Page 48 of The Girlfriend Card (Vegas Sin #4)

“And how wrong was it when you came to my house and lied to me that you were Dakota’s girlfriend?” he countered.

I piped up and claimed responsibility. “That’s my fault, Sal. I put her in that position. She didn’t know.”

“Maybe so, but she still chose to lie to her own father than be honest,” he said.

“Look, we could play the blame game all day,” I said.

“The truth is, I created this whole mess when I wasn’t honest about my actions the night before Game Seven.

And I take full responsibility for that.

But I’ve grown a lot this summer—and I owe a lot of that to Ottavia.

” I caught her eye, and we smiled at each other.

“And now, all we’re asking for is that you let us be together without interfering in our lives. ”

“Without interfering, huh? What does that mean, exactly? Let me guess—you want to continue to play in the NHL, and you want Ottavia to get her trust fund, too? Even though you were both given ultimatums, which you ignored?”

“That’s what we’re hoping for, yes.” I took Ottavia’s hand. “But if not, I’m willing to sacrifice my career to be with your daughter. Because I love her. And that’s how serious I am about her.”

“And I’m willing to sacrifice my trust fund to be with Dakota,” Ottavia said.

“Damned fools,” Mr. Capuano hissed. He turned to Leo. “And why have you turned on me, Leo?”

“Can’t you see they’ve already won?” Leo replied.

“You never thought they’d be willing to sacrifice so much just to be with each other.

But they are, Sal, and they’re also willing to tell the media everything.

Which would be so much worse for you than letting them have their way.

You should be thinking about damage control now, Sal—not trying to control them .

” He clenched a fist to emphasize his point.

“The harder you squeeze, the more slips through your fingers.”

Mr. Capuano sighed as he considered Leo’s words. It was obvious he trusted Leo and took his opinion seriously. But a flicker of suspicion remained in his eyes.

“I don’t understand how you switched sides so easily,” Mr. Capuano said, his voice laced with the hint of a threat. “Have you really thought this through … all the implications?”

Leo drew a deep breath. “ Look at Ottavia, Sal. Can’t you see she’s finally happy? She hasn’t been happy for years —until she met Dakota, that is.”

As Leo spoke, I saw a tear begin to well in Ottavia’s eyes. I squeezed her hand tightly in mine.

Leo continued. “And the truth is, I won’t be happy, either, if I have to pretend I’m not gay for the rest of my life.

” No one in the locker room batted an eye when Leo came out—no one but Mr. Capuano, who realized Leo his last bit of control over Leo had just evaporated.

“If that means I don’t have a future in politics?

Then fuck it. Fine. I’d rather not be in politics at all if it means the rest of my life has to be a lie.

I look at how happy Ottavia is, and I want that for myself, Sal. ”

Mr. Capuano’s jaw tensed and worked back and forth as he realized he’d lost years of plans.

“The three of you have utterly fucked me,” he snarled. “And you expect me to do you a favor now?”

“Expect?” I shook my head. “No. I have no idea what you’ll do. All I’m hoping for is that you’ll see it’s better for everyone if you stop fighting and do what we ask.”

“And what’s that, exactly?”

“Again: tell the truth. There’s a group of reporters outside this locker room, circling around like a bunch of vultures, desperate to get a piece of a story you created. I want you to go out there and clear our names.”

Mr. Capuano’s nostrils flared.

“I’ve got a better idea.” All eyes turned to Rust as the captain stood and spoke up. “First, Mr. Capuano, you’re gonna do what Dakota asked. And then you’re going to announce that you’re stepping down as owner.”

“What!” Mr. Capuano laughed. “Why would I do that?”

“Because I’m not going to play for you anymore,” Rust said.

The captain grabbed his jersey off the hanger in his stall, balled it up, and threw it into the middle of the room.

“I’m disgusted, Sal. Disgusted with how you’ve treated our teammate, and beyond disgusted with how you’ve treated your very own daughter.

It’s beyond wrong. And you need to take a long look at your life if you think you can treat people like this. ”

“Congratulations, Rust,” Mr. Capuano replied. “You can join Dakota in sitting out the rest of your contract, too.”

Upon hearing that, Brett tossed his jersey into the middle of the room, too. “Then you’ll have to sit me, because I’m not gonna play you for you, either.”

Brock added his jersey to the pile. “And me.”

“If Brock’s sitting, I am too,” Connor said, throwing his jersey next.

A pile began to form as the rest of my teammates tossed their jerseys into the middle of the room.

“You can sit my ass out too, ya billionaire bitch.”

“Yup, I’m out.”

“You’re fucked up, pal.”

They didn’t stop until every last jersey had been thrown and the Sin logo on the floor was buried beneath the laundry pile.

“Great. Great.” Pretending to be amused, Mr. Capuano wore a strained smile. “Would anybody else like to quit? Is the mascot around? The janitor, maybe?”

He could joke all he wanted, but we weren’t laughing.

“I’m not going to sell my team just because you clowns are threatening a mutiny,” Mr. Capuano snarled. “I’ll have each and every one of you traded.”

Killer had been silently watching this whole time. But now he stepped forward, peeling his suit jacket off his broad shoulders.

“Then you’ll have to hire somebody else to be your general manager, because I’m not trading or sitting anyone out.” Killer threw his jacket into the pile of jerseys. “I built a team I believe in. And I’m not going to throw it all away because you don’t know when to back the hell off.”

Mr. Capuano sighed. “You too, Dean?”

