Antonio smirked. This app was getting good at throwing shade. “I got my team to the big dance. Twice. I can show you the ring to prove it.”
Jackie waved her hand after typing a reply. “Ain’t nobody trying to see that gaudy thing.” She tilted her head to the side. “And here I was thinking maybe I was a little paranoid, accusing you of stealing my client. You weren’t a thief; you were something else altogether.”
“I was just being an overprotective dad. That’s all.”
“I was going to say jerk,” Jackie countered. She picked up her shoes to walk further down the beach, and Antonio followed. They stopped near a clearing between palm trees and sat on a large, flat rock in the shade.
“Jackie,” Antonio began again. “I’m sorry I inserted myself in your dealings with PJ. It was a bad look, I know. I just wanted the best for him.”
Before Antonio could take a breath, Jackie’s phone replied. Damn, she’d gotten fast at typing. “You didn’t have to lie to me. As much as it pains me to say, maybe I would have been more receptive to your meddling had I known the truth.”
As an agent, Antonio knew having a positive relationship with a client was paramount. Trust was everything. “Your relationship with PJ is solid, Jackie. He respects the hell out of you. But with the merger, and PJ’s career on the rise, I didn’t know when or how to tell you. Of course, I should have told you years ago, instead of letting you make all these assumptions. I just never expected our paths to cross like this.”
Jackie blew out a breath and typed. “So, what’s next?”
“I don’t know.” Antonio shrugged.
“Are you going to tell the partners? Patrick?”
“Hell no.” Antonio was a pretty private person, and this definitely fell under the realm ofnone of their damned business.
“So, you don’t think the nation’s largest sports agency should know their number two agent’s son”—Wi-Fi was apparently spotty on this part of the beach, so the app responded for Jackie in spurts—“who happens to be in the running for Rookie of the Year, is their client?”
Antonio gave a dry chuckle. “First of all, you ain’t slick with that number two agent line, and secondly, there is no conflict of interest. You’re his agent, not me.”
Jackie put a hand on Antonio’s knee, which surprised the hell out of him—and briefly made him stiffen. It was an action that was so soft, so sweet, and so unlike her. She removed her hand to type a question.
“Don’t you want to be able to tell everyone that amazing young man is your son? I know you’re proud of him. You care so much about him beyond the court. I can tell.”
“I’m so proud of him.” Antonio sucked in a breath as he said the words.Fuck. I’m not about to cry in front of this woman. He blinked his tears away quickly before speaking. “And I do care. But Jackie, PJ has to be ready to share this. I won’t force him. If I push, he’ll just shut down. Plus, Marilyn has her hooks so deep in every aspect of his life, any reason to take the shine off her, change the narrative that she’s constructed…it’s just going to piss her off. She’s crafted an image around PJ too. The press love that shit.”
“Trust me, I know. But he’s an adult now—” They both waited for the app to pick up signal, so Jackie could finish her thought. “And he can make his own decisions as to how and why he wants you back in his life.”
Antonio groaned. “Ugh, you don’t know Marilyn like I do.” If Jackie was scary at times, Marilyn was downright horrifying. She’d been a nightmare to coparent with from the start. With PJ entering the league, Antonio had become enemy number one. Marilyn told him constantly to mind his business when it came to her dipping her hands into PJ’s money or fame.
Jackie laughed. “Trust me, Idoknow Marilyn. Nothing pisses her off more than not getting her way. But my point is, this isn’t about her. It’s about you and PJ.”
“You’re right, Lucky.”
They sat listening to the ocean waves for some time, the sound of the waves lapping against the shore seeming to calm them both. Antonio finally spoke. “I already apologized, but I’ll say it again: I’m sorry for keeping this from you. So, do I have your trust again?”
Jackie scoffed, then typed. “Not even close.”
Antonio’s lips quirked upward. “That’s fair. I tell you what. In the spirit ofearningyour trust, why don’t I give you something I know you’ll appreciate. Actually, two things.”
Jackie narrowed her eyes.
Antonio leaned closer to her. “What if I can convince PJ to do the interview for your girl at WWSN?”
Jackie gave him a look that said,Of course you’d know about that. She thought for a moment before typing her reply. “Fine. But you have to promise me, no more secrets, Antonio.”
Antonio put his hand over his heart. “I promise.”
“Okay. So, what’s the other thing?” Jackie typed.
“Get you Mo Williams as a client,” Antonio said as he stood. “That’s what we’re here for, right?”
Before she could insist she didn’t need his assistance, Jackie’s stomach growled loudly. She pressed a hand against her belly.
