Page 29 of Fair Trade (New York Monarchs #2)

twenty-five

I storm into my office, tugging off my tie as I do.

I was stupid. For a moment, I believed this team could win and I would walk away clean, having accomplished one of the proposed terms of my dead grandfather’s will and getting back what I so carelessly lost.

Fuck. I was so fucking close.

I’m granted only a moment of serenity before Luisa bursts through my office door, having no problem bulldozing in here, since it seems to be the only way she knows how to enter my workspace.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Stepping out on the team as they were handed their loss? For what? So you can drink your expensive booze and sulk in silence?”

“Silence, in my office? I would never dream of such a delight,” I snark as I get up to pour myself a glass of the alcohol Luisa helpfully reminded me of. Even though my guest wasn’t invited and can currently be described as hostile at best, my manners ensure that I pour her a glass as well.

Looks like we both need it.

We’re both itching for a fight. I’m usually enthralled by her fire, willing to sit back and see how far she’ll let herself burn. But with the way my life has taken a turn, I find myself not wanting to back down as she continues to berate me.

“Those men down there have put their blood, sweat, and tears into this game. Their families deal with not having a family member for most of the year. Did you know that baseball has the longest season of all professional sports?”

I eye her over my glass as she continues to spew sports facts that have no hope of being retained.

In my defense, the way her chest heaves as she tries to prove her point makes it quite hard to pay attention.

While I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this season, with Luisa ready to rip me a new one at every turn, it seems our perverse form of foreplay has abruptly come to an end.

Because it’s all coming to an end.

As in the New York Monarchs.

All because I didn’t satisfy the terms of the will that haunt me daily.

“Love, hate to interrupt, but your breath is being wasted.”

“Love? You think ’cause you own this team, you can avoid HR complaints? We promised to keep things professional from now on, and if you think—”

“It’s over, Luisa. All of it. The New York Monarchs played their first and final season as a team. And there’s nothing we can do about it. So yes, scurry off to HR, and while you’re there, let them know that a severance package is coming their way.”

Her face drops. And so does her body—into the chair in front of my desk.

Feels like she’s docile enough to allow me to slide the glass in front of her without the risk of having it boomerang back to my head.

She takes it without a fuss and throws half of it back in one go.

Rookie mistake.

But to my surprise, she doesn’t flinch. Nor does she have an exaggerated coughing fit.

The woman is a whiskey drinker. Another thing to add to the list of reasons why she intrigues me so much.

But not even the slit in her fitted skirt can get a rise out of me at a time like this.

“Explain,” she says warily.

I stand and close the doors that Luisa so unhelpfully left open.

Instead of walking back to my chair, I move to stand in front of my desk, forcing Luisa to sit back or sit face to face with my crotch.

I cross my arms and pin her with an unyielding stare as I start. “What I’m about to tell you cannot leave this office, understood?”

She nods.

“Use your words. We both know you know how to cut me with them,” I push.

“Yes, understood,” she grits out.

I smile condescendingly. “Good. I’d usually have someone sign an NDA, but if there is anyone else who has as much to lose if this goes public, it’s you.”

“Get to the point. Explain what kind of rich man’s mess I need to clean up.

Go on, I know it’s coming. What is it? Found yourself in a sex scandal?

No, too boring for a guy like you. Has to do with money.

Maybe a little embezzling or money laundering?

What’s your poison, Stonehaven?” She pushes back, and my God, now is not the time to admire the woman.

“Trust me, Luisa. If I had a poison, it would be you. Since I can’t seem to stop myself from drowning in it.

” I pause as I watch her take a smaller sip this time, her eyes never leaving mine.

“Very well. I’ll save you the sob story and get to the point.

My father and I have never gotten along.

A few years back, after I made my money—and became a true thorn in my father’s side, by the way—he bet he could acquire a company quicker and more efficiently than I could. ”

“You said this story would be quick, but all I’m hearing is that you have daddy issues. If the next sentence out of your mouth is close to ‘I’m self-made, but I took a one-million-dollar loan from my dad to do it,’ I’m out of here.”

“Retract your claws unless you plan on leaving marks down my back, Luisa.” Her jaw drops slightly, and I take it as my cue to continue.

“I was foolish, and in my haste, I didn’t do my due diligence.

