Chapter Forty: Willow

“What are you guys doing up here?” I ask, frantically hiding the incriminating photos behind my back. Not that it matters if they heard it all.

Carson raises an inquisitive brow, but lets it fall. “I ran into Luca in the parking lot and while we were catching up. He said he needed to chat with you, so I offered to show him where your office was.”

It checks out. The baseball world is incredibly small, and two of them played together for Los Angeles before Carson was traded to Atlanta and Luca bought the Monarchs.

“We didn’t mean to overhear your conversation. But I’m glad we did.” Carson lifts his phone in his hand and shows me the screen. It’s opened to the recording app where there’s a seven-minute file.

“So, you guys heard all of that.”

Each of them winces and nods.

“It’s bullshit,” Carson says.

I glance at Luca who, of the two, has the power to take this all the way up to the commissioner and get me fired as an owner. He scrubs a hand over his face and looks at the floor.

“You don’t look surprised,” I say to him.

“I’m not.”

Carson whips his head toward his former teammate and steps toward me in solidarity, so it’s the two of us facing Luca. “What are you hiding?”

“Vaughn caught me as I was leaving the field after the game yesterday. He wanted to grab a drink and discuss the future of the league and my thoughts on a few things.” Luca shifts his gaze to me, but nods toward Carson. “That recording isn’t admissible in court, but mine is.”

“What?” Carson looks at his phone in disbelief, his shoulders deflating.

“Florida is a two-party state. Meaning, even if I knew you were recording that conversation, Vaughn didn’t. So, if we were to take this to the commissioner and it went beyond the internal investigation, none of it would be admissible in court,” I explain. “But what do you mean, yours would?”

Luca smiles devilishly, a twinkle in his cool gray eyes. “At the beginning of our conversation, I let him know that I like to record my business meetings so that I can revisit them later. I’m shit with details after the fact. He agreed and then forgot after a few drinks.”

Hope infiltrates Carson”s voice. “What did he say?”

“Nothing as point blank as what he just told Ms. York, but he alluded to the fact he’s taken measures that would lead to him taking over the team. He implied the scandal was bigger than even the press knew, and he’d be at the top of his game if everything panned out, and I should align myself with him if I wanted to get ahead in the league.” He lifts his chin, nodding toward Carson’s phone. “Paired with that recording, it’s enough to have the authorities look into his involvement. Vaughn is the kind of man who likes to count his chickens before they hatch. He just didn’t know I’m above his bullshit.”

I huff a laugh. “It’s why he was bursting at the seams to tell me everything he’s done. Making sure we were alone when he did.”

“Exactly.”

“So, what do we do now?” I ask. It’s not like I can just go to the commissioner. Not if I want to protect Bishop. We’re in the wrong and Vaughn has proof.

“Nothing yet,” Luca says cryptically.

Carson curses and runs a hand through his hair, fisting his blonde curls. “But we can’t let him get away with this. It’s a no-win situation. He’s proven he’s a snake. There’s no way he’s not going to trade Bishop and ruin Willow.”

My eyes fall to the ground, and I blow out a slow exhale. “I’m going to lose the team either way.”

“Maybe,” Luca muses, “but I don’t think so.”

I snap my eyes up at Luca and scoff. “There’s a no fraternization policy. We broke that.”

First thing this morning, I double checked to see if there were any loopholes. There aren’t.

Luca nods. “Yes, but I think we can prove it won’t matter. You don’t handle his contract. And you’ve never done anything to favor him.”

I flinch. That’s not entirely true.

“Shit,” Luca curses. “What did you do?”

“I flew him down here on my private jet because he—”” I stop. It feels wrong to out Bishop, not only in front of his teammate but another owner in the league. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place with Luca’s involvement, but that doesn’t mean I trust him.

Luca nods as he puts it together. “He was afraid of flying after the crash.”

“Yes.”

“Any good owner would have done the same,” he reasons with a reassuring smile. “And if we get enough of the other organizations to back us up, we just might have the grounds for the league to accept the two of you being together. It’s not unprecedented.”

I’m not sure what he means by that, but he’s handing me a lifeline and I’d be stupid not to take it. Still, I’m skeptical. “Why are you helping me?”

