“Answer me this, Russell.”
“Anything, Ellie. I can only imagine how disgusted you are with all this ugliness. Armand is your only child, and you must be as outraged as I am. I know Randolph would’ve been horrified.”
“What I’m outraged about is that you’re airing Hayden’s personal life and pain in a public forum, intending to embarrass him. But let me ask you.” Something in the tone of her voice had Hayden raise his head. Armi squeezed his hand. “How did you discover Hayden’s unfortunate mistake?”
“Is that what you’re choosing to call it? Ellie, he—”
“Answer my question, Russell. You know, I still have a vested interest in the team. Randolph might’ve been brilliant in running a franchise, but he was stupid when it came to keeping his papers up-to-date, and he never removed me from his will either.”
“I knew Hayden was sniffing around Armand and that Armand would fall for whatever Hayden told him. Hayden’s anopportunist, probably out for the money. So I hired a private investigator who found what I needed.”
Eloise’s smile was thin. “And you watched the movie, didn’t you?” Her blue eyes blazed. “I used to see you looking at Armand when he was younger, and it made my stomach crawl. He was a teenager, but that didn’t matter to you. So I did a little investigating of my own and discovered you’ve always had a young male lover on the side, haven’t you? You’d sit with Randolph and hear him say terrible things about his own son and gay people and say nothing.”
“What?” Lucy’s shocked voice rang out. “Russell, no. Tell her that’s not true. You don’t like men. You said you loved me.”
“Be quiet, Lucy.” Russell reached for a chair and slumped into the seat. “I couldn’t tell Randolph. He wouldn’t have understood.”
Hayden’s head spun as the accusations flew in the air. All he knew was that everyone at some point had failed Armi. Not anymore.
“You made your choices in life.” Face flushed and shaking with anger, Armi pointed a finger at Russell. “In your desperate need to run the Kings, you’re willing to destroy Hayden by trashing him in front of people he works with. What does that say about your character? What kind of person does that?”
Hayden put a hand on Armi’s shoulder to soothe him. “It’s okay. Don’t get all worked up about him. He’s nothing. You, on the other hand, are everything.”
“Your intention was always to grab full control of the team, wasn’t it?” Eloise flanked his other side. “I’ll bet you sabotaged his efforts at every turn to make him look bad. But it’s all moot because Armand is strong and capable of making his own decisions.” To Hayden’s surprise, she placed a hand onhis shoulder. “You never had a chance in hell, Russell. With Armand, or your scheme to discredit Hayden, or taking over the Kings.”
Armi stepped forward. “You’re still on disability. I advise you to leave and think about whether you want to return or retire. Just know it won’t be the same if you do decide to return. Things are going to change.”
With no one rushing to help him, it took Russell several attempts to stand, but he finally limped out of the office. Upon hearing Eloise’s accusations, Lucy had left, and Hayden felt sorry for her as another pawn in Russell’s life. The staff stood awkwardly until Armi spoke.
“Everyone, please go back to work. We have plenty to do around here, I think?” They dispersed, but Hayden knew he’d be the topic of conversation for days to come.
Still reeling from the embarrassment of his personal life being put on blast, Hayden remained behind his desk. It was only the three of them, and Hayden braced himself, waiting for Eloise to speak. She might’ve been holding on to her true feelings for the sake of a public front.
“Hayden?” Heart hammering, he met her gaze. “No one goes through life unscathed, without missteps and mistakes. Some are small, and some have lasting impact. It’s how we choose to recover from them. I think you’ve suffered enough. I know you care for Armand, and that’s what matters to me.”
Armi hugged her. “Thanks, Mom.”
Alternating between nausea and wanting to pass out, Hayden wiped at his burning eyes. “Thank you. From the first I told Armi we’d keep it professional, that the two of us together was a bad idea, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Maybe I was wrong.”
Armi pulled him to standing and slipped an arm around his waist. “Maybe, huh? I think we’ve learned that some bad ideas can turn out to be the very best.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The breakfast meeting was tense, but Armi was determined to proceed normally. Hayden had begged off and he’d agreed, knowing how traumatized he’d been after the confrontation with Russell.
“So I’ve gone over the salaries, and our take from advertising and adding the two players from the NAIA won’t strain our budget or exceed the NFL cap. If we offer the two standard contracts, include offset stipulations but also incentives, we have a good chance of signing them.”
Silence reigned for a moment.
“That sounds good, Armand.” Troy Geiger shot a quick glance at a scowling Whitmore, who sat mute. “Jacob and I will review the contracts and forward them to you.”
“Thanks.”
Coach Jackson held up a hand. “Can I just say we all owe a thank-you to Armand? If it wasn’t for him insisting on us expanding our scouting beyond the high-profile college players and free agents, we might’ve missed these two potential stars. My coaches are already looking forward to the start of the seasonand going through the lists of these D3 and NAIA schools to see if we can scope out some rising juniors. I’m liking the new path you’re putting us on.”
Troy nodded. “I agree. It might’ve taken you some time and a few stumbles along the way, but I think you’re getting a good handle on how to run this team.”
A warm glow filled him. Armi wasn’t used to so much praise heaped on him. Or any at all. Maybe it was poking the bear, but Armi wanted to know. “Jacob, you’ve been pretty silent. What do you have to say?”
