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  “Hello, Mother,” I said warily.

  “Goddamn it, Payton Grace!” my mother exploded into the speaker. “What in the hell do you think you are doing?”

  “What are you talking about, Mother?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm and give nothing away.

  “Do not play games with me, young lady!” she yelled. “I’ve seen the papers and the pictures. What the hell do you think you are doing?”

  “Oh, you mean Dax?” I asked innocently.

  “You know goddamn good and well what I mean,” she growled. “How do you think this looks for me? For the Bears?”

  “Well, since you were the one who issued the ultimatum…” I said trailing off.

  “Don’t get smart with me, young lady,” she spat. “You cannot do this. Your grandfather is rolling over in his grave as you humiliate this family!”

  “Don’t be so dramatic, Mother,” I said in bored tone. “After all, you’re the one who demanded that I find a man and get married, or have you forgotten that?”

  “This is not what I meant, and you know it!” she yelled. I pulled the phone away from my ear as she spat out an angry torrent of insults designed to get me to bow down and come running back to the fold. What she didn’t know was that I’d had enough and I wasn’t going to be intimidated.

  “Mother, I’m going to say this only once, so I’ll speak slowly and clearly,” I said once she’d wound herself down. I could hear her breathing heavily on the other end and I knew that she was seething. “You told me to find a man and get married. You gave me the deadline of a month. You told me that I’d be disinherited if I did not do as you ordered. I’ve done everything you required, so I think you should back the hell off and leave me alone.”

  “You are the most ungrateful and disrespectful child ever to have lived,” she hissed. “Your brother would never have spoken to me this way.”

  “Well, we’ll never be able to prove that one way or another, now will we?” I said spitting venom. She had pushed all of my buttons and I was dangerously close to drawing blood.

  “I don’t know what I did to deserve such a rude and hurtful daughter,” she said trying to shame me into line.

  “I do,” I replied. “You’re being an unreasonable bitch and Daddy would be horrified to see how you’re treating me.”

  “You ungrateful—you will pay for this terrible behavior, Payton Grace,” she hissed. “I will not tolerate disrespect and disloyalty from my own flesh and blood!”

  “Then you probably should have thought through your decision to force me to get married,” I struck back. “Because this is all your own doing.”

  On the other end, I heard a strangled cry and the line went dead. I stood holding the phone to my ear as if it would stave off the feelings of hurt, anger, and betrayal that were about to come crashing down on me. When it was clear that my mother was no longer on the line, I dropped the phone on the bed, sunk to the carpet covering my face with my hands, and wept.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Dax

  After practice was over, I’d headed into the training room where the players showered and got ready for the afternoon meeting followed by dinner in the cafeteria. We had arranged to have around-the-clock meal service for the team with big meals at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but the logistics had been a nightmare since the university was in the midst of getting the campus ready for the start of the fall semester. This meant I had to spend precious time each day charming the various administrators and supervisors so that things would run smoothly.

  I was headed up to the cafeteria to make the rounds when Nick stepped out of his office and motioned for me to join him inside.

  “What’s up?” I asked as I entered the office.

  “Close the door,” he said with a grim look on his face as he perched on the edge of a desk that took up more than half the space in the small room. I did as he asked and turned to find him rubbing his eyes.

  “What’s wrong, Coach?”

  “Dax, look, I know you like that girl and that you think she’s good publicity,” he sighed. “But she’s bad news.”

  “How so?” I asked knowing that his objection had mainly to do with Payton being a Halas.

  “No matter how you slice it, she’s suspect,” he continued. “It doesn’t matter whether she is or not, it’s the way things are going to be seen.”

  “I don’t give a shit how things are going to be seen,” I shrugged.

  “And that’s where you’re woefully unprepared to handle a professional football team,” he said, digging in. “Look, I know you have a lot of money and the best of intentions, but you’re going to run this team into the ground before it even gets a chance if you don’t stop treating this like one of your start-ups.”

  “I’ve never treated this as anything other than what it is,” I said calmly.

  “Bullshit. You’ve been running this team like an online gambling venture since the beginning,” he said growing agitated. “You’ve thrown money at us, but you haven’t invested in the long term structural foundation that will ensure we have a shot at the championship.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I demanded. “I’ve given you every damn thing you’ve asked for! A team, a stadium, a coaching staff that is head and shoulders above the rest of the league, money for equipment, and anything else you’ve asked for!”

  “You haven’t given me the autonomy to run the team how I see fit,” Nick said staring at me pointedly. “You micro-manage every aspect of the team and make me practically beg for everything.”

  “Bullshit!” I spat.

  “It’s not bullshit, Dax,” Nick said quietly. “I’m asking you to keep this woman away from my practice field because I don’t feel like it’s good for her to be observing our training camp or looking through our playbook.”

  “She’s not a spy,” I muttered.

  “Be that as it may, I don’t think it’s productive for the team,” he said as he picked up a folder off the desk and tucked it under his arm. “And if you insist on continuing to bring her to the practice field, I’m going to halt training until she leaves.”

  “You can’t do that,” I said.

