True Love and Other Disasters

Chapter 17

You’d be surprised at the number of men who slipped their number in my G-string.”

Ty wouldn’t be surprised at all. Faith lay with her head on his bare chest, brushing her fingers across his stomach. The tips of her short nails spread fire to his belly and groin and if he had the time, he’d make love to her again. If he had time, he’d damn sure have her dance for him again. She’d been beautiful and erotic and he’d loved it. “Did you call any of them?”

She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. “Sure. Like I would ever date a man I met in a strip club.”

“I’ve hung out in a strip club a time or two.”

“I’m not surprised. Strip clubs attract jocks and musicians like ants to a picnic.”

“I haven’t been in a few years,” he defended himself, although he wasn’t quite sure why he felt the need to. He ran his hand down the smooth skin of her back. “My father still loves the strippers.”

“Which explains his attraction to my mother.”

“Your mother was a stripper?” Again, no big surprise.

“Yep. She was a stripper and sometimes a cocktail waitress.”

“Sounds like she worked hard.”

“She did. She played hard too. I was alone a lot.”

“Where is your father?” She rubbed her foot on the inside of his calf and came dangerously close to kneeing him in the nuts.

“I haven’t seen him since I was little.”

He rolled her onto her back and looked down into her face. “You’ve never tried to find him?”

“Why? He didn’t want to know me. Why would I want to know him?”

Good point.

She pushed a piece of blonde hair from her face. “What about your mother?”

He fell onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. He didn’t like to talk about his mother. “What about her?”

“Where does she live?”

“She died about five years ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

He looked across the pillow at her. “Don’t be. She wasn’t.” He ran his gaze across her beautiful face. Her green eyes and long lashes. Her perfect nose and the bow of her full pink lips. “My father has always said that she was crazy, but that’s because he never tried to understand her.”

She turned on her side. “Did you?”

He shrugged. “She was very emotional. Laughing one minute, crying the next. She never got over the divorce, and I don’t think she had a real interest in living after that.”

“When did your parents divorce?”

“I was ten.”

She looked into his face and her smile was sad when she said, “I think my mother was on her third divorce when I was ten. I used to ride my bike to dance classes at the Y so that I didn’t have to think about it.”

He pictured a little girl on a pink Schwinn, her blonde ponytail flying behind her. “I played hockey twelve months out of the year.”

“Well, all that hard work paid off.”

He’d had great coaches to fill the voids in his life. Good men and mentors. He wondered if she’d ever had anyone. He bet not. “So did your dance classes.”

She laughed. “Yeah, but not with the moves I learned as a kid. I had to learn all new moves.”

He liked her moves. Especially tonight. While it was true that he’d played great hockey Monday night, he really didn’t believe it had anything to do with sex. He’d just used it as an excuse to be with her. He loved the touch of her skin beneath his hands and the look of pleasure in her eyes when he was buried deep inside her. He was quickly becoming addicted to the sound of her pleasure and knowing he was the one giving it to her. Even on days when he told himself he didn’t have time for her, he managed to hook up with her anyway.

Ty sat on the edge of the bed and scrubbed his face with his hands. She was an addiction. Why else would he risk everything to be with her? How else could he explain it to himself?

“Are you leaving so soon?” she asked as she moved behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Her breasts pressed into his bare back and he fought the urge to turn and push her back down on the mattress.

“I have to go before I’m missed.” He wanted to ask more questions about the little girl on the bike. To spend all night discovering all the moves she’d learned.

She softly kissed the side of his neck. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow night after work.” He looked into her eyes a few inches from his and wondered how much she’d miss him. “I have a game to win. And a few more after that.”

She sat back on her behind and wrapped her arms around her knees. She looked up at him as he stood and got dressed. “What are you going to do after you win the cup? Are you going to take a long vacation?”

“I never think that far ahead.” He stepped into his boxer briefs and adjusted his package.

“You never think about what you’re going to do after you win?”

“Sure. After I win, I’m going to skate around with the cup over my head.” He pulled up his trousers and looked at her, sitting in the middle of the bed, naked and perfect. “My focus has always been on winning. For as long as I can remember, that’s been my goal.” He’d never really thought beyond that. “I’ll work out and keep the body in shape so I won’t show up at camp fat and out of shape like some of the guys.” He reached for his dress shirt on the end of the bed and shoved his arms inside. But as he worked the buttons, he thought about Faith in a bikini, lounging on a sandy beach beside him. The sun warming her smooth skin. Maybe she’d have on a floppy hat and big sunglasses.

