19. Put Me On Trial

19

PUT ME ON TRIAL

T wo weeks later, Jamie walked into Laken’s offices, but he was meeting with West first and then Laken and Nelson. Or maybe it was West and Nelson first. He didn’t know. He didn’t care.

In the past two weeks, he’d barely seen the woman he was dating and he found it more frustrating than he thought he would.

He’d spent the night on New Year’s Eve, leaving early the next morning and having to face Janelle in the kitchen lifting an eyebrow at him. He hadn’t said another word and went to his room to shower and change.

There hadn’t been time to see Laken again that week as she was busy with work and Saturday he had plans with his daughter before he flew out for the game on Sunday.

Monday Laken had meetings all day before she flew out of town and returned Thursday night.

She’d been catching up on work in the office all day on Friday and he’d spent Saturday with her, staying the night before he flew out for the game on Sunday again.

That was three days ago and he’d see her at some point when he was done meeting with one of her older and younger brothers.

She’d told him Braylon, West and Nelson knew they were dating but no one else.

He hadn’t asked why since it didn’t feel as if they had enough time to hug and kiss let alone talk about those things.

“I’ve got a meeting with West,” he told the woman at the front desk.

“Yes,” she said, “Follow me and I’ll bring you to his wing.”

He’d been here enough that he didn’t need to be shown the way but wouldn’t argue either.

Outside of West’s office he took a seat and waited.

He looked at his watch and noticed it was five after ten. Normally West was on time and didn’t keep people waiting like a lot of other powerful men in the world.

He would have expected it if it’d happened before. The only thing different this time was that West was aware of a personal relationship with his sister.

He saw West’s door open and Braylon came out, then nodded him in. Oh boy, looked like it was more than one brother.

When he walked in, it was West, Braylon and Nelson.

It was almost comical, as all these guys were big but not as big as him.

Nelson to him was still a baby-faced rookie.

“Morning, gentlemen,” he said, smiling.

“Have a seat,” West said.

He lifted his eyebrow and moved over to sit in a chair, Braylon and Nelson on a couch and West in another chair.

“Do we want to get the personal part of this meeting over with?”

Braylon grinned, and Nelson tried to look serious like his oldest brother but he couldn’t pull it off.

Laken had made comments even before they started to date that Nelson idolized West and though he was cocky and might need a chip knocked off his shoulder a time or two, he’d work hard and never want to let West down.

“Since you brought it up,” West said. “What are your intentions with our sister?”

He grinned. “Does she know the three of you are in here trying to put me on trial?”

He looked around and saw Braylon’s grin light up. Nelson coughed in his hand. His business partner was still staring at him.

“She knows you and West have a meeting,” Nelson answered. “That I’d be joining.”

“Just not Braylon,” he said. “No worries. The first guy who wants to date my daughter is going to get treated worse than what you three are attempting to do to me. I’ll be one guy doing it, so I’ve got no hard feelings.”

West only lifted his eyebrow up.

He liked the dude the several times they’d met before. He found him more easygoing than the press made him out to be but was confident the guy could be a hard ass.

As he was proving now.

“You didn’t answer my question,” West said.

“I don’t know my intentions,” he said. “But considering what you know about me that almost no one else does, you also know that I wouldn’t take it lightly having Laken meet Penelope.”

Braylon looked at West and the oldest brother seemed to relax some. “We figured as much.”

“Yet you still need to ride me over this?”

“It’s not that,” Nelson said. “Laken can handle herself.”

“I know,” he said. “I never doubted it. Which is why I asked if she knew about this. You all might be afraid once she finds out.”

Braylon laughed. “I said the same thing.”

“Are you going to tell her?” West asked.

“Not unless you give me a reason to,” he said.

“I’m only looking out for my sister. You don’t know her like we do,” West said.

“I’d like to think I know things about her that you might not.”

He noticed Nelson’s snicker and Braylon’s face turn a bit pink. West still had no reaction. The dude was tough.

