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“The new striker. They were laughing at me because I’d never heard of any of the Christmas movies or played Uno or Twister. No one could believe that I’d never done anything like that before.”
Mother shuddered in disgust. “So? Are you complaining, Gabe? You’ve had the world handed to you on a plate and you’re grumbling that you haven’t lived a pedestrian life?”
“I’m complaining that you’ve never bothered with me. That nobody in this family has ever given a shit about me. That Dad was off running his empire and having his affairs and you’ve been on a sun lounger in Dubai or the Seychelles for the past twenty years. I’m complaining that when I was eighteen and I overdosed and almost died, it took you a week before you visited me in hospital. That you’ve never once written me a birthday card or said one nice thing to me in your entire life and now you’re punishing me over a stupid story I had nothing to do with. This wasn’t my fault. Why do I get sent away?”
She shook her head in confusion. “We’ve given you everything. You’re on the Forbes rich list. You’ve been on the cover ofTattlerandVogue. And you’re crying because I haven’t played Twister with you?”
My guts churned. “This is not about fucking Twister.”
“Then what is it about?”
Silence echoed from the screen. What was it about? I didn’t lose my temper. What the hell was wrong with me? I folded my arms. I didn’t want to leave. Not now. I couldn’t be apart from Miri for that long. I hadn’t even said goodbye to her.
“You can’t take this team from me. Not now. I’m making a go of it. I’ve done everything that you’ve asked.”
“Your father left everything to me. Until I die, I’m in charge. You can do things my way or not at all. Fall in line and you get everything you want. You disappear for a while and then you do a press release. We’ll reassess about the team. You can’t be involved with one of the players. It looks terrible. End this thing with the goalkeeper.”
“Striker.”
“You can’t be carrying on like this when the press is watching every move you make.”
A pulse pounded in my head. “And if I say no?”
“Then you’re cut off. No team. Nothing. It’s my way or not at all.”
Fuck that. “What’s that? Sorry. I can’t hear you. Bad reception. We’ll talk when you get home.”
I swiped the call away.
Chapter 35
Miri
Gabeansweredthedoorto the penthouse with a bottle of beer in his hand. Dark shadows haunted his eyes and his hair looked disheveled.
“Hey,” I said softly. “I’ve been texting. You’re not answering your phone.”
“I’m sorry. I’m dealing with something at the moment.”
“I heard.” I reached for his free hand and squeezed it. “I’m so sorry you have to put up with this stuff. I hate that people make things up about your family—”
“It’s not made up,” he said quietly.
“What?”
He sighed and stepped aside. “You’d better come in.”
We sat side by side on the couch. My mind whirled from the story that Gabe had told me about the night his dad died. It was more awful than I could have imagined. Gabe’s dad and his girlfriend together. To think that some papers had printed stories that Gabe had pushed his dad while he carried all this guilt about his death.
He scrubbed his hand over his face. “I can’t believe it’s got out like this.”
“Nobody believes it. It will be old news tomorrow. It will blow over.”
“You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?”
“No. You can trust me.”
His eyes locked with mine. “I know I can, Miri. I can’t talk to anyone about anything. My own staff go behind my back and give my mother reports on me. Friends leak stories to the press. It’s lonely. Never trusting anyone. It’s fucking lonely.”