A frown settled between his brows. She didn’t even want to have dinner with him at a secluded restaurant in Bellevue. She’d made it real clear what she did want, and she was right. There could never be more between them than clandestine sex. And really good lap dances. Especially now with those billboards plastered all over Seattle. He’d never been featured in a tabloid, but he imagined that a photo of him lounging on the beaches of Mazatlan with the owner of the Chinooks might make it into the pages. So why was he even thinking about it?

Faith watched Ty’s big hands close his shirt over his hard abs and defined pecs and wondered what had put the frown on his face. “I understand about single-minded goals,” she said as she rose from the bed and grabbed a hotel robe from the closet. “My whole goal in life was to have so much money that I didn’t ever have to worry about how I was going to pay the bills.”

“I’d say you pretty much exceeded your goal.” He closed the last button, then tucked the tails into his trousers.

“Yeah. I did, and once I reached it, I was kind of aimless. I didn’t realize how aimless until now.” She slid her arms into the rich terry-cloth robe and tied the belt around her waist. “Now I have a new goal. A better goal, and one that I never even dreamed I’d ever have in a million years. It’s really scary, but I’m enjoying it. Which is kind of scary too.”

He glanced up, then returned his attention to his black leather belt. “What’s that?”

“The Chinooks. I certainly never thought I’d own a hockey team. And if I’d ever even given it a thought, I wouldn’t have ever thought I’d actually come to like it.” She folded her arms beneath her breasts. “It’s a huge responsibility, and for the past few years I’ve been all about letting someone else take care of everything. Now, I’m learning to like the responsibility. I like owning the Chinooks so much, that I’m actually looking forward to the drafts.”

He looked up at her. “Who are you looking at?”

“A few top prospects. When I get back, Darby and I are viewing some tapes of two-way defenders.”

He chuckled as he gazed across the room. “Do you know what a two-way defender is?”

“Someone who can defend and score.” She shrugged. “At least that’s what I think it means.”

“You’re right. That’s pretty much what it means.” He moved toward her. “Keep your eyes open for a big, hard-nosed checker. Don’t worry so much about the kid’s speed. Skating can be improved.” He wrapped his hand around the robe’s belt and pulled her against him. “If I don’t talk to you again until we get back to Seattle, don’t get bent out of shape again.” He pressed his lips to her forehead.

“You’ll be thinking about me?”

He shook his head and his lips brushed across her skin. “I’m going to try like hell not to think about you.”

The different tones and pitches of more than thirty snoring men filled the cabin of the BAC-111 as it circled Boeing Field and prepared to land. Hours earlier, the Chinooks had suffered a crushing 3-4 loss to Detroit. Game Five of the series was two days away and Faith figured Ty would need the full two days to recover from a brutal hit he’d taken at center ice from Detroit enforcer Darren McCarty.

A few plays later, Ty had put a hit on McCarty in the corner that had crumpled the Red Wing to the ice. “McCarty caught me with my head down,” Ty had told the press later that night. “Then I caught him with the puck.”

Later that night, Faith saw firsthand the extent of Ty’s bruises. He was black and blue on his right side and red across his back and hard stomach. It looked like he’d been hit by a baseball bat instead of a hockey enforcer. Ty was sore and battered and when they made love over the next few days, Faith was thoughtful enough to climb on top.

By Game Five Ty had healed somewhat, and the Chinooks managed a 3-1 win in their own house. Game Six was back in Detroit at the Joe Louis Arena and went into double overtime. With three seconds left on the clock, Daniel scored and the Chinooks advanced to the final round to face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins in their battle for the cup.

High from the win and advancement into the final round of the playoffs, the team boarded the BAC-111 and celebrated by popping Bollinger champagne. Once the jet reached cruising speed, Coach Nystrom stood, slightly bowed forward to accommodate his height. “Two months ago when Virgil Duffy died,” he began when everyone had quieted, “we all worried how the new ownership of the team would affect our run at the cup. Any time there is a change, there is cause for concern. After tonight, I think we can safely say that Mrs. Duffy has successfully filled Virgil’s shoes. I think he would be proud of her, and we want to officially welcome her to the team.” He turned to his left and Darby handed him a dark blue jersey. He turned it to show her name, DUFFY, written across the shoulders and the number one on the back in dark green. “We officially want to welcome the newest Chinook.”

