Page 55 of Raine Out (Grand Slam 2)

Raine

“Hey, I’m done for the night,” I say to Butch as we finish off our fourth team.

He hands me half of the money we won. “Yeah, no real competition here anyway. It’s getting boring.”

“Do you see Sophie?” I stand on a chair and look around. “I need to talk to her.”

Butch does a quick sweep of the party. “I don’t see her. Do you want me to help you look?”

“No, I’m good. I’m sure you can find something else to occupy your time.” I nod toward Ava who’s had her eyes glued to Butch all night.

“Yeah, that seems like as good a place as any to start,” he says, patting my arm. “Call me if you need me.”

I walk around for a bit until I see Seb’s head above a line of palm plants separating the pool area from a walkway. Since he’s rarely without Sophie, I head over there, but when I get closer, I see he’s talking to a man.

“Seb, you’re not thinking clearly,” the man says. “If Sophie loves you, she won’t mind signing a prenup—”

“What do you mean if she loves me?” Seb snarls. “Man, fuck you. I’m not asking her to sign a prenup or anything else. You’ve already talked to me about this once. I told you to leave it alone.”

“I’m doing my job—”

“Your job is to get me contracts, Jeff. That’s it.”

“My job is to put as much money in my athletes’ pockets as possible,” Jeff says, lowering his voice. I tiptoe to the other side of the palms as he continues, “and then to make sure the money stays there.”

Seb shoves the palm next to me. It hits me in the face. I drop to my hands and knees as he looks over to see what he hit. I curl up in a ball and press my back up against the planter.

“You want to put more money in my pocket?” Seb says in a deep and menacing tone. “How about giving me back some of that five percent you made on my contract? Two-hundred million. What’s five percent of that? Ten million or so you put in your pocket?”

“Seb.” Jeff’s voice is starting to shake. “I’m just saying, this whole thing has moved so fast. If you want to get married this soon at least take some precautions. Protect yourself in case anything changes.”

Seb pushes the plant again. A palm frond hits me on the head. “If you bring this up one more time, the only thing that’s going to change is my agent. Do you understand me? End of discussion.”

“Seb!” I glance up to see Seb’s head moving away from Jeff. “Let me talk to Sophie about it. She won’t mind.”

Seb spins back around and runs at Jeff. I peek through the plants in time to see Seb throw him against a wall. “If you talk to Sophie about this or anything else, all of your clients will need a new agent because I will flat out kill you. Don’t talk to her. Don’t look at her. And if you can’t get behind this marriage in the next thirty seconds, leave this fucking island and never contact me again.”

Seb shoves him one more time and then turns on a heel and starts back toward the party. Jeff takes a deep breath and leans heavily against the wall. I stay hidden until I think Jeff’s gone. As I start to stand up, he flies around the corner.

He comes to a quick stop when he sees me. “Who the fuck are you?”

“That’s none of your business,” I say, jumping to my feet.

As I try to walk around him, he grabs my shoulder and pushes me against the wall. “Everything’s my business.”

He’s got me trapped at the end of the hallway. He’s not very big—maybe five foot, nine and slightly built. I think about trying to plow through him, but I know I can’t take him.

He grabs my arm and glares down at me. “How long have you been standing here?”

I yank my arm away from him. “Long enough to figure out what a dick you are.”

I take out my phone and try to call Butch. Jeff tries to grab it.

“Who are you calling?”

I pull it behind me. “My mom. She worries if I don’t call her every hour. Now, get the fuck out of my way.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” He steps in front of me as I try to get around him again. “You better forget everything you just heard or—”

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