“You need to tread lightly…” Karl sneered, like he had the right to stick his chest out.
“Nah, muthafucker, you need to tread lightly,” I stated with a grin. “I’m holding your entire life in the palm of my hands. That shit right there is wild and embarrassing as hell.”
“You have twenty-four hours to have the contract sent. Not close of business day tomorrow. Clock starts ticking as soon as we walk out of here. I’m sure you understand the severity of the issue, Mr. George. If that leaks, you’ll not only ruin your chances of signing any future players, but you’ll also have a massive sexual harassment suit on your hands. Your team being forced to sleep with your wife in order to keep their position would be tragic for the Sharks franchise. I can see the headlines now. Not to mention the hero, Ryland Parks, who refused to be manipulated and took a stand at the cost of losing his career.”
She lifted from her chair, collected the tablet, and motioned to me. “We’re done here, we can leave now. Enjoy the rest of your day, gentleman.”
I was highly fucking amused at how this played out. Didn’t see any of this coming. Sovoya and I left and the door slammedas soon as we hit the hallway, followed by yelling. We stopped to listen because why the hell not.
“I thought we had an understanding that your personal shit was no longer going to touch the team…” Kesmond yelled.
“Not now. I have bigger problems than you trying to check me.”
“You’re right, not now, and I don’t need to check you. Your gotdamn wife does enough of that. My priority at the moment is dismantling my player budget for the next season to make sure we meet all of the demands Parks has placed on us. The last thing we need is his people letting this play out in the media. Do you know how royally fucked we would be if that got out? The team can’t survive another scandal.”
A few seconds later, the door swung open and Kesmond came storming out, but paused when he noticed we were still here.
“You’ll get everything you want. You have my word. I apologize that this is happening. I wasn’t aware of what Mia was doing behind the scenes.”
“Great to hear but until the contract is officially emailed, you can hold your apologies. Twenty-four hours, Mr. George.”
Kesmond nodded stiffly, reeking of frustration. “You’ll have it.”
“Wonderful, we’ll be waiting.”
I chuckled at how cutthroat Sovoya was. This muthafucker couldn’t even get his apology on the table until we had a contract in hand. Honestly, I believed him. Kesmond was a good guy and an even better GM. Exposing Mia was embarrassing to Karl but this situation was more of a nuisance to Kesmond. Finding out this way had to be a slap in the face because Kesmond wasn’t prepared. He handled the team and players professionally and with respect. Karl’s actions made him look stupid.
Sovoya and I left the building, and as soon as we were standing between our vehicles, she grinned.
“You’re welcome.”
“How the hell did we get here?”
“I decided to try a wild card. Women like Mia are an easy read. She doesn’t care who gets thrown under the bus as long as she gets what she wants. I decided to see who she was willing to throw under the bus, so I put a team on her to see what I could dig up. Flint got all this on camera and I did some digging to find out the rest. Mia holds all the cards. The true nature of the Sharks’ ownership has been kept quiet. She owns the team, Karl does not, and according to the prenup agreement, if he cheats and she divorces him, he gets nothing.”
“Yeah I heard she was the one who really owned the team but wasn’t sure.”
“Oh she definitely does. When you know what you’re looking for, you find it. She filed for divorce two years ago because she caught him sleeping with his PA. According to the paperwork I got my hands on, which we will never speak about. Apparently he received one last chance. If any more cheating accusations surface, he’s done for. She walks, he gets nothing. She wants you gone and Karl wants to keep his wife off his ass so he doesn’t lose his cushy life. Kesmond is just caught in the middle of their marital bullshit, for the record. He was fighting for you. He was never on board with a trade.”
“I figured. You didn’t discuss the terms you demanded with me.”
“Did I need to?” She arched a brow and I grinned.
“Nah, not according to everything you asked for. You have shit on there I didn’t even think about.”
“It’s your job to excel on the field. Mine is to make sure you get top dollar for doing so and I’m really fucking good at my job.”
She removed a phone from her coat pocket and held up a finger, requesting for me to give her a minute. She stepped away to answer the call and I got mine out, pulling up my text thread with Somee. Before I could send a text, Sovaya was in front of me again with a look that had me locking my phone.
“What’s up?”
“We found your dad.”
Fuck, I hoped like hell he wasn’t going to fight me on this. He hadn’t been part of Rylee’s life since birth as far as I could tell, but knowing I was attached to this might make him see getting Rylee as a payday.
“He want money?” I ground out, brows pinched, prepared for the bullshit.
“Not sure yet. Flint has only located him. We have home and work addresses and his cellphone number.”