Page 67 of Blindsided

Blood rushed in my ears and a headache I hadn’t felt in months bloomed behind my eyes. “Just like that? You are going to call and demand I leave everything here and return to Barrington Holdings? The job you were so convinced Jackson could handle for me four months ago.”

She scoffed. “That was when the move was temporary, until Aston got his priorities in order.”

“And what priorities are those, Mom? Last I saw online, he was in Ibiza, partying with the people he was arrested with.”

“We are not discussing this, Francis. I will see you in the office Monday morning.” The line went dead and the office came back into focus. Tom was standing, pacing back and forth while having a hushed conversation. Daisy was breathing hard as she jabbed at her phone, and Easton was crouched by my side.

I had no idea when he’d arrived in my office, but as I collapsed onto his shoulder and breathed in his scent, I was glad he was there. “What the hell was that shit?” He seethed the words into my hair, and I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or someone else in the room.

“Someone from Barrington Holdings contacted the Grizzlies ownership about selling the team earlier this morning,” Tom said blandly. “Cunningham and Bill Huber are coming down now. We’re going to figure this out.”

Daisy’s heels clicked against the floor in my office as she paced. “It’s not officially on the market yet. I’ve got Camille in Legal looking into the original sale. All she has right now is that Aston bought it outright.” She scoffed. “Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to throw that kind of money around like it was nothing? She’s got a call out to the team’s attorney to see if there are any loopholes we can capitalize on.”

Despite everyone being on DEFCON 1, I couldn’t be bothered to care. I was seeing another one of my careers being ripped from me because of my brother. Easton’s voice finally snapped me out of the trance I’d fallen into. “Out. We can talk with everyone once Link’s had time to process. Give him time. Go, go. Shoo. Get food. Get coffee. Get some fucking carbs here because we’re going to need them tonight.”

The way Tom and Daisy hurried out at Easton’s command had me chuckling in spite of everything that had happened in the last ten minutes.

When we were alone, Easton stood and took my hand. “Come here, Link. We’re going to figure this shit out, but it’s going to need you to be involved.” I followed as he tugged me to my feet and directed me over toward the couch. When he sank down, I followed willingly and let him pull me onto his lap. We were barely settled onto the couch before he pressed his thumb into my mouth.

Four months earlier, I would have welcomed the call telling me that my brother had decided to sell the team I was totally unqualified to run. That went doubly so after finding Easton in my office that first day. Today I wasn’t just shocked at the sudden about-face my mom had done, I was pissed. But for the first time, I had people banding together around me to support me before I’d even finished the call with my mom.

Easton, Tom, Daisy—they were all there and willing to fight for me. With the exception of Bodhi telling me to get my head out of my ass, I’d never had anyone so completely on my side, much less a whole group of people.

For the last month, I’d almost forgotten I wasn’t the actual owner of the Parliament, but one short phone call from my mom and the reality had hit me like a ton of bricks to the chest. The air had been sucked from the room and my head had spun with such force I’d thought I was going to puke for a few minutes.

Then clarity set in, and of all places, it happened while I was lying on a couch with Easton’s thumb in my mouth as he murmured things completely unrelated to hockey. The numbness began to lift around the time he was talking quietly about finding time to take me to DASH to show off how sexy I was in my panties.

Something finally clicked into place, and my numb resignation to my fate turned into an angry refusal to accept it. “I want that,” I said, pushing his thumb from my mouth and sitting up to look Easton in the eyes. “And my mom isn’t going to take it away from me. Not this time. She managed to ruin our relationship by getting in my head once. I refuse to let it happen again.”

Easton smirked. “That’s what I want to hear.”

I waved my hand around my office. “So Aston bought this team. So what? He hasn’t been part of this since hiring Tom. I’m the one who gave up everything and I’m the one who wants to be here. I’m not about to give this up because my mom realizes she fucked up.” My rant brought a sudden realization and I gasped while reaching for my phone. “This isn’t Aston’s doing. This is my mom’s. She will never admit that she was wrong, but she will do everything in her power to manipulate my life to make it so that she gets her way.”

Finding the texts with my sister, I scrolled to the top of the current topic: Jackson Fuck-Up Take Twelve, as Carissa had lovingly named it. I reread the texts and shook my head. “My cousin managed to fuck up the New York deal I’d been working on before being sent here. The developer pulled out.” I scrolled a bit more. “He refuses to work with or speak to Jackson, which means there are a number of other projects that are getting axed all over the country.”

Carissa’s last text from earlier today summed up the entire situation. In two words, she’d told me exactly what had prompted the sudden sale and my mom’s call. “Damage control.”

I pursed my lips. “I’m not leaving here. I refuse.”

“Yes!” The hiss turned into a sitcom laugh track moment when the door to my office swung open and Daisy, Tom, and my assistant, MaryAnn, tumbled into the office.

I looked at the three of them, then over to Easton and back a few more times before beginning to laugh. “Okay, what’s the plan?”

CHAPTER 30

EASTON

Pride didn’t begin to explain the feeling coursing through me as I sat at my desk in my home office and listened to the phone calls Lincoln had been making for the past twenty-four hours. It didn’t matter that it was now eight Saturday night—my boyfriend was still focused completely on buying his brother out.

My phone rang on the desk and I spun to grab it, noticing Daisy’s name on the caller ID. “Hey, what’s up? Shouldn’t you be relaxing or something?”

She laughed. “It’s cute that you think I should be relaxing when the season’s start is just around the corner.”

I understood what she meant. But the issue of Lincoln being expected in Massachusetts in less than two days had totally derailed any thoughts about the impending season start. “True. My mind is on other things, though.”

“I get it. But that’s why I’m calling. I’ve been trying to get ahold of Lincoln and he’s not answering his phone.”

“Because he’s on the phone right now. I must admit he’s really fucking sexy when he goes all don’t fuck with me businessman.”

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