“He was in here when I left,” Renee grumbles. “Which means that he stepped out, so that he’ll be able to storm in again and—”
The door slams open, revealing a man who appears to be in his late sixties. I raise my eyebrows as he strides through the room, ranting as he walks.
“I told those kids I wanted magic.Magic!” He gestures furiously with his hands. “And what did they give me instead? A goddamn migraine!”
Renee catches my eye and gives me the kind of knowing expression that reminds me of Jim fromThe Office.I nod my sympathy.
The man throws himself down in the rolling chair so hard that it spins away from us. He doesn’t miss a beat. “I can’t catch a break! One of those little assholes is already overstepping in one way or another. I tell you what, I’mthis closeto selling the team…”
“I’m sure that won’t be necessary, Mr. Giovanetti,” I interrupt. I extend my hand toward him over the desk. “Or… may I call you Sergio?”
The older man snaps his mouth shut. He grips the arms of his chair so hard the supports creak, and his eyes narrow to slits. Next to me, Renee presses her mouth into the thinnest of lines.
“Sergio?” the older man spits. “I amnotSergio.”
I lower my hand and offer my sweetest smile. “No? I’m sorry, you were talking about selling the team, so I assumed you were the owner. My mistake. Who are you, then?”
The man’s upper lip twitches. He leans forward, all of his earlier ire redirected from his wayward goalie to me. Step five: Never flinch. I keep smiling without breaking eye contact.
Men like him rely on reaction. If I give him one, he wins. If I stay exactly where I am, calm and unbothered, he has to recalibrate. That’s when I take control.
“I’mDanteGiovanetti. Dante!” He stabs a finger at the desk. “And the Venom is still my team, no matter what it says on the paperwork!”
“Or the desk,” I butt in.
Dante’s eye twitches. “Excuse me?”
I reach for the plaque on the desk, whichreads Team Owner: Sergio Giovanettiand turn it to face him.
I have never witnessed a spontaneous human combustion, but given how bright red Dante’s face is, I think he’s about three degrees away from bursting into flames. Of course, I know who Dante is. Everyone in the Strip has heard of him. He’s infamous.
But Renee told me that my best bet was to keep him in line, and that means establishing the fact that his bluster and infamy aren’t going to intimidate me.
I slide the nameplate back into place. “Pardon my confusion. So, you’reDanteGiovanetti. I’m Remy Callahan, your crisis manager.” I make a point of plucking a pen out of the holder on his desk and making a note in my files. “Now that we’ve got that cleared up, let’s talk strategy.”
Dante doesn’t seem to know what to do with himself now that I’ve successfully derailed his monologue. “Yes,” he snaps. “Let’s.”
Renee’s hand twitches. Outside of Dante’s line of sight, hidden by the position of his desk, she gives me a subtle thumbs-up.
I cross my ankles and flip through my notes, even though I know them by heart. “Let’s start with the basics. I’ve seen the clip, and I understand the implications. I take it Rourke is suspended?”
“Yes, which means we’re stuck with ourbackupgoalie for now.” Dante crosses his arms over his chest. “Which is far from ideal for our season.”
I nod my agreement and purse my lips in sympathy. “Understandable. But from what Renee has told me, it sounds like this event was an outlier. How long has Rourke played for the team?”
Dante rolls his head to scowl up at the light fixture. “I believe this is his, what… fourth season with us?”
Renee nods.
“And before that, on his previous teams, were there any issues? I’m not aware of any, but you know his history better than I do.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Renee says. “If you go all the way back to when he played for the Ice Hawks in the AHL, there were a couple of notes from his coach, but nothing since he went pro.”
“Ice Hawks?” I repeat, nearly dropping my pen. “As in, the South Shore Ice Hawks?”
Renee nods again. “Exactly. But again, he was just a kid back then.”
Well, fuck. Ezra had mentioned that Rourke was from Boston, but it didn’t occur to me that he’d be a Southie.
