Page 53 of Truth or Tequila (Grand Slam 1)

Chapter Twenty-One

sophie

Seb’s barely walked past me when I see Gary’s beady eyes peering at me from over the top of his seat.

“Sophia, come and sit with me,” Gary says.

“Ooo,” Ken whispers as I stand up, “you’re in trouble now.”

As I walk up to Gary’s aisle, he motions to the window seat next to him without standing up. There’s not a chance in hell I’m crawling over him.

“I can’t get by you,” I say, not trying to hide the growing disdain in my voice. “Scoot over or stand up so I can get to the seat.”

He rolls his eyes and huffs as he stands up. He motions dramatically toward the window seat.

“Did you know Seb was the one who asked for Liza to be removed?” he says as he sits back down.

“Yes—”

“For how long? And when were you going to tell me?”

“He told me on the way to New York. I was going to tell you when I had a solution to the problem.”

“And have you come up with one yet?”

“Well, he won’t say why he did it, so—”

“Really, Sophia?” He shakes his head. “Are you that naive? He slept with her. The paper found out about it and fired her. She threatened to reveal it as the reason she was fired. He asked for her to be kept out of the clubhouse and started paying her off to keep her mouth shut. I’m not sure why I hired you if you can’t even figure that out. ”

“I don’t think that’s it—”

“You don’t want to think that because I’m guessing you’re his next victim.”

“Excuse me?” I press my back against the plane’s window. “I’m not anyone’s victim, and that’s completely inappropriate to say.”

“Oh, is this a WSM moment?” He lets out a loud grunt. “I seriously don’t know why you’re paid as much as you are.”

“As I’ve said before, Gary, if we don’t see eye-to-eye, we don’t have to continue the contract.” I cross my arms and lock my eyes with his. “At this point, it might be the best idea.”

“We’re a week into this, Sophia.” He’s spitting the words out. “And I’m damn sure not going to lose money on you. Figure out a way to make this story go away, then you can go away.”

“The story will fade out. It’s already started. Liza’s back in the clubhouse. If Seb won’t say why he did it, there’s no reason to tell the media it was him. It just starts the news cycle up again.” I lower my voice. “But, I think the media is making a bigger deal out of this than they normally would because they sense a pattern of inappropriate behavior within the organization as a whole.”

He glowers at me but doesn’t say anything. I’m not sure he’s even breathing right now.

“Do you know of anyone else associated with the team—staff, owners, players—who has exhibited bad behavior?” I hold his stare.

“No,” he says through clenched teeth. “Do you?”

“Not yet.”

“Because there’s nothing to know. I run a tight ship. And I’ve told you before, I didn’t hire you to look into anything else except the Liza Murray incident. Do your damn job and get the media to quit slandering my team.” He stands up and waves his hand—dismissing me. “Now go find somewhere else to sit. I’m done talking to you.”

Ken looks up at me as I sit down next to him again. “You get fired?”

“No such luck.”

He laughs. “Well, if you’re trying to get fired, keep hanging out with Seb. That’s the best way to get it done. We have a strict “no mingle” policy between staff and players.”

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