What I put up for the bet wasn’t fully mine to give.

And to ensure my father wouldn’t play dirty, I made sure to move that asset into my grandfather’s name, another man I no longer had a relationship with, although he seemed like the lesser evil at the time.

Needless to say, I had no idea my father was sleeping with the wife of the CEO of the very company we were vying for and therefore had insider information.

The asset has remained in my grandfather’s name since then.

Once he passed, I went to the reading of his will to see if he would give it back.

First, he gave me this team, which I had no interest in keeping and was planning on immediately selling off.

But then the asset was offered back, but only as long as I accomplished at least one of the two proposed terms.”

She waves me on. “Well, what are they?”

“One, I keep the team and lead them to a World Series game in their first season. He didn’t require the team to win the World Series, only make it. Something they would have accomplished had they won tonight.”

I can see the wheels start turning in her pretty little head, and I know she’s connecting the dots as to why I was so furious earlier.

Not my brightest moment, but we all have flaws, don’t we?

“This team can’t be over.” She stands abruptly, not bothering to step back and leave appropriate space between us.

“This is my first season as a general manager. Hell, I’m the first woman general manager ever.

If this team goes down the drain, so does my career.

” She digs her hands into her high ponytail, and my hand twitches to let her hair down once and for all.

“It’ll fuck my career and that of any other woman who’s working her ass off to get a respectable position in the sports industry.

Me going down is a clear message that I’ve failed and that there is no space for women in professional sports.

” She shakes her head, her spine straightening, resolve in her voice.

“No. Not an option. What was the second term?”

Well, this one’s the real kicker.

“I get married.”

“ Excuse me ?”

“For a year, I have to be a married man. With no public scandals and no claims of infidelity made against me.”

She huffs out a laugh. “Perfect. Call up one of your brainless bimbos and give them an offer they can’t refuse. Have them sign an NDA, and you’re golden.”

I take a sip of my drink as she paces back and forth.

“You see, that’s where things get dicey.

Because I thought about it immediately after I heard the will.

But I’m not allowed to have a prenup. Meaning, that once our one year is up, if my bride decided to take half of my net worth, she’d be well within her rights to do so.

And I’m sorry to say that I’m not keen on giving away five billion dollars to a, what did you call it? Ah, yes, a brainless bimbo.”

Her eyes widen. “You’re worth five billion dollars?”

“No, that’s the half I’d have to part with. Please keep up, Angel.”

Her mouth snaps shut as her mind spins, her eyes looking like the slot machines in Vegas, spinning to land on the winning solution.

She goes rigid, and for a moment, I worry that she’s going to pass out.

“What is it?” I ask.

“I’ll do it.”

“And what exactly are you offering to do, Luisa? You don’t leave a man with a mind like mine to go off and assume.”

She comes to stand in front of me, face stoic as she says, “I’ll do it. I’ll marry you.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, that five billion sounded nice enough to sweeten the deal, I bet.”

She scoffs. “Is it a stupid amount of money? Yes. Should there even be a singular human walking around earth with that kind of cash at their disposal? No. But that’s not what I’m after.

” She takes a step closer, and I drop my arms. “This might look a little different from your point of view with all the zeros in your bank account, but I am self-made too. I have worked tirelessly to carve a path not only for myself, but for the women coming up behind me. So believe me when I say I’ll marry you, and when the clock runs out on our sham marriage, I’ll happily walk away without a cent of your money, because I’d get to keep what I brought into it. ”

“Hmm, and what’s that?”

“My integrity.”

Silence.

We stare at each other for what feels like an eternity.

I’m well versed in reading people, and Luisa isn’t bullshitting me.

This is stupid.

A much too rash decision.

I can clearly hear my accountant screaming in my ear to reconsider.

But it doesn’t stop me from goading her. “I retrieve my lost asset and keep my money, and you keep your position not only on this team, but as the beacon of light for all women everywhere.”

She glares at me, and I smile.

“Oh, and that integrity. Let’s not forget that.”

“So, Stonehaven. What do you say? We getting married or what?” She holds out her hand as if to shake on a simple deal.

I take it and quickly pull her into my chest. Her soft gasp does something to me, and I make a mental note to make sure I get to hear it again.

“I recover my asset, and you keep your job. Sounds like a fair trade to me.”