Page 92 of The Big Puck

“Bull shit, I—”

I gesture to Jett who lifts another sheaf of papers including the NHL ownership agreement and the, shall we say, behind the scene financials Tina and Lainey found on his computer.

“What’s this crap?” He looks at the NHL agreement, highlighted in yellow in several sections and tosses it aside, then looks at the financial spreadsheet. His eyes go wide the moment he recognizes it and he looks up at me.

“Where the fuck did you get this?” His voice is deadly as if he’s threatening me, as I’ve wounded him, stabbed him through the heart—figuratively speaking, maybe I have, since he seems to have a money bag where his heart should be.

“It doesn’t matter where I got the information, only that I have it.” This is where it gets tricky, because I’m sure it does matter if he can prove I got it illegally—i.e. stole it. But there’s no way in hell I’m throwing Tina or Lainey under the bus. Not Kap either.

“You’re a fucking moron if you think you can get away with stealing—”

“He didn’t steal the information, Daddy,” Tina says softly. He turns to his daughter, his face screwed up, confused and annoyed at her interruption. “I gave it to him. All of it. Are you going to accuse me of stealing it?”

“What? What are you talking about? Tina…” He stares at her and she stress right back, unflinching and I have to admire her strength, her solid backbone. Lainey reaches over and holds her hand. Jason moves closer to her on her other side.

“If you want to avoid jail time, you’ll need to deal with me.” I meet his eyes and they look feral and wild. He’s scared, fierce in his desperation and still clawing.

My adrenaline surges. “I have two conditions—”

“You have no standing,” Gavonza spits out, snarling like the cornered animal that he is.

I glance around at the people surrounding me. Tina nods.

“He has my support, Daddy.”

“And mine,” Stonewell says.

Jett cuts in. “He can bring everything to law enforcement or I can file a civil suit, or both.” He pauses. “I can guarantee it won’t be pretty and it will cost you… everything.”

“And in the end you’ll lose.” I let my words reverberate through the air, creating their own energy and momentum in the room as Gavonza looks around, panic taking over, his motions jerky.

“I want my attorney. This is bullshit.”

“No,” Tina says. “Your attorney is a cheat and a liar and he’ll leach you for all your money and you’ll end up back where you always do, daddy. “ They stare at each oher.

I watch, we all watch, eyes ping-ponging back and forth between Tina and her father. Jason puts an arm around her shoulder. My pride in the young man leaps.

Finally, I watch Tony Gavonza as he goes from rabidly fierce animal to broken, as if he were made of glass and Tina shot a puck right through him, shattering him to small pieces. His shoulders slump and he falls back into his chair, his hands tremble as he grips the edge of the table, his face falling fast like it’s going to melt off his skull.

“My three conditions are that you are out—”

“You said two conditions.” Gavonza still has some spit left for me.

I smile. “It’s three now. The more I think about it, the more I—”

“Get on with it.” His voice is less adamant than before as he moves his gaze from me to look at Tina. She remains rock solid, but I see a glimmer in her eyes.

“Don’t worry, daddy. Whatever he wants is better than jail. It won’t be so bad. I promise.”

I clear my throat and start again. “My three conditions are, first, that you are out. You relinquish your position as CEO.”

“I’m on board with that,” his partner says.

“Second, you extend my contract for five years and agree to additional compensation in the form of ten percent team ownership to be taken from your fifty percent share.”

He leaps from his seat, proving how hard it is to kill the devil.

“Daddy,” Tina says. I wonder if she’s going to carry enough sway to end this all now, to get him to agree to our terms without a court battle. I’m a fighter as stubborn as he is. I brace myself.