Page 7 of Puck Me Like You Do

The private investigator I hired to expose my father's shady dealings dropped off some very incriminating evidence last week. I've yet to show Ivan and Atlas. But when I do, we'd all better be ready for the fall out.

"Times up guys." The assistant coach yells from the doorway.

Reluctantly, Ivan turns off the video of Briella and puts his phone in his locker.

In the end, Coach Wynn ended up benching the three of us for the rest of the game. I don't blame her. We played like shit costing our team the win.

The only thing left was to face the wrath of my father in our after-game meeting.

Atlas, Ivan, and I take our time showering. None of us ready to face my father our agent.

Usually, we meet with him in one of the extra offices at the arena but today he's demanded that we meet him at his office downtown.

"Let's get this over with." I sigh as we walk into my dad's office building.

eight

Atlas

"Whatinthehellhas gotten into the three of you!" Mr. McKnight paces his office, his face a deep shade of red as a thick vein pulse across his forehead. "I have sponsors in the crowd dying to sign the three of you, but you had to go and fuck it up. We'll be lucky if we can salvage half your current contracts." He slams his hand on his desk, reminding me so much of my own father, who demanded perfection or be met with the sting of a hand across the face of a belt to the ass. "Sorry boys, but I'm going to have to drop you as clients and concentrate on saving Blade's reputation."

"Saving my reputation?" Blade shouts back. "We had one bad game—we didn't kill anybody. The sponsors aren't going to drop us for that."

"It doesn't matter. I've still made up my mind. I'm not going to be representing your friends anymore." He waves his hand in a shooing motion, like Ivan and I are pesky flies he's trying to get rid of. "They're not good for your image anyway."

"Dad."

"No, it's okay Blade. We don't want Mr. McKnight as our agent either. All he's done is hold us back. I have evidence of all the sponsorship deals and how much he's getting for side deals without sharing with us."

"So do I." Ivan jumps into the conversation. "I still have contacts in Russia who would be more than happy to dig deeper into your business practices."

I'm not sure if Ivan is bluffing about his Russian contacts, but I certainly don't want to be the one to find out. And by the panic look on Mr. Knight's face, it doesn't look like he does either.

"Now boys, I was only joking. I'll keep all three of you as my clients. There's no need to involve anyone else."

"Actually, Mr. McKnight." Blade says, "We won't be needing your services any longer. We've decided to move on to a new agent. I hope you understand it's not personal, it's business." Blade through Mr. McKnight's words back at him. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have an agent to sign with and a woman to apologize to."

"Is that what this is all about, Bernette's whore of a daughter?" Mr. McKnight's sneers. "Her pussy must be ten times better than her shrew of a mother's."

"Don't you dare talk about Briella like that."

"Threating me now son. I thought I raised you better than that. I would have expected it from trailer trash like Atlas or Russian scum like Ivan. But you," he makes a tsking sound, "have my blood running through your veins. You're better than them and especially better than that slu..."

My fist connects with his jaw before he can finish the word, knocking him on his ass. "I don't care if you call me trailer trash, or Ivan Russian scum or even criticize your own flesh and blood. But I'll be damned it I let anyone talk bad about Briella again."

The fear of losing Mr. McKnight and all the money that comes with the endorsement deals and having to return to my life in the trailer park doesn't bother me anymore. Being able to finally defend the woman I could see spending the rest of my life with is all that matters.

I step over his crumpled body to the exit with a sigh of relief that he's finally out of our lives, when I hear Ivan speaking in Russian. I turn around to find him standing over Mr. McKnight with a look of hate so strong I take a step back.

He finishes by spitting in Mr. McKnight's face. "I curse you and your bitch of a wife to hell and back for the way you've treated our woman." Mr. McKnight is let speechless as Ivan steps over him to stand next to me.

"Did you really but a curse on him?" I whisper low enough for only him to hear.

"No, but I did tell him in Russian exactly what I would do to his body if he ever came never the four of us again." He whispers back with a smirk.

"Son, are you just going to stand there and let them treat me like this?"

"No, Mr. McKnight I'm not. The three of us are going to dissolve our partnership with you and your company, so we can move on with our lives with Briella and there's not a damn thing you can do about it." To add insult to injury, Blade adds. "I might even change my last name, so I'll have no attachment to someone as vile as you."

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