  “Try me,” he countered without a trace of humor in his voice. He stood up, held out his hand, and said, “You’re welcome at practice any time, Dax.”

  I ignored his hand as I stared at him for a few moments, then turning and yanking open the door, I marched out into the locker room muttering every four-letter word I could think of under my breath.

  #

  I cooled down on the ride back to the hotel. Geo studied me in the rearview mirror, but didn’t say a word as I sat staring out the window, thinking about what Nick had said. I knew that Payton wasn’t a spy, but Nick’s outburst had made me question my staunch belief in a way that left a small doubt nagging at me.

  As we pulled up in front of the hotel, I shook my head to clear the fog and told Geo to be back in time to take us to dinner at seven. He nodded and made a note of it on the schedule, but said nothing more. I was accosted in the lobby by members of the press hoping to get a few quotes in time for their deadline. I didn’t want to stop and answer questions, but I knew that if I didn’t, it would create an acrimonious tension that, right now, I didn’t need on top of everything else.

  “Mr. Connor, are you and Ms. Lasky serious?” a reporter asked as several others tried to hold their recording devices close enough to capture my words.

  “We are seeing one another, and enjoying each other’s company,” I said smiling warmly. “It’s up to you how you classify that.”

  “Mr. Connor, are you worried about a conflict of interest between the Storm and the Bears now that you and Ms. Lasky are dating?” another reporter probed.

  “Not in the least,” I said shaking my head. “Ms. Lasky’s ties to the Bears are familial, not managerial, and besides, she’s a highly ethical person and understands the difference between dating me versus working for me.”

&n
bsp; “So, she’s also working for you?”

  “No, I didn’t say that,” I said warily. I knew that Payton was learning a lot about the Storm and the general manager’s job, but I didn’t think it was any of the press’ business at this point.

  “Mr. Connor!” a voice called from the back of the crowd. “How do you respond to Joanna Halas Lasky’s assertion that you’ve kidnapped and brainwashed her daughter?”

  “I’m sorry, what?” I laughed. The rumor mill was now in full production and even though I’d been expecting it, it still struck me as idiotic and implausible that anyone could come up with something so foolish.

  “Mrs. Lasky has issued a statement to the press saying that you’ve kidnapped her daughter and brainwashed her,” the reporter repeated. “How do you respond to that?”

  “By saying that I’m going to have to check out the source of the information before I comment on it,” I said tersely. “I suggest you do the same.”

  “I have, sir,” the reporter replied. “She called me twenty minutes ago and said exactly that.”

  “I see,” I said. “Well, I’m going to have to check with Payton and see what’s going on. If there’s anything to report, I’ll let you know in the morning.”

  “But Mr. Connor! Mr. Connor!” the pack of reporters began pushing in on me yelling questions over one another as I turned and made my way to the elevator that the concierge was holding for me.

  “Don’t let them upstairs. Hire extra security and charge my account, if you have to,” I said before the doors slid shut and the elevator moved upward.

  I entered the suite a few minutes later and saw no sign of Payton in the front room. I called her name, but got no answer until I walked into the bedroom and found her crumpled on the floor at the foot of the bed. She’d drawn her knees up and protectively wrapped her arms around her legs, and from my vantage point, she looked like she wasn’t wearing any clothing. Her long blond hair fell in a curtain around her face shielding her from view. Quietly, I moved across the room and sat down next to her resting my back against the bed.

  “Payton, are you okay?” I asked. She said nothing and didn’t move a muscle, so I waited. Minutes felt like hours as I waited, and then just as I was about to ask again, I heard her make a sound.

  “No,” she whispered. “No, I’m not okay.”

  Unsure of what she needed at this moment, I reached around and tentatively rested my arm across her shoulders. My impulse was to protect and comfort, but since we weren’t actually involved in a relationship, I wasn’t sure if I had the right to do so, and, if I was honest, I was a little scared of being wrong. Despite having the financial upper hand, women like Payton still intimidated me. As I reached around, I realized she was wearing a very small bikini, and as I touched her bare skin, I fought to control my automatic response.

  “Oh, Dax,” she said, her voice full of pain as she leaned against me. I gritted my teeth and tried to envision the engine of Pop’s old truck and the steps it took to change the oil in the old clunker. Nothing worked. Payton’s soft, warm body next to mine sparked a response that I couldn’t control.

  “What’s going on, lady?” I asked wondering if this was connected the question the reporter had asked me downstairs.

  “I talked to my mother,” she said flatly as I protectively wrapped my arm around her and held her tightly. I tried to conjure the image of Finn’s first high school fight. The one that had left both him and me battered and bloody for reasons that didn’t extend beyond the fact that we were white boys from the Back of the Yards. When I dredged up the picture of Finn’s front tooth hanging by a thread as the blood poured from his split lip, I felt my desire begin to subside a little. Payton continued, “She’s incredibly angry with me and she threatened to make me pay for my disloyalty.”

