Rolling my eyes, I say, “Yes, we. I told you and Gabby both that I could help.”
He looks down, swirling the brown liquor in his glass. “You don’t need to do that. I can bring someone in from Stella Holdings.” He’s bluffing. I know he’s bluffing because I can barely make out the tilt of his lips behind the glass he now holds to his mouth, and yet I still play into it.
“They don’t have the athlete experience.”
“We need to discuss the terms of your engagement if you do help Mary’s team.”
I smile into my glass. Folded like a lawn chair, just as I expected.
I wave him off. “Don’t worry about it. I’m happy to help.” I have more than enough money to support myself. I’m here because this team matters to me and its players and staff are my family. I don’t need the money.
“You don’t work for free.”
“Grant—”
“No.” The finality in his tone says it’s the end of the discussion, but I’ve never been one to roll over.
“Fine, you can have the friends and family discount.”
“Am I the friend or the family?”
“Undetermined.”
He smirks before turning to place his empty glass back on the bar cart. “Where do we start?”
“First, you fire Mark and Ricardo. I’m not working with that prick.”
“Consider it done.”
“That simple?”
“I don’t know how simple it will be since I need to pull their contracts and see what I’m up against, but after their show of disrespect today, they’re as good as gone in my book.”
“I didn’t realize it had gotten that bad when Gabby mentioned she was having trouble with them.”
“I hate that I didn’t see it before now. I thought I cleared out all the bad eggs.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. Men like that are good at hiding in plain sight.” I would know. As the only female at the PR firm I worked at right out of college, I grew accustomed to off-colored jokes and advances from men with stellar reputations but poor morals.
“Ricardo has brought in some of our best talent, but I won’t tolerate someone who acts like that. The women in this office are the best at what they do and keep us running. No one knows that more than me. Hell, if it weren’t for Teresa, I wouldn’t have made it this far.”
I smile thinking of the woman who’s always been kind to me. We’ve never met in person, but she’s been with Grant since he started the company. I don’t know if she ever told him, but she used to call me when I wouldn’t return Grant’s phone calls after we first broke up. First it was to tell me he was trying to reach me or to tell me how he was doing, but then it evolved into her checking in on me as well. She’s an angel among mortals and I’m thankful Grant has her in his corner, especially since his own family members are twats.
“There are better scouts out there. You don’t need Ricardo. Might I suggest a replacement for Mark?”
“Gabby?”
“She’s a boss ass bitch and has been running that department without recognition for a while now. I won’t tell you how to run your organization—I know how much you love that—but you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t take a long hard look at her contributions to this team.”
“You were right—she more than proved herself back there. If she wants the job, it’s hers. I just need to follow all the proper steps to get rid of Mark and Ricardo first, so I’d appreciate if this conversation stays between us for now.”
“It wouldn’t be the first thing I’ve kept between us.”
“They still don’t know about us?”
“No.” I haven’t figured out how to tell Ivory and Gabby that Grant and I have a history, and not just a history but a marriage that neither one of us have made a move to dissolve in ten years. For a while, it didn’t matter because he wasn’t part of my life, but now, with him in close proximity to my friends and plans for us to work together, I know I have to tell them soon.
Thankfully, he doesn’t push. “So with your first condition satisfied, what’s the next step?”
