Page 85 of Penalty to the Heart

“Then I guess it’s a good thing that Caleb has you and Piper in his corner.”

“That’s a lot of faith to put in one man,” he jokes.

“You forget that I know you. We’ve been friends a long time, Trent. Long enough for me to know that you wouldn’t allow anyone to mess with your team, unless you weren’t on board with what they were doing.”

“You’re right. You do know me. All too well, it seems.” He smiles with that shark-like grin of his.

“Better than most.” I smile back.

“Okay, Roxanne. I’ll let you take the lead on this one,” he says before standing up. “But before I let you enjoy the rest of your lunch break, I just want to make sure that this plan of yours will work. That all we have to do is twiddle our thumbs for a bit longer and just wait it out until the kid comes back to us whole. That’s the gist of it, right?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that, but yes. If you must do something, then my advice would be just to get out of Caleb’s way.”

“Not sure how I’ll be able to spin that to Piper, but I’ll do my best.”

“Just tell her that all we have to do is wait for him to come to us.” I smile, hopefully. “And he will come to us. All he needs is time.”

“Great,” Trent mumbles. “I never did like waiting.”

“I would have imagined you’d be a pro at it by now. You did wait for Piper all those years before making a move, and look how well that turned out.” I smile.

“With no help from you, if I recall.” He furrows his brows at me.

“If memory serves me correctly, you’re the one who fired me, remember?” I laugh. “Besides, I had no problem with the falling in love part. It was your obsession with Piper that raised a million red flags in my mind.”

“Then you’ve never felt that bone-deep love that Piper and I have.”

I keep my warm smile intact because I know he didn’t mean anything by it.

He’s just madly in love.

I’m so happy that he’s found such a fearless woman to stand by his side through life that I can forgive his tactless comment.

“Well, now that that’s settled, can I please get back to my lunch?”

He throws me a lighthearted smile, thankfully leaving me to enjoy the rest of my lunch hour in quiet solitude.

But to my chagrin, I spend most of it thinking about Caleb, kicking myself for not having asked what triggered him to fire Piper in the first place.

No matter.

I’m sure he’ll explain it to me in tonight’s session.

However, he doesn’t explain because he never shows up.

Not that night nor the following nights after.

In fact, the next time I see Caleb Donovan’s face, it’s on the nine o’clock news.

Chapter 16

Caleb

Bellamy Van Rhyne.

Bellamy fucking Van Rhyne.

If my brother had even the slightest suspicion that his top competitor would be wearing the green and white jersey in his place one day, he’d be as livid as I am.

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