Faith stood and stepped into the aisle. She took the jersey and the backs of her eyes stung. “Thank you, Coach.” She turned and looked at the scruffy faces looking back at her, at their beards that now ranged from Geico cavemen to patchy fuzz. She met Ty’s gaze and both corners of his mouth slid up in a rare smile. Her heart pinched and her eyes stung and she didn’t want to cry like a girl. “When I discovered that Virgil had left me his hockey team, I was as stunned as all of you. I was just as worried as everyone else that the responsibility would be too much for me and I’d mess things up.” She swallowed and folded the jersey across her arm. “With the help of my assistant, and everyone else, I’m proud to say I’ve done all right. I’m proud of all you guys, and I know that Virgil is proud of us too.” She thought she should give some sort of inspiring speech, but her vision blurred. “Thank you,” she said before she embarrassed herself by crying in front of her guys. She sat next to Jules for the remainder of the flight home and wished she could curl up in Ty’s lap and bury her face in his neck.

At three in the morning, when a black Beemer pulled up to the curb in front of her penthouse, she wore the new jersey beneath her raincoat. This time, however, she packed her Louis Vuitton hatbox with extra lingerie and a change of clothes.

Over the next five days, until the first game against the Penguins, their lives fell into a comfortable pattern, as if they were a real couple. Ty practiced during the day while Faith viewed rookie tapes or met with Miranda Snow of the Chinooks Foundation. She had lunch with Jules or her mother, and at night she either drove to Ty’s or he came to her home, depending on Valerie and Pavel’s plans. The only creature on the planet aware of Ty and Faith’s covert relationship was Pebbles. The second the dog set her beady eyes on Ty, she instantly fell in love, much to the 240-pound hockey player’s discomfort. The second he would walk in the door, Pebbles circled his legs so he could hardly walk and jumped in his lap when he sat. Ty would give Faith a look, expecting her to do something, but when she tried, the dog snapped at her. Pebbles was a total slut for Ty, but Faith supposed she couldn’t blame the evil little mutt.

The one and only time she and Ty argued, it was about Virgil. It happened at his house during a golf lesson when he was teaching her to “waggle.” She wore a red corset and little panties that tied at the sides, and instead of getting turned on like she’d planned, he’d just gotten irritated.

“When are you going to stop wearing that ring?” he asked as she lined up a shot.

“Does it bother you?”

He shrugged and placed his beer on the bar. He wore a pair of worn Levi’s and a ripped-up tank top. His hair was disheveled from her fingers and he looked good enough to lick up one side and down the other. “It’s a constant reminder that you’re Virgil’s wife.”

She set the club in a rack and turned to face him. “Obviously, that bothers you.”

“I think it would bother most men. I’m having sex with you, and you’re wearing another man’s ring.”

She looked into his blue eyes, brittle with anger, and she didn’t understand it. “Virgil’s only been dead two months.”

“Exactly. You can come here and have sex but you can’t take off that damn ring?”

“I already feel guilty about the sex, Ty.” Suddenly she felt naked and exposed and she moved past him toward her dress, lying on his couch. “He was my husband for five years.”

“He was your roommate.”

“He took care of me.”

“He bought you because he could.”

“Well, I sold myself to him.” She grabbed the dress and turned to face him. “Which makes me no better than him.”

“You weren’t the one in the relationship with all the power. He was.”

Which was true. She and Virgil had been friends and gotten along very well, but he’d always been in charge. “He was good to me. Better than any man I’ve ever known.”

“Then the men in your life must have sucked.” He folded his arms across his chest.

That was true too.

“He’s gone, Faith.”

“I know.” She pulled her dress over her head and shoved her arms in the short sleeves.

“You don’t owe him anything.”

“That’s easy for you to say.” Her hands rose to the buttons on the front. “He left me enough money to take care of me for the rest of my life. He left me his hockey team, for God’s sake. And every time I’m with you, I feel like I’m betraying my husband.” Her fingers fumbled with the button. “I feel guilty as hell, but I feel the most guilty those times when I’m not feeling guilty at all.” She looked up at him. “Maybe Landon was right about me. I am a shameless gold digger. But I don’t even mind being called a gold digger. It’s the truth, but I thought I’d outgrown being shameless.”

“If you were shameless you wouldn’t be standing here freaking out.” He shook his head. “You’re thirty years old. You’re young and beautiful, and you’ve been living on a shelf. Jesus, you’ve been celibate for five years. You shouldn’t feel guilty about wanting to live again.”

