Page 7 of Stealing Home

* * *

He shoveshimself away from me. “Just like I thought. You’re a cold bitch, Harlow. Clean up this fucking mess. At least you can be useful for something.”

Nando is gone by the time I get up in the morning. There’s early morning practice to accommodate for the player’s class schedules, then another practice later in the afternoon. After that he’ll probably review game tapes and meet with the coaching staff. Hopefully he comes home either in a better mood or too tired to pick another fight.

I’m running late after spending over an hour cleaning up from his one man pity party. Then I tossed and turned the rest of the night. It takes a bucket of coffee for me to muster up the energy to fake being alert the rest of the day.

There’s a mountain of new accounts on my desk when I make it to my cubicle. Each one needs to be input as a new account. Even if I work through lunch I’ll still be here late just to make sure we don’t fall behind on billing.

Before I can settle in and start working through the pile I get called into the director’s office. “Come in and shut the door,” Director Daniels says when I poke my head in her office.

I’m practically shaking when I take a seat in front of her desk, sensing something bad is about to happen. “I had a note you wanted to see me,” I say, my voice shaking slightly.

She nods. “I’m very sorry, Harlow. You do good work here and honestly, I’m pretty pissed off about this, but the President of the university is forcing my hand. I guess your husband is demanding I let you go. Now, I wasn’t actually supposed to tell you that part. They said I needed to blame it on budget cuts, but we both know what the state of the school’s budget is.”

I open my mouth, but no sound comes out. I clear my throat and try again. “Did he say why I had to be let go?” I already knew of course, but I wanted to hear it.

The director leans forward. “It’s some misogynistic bullshit about you not being able to perform the duties of the coach’s wife while working full time.”

“And if I wasn’t the coach’s wife?” I say quietly.

Her face falls. “You mean if you left him?”

I nod. The walls are closing in around me. If Nando were to decide to stop paying for Leena’s school, there’s nothing I could do now to stop him. He thinks I’ll be even more under his thumb if he takes away my job, but what he fails to understand is, by threatening my sister’s schooling, he is removing my main reason to stay in our sham of a marriage.

Director Daniels sighs. “I think we both know the university would bend over backwards to keep him happy. The baseball team is the first chance they’ve had in decades to win a championship.”

“I’ll clear out my desk,” I say in defeat. This battle was lost before I even knew I was fighting it.

* * *

All rational thoughtleaves my mind as I load my small box of personal belongings into my car. Instead of heading home and working on the youth clinic like I know Nando wants me to do, I head to the university’s athletic training center. The players should be cleared out by now, but Nando will be in his office doing whatever he does when the players aren’t there.

I pull into a visitor spot and storm into the office. “What the hell did you do?” I’m yelling as soon as I see him.

His jaw clenches. “Now is not the time for your hysterics, Harlow.”

My face burns and I’m not sure fire isn’t coming out of my nose. “You had no right to interfere with my job.”

“I had no right?” he asks as he comes around his desk.

My legs shake, but I manage to stand my ground even as he gets an inch from my face.

His hand wraps around my throat and he pushes me against the wall. “You’re my wife, and it’s time you start doing as you’re told.”

“Coach?” A player calls out from somewhere in the facility.

Nando shoves me away and I hit my hip against a table. I’m rubbing the spot as Scott Ryan comes around the corner.

“You wanted to see me?” Scott asks.

Nando schools his features and waves him inside. “What great timing! You met my wife at the banquet, right?”

Scott nods his head several times. “Yeah. Hi Ms. Pierce.”

Nando of course scowls when Scott uses my proper name. He manages to recover quickly to his fake grin. “Good. That’ll make this easier. You volunteered to teach at the youth clinic this Saturday. Harlow is going to help with planning, advertising, and registration.”

Scott studies me, a slight frown turning down his lips. “Can you do that? You work, right? This has got to be a huge time suck. The guys and I can cover all that stuff.”

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