Page 49 of Game On

“Thank you, ma’am,” he managed to squeeze out of his clenched jaw. “But where Troy will be living hasn’t been settled yet. His grandparents would like him to live with them. I’m sure they’ll have some idea how to handle his grief.”

“Ahh. I see,” she said, crossing her arms underneath her breasts. Her tone implied she didn’t see at all. The coach’s wife tilted her chin up at him in the same belligerent way her sister did. Shane didn’t like it from either one of them. “In that case,” she continued, “perhaps you want to leave Troy with us until the situation is resolved? We have plenty of room. That way, you’ll be able to get through the next couple of days of mini-camp without being distracted.”

Damn, she was tricky. Tossing out the perfect solution to his problem, she waved it in front of his face like chum before a shark. But he couldn’t take it. He knew it. And so did she. Pasting a smile on his face, hoping it didn’t come off too much like a sneer, he took a step toward the locker room. “That’s very gracious of you. But I think it’s best if he stays with me until we get things settled. But I appreciate the offer.”

She gave him a cheesy smile of her own. Yep, she’d been testing him. And he didn’t care if he’d passed or not. He slipped past her into the locker room before she could answer.

Hours later, he was regretting giving in to his conscience. His cell phone rang, snapping him back to the present. He put the call on speaker as he slid further into the warm water.

“Roscoe, where the hell have you been all day?” he snapped, instantly regretting his tone. His agent was the one person who’d always been there to save his ass. Shane needed an ally to help sort out this mess Bruce had left for him.

“When will you get it through your head that you’re not my only client, Devlin?”

“When you stop charging me like I am,” Shane teased, trying to lighten his tone.

Roscoe chuckled. “You get the family discount, dude, so quit complaining. How’s the hip?”

It hurts like Hell! But Roscoe didn’t need to know that. “Great. No problems.” Shane said, trying not to slosh the water.

“Really? So you’re in the Jacuzzi at ten o’clock at night because you feel great?”

Shane sighed and sunk into the heat, not bothering to muffle the sound of the water.

“Seriously, dude, do you have hidden cameras installed in here?”

“Hmm, nice idea, but you’re just not that interesting,” Roscoe joked. “It’s just plain intuition. I’ve known you too long.”

“I’ve had a stressful day. I’m just trying to relax before hitting the sack.”

“Is Troy asleep?”

“Yeah, Beckett has appointed himself babysitter for the night.”

Shane was amazed at how quickly the dog attached himself to the grieving kid. Beckett had provided a nice buffer earlier in the evening. What little conversation the two had was centered around the dog’s care and feeding. It helped Shane to stay detached from the kid. It was best for both of them. Except now, all he could see was the kid’s red-rimmed eyes and his trembling lip, a look of complete desolation on his face. Shane’s chest tightened as he remembered that aching feeling of abandonment. He thought those feelings were long buried. Damn Bruce for making him live through them again.

“How’d you manage to shake the boy’s posse?” Roscoe asked.

“It wasn’t easy. Tiny didn’t want to let him out of his sight. But the other two were getting restless to get back to campus. Evan had a hot date and Dante needed to polish his jewelry,” Shane joked. He took a swig of mineral water.

“From what I gathered, Tiny was a fixture at Bruce’s place,” Roscoe said. “He didn’t get home often, so he spent his holidays with Bruce, Lindsey, and Troy. He’s probably pretty shaken up about their deaths. It would explain his attachment to Troy.”

“Yeah,” Shane said, remembering the devastation on Troy’s face when Tiny and the others drove off. He took another swallow of water. “Well, I’m sure his grandparents will let him invite Tiny for Christmas.”

“Don’t count on it.” Shane sat up in the Jacuzzi, not liking the ominous sound in Roscoe’s voice. “Look, Shane, this situation isn’t going to resolve itself quickly. I finally got a hold of Dave Shapiro, Bruce’s lawyer, late today. He’s adamant that Bruce and Lindsey wanted you to have guardianship of Troy. Apparently, Lindsey was estranged from her parents since the time she married Bruce.”

“Can you blame them?” Shane quipped.

Roscoe sighed. “The grandparents were allowed to see Troy once a year, but only in Pittsburgh. He was never allowed to travel to the church’s compound in Florida. Shapiro says he can’t in good conscience facilitate Troy living with his grandparents. He said to tell you that you’ll have to take him to court to contest the will.”

Shane sucked in a breath. “Christ! Is this guy serious?”

“Oh yeah, he’s serious, Shane. And from some digging I did today, he may be right to keep the kid from the grandparents. They are teetering near bankruptcy. Bruce had a six-million-dollar estate from sales of his motivational book. He and Lindsey weren’t very careful setting up the trust. You’re probably right that they didn’t plan on dying young. Nobody does. They hadn’t gotten around to naming a trustee yet. The money goes with Troy for his guardian to use for his care. According to Shapiro, there’s nothing to stop the grandparents from pouring it all back into the church. The same church that keeps them living the elite life, I might add.”

Shane closed his eyes and swore. He didn’t like the queasy feeling forming in his stomach.

“Apparently, they’ve already dismissed the nanny or housekeeper or whatever Consuelo was. Shapiro says she was in his office yesterday, distraught to be separated from Troy. She’d begun to file her retirement papers with the university so she could travel with Troy to his grandparent’s home.”

“So now what?” Shane asked the question even though he didn’t want to know the answer.

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