His eyes grow distant, and he breaks eye contact, looking toward the open conference room door. “Call me a romantic as of late. Also, Vaughn fucked over my twin brother once upon a time. I’d love nothing more to see him burn.”

I narrow my gaze and want to press, but it’s not my place. Not when, at the moment, he’s the only viable option I have at fixing this mess. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

“A romantic, you say? Are you holding out on us, Lucky?” Carson chuckles. “Who is she?”

Luca’s wistful gaze hardens, and he cuts a glare at Carson. “Apparently no one.” He shifts his gaze back to me and continues. “From this moment forward, you and Bishop will have to be squeaky clean. Keep clear of him until I can figure this out.”

That’s going to be a problem, considering I just told him to find me.

I tug out my phone and fire off a text, letting him know something came up and I’ll see him at the meeting.

Then I realize it’s not just me and Bishop Luca has to worry about. I know what’s at stake. Carson’s our wildcard. He’s loyal to Bishop, as he should be. If he lets this slip when he gets down to the clubhouse, I’m afraid it will be like setting off a one-man EF5 tornado. Bishop has fought so hard to get to where he is. I don’t want him to have to choose between me and this team. Because I know who he’ll choose, and I’m afraid it’ll break him all over again.

I turn to Carson. “Are you going to tell Bishop about this?”

“Tell me about what?”

My whole body tenses as his deep timber washes over me.

Damn it. I guess the universe isn’t quite done shitting on me quite yet.

In five large strides, Bishop traverses the length of the hallway and joins us. His head swivels between Luca, Carson, and me, each of us wearing a guilty expression.

“Tell me about what?” he repeats.

I inhale a jagged breath and suck my lower lip between my teeth. I promised I wouldn’t shut him out, but I had hoped to have a more cohesive plan before having this conversation.

Hurt is etched in Bishop’s furrowed brows when I look up at him and hand him the photos. “Vaughn knows about us. He’s going to use it to get me to give up the team or trade you to another one.”

“Fuck,” he curses as he fingers through the glossy evidence of our affair. “Who knows about this?”

“As far as we know, just the three of us. But Vaughn has already been trying to recruit people, like Luca, to support him.”

His brows furrow, his brown eyes boring into my blue. “Were you going to tell me?”

“I just did.”

“Don’t play stupid with me, Willow,” Bishop snaps. “If I hadn’t interrupted this little powwow, were you going to tell me or were you going to tell Carson not to?”

Uneasy under his unrelenting stare, I shift my weight. “I was going to tell you after the game today, once Luca shared his plan with me.”

“What plan?” he deadpans.

“I’m going to make a few calls, cash in a few favors, and see what we can do to soften the blow.”

I’m still uneasy about Luca’s involvement but have to trust he wants to help us.

“Okay,” Bishop answers, seemingly satisfied with our answers. He takes a step toward me, wraps his arm around my waist and presses a kiss to my temple. “I’m sorry. I thought you were keeping things from me again.”

I was, but not because I wasn’t planning on telling him. That’s the difference and I’m happy he sees that. But I’m not out of the woods yet.

“There’s one more thing,” I say, leaning into his touch for strength.

“Fuck,” he growls, “What else?”

“Vaughn is the one who orchestrated the cheating scandal.”

“Fucking bastard.” He looks over my head at Luca and Carson. “So, why aren’t we pinning him to the fucking wall?”

“We need to get our story straight and make sure our proof is solid and has weight behind it if we’re going to take him down,” Luca explains. “We can’t fuck this up.”

“Fuck this.” Bishop jerks his hands back from my waist and grabs my wrist, tugging me in the direction he came from.

I’m helpless to do anything but follow.

“W-where are we going?” I stutter, struggling to keep up in the heels I insist on torturing myself with.

When he doesn’t answer, I look over my shoulder at Luca and Carson, who are both just as confused. They snap out of it when we’re half-way down the hall and jog to catch up.

Bishop slams his fist against the button for the elevator, and it opens immediately.

We all file in, and the three of us watch as he hits the button for the clubhouse.

The elevator jerks its descent, and he turns to face us. Fire and determination are in his eyes. “Luca, get your damn plan together. I’m sick of people using me and this team as a fucking pawn in their game. That stops today. Right now.”

So much for stopping the tornado.