  “I don’t see how she can do that,” I said, rubbing her arm as I tried to stop the flow of tears that were soaking the front of my shirt. I slipped my fingers under her chin and lifted it up until she was looking up at me. Her face was streaked with tears and her eyes were red and swollen. I felt sad for her as I said, “Payton, listen to me. We don’t have to do this. I know you were angry with your mother when you agreed to this contract, but if this is going to destroy your family, then maybe we need to cut our losses and let this go.”

  “Are you breaking up with me?” she asked, obviously trying to hold back more tears.

  “Breaking up? No, I wouldn’t call it that,” I said squeezing her shoulder. “I’m just saying I would understand if this contract no longer seems like a wise choice.”

  “Oh my God,” Payton said as a look of surprise crossed her face. “You think I’m upset about my mother!”

  “Yeah, well, why else would you be sitting here crying your eyes out?” I said confused by the sudden turn in the conversation.

  “Oh, Dax, you have no idea…” she said laughing as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m not crying because my mother’s mad at me!”

  “Okay, now you’re officially on the train to crazy town,” I said feeling annoyed to have been drawn into a drama that I knew nothing about. “What the hell are you upset about, then?”

  “You’re not going to like this,” she said pulling herself up to a sitting position and facing me.

  “Well, we’ve come this far. Lay it on me,” I said.

  “I could not care less whether my mother hates me or not,” she said pushing wet strands of hair out of her eyes. “I’m just angry that my father didn’t live long enough to be able to witness me finally get revenge for him and my brother.”

  “What in the hell are you talking about?” I asked, trying to avoid staring at her bikini-covered body as she leaned back against the bed and stretched her legs out in front of her.

  “My mother killed my brother, Dax,” Payton said in a voice filled with cold anger. “And now I’m going to make her pay.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Payton

  I knew it was risky telling Dax what my plan was, but during the weeks we’d been dancing around each other trying to figure out how to manage our relationship, I’d learned a lot about him, and I knew that above all, he was someone who believed in family loyalty. I’d also come to understand that he carried a lot of pain of his own, and that if I let mine out, he’d listen before making a judgment. At the very least, I knew he disliked my mother and the way she’d treated him after he’d been awarded the team, so I felt fairly confident that he’d take my side.

  “You are going to get even with your mother?” he said looking confused as he ran one hand through his dark curls and then sighed heavily. “I don’t understand.”

  “My mother is responsible for my brother’s death,” I said. “She killed him.”

  “I thought your brother died in a car accident,” he said. “I remember reading about it when I was in high school. Some trucker made a wrong turn and t-boned the car he was in, right?”

  “That’s the official story,” I said, rolling my eyes at the tired, old tale my family had been telling since the night Jonathan had died. “But it’s not the truth.”

  “So, what happened?” he asked as he pushed himself up off the floor and offered me a hand. “Do you want a drink? ‘Cause I need one right now.”

  I took his hand and as he pulled me up off the floor I became very aware of the fact that I was wearing what amounted to nothing more than several small scraps of fabric. Dax tried not to look, but his eyes swept over my near naked body before he looked away and cleared his throat. I could feel the heat between my legs as I remembered what his tongue had felt like as he’d spread me open and teased me until I couldn’t stand it anymore.

  “Yeah, a drink would be good,” I said, shaking my head to clear it of the image. “I’m going to put something on over this bathing suit.”

  “Good idea,” Dax muttered as he walked toward the bar in the living room. I grabbed one of the thick, terrycloth robes hanging on a hook in the bathroom, wrapped it around myself, and
tied the belt tightly so that nothing more than my calves were showing and then rejoined Dax in the living room.

  Compared to the penthouse, the hotel was dingy and small, but somehow the interior designer had managed to install a large, comfortable couch that stretched along a far set of windows. I sank down on the far end, tucking my feet underneath me as I sipped the liquid fire. It felt good as it burned its way down my throat and then exploded in warmth in my stomach. As I waited for the familiar, warm, fuzzy feeling to take over, Dax restarted the conversation.

  “So, your mother killed your brother and now you’re going to exact revenge,” he said as he settled down next to me, resting one arm across the back of the couch in a way that made it impossible to ignore his broad, muscled chest. “Sounds very Shakespearean.”

  “It’s not that dramatic,” I said, realizing that to anyone outside the family, this would sound utterly unreasonable. “My mother took my brother with her to Soldier Field the night after the Bears NFC Championship win. She wasn’t paying attention when she made the turn off of Lower Wacker Drive and didn’t see a pickup truck come barreling through the light.”

  “That doesn’t sound like it’s all her fault,” he said skeptically.

  “She’d forgotten that my brother was in the back seat and hadn’t put a seat belt on him,” I said without emotion. “The force of the collision threw him through the side window and he landed on his head on the pavement.”

  “Oh man,” Dax muttered as he took a big gulp from his glass. “That doesn’t prove she killed him, though. You know that, right? I mean, accidents happen.”

  “Dax, my mother was a terrible driver, and as a result, my grandfather had arranged for her to always have a driver,” I said. “She had told the driver to go home that night, and then she decided she’d go see my grandfather at the stadium, so she took my father’s keys and his car. I didn’t know my brother had gone with her until my father told me that he and my mother had been taken to the hospital.”