“Face it, Sal,” Killer replied, “if even half of this story got out? You’d be losing your hockey team regardless—and you’d lose a hell of a lot more on top of it. If you want to make it right, you need to step down immediately.”

“Unbelievable.”

Mr. Capuano’s face twisted through a range of emotions—denial, anger, and finally, a hint of realization that it was over, that he’d lost.

“If I step down,” he began, sounding defeated, “who would replace me?”

I’ll admit, I hadn’t seen any of this coming.

All I wanted at the start of the day was for Sal to stay out of me and Ottavia’s life, and not trash us in the media.

But Rust leading a team-wide revolt opened the door for real change.

As the room fell into a contemplative silence, it was as if we all suddenly had the same idea at once, and all eyes slowly turned to the one person we all trusted to be the new team owner.

“ Me? ” Surprised, Ottavia’s hand went to her chest.

“It makes a lot of sense, actually,” Rust said, his bottom lip jutting out. “The transition would be a lot smoother.”

“And it’d go a long way towards repairing your relationship with your daughter, Sal,” Killer said.

Mr. Capuano surprised everybody by saying, “I would prefer to keep it in the family, Ottavia.”

A murmur of surprise went over the room. “Whoa, what?”

“The franchise is a billion-dollar asset and its value will only increase in time,” he said.

“But I don’t know anything about owning a hockey team,” Ottavia protested.

“That’s great ,” Tank said with a wink. “The less involved you are, the better.”

“Yeah, that was The Godfather’s big mistake,” Brett added. “He got way too involved, and now look.”

“They’re right,” Mr. Capuano admitted with a sigh. “As owner, your primary duty is to open the wallet when asked.”

“Okay … but that’s a big problem because I don’t have the kind of money to pay athletes,” she murmured.

Mr. Capuano paused. “Yes, you do,” he said quietly.

“Uh. No, Dad, I don’t.”

“With your trust fund, you do.”

“But … I thought you said—”

“It’s yours, Ottavia.” Mr. Capuano shook his head somberly.

“Really?” Her eyes narrowed skeptically. “How do I know this isn’t a trick to keep controlling me? What’s to stop you from threatening to take it away if I don’t do exactly what you want?”

“I hate that you even have that reaction, princess. But I know I deserve it.” Her father grimaced. “We can set up an irrevocable trust. Once I place the assets in the fund, I relinquish control.”

“But why would you do that?” she asked.

“Because I want you to have it. It’s the least I can do, after what I did.”

“Are you actually acknowledging what you put me through?” she asked, her jaw dropping.

He nodded. “I thought you’d eventually fall in line and do what I wanted—but I was wrong.

And I was wrong to try to control you in the first place.

You’re such a beautiful, talented, and passionate young woman—and all you were begging me for was a chance to let you live your own life.

I thought it was just a phase, that you’d eventually see my way was the right way—but I should’ve listened to you.

” He drew a deep breath, regret etched into his face. “I’m sorry, Ottavia.”

Surprise and relief washed over Ottavia’s face. “Wow. Um. I never thought I’d hear those words from you.”

He sighed. “I hope that someday you’ll be able to forgive me. I was only trying to do what I thought was best for you … even if I went way, way too far …”

Father and daughter shared a hug. It wasn’t the warmest or happiest hug I’d ever seen in my life, and it was obvious in how awkward the embrace was that a lot of damage had been done to their relationship—but it was at least a sign that Mr. Capuano was willing to make a conscious effort to make things up to his daughter.

Then Mr. Capuano turned to me. “Kid.”

“Yeah?”

“I refused to believe you were the real deal. But you proved me wrong.” He pinched my cheek and gave me a clap on the shoulder. “Now you have to go out there this year and prove everyone else wrong, too.”

“I intend on it, sir.”

He pulled me in close for a hug, too. “And you better treat my princess well,” he whispered into my ear.

“I will,” I whispered back.

Mr. Capuano stepped back to address the rest of the room. “I’ll put out a notice for a press conference at the end of the day. We’ll make the announcement then.”

Mr. Capuano turned on his heels and headed for the exit. As soon as he left the locker room, the boys erupted into a cheer.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“HOLY SHIT!”

“DAKOTA SLAYED THE GODFATHER!”

“We did it! Oh my God, we did it!” Ottavia jumped into my arms, and our lips joined in a passionate kiss—we were free to be with each other, and had more control over our lives than ever before.

“I’m so fucking proud of you,” I said as I held her in my arms. “You’re so brave and amazing.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you, ” she said, her eyes shining.

Truth is, we couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help—Leo, Rust’s, Killer’s, and everyone else’s, too. The celebration continued as we went around the room thanking everyone for their help.

It was a wild moment where we realized we weren’t just two people in love—we were a team, surrounded by people who cared about us, who wanted to see us succeed and were willing to fight for us.

But at the end of the day? Everyone was here for hockey—and we had a training camp to attend.

“Okay, boys, we gotta get to work,” I said, rallying the troops.

“I’ll help!” For her first act as team owner, Ottavia went to the pile of laundry in the middle of the room. She picked the first jersey off the pile and read the name on the back. “Sherman? Which one of you is Sherman?”

“That’s me,” Tank said. “Otter, if you’re going to be our new owner, you better learn our names!”

“What do you think I’m doing?” she belted back. With a laugh, she tossed Tank’s jersey back to him, and picked up the next jersey. “Cotton?”

“That’s me, Cale Cotton,” the young defenseman said, sticking his arm in the air.

“Nice to meet you, Cale,” she said with a smile, and picked another jersey off the pile.