is shouted from the back. I focus on Gary allowing a small smirk to be seen on my face as I speak.
“No. This is the truth and we have proof.” Gary turns to his father who is glaring directly at me.
“Mr. Lockhart, is the rumor true that Gary Hayes is in fact your brother?” I plaster a fake smile on my face and answer the guys question. We have always been in the spotlight because of how well we play football, but recently, since rumors spread that we may be the owners of one of the wealthiest stock companies in the US, the press have been sniffing around a lot more lately.
“It is.” Murmurs break out around the room. “Gary is my twin brother and Victor is my father. We were reunited when Victor graciously sold his company to us.”
“What company?”
“Who bought it?”
Questions are shouted but I ignore them as I press on. “I apologize for my outlandish actions on Friday night. I know because of the severity of it that I will be barred from taking the field again. But I don’t want my actions to overshadow the real reason we are standing here in our newly acquired hotel.” If looks could kill, I would be dead and six feet under from the way Victor is looking at me. More gasps ring out and questions are shouted at me. Corvin stands beside me turning the attention to him. He raises his hand and a hush falls over the room, waiting to hear what he has to say next.
“I would also like to extend my sincerest apology to you all for my actions. I have no excuse, except that seeing my sister being hurt and abused by that man sent me spiraling into a fit of rage, which I am not proud of.” He points directly at Gary who looks utterly thrown by the turn of events. “My sister was nothing but a means for him to use to get at me and… Darius.”
“Why would that affect Mr. Lockhart, your sister being hurt?” A guy calls from the front. I stand beside Corvin wanting to answer for him. Troy warned us someone would ask this question and it had to come from Corvin, not me to show we have no bad blood. But that’s a lie, Corvin won’t even look at me.
“Because at the time of the… incident, my sister and Darius were dating.” Before any more questions can be asked, Corvin raises his voice to be heard over them. “We will be pressing charges against Mr. Hayes and my sister will also be pressing charges for assault as he punched her in the face.” Angry shouts erupt as cameras are turned away from us for a moment to snap pictures of Gary and Victor as security leads them from the room as questions are being shouted at them about theincident.
“If I could redirect all your attention back to the front, please,” Troy calls. “Thank you, now for the actual reason we are all here. I would like to introduce you all the new owners of Sullivan Global, soon to be known as Saint Hart Holdings. As you may all have deduced by now, these five young men are the founders and CFO’s of BCD’S, the most profitable stock trading company in the US. These five young men have applied themselves to this business and sunk every cent they had into making sure it excelled and it did. BCD’S will remain as a stock trading company but with the merger of Saint Hart Holdings, the resorts will run as they always have, as will the hotels, but they will also now offer master classes in stock trading. What these five young men have achieved at the tender age of twenty is incredible. Now, are there any questions?”
We have question after question hurled at us for at least an hour before Troy finally calls it. I’m beyond grateful to get the fuck out of here and take off this monkey suit he made us all wear. I don’t do a suit and tie, never have and never will. We’re ushered straight outside into a waiting limousine that will take us to the police station downtown.
“You boys did great. You all handled yourself well and dealt with Victor and Gary with poise. Now, I must say, I don’t think we have seen the last of them.” I grunt out my agreement, too nervous to speak. There is so much that could go wrong with me handing myself in like this. There is no guarantee that I will be granted bail and I refuse to spend the next few years in a cell.
* * *
By the time we finish at the station, it’s dark out. I’m fucking hungry and pissed off that I’ve been sitting in a cell for hours. The only reason I was let go Troy said is because Gary dropped the charges against me. Why though? We stand around the empty car park at the back of the station waiting for Troy to get off the phone to whoever the hell it is.
He ends the call then looks to Corvin before looking at me. “Gary dropped the charges because apparently he received a call from a young woman who threatened—excuse me—warned him that she would come forward and press charges for blackmail, rape, assault and a few other things. Gary had no choice but to withdraw the charges or spend the better part of his life behind bars.” Surprise courses through me. I look over at Corvin to see he has the same look on his face.
