“I did my research on the kid. He’s expected to goveryearly in the first round. A poor Combine performance will not affect himthatmuch.”
“We don’t know that though. I’m banking on that boy to get drafted early.”
“And he will. Come on, Tomasso. You make a significant amount of your money in sports gambling, so you should know how this works. Colton Taylor is expected to go in the top five, so the Combine will not be the ultimate deciding factor when it comes to his draft stock. They’ll look at it as one bad day, and he can redeem himself at Pro Day. Now, is this going to be an issue?”
My goal isn’t to fuck with the kid’s draft odds. I just want him and Alessia to feel the pressure of what Tomasso can—and will—do, especially with my involvement. If they realize he’s not fucking around about messing with Colton’s career in football, maybe Liana will take my proposition a little more seriously.
He clears his throat again and says, “Of course not.”
“Good. Just use this as an opportunity to win some Combine bets. Let the kid know right away.”
“Right away?” he repeats.
“Yes. The sooner you tell him, the better. Text me when it’s done.”
I hang up, not bothering to wait for a response.
Liana might not willingly come to me, but I sure know how to force her to.
9
LIANA
“Why are you here?” I ask Izzy, not giving her a second to set her stuff down at her desk.
“What do you mean?” she asks, eyes wide as if she has no idea what I’m admonishing her for.
“I told you to take it easy these last couple months of your pregnancy.”
Waving me off, she says, “I still have seven weeks until my due date.”
“And what if you end up going into labor early from working so much?”
“Statistically speaking, first time moms typically go into labor late.”
I roll my eyes. “Shouldn’t you be taking the time to…nest, then? That’s what it’s called, right? When you clean or something in preparation for the baby?”
Izzy laughs. “You could say I’ve been nesting this entire pregnancy. The nursery has been ready for months now.”
“Still, you need to rest and get ready for baby girl.”
Grabbing her iPad, she walks over to my desk and takes a seat on the other side. “No, what I need is to keep my mind busywith work, or I’ll go stir crazy. Now, we have manufacturers to talk about.”
I let out a sigh, knowing there’s no use in arguing with my cousin. I might be stubborn, but this one takes it to a whole new meaning.
“Have you heard back from Balistreri’s?” I ask.
“Yep, and thankfully, they’re making an exception to get our five sample gowns on their production schedule, but…”
I let out an anxious sigh. “But…?”
Izzy gives me a tight smile, and I know I’m not going to like what she has to say.
“Even with expedited production and shipping, they can’t guarantee with their quality control guidelines that we’ll receive them in time for the big bridal event we have coming up.”
Crap.
Going into this, I knew there was a high probability of this happening, but I was hoping we would find a manufacturer that would be able to squeeze us in while still giving us the quality we need. Clearly, that was me living in freaking la-la land.
