Tane stepped out of his Porsche and made a run over to the limo, quickly getting soaked by the increasingly heavy rain.
“You never heard of a raincoat?” Antonio said, handing Tane a hand towel as Tane sat down opposite him inside the limo.
“What’s this all about, Antonio?” Tane said, knowing that it was best to get straight to the point. “Jacob is behaving. Ask Coach Tremaine, he’ll tell you the same.”
“The family is happy with Jacob,” Antonio said. “But… there’s been some trouble with the Cardini family. Bonds have been broken, and blood has already been spilled. It could be about to getveryserious.”
“What’s this got to do with me?” Tane replied, his brain going into overdrive as he tried to second guess Antonio.
Tane waited for Antonio to answer. He could see that the usually unflappable Antonio was considering how best to say what he had on his mind. This wasn’t a good sign. This wasn’t a good signat all.
“The boy,” Antonio said. “Jacob.”
“Yes?” Tane replied, sitting forward in his seat and with worry etched onto his face.
“We believe that the Cardini family will target one of our players,” Antonio said. “In years gone by, it would have been you. But now that you’re in your last season, the chances are that they’ll make an attempt on our most valuable asset’s life. And that’s Jacob Gosling.”
“No, not the boy,” Tane said, his mind filled with panic at the very thought of Jacob being in mortal danger.
“I don’t make the rules, and I certainly don’t approve of how low the Cardini family will stoop,” Antonio said. “But we have to be realistic. Jacob is a multi-million dollar asset to the franchise who will be our most valued player for the next fifteen years. We have to be realistic about this. Jacob is in serious danger.”
“So what are you going to do about it?” Tane said.
“Nothing,” Antonio replied. “Well, not on the face of it. I want you to continue to guard Jacob and keep him close. We’ll be doing everything we can behind the scenes to settle this dispute and stop and all out war erupting between the families.”
“But… how can you… you just said Jacob’s life was in danger!” Tane bellowed, his anger drawing the attention of Antonio’s two fully locked and loaded henchmen.
“Relax,” Antonio said, calming his bodyguards. “I understand your response, Tane. I know you and Jacob have grown close. But you have to put your faith in the family. We’ve been through things like this before. But it’s imperative that you go about your business as normal, and that goes for Jacob too.”
“But-”
“Tane, I’m not asking,” Antonio said, glancing at his two bodyguards. “We appreciate your loyalty, as always.”
With that, Tane was left with no option but to nod in agreement.
“Good,” Antonio continued. “Now, I suggest you go home and sleep. The team have got some big games coming up, and our greatest ever player needs his rest.”
Tane nodded once more and got out of the limo.
As soon as Tane’s feet touched the rain-sodden sidewalk he felt a desire to howl in frustration and anger into the night sky. But Tane knew that he needed to keep a calm head.
It was time to go home and think about exactly how he was going to handle this situation.
Jacob’s life was under threat – and as Jacob’s man, Tane knew that the next decision he would make was by some distance the most important of his whole life…
Chapter 13
Jacob
The time with Tane the previous day was something that Jacob knew would stay in his memory for a long, long time. Jacob had always dreamed of having that kind of intimacy with someone he actually liked, and it had very much been worth the wait.
The very fact that Jacob was beginning to have some very serious feelings for Tane only added to how incredibly awesome the a time it was.
When Jacob woke that morning back at his place, he saw that Tane had called him and left a message at some point during the night. The message was pretty straightforward, but Jacob couldn’t help feel like something was amiss.
Jacob was waiting for Ricki to come over for an early morning playdate and couldn’t resist looking at Tane’s late night message once more…
TANE: Let’s play a fun game. Tane’s In Charge. I want you to stay at home tomorrow and have fun. No leaving the apartment. Invite a friend over, have some fun. That’s anorder. And you know what happens to naughty boys when Captain Tane is disobeyed…
