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I nodded, leaning back in my chair and settling in for a long speech. Grandad loved to soapbox. He meant well, though he’d been harping on Shane and me taking over the business. That wasn’t in my cards, and I guessed he was aware of my thought process even though I’d never described it to him. There was no point. I would go into the NFL, which I knew he supported. But the company was something he’d dreamed of handing down to us. Shane and I would work things out with Grandad’s business. If he didn’t want to run it, we would find someone who could on our behalf.
“What I’m leaving you and your brother is a legacy, and I expect the business to prosper when I turn it over to you boys.”
My head throbbed, as did the bruises from where Jake had managed to tag me. I needed him to get on with it so that I could crash. We had a long run in the morning before practice.
“I’ve come to find out about a situation you’ve found yourself in.” His bushy eyebrows lowered, and I swear steam came out of his nose.
“What are you talking about?”School? Aspen? The baby? Fighting? The problems between Shane and me?The list was lengthy.
Grandad rested his elbows on the armrests and steepled his fingers. “I have an employee in human resources whose shares a mutual acquaintance with you.”
“Okay.” I had no idea where he was going with this and downed the rest of my water.
“Mark Reid.”
I choked on the last sip at the mention of Aspen’s father, spewing water everywhere. He knew. Shane had to have told him because I sure as hell had not.
“I see you know the young lady in question. Quite well, from what I’ve learned.”
“I was going to tell you and Mom about Aspen.”
“No need. But what you will do is throw next week’s fight.”
“What?” I wasn’t even going to cover the topic of how he’d found out. “Why would I do that?”
“Why, indeed?” Grandad stood and went to the door, where he paused. “I lived through Linda’s terrible choice of getting pregnant and destroying a young man’s dreams, breaking her mother’s heart, and ending with her taking her own life. I should have been more involved in my daughter’s choices. I made mistakes with her, and I learned from them. If I’d acted, maybe she would still be around.” He paused and swallowed. “And that brings me to my employee. I’m sure you wouldn’t want anything to happen to Mr. Reid. Throw the fight, Phoenix. It’s time to end things. I’ll be watching.”
Stunned, I just sat there as he waltzed out of my room as if he hadn’t just issued an order to throw a fight and destroy my credibility, or he would take it out on Aspen’s father. Grandad was an overbearing asshole and a lot of other things, but this was the first glimpse of ruthless and manipulative that I’d seen in him as ruthless and manipulative. It made Mom’s rebellious nature that much easier to understand.
The more I thought about it and tried to find a way out of the impossible situation, I realized something unsettling. It was a test. Grandad wanted me to follow instructions to see if my pride was bigger than my loyalty. Not only that, but I wondered if he planned to place a bet against me. There was a lot of money to be made for anyone who knew the fight’s outcome, especially if the favored contender didn’t win. And after my fight tonight and how the odds had been stacked against me, I would be favored to win regardless of who the other opponent was.
I had never thrown a fight and couldn’t believe I was even considering following his orders. I’d lost some, although not many, and I would have to take a beating to make it believable. Grandad made it clear that it wasn’t my choice. Hell, he even knew about Aspen.
I wondered whether he really would fire her dad and take away Aspen’s access to health insurance. I shoved my fingers through my hair and doubled over. Holy fuck, that was… evil. It gave me another window into my family. Mom’s sister, aunt Linda, had taken her own life. The depression and miserable marriage were too much to bear. Part of me couldn’t help but wonder if Grandad had also played a role in her unhappiness.
Mom was so strong and independent, refusing to accept any help unless it was for him to pay for something for us that she couldn’t, and I suspected that was part of why she was working herself into an early grave—so he couldn’t hold anything over her. Shane and I had always wondered. Grandad wasn’t wealthy like Uncle Lucas, who was a billionaire, but he did all right.
But Grandad’s money came with strings attached.
The money from the fight… I could bet big. We would need so much more if Aspen’s access to health insurance was canceled. What I would have to do was becoming clearer. There wasn’t a choice.
One thing that bothered me was that I didn’t yet know who my opponent was.Dammit, Shane.I needed someone to talk to. I could only imagine what he would have thought about what I’d learned about Grandad or what he’d ordered me to do.
If Grandad was controlling me like a fucking puppet, it was possible that he had his mitts on who my opponent would be. Somehow, I didn’t doubt it. In a fight, I’d never drawn Shane, Damon, or Cole. Maybe if it were one of them, the sting of cheating wouldn’t be so severe. Or perhaps it would be worse.
CHAPTER TWENTY
ASPEN
Raw fear skated over my body in a volley of pins and needles. Several weeks had passed since that euphoric morning surfing with Riley, and I wished I could have another few hours on the water to resurrect that chill vibe.
But it wasn’t meant to be. I’d made it through the weekend and to my midweek doctor’s appointment—alone. Mom couldn’t come, Regan was still out of state, and Phoenix couldn’t be relied on. I didn’t want him there, anyway.
But in that moment, I regretted not asking him to come. I should have because when the doc said there was a possibility of complications after the results of a blood test and they needed to do more testing, it took everything in me not to burst into tears.
I loved the little peanut—or alien, rather, as I was at four months—and the thought of something being wrong was too much to handle as I lay on the exam table. Warm gel spread over my stomach along with the gentle pressing of the ultrasound wand the doc wielded. The monitor was turned away from me while she took measurements. I needed to see what was going on and silently willed her to turn the screen toward me while I tried to pay attention to what she said.
“Is the test risky?”