“I was living. It’s just not a life you approve of.” She looked into his still angry eyes. “Most of my life I’ve avoided feeling bad about the things I do. Most of my life I was shameless. I always did whatever it took to survive, and most of the time, I didn’t feel bad. But being with you isn’t about survival. It’s about feeling good. It’s about risking my reputation, what little I have, and your career, and being so selfish I do it anyway.”

He took a few steps toward her and grabbed her wrists. “Don’t go.”

“Tell me why I should stay.”

“Because despite the possible damage to my career and your reputation, I’m selfish as hell and want you here. It would be easier if I didn’t, but I stopped fighting it weeks ago.”

She dropped her hands to her sides and looked up into his face. The stitches had been taken from his brow, and he was left with an angry red line at the corner of his right eye. For how long would he want her? How long could it all last? she wanted to ask him. Instead she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his solid chest. His heart beat strong and steady against her cheek as his hand moved up and down her back. And it felt so good standing there, her body pressed to his, feeling his warm, soothing touch. She could almost make herself believe that it wouldn’t end in disaster.

Tomorrow night was the first game against the Penguins. She would think about that and not the ache in her chest and the clog in her throat. She would worry about their defensemen and not about the fear twisting her stomach. The truly horrifying feeling in the bottom of her soul that the unacceptable had happened. Despite all good reason and sense, despite everything they had against them, she’d fallen completely in love with Ty Savage.

For the first time in five years, her wedding ring felt like a heavy weight on her finger. Suddenly it didn’t feel right that she should wear one man’s ring when she was in love with another.

When she returned home early the next morning, she took it off and placed it in her safe next to the other jewelry Virgil had bought for her. The beautiful stones in the safe glittered in the light, but failed to give her the warmth and comfort they’d always provided. Her hand looked naked without the heavy diamonds, but it felt lighter, freer, and right. As if it was truly time to let go of the past and Virgil.

The rest of the day, she tried not to think about her situation with Ty. She was just going to live in the moment. It would last as long as it lasted. Yet, in a small corner of her heart, she hoped that everything would work out somehow. That they would find some way to be together, but in her head she knew that wasn’t realistic. This relationship was doomed to end in heartache, but perhaps if she was careful, maybe she wouldn’t lose her whole heart to him. If she was careful, maybe she could guard one last piece.

But later that afternoon, a package arrived at the penthouse that stole any remaining piece of her heart that didn’t already firmly belong to Ty.

The box was wrapped in white paper with a big pink-and-white-striped bow. Inside the polka-dot tissue paper lay a pair of pink patent-leather ice skates with gold blades. Size seven. The same size as her red Valentino pumps.

The card simply read I’ll catch you when you fall. It wasn’t signed but she knew who’d sent the skates. She sat on the couch with the box in her lap. Her eyes filled with tears and the back of her throat felt hot and scratchy. She tried unsuccessfully to blink back the moisture in her eyes, but she was no more successful at that than she was holding back the swell of her heart. She was in love with Ty. It was impossible. Inappropriate, and she didn’t feel good about it. Not the kind of good that falling should feel like.

“What’s that?” her mother asked as she walked into the living room.

Faith ducked her head. “Nothing.”

“It’s obviously not nothing.”

She brushed her wet cheek against the shoulder of her BCBG T-shirt. “Someone sent me skates.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

“Really? How long do you think you can keep this up?”

“What?”

“Your secret relationship with Tyson.”

Faith looked up and stared at her mother, a vision of blurry zebra-print pants and black tube top.

“I’m not stupid, Faith. Neither is Pavel. We know you two sneak around and meet each other in private. We’ve been trying to stay out of your way.” She handed Faith a tissue from the box on the end table. “Dry your eyes. Your mascara will smear.”

Faith took the tissue and dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come to me and talk to me about it.” Valerie sat on the couch and Pebbles jumped up beside her. “I could help. Maybe give you motherly advice.”

“No offense, Mom, but you’ve been married seven times. What advice could you give about relationships?”

Pebbles curled up by Valerie’s side as if to say that she was the favored daughter. “Well, I could tell you what mistakes not to make. Like never get involved with a married man. They rarely leave their wives. Despite what they say.”

“That really doesn’t apply here, Mother.”

“That’s true.” Her hand dropped to Pebbles’s fur and she stroked the dog. “Or sailors. Those men dock at different ports around the world and they all seem to just love the hookers. Nasty bastards.”

“Again, Mom. Doesn’t apply.”

Valerie sighed as if she were the one suffering. “I guess my point is that your relationship with Ty is difficult but not impossible.”

