“So look, I want to give you a chance to get ahead of something,” I say, keeping my tone easy, conversational. “You’re a rising prospect with serious potential, and I think readers are going to be curious why you chose to work with a coach who’s been out of the professional scene for as long as Dom has.” I pause, letting the question breathe. “Was there any hesitation on your end, given everything that happened back then?”
Roman’s rope falters for just a second.
“That’s not relevant to this story,” Dominic cuts in before Roman can answer.
“It’s context,” I say, turning to face him. “I’m giving him a chance to address it on his own terms. That’s better than letting people speculate.”
“Right.” There’s a sharp edge to Dom’s voice now. “Because you’re here to write a fair, balanced profile, not to dredge up the past and twist it into whatever narrative suits you.”
“I’m here to tell the truth,” I say. “That’s what I do, and that’s what I’ve always done.”
He laughs, short and humorless. “That’s funny. That’s really funny, coming from someone who wouldn’t know the truth if it showed up with a name tag and a PowerPoint presentation.”
“Excuse me?” I take a step toward him, my notebook forgotten.
“You heard me,” he says, not backing down an inch.
I laugh because the audacity is almost impressive. “I’mthe one with truth issues? You’re the one who went to the scholarship committee and told them I plagiarized my essay. You fabricated that out ofnothing, Dominic.”
“Because you went to them first!” His voice is rising now, that precious control starting to slip. “You were already telling people my community service hours were fake and implying I had someone else writemyapplication. You were working that committee for weeks before I ever said a word?—“
“That isnotwhat happened,” I cut in, my own voice climbing to match his. “I found out what you were doing and I defended myself. You went behind my back first. Don’t you dare make it sound like I started that shit”
“Danny Miller told meexactlywhat you were planning to say to people on that committee, and I wasn’t going to just stand there and let you?—“
“Oh, that’s convenient.” I step closer to him. “Blame me for something I wasallegedlyplanning on doing based on what Danny said. Which by the way, I wasn’t planning on doing anything! Real fucking mature, Dominic.”
“You want to talk aboutmature?” He laughs. “You published a hit piece about me ten years after high school because you were still mad about a scholarship.”
“Itwasn’ta hit piece,” I say, my hands curling into fists at my sides. I could actually smack him. “It was investigative journalism. Your fighter was doping, and you knew about it.”
“I didn’t?—“
“Another coach saw it happening openly and went on record about it, and Miles neveroncedenied that you were involved.” I cut him off, taking another step closer. “So don’t stand there andact like you were some innocent bystander who got caught in the crossfire.”
His jaw goes tight. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I know exactly what I’m talking about,” I say. “I spent three months on that story. I have sources and documentation and?—“
“You have a vendetta,” he says, his voice rising. “That’s what you have. You saw an opportunity to come after me and you took it.”
“Maybe you should have thought about that before you?—“
“Before Iwhat?” He throws his hands up, exasperated. “Go ahead and finish that sentence. I’dloveto hear what other crimes you’ve decided I’ve committed.”
Roman clears his throat loudly. “Should I maybe give you two a minute?”
“No!” We both say at the exact same time, turning to look at him in perfect unison.
Roman’s eyes go wide. “Okay,” he says slowly, raising his hands and taking a step backward. “That wasn’t creepy at all. Cool. I’ll just be over here, far away, pretending I can’t hear any of this.”
Part of me wants to apologize to him, because this is wildly unprofessional. I’m supposed to be here doing a job, building rapport with my subject, not screaming at his coach about two-decade-old grievances in front of the entire gym. Dara would have a stroke if she could see me right now.
But Dominic is already turning back to me with a look of pure contempt, and the apology dies in my throat.
“You sabotaged me,” I say, lowering my voice. “You went to that committee and lied about me and almost cost me my future.”
“Yousabotagedme,” he says, stepping even closer. “You ruined my chances for the scholarship, and then you came after my career with everything you had.”
