Of course, it is.
I’ve wondered if he’d reach out. He always had to try to impose his will. It just never worked with me,but why would that stop him?
“Yeah,” I say, getting situated but not starting the truck. “I remember you. What the fuck do you want?”
His anger bleeds through the line before he even speaks again. It’s palpable—thick and fiery. And it always leads to trouble.
“I’m here with an ultimatum,” he says.
“You know what would be great?” My jaw tightens as my eyes land on an empty tea bottle Audrey left yesterday. “If you were standing in front of me while you said that. But, hey—bonus points for calling yourself instead of sending one of your errand boys.”
“How about fuck you?”
“Nah. Not really my thing.”
“Shut the hell up and listen,” he growls through the line. “You will stay away from my sister. Completely. Zero contact. You do that, and I’ll make sure you’re reinstated, and then you can pay for your mommy’s groceries.”
I wrap my fingers around the steering wheel and squeeze so hard that my knuckles turn white. Mom’s my Achilles heel, and the bastard knows it. Fuck that motherfucker.
“And, if you don’t,” he continues, smug now, “you’ll never fight in the NAFL again. I’ll make damn sure of that.”
There are a million things I want to say to this sonofabitch, but I don’t want to make it worse for Audrey. And it would make it worse for her. Drew would do it just to punish me. I have zero doubts about it.
“Oh, if you try to get cute,” he adds, thoroughly enjoying this, “I’ve got a guy willing to sign a notarized statement saying he’s been selling you performance-enhancing drugs for years.”
“Here’s an option,” I say, staring straight ahead. “Stop hiding behind red tape and dollar bills and fight me. Be a man. You’re supposed to be a fighter. Let’s settle this in the ring.”
“I’ll need your answer before we vote on Monday.”
“Why are you so pathetic?” I ask, seething. “I get it. You’re jealous of me. I would be, too. But keep it between us. Don’t involve your sister. That’s dirty, even for a piece of shit like you.”
“Tell her I called and say bye-bye to fighting ever again. I hope I made myself crystal clear.”
The line goes dead.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
Audrey
Me: I promise. I’ll come back next week when I get home from Boston, and I’ll answer whatever question you want to fire my way.
Gianna: I’ve started making a list. You’re going to need about 2 days to answer them all, from the looks of it now.
Me:
Gianna: I bumped what you owe me to $50, by the way.
Me: What for?
Gianna: Convenience fee for waiting for the dick data download.
I sit up on the bed.Did I hear something?
Gianna: Just don’t forget anything. I don’t want to hear you say one time I DON’T REMEMBER. That will be bad for you.
Knock! Knock!
