Page 245 of Wrong Pucking Player

“Yup.” The reminder makes me huff. “Which is why we stopped being intimate. I didn’t want to end up with an STD or anything. It frustrated him more, but he didn’t want to break up because it would ruin his appearance. We obviously did when I graduated and came back to Strattonville, but now that you’re saying he’s on bad terms with Wyatt, it all makes sense. He just wanted Wyatt to find out he was dating his ex.”

“But now you’re back with Wyatt.”

“But Oscar is involved,” I whisper. “Would that put him at risk?”

“I think Frankie would want Oscar to be involved,” she admits and grips her chin as she thinks about it. “Didn’t people say Armani and Winchester were a thing behind closed doors?”

Wait. She’s right.

Oscar does like Winchester… though I’m not sure now.

“Frankie is going to use me against Wyatt and Oscar against Jayce?” I try to think it over. “It’s possible, but I don’t see how Oscar would be a weakness to Winchester.”

“What Mitchel was saying about Winchester being broke is right on,” Caren reveals. “Winchester is penniless. Literally, any funding he’s been given to exist these last few years are loans from Armani’s family.”

“No fucking way,” I whisper in pure shock. “Holy shit. He relies on Oscar, yet he treats him like he’s a dog waiting for his master’s orders?” That infuriates me.

“Girl, trust me. I’ve tried talking sense to your grumpy husband, but he doesn’t listen to anyone. Not me. Not Leo. Not Oliver. Nobody.”

“Husband.” I can’t help but blush at that. “If I talked to him, you think he’d listen?”

“Maybe.” She seems slightly hopeful from the way she looks at me. “Though, you know what I really think?”

“What?”

“I think Oscar is putting up with it to save Jayce from being killed.” Her words carry a heaviness to them, as though this reality is set in stone and just waiting to happen.

“What does Oscar financially backing Jayce do to protect him from being killed by those he owns?”

“Oscar and Oliver are connected to a very rich family. I can’t give you the deets now, but it’s why Oliver, in particular, is able to snap his fingers and change anything from a negative to a positive. I believe they’re not touching Jayce because of his association with Oscar. If people continue to think they have some sort of connection, it’ll protect him.”

“But… what happens if Oscar and Winchester are no longer friends?” I question.

Caren tilts her head to the side, her dark expression giving me the answer.

“Then, bye-bye, Winchester.”

Fuck…

I may hate Winchester to the core with how he’s interfered with so many people’s lives in a negative way, but I’d never wish death on him.

“So, what do we do?” I feel a sense of helplessness with all this information. It’s making my head pound like crazy, but I don’t want to cower in this situation.

As long as I can aid and protect Armani and Wyatt, that’s all that matters to me.

“You may be a wild card,” Caren admits. “As of now, we can assume Frankie may know about your heritage, meaning you’re valuable to him and whoever has been working with your aunt to keep this all hidden. She was in control of all your flow of money, which could have been a perfect way to gatekeep you from traveling outside the country where you could be detected by the FBI. You may have been able to travel within Canada with no problem, but I bet if you went to the United States or even attempted to head to Moscow, it would be flagged.”

“No wonder why I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere,” I grumble in distaste.

“For now, we focus on our internship. This gives us a bit of protection because a lot of eyes are on us. It’ll be hard for Frankie or anyone to really pull anything shady unless everyone’s attention is on a specific thing. We keep as close to the team as we can and continue doing our parts and commitments until the end of the season. After that, I’m confident Oliver will know how to handle this so we can take Frankie down before he makes things messy.”

“Are Oscar and Wyatt allowed to know that I know?” I ask with pleading eyes. I don’t want to lie to them unless it protects them.

She doesn’t answer immediately.

“As long as it’s kept between the three of you. I’ll work on warming Oliver up to the idea of bringing it to your attention. I can use your aunt’s arrest and your right to know the truth of who you are as ammo.”

“Katherine,” I whisper and can’t help but open my arms up to her. “Thank you for sharing this with me. You have no idea what this means. How it helps make me realize why my childhood was the way it was. Not just my childhood. My whole life until this point.”

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