Page 60 of Faking the Face Off

“You’re brilliant, you know that?” a woman’s voice says, giggling to punctuate her happiness. “I’m impressed that your plan is coming together.”

Ice cubes clink against glass. “Would never have happened without your help.”

That sounds like Jimmy. When I realize it is him, I make a little face in response to the fact that he’s gross, then sneak into Sutton’s office and grab the tickets Ben forgot off her desk. I have no desire to be seen by him or whomever he’s speaking with, which sounds like Lara the PR rep. Shouldn’t they be at the ball by now themselves?

I sneak back out of Sutton’s office and start to make my way back down the hall when their conversation gets a little louder.

“Making the team more marketable and pushing them to do it with”—Lara laughs out loud—“very strong suggestions was great. Talk about leverage at its finest.”

Jimmy chuckles as well. “It’s all about making things look so much better than they’re perceived, isn’t it?”

I can’t help it, but I am NBN: nosy by nature. I’m curious enough that I’m gonna hang out in this hallway right here and eavesdrop for a minute. I clutch my phone tightly, checking it to make sure it’s on silent…cause a girl does not want to get busted.

“Jimmy, in less than six months we managed to do what a lot of other businesses before us have but it took them a lot longer to do.”

I hear a clink, like glasses being toasted together. “The Renegades will be sold off after we sign these papers this week.” Jimmy lets out a giant sigh and, even though my jaw has slammed on the floor, I fight the urge to run inside and stuff a pillow in his mouth. Glancing at the phone in my hand, I get an idea. I tap a few buttons to find the Voice Memo app and then hit record. “Inflating them to look as good as they do now was the greatest strategy.”

Sold off? Sutton never told me they were selling the team.

“Do you think the arena will survive?” Lara asks.

“I don’t care,” Jimmy mutters as my hackles rise.

“Well, you may not care about that, but what about Gavin and Sutton?”

Jimmy snorts. “Gavin is inconsequential. It’s a three-way ownership that my father ridiculously bestowed on us. He’s off volunteering in a jungle, so let him. He’ll do whatever.”

“But Sutton?” Lara presses. “She’s not going to listen to you, is she?”

“When I tell her how much we’re making, she will.”

There’s a sputtering sound, like Lara may have coughed while taking a drink. Good. Choke.

“Wait. Did you tell her about the kickbacks?”

I feel like I’ve died and gone to a reality TV show paradise, only this reality is mine and I’m standing in it. Kickbacks?

“No way,” Jimmy answers. “She has no idea we’ve been receiving kickbacks for all of the contracts these guys have been signing. You did well hiding it in the fine print, Lara. Once we’re clear and I know the sale papers are signed, you and I can figure out a way to split those profits, too. It should buy you a nice vacation home—anywhere you want, really.”

As Lara’s laugh floats through the air, my stomach is sick. I’m not sure which is more upsetting. The fact that these two are playing the players to make the team look really good so that Jimmy can sell it, and out from under his siblings. Or maybe it’s that these two have intentionally stressed out their players by making them all work harder off the ice than they need to.

Liars. These two are liars. I don’t like liars…okay, I’ve been playing the role of one, but it was for a good reason. This? Is horrific. A team torn apart. Jobs potentially lost. The arena could close? No.

As the villainous pair chat away, discussing if Miami or San Diego is better for a winter house, I make sure the recording is saved on my phone and sneak back down the hallway to leave.

The elevator doors have barely closed when I text Sutton that I need to speak with her as soon as possible. When I hit send, I press the button for Ollie’s number, my heart skipping when he answers the phone.

“You here?”

“On my way. But there’s something we need to do.”

CHAPTER 21

OLLIE

Idon’t think I’ve ever spent ten minutes with my jaw swinging from its hinges, yet here we are.

When Anna picked me up, she had the recording she’d captured cued up for my listening pleasure. Once I’d listened to it and heard Jimmy’s disgusting plan, I filled her in on what was going on with the other players. She mumbled something about “not today, Satan” before getting Ben on the phone immediately so we could hatch our own plan.

---