Page 126 of Finding the Forward: Part Two
“If an omega is the best for the job, give them the fucking job. Other countries have omega forwards. My team hadtwo.The Knights took a chance on me, they took a chance on Dean Donovan. Why the fuck are they not taking a chance on Grif Graf?” she said as she stood at a podium with the logo for the team she coached in Italy in the background.
“Burn!” Carlos toasted the TV with a taco.
“The queen has spoken.” JP raised his beer.
I raised mine and looked at my husband. “See, everyone is on your side. Nice to know we could always move to Italy.”
“This is incredible. I can’t believe people are rooting for me.” Tears pricked Grif’s eyes.
I snuggled into him. “I told you they would.”
Okay, there was one sports commentator that thought Grif should stay home and make pork chops like a good omega. She’d said the same about me.
I mean, my pork chops were delicious. But I was a better goalie.
On the screen, as both teams warmed up, there was a popping noise. Mounds of purple glitter rained down over the arena and the fans. The monitor filled with animated dancing gumdrops and saidrehire Grif Graf, you ding-dongs.
Jonas laughed. “How the fuck did the Maimers do that?”
It had to be them.
“The Maimers have their ways,” Verity chuckled.
The dancing gumdrops were replaced with a gif of Verity wagging her finger goingKnights Management, Team Mom is disappointed in you. You owe Grif a fruit basket.
The message was loud and clear. Hopefully, management heard it.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Grif
“Your Honor, this is a waste of time, and I again ask for the charges to be dismissed. My client has done nothing untoward regarding Mr. McGraff, and if anything, these false charges are an affront to an upstanding businessman who has done nothing but give aspiring athletes a chance,” the well-dressed alpha lawyer said from across the table.
I sat in between my lawyer and AJ. I’d been released from the hospital right in time for this private hearing Bertie Chesterton had pushed for, instead of the public one that was supposed to be next week.
Probably in hopes I couldn’t attend due to still being hospitalized.
The privileged smugness of all this made me want to gag.
“We have proof that the contracts were forged,” my lawyer stated from my side of the table, giving the other lawyer a look as if to say,what delusion do you live in?
“But not by my client. Just because they came from his email doesn’t mean he did it,” Chet’s alpha lawyer parried, looking very polished in her suit and fancy accessories.
Mmmm hmm. Sure. She lived in the delusional state of Bertie Chesterton’s money.
Chet, in one of his white suits, though this onewitha shirt, sent me a smug look. He was in between his lawyer and his father. His wife, Winnie, was on the other side of his dad. She was a pleasantly pretty beta brunette, about my age, who kept trying to murder me with her eyes.
“Not only are Mr. McGraff’s claims false, but he has caused my client irreparable character damage, along with pain, suffering, and income loss,” the lawyer continued. “We’ll be counter-suing. Especially since this reeks of designation-bias.”
I’d always assumed Chet was a beta who wore too much cologne. He was actually an iota, one of the rare designations that were mutations of the main three. Iotas not only had no scent, but couldn’t pick up on scents or pheromones. Barks didn’t work on them, which usually made them think highly of themselves. Being an iota could be a little dangerous, since they couldn’t pick up on scent cues like everyone else.
They also had a reputation for being a bit smarmy.
Several of Chet’s clients had left, and former clients were speaking out against him. I’d like to see him come at me with the proof we had. AJ, Jonas, and Verity had been very busy using their contacts to help build this case.
“This isn’t a civil suit for defamation. This is a criminal suit for financial theft and has nothing to do with designation bias and everything to do withmoney.” Judge Russo didn’t look amused from her position at the head of the table. She was older, no-nonsense and had a track record of disliking privileged assholes or those who took advantage of others.
Judge Russo had been a last-minute replacement for the judge that Bertie had paid off.