“You probably do,” Braylon said. “She’s not one to show many weaknesses, but we know them.”

“She’d say she doesn’t have any,” Jamie said, laughing.

“She would,” West said. “But everyone has weaknesses.”

“As much as Laken loves attention,” Nelson said, “she doesn’t like the kind you get.”

“You mean out in the public?” he asked.

“Yes,” West said. “She is used to it being around me but is fine it’s on me and not her.”

“She’s said as much,” he said. “We are doing our best to keep that from happening.”

“You can only keep that quiet for so long,” Braylon said. “We all know that. West is a prime example.”

“That’s right,” West said. “I’m well known by name more than sight at this point. I can go places in the area and not be recognized if my name isn’t said. But you, you’re well known.”

Not just for being one of the highest paid quarterbacks in his time. Or the comeback kid that everyone said couldn’t bring their team as far as he had.

But more of his reputation came about from his behavior on the field early on in his career. The fights in the locker room, even on the sidelines.

He left that team and came to New York and that all stopped.

He focused his energy on building the team and making them as great as he wanted to be.

But off the field, he’d still had fuel in his body to burn.

Many said it was rebelling against the strict religious upbringing he had.

That could be some of it, but he’d thought he’d got most of it out in college.

He supposed he didn’t if he was out getting so drunk that he got someone pregnant without even knowing.

Best worst decision of his life now.

“Laken is coming to terms with it on her own. If we spend time at her place for now, then so be it.”

“Why not spend it at your house?” Nelson asked. “Away from all the noise and action.”

He didn’t expect this kind of questioning. “I’m not ready for Penelope to know Laken that way just yet. You’re not going to sit here and tell me how to parent my child, are you?”

“No,” West said. “We aren’t.”

“We don’t need the details on how you manage your relationship with our sister,” Braylon said. “Nelson shouldn’t have asked specifics.”

“You said we had to be tough,” Nelson complained to West.

West rolled his eyes.

“It doesn’t matter how tough you are,” Jamie said. “What Laken and I have is between us. Just like Lily and Braylon and Abby and West. I’m going to say Laken respected your privacy?”

Both older brothers laughed. “Kind of,” Braylon said. “She can be bossy when she wants, but she normally sided with our girlfriends and not us.”

“Good to know,” he said. “And if you don’t have anything else to add on a personal level, maybe we can get down to business?”

“I’ve got a meeting to go to anyway,” Braylon said, getting up and leaving him there with West and Nelson.

“This got done faster than I thought it would,” West said. “Nelson, why don’t you give Jamie and me twenty minutes and then I’ll have him go to your office to talk before you go to Laken’s?”

He could see the younger man didn’t like that he was dismissed but left anyway.

“Are we good?” he asked. “Or is this where I get to see the real you?”

West smiled. “You’ve seen more of the real me than most do. We are trying to teach Nelson how to put his game face on.”

“Didn’t seem to be working when he threw you under the bus. Do I have to worry about that?”

“No,” West said. “He’ll be fine, but he’ll be watched. If you have any concerns let Laken or me know.”

“Laken said we should be good and I trust her.”

“As you should,” West said. “She’s the best at what she does. She can put people at ease at the same time demand their respect. She never wanted it because of who she worked for either. She goes above and beyond more than I think she should, but that could be why everyone loves her.”

“She does seem to enjoy her job.”

“Her career is her everything. I know that. I know Braylon felt the same way. I did too.”

“But you don’t anymore?” he asked.

“It’s not everything in my world but a big part of it. Everything I did was for my family. I’ve never made a secret about that. But then I realized it was time to do something for myself. Braylon is getting there too. Maybe we are slow as a family, but we always feel as if we’ve got something to prove. The sad part is, we always want to prove it to those we love that don’t need it.”

Jamie nodded his head. “I understand that more than I should. In my case though, the ones I want to prove it to will never want it or believe it. It will never be enough.”

“If you know that now then maybe it’s time to move on from it,” West said.

He hadn’t expected that kind of life lesson today, but maybe it was one he needed.