“It feels impossible.”

“Do you love him?”

What she felt was so new, so raw, she didn’t want to talk about it. “I don’t want to love him.”

“Well, I don’t want age spots, but it’s something I can’t help.”

“Are you equating Ty and age spots?”

Valerie shrugged a bare shoulder. “Your body is going to react a certain way and there is nothing you can do about it. You can’t control who you’re attracted to. And you can’t control who your heart wants.”

A few weeks ago she would have told her mom that was a load of crap. And she would have believed it too. “But I don’t want my heart to want him. I don’t want to fall for any man right now. It’s too soon.” And she especially didn’t want a relationship that was so complicated.

“I know you loved Virgil. He was your husband but he was never your man.”

She looked into her mother’s green eyes surrounded by heavy mascara. “What does that mean?”

“It means that he wasn’t the man who drew your attention across the room or made your stomach go squishy at the sight of him. Virgil may have been nice to you, but he didn’t make you want to lie beside his body, next to his heart, for an entire afternoon.”

Curling up alongside Ty was one of her favorite things to do. “Is that how you feel about Pavel?”

Valerie shook her head. “Pavel is not the kind of man a woman should ever fall in love with. He’s a heartbreaker, and I am old enough, with enough experience under my belt, to see him for what he is. But he’s great company and we’re having a lot of fun. He’s only here to see his son win the cup.” She ran her fingers through Pebbles’s fur. “Ty is not like his father. He is not all fun and games and having fun. Pavel thinks he has feelings for you.”

Faith didn’t know how Ty felt. He’d never said. She knew he liked having sex with her. That much was obvious. And she knew he gave her gifts with some thought behind them. That had to count for something. But she also knew that if it came down to a choice, he’d pick his career over her. She understood that. Hockey was a part of him. It flowed through him like his own blood, giving him substance and strength and purpose. His drive and dedication were the things she loved about him.

They were also the things that would break them apart.

Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Seattle Chinooks was played on Seattle’s ice. The Key Arena was filled to capacity and the cool air buzzed with the excitement of more than fifteen thousand cheering fans.

Early in the first period, the Penguins dominated the puck, but the Chinooks came back strong in the second and third frames. Faith watched from the skybox, her heart pounding in her throat as the Chinooks beat Pittsburgh 3-1.

Game Two was played in the Mellon Arena on Pittsburgh ice. Despite the Penguins’ hometown advantage, Game Two was a repeat of Game One. Chinooks goalie Marty Darche stopped twenty-five of twenty-six shots on goal, while Ty scored in the remaining minutes with a one-timer shot across ice from the stick of Logan Dumont. The Chinooks once again won 3-1. The flight home from Pittsburgh was jubilant while remaining cautious.

Later as Faith lay curled up beside Ty’s warm body, next to his heart, she was actually starting to feel a bit optimistic about the future. Somehow, maybe everything would work out. She wasn’t exactly sure how, but once the playoffs were over, maybe they could go away together and find a solution.

She was still thinking about possible solutions the next afternoon when she returned from a meeting with Jules and the Chinooks Foundation. Perhaps their relationship could remain a secret for a few more years.

When she walked into her building, a card waited for her at the front desk. It wasn’t signed but said, “Meet me in Virgil’s office inside the Key Arena at 6:00 P.M.” It was an odd request. Ty would be at the Key getting suited up to play Game Three. She knew he was as cautious as she was about being seen together, and she wondered what would prompt him to want to meet her.

At five thirty, she dressed in her team jersey and figured it had to be something really important, but when she walked into the office that night, it wasn’t Ty sitting in her chair with his feet up on her desk.

“Come in and shut the door,” Landon said, a particularly smug smile flattening his colorless lips.

Faith didn’t move. She looked into the cold eyes of the one person on the planet who truly frightened her. “We don’t have anything to talk about.”

Landon took his feet from the desk and pushed a file toward her. “You’re wrong about that, Layla. We’re going to talk about your boyfriend and how fast you’re going to sell me my father’s team.”

Faith’s heart slammed against her ribs as she moved to the desk and flipped open the file. Inside were photos of her and Ty. There were four of them, but the most incriminating picture had been snapped the night she’d come down from the penthouse wearing nothing but her raincoat. It had been dark outside, but the photograph clearly showed Ty kissing her while his hand was inside her coat cupping her breast. Her stomach fell and she thought she might vomit all over her desk and the front of Landon’s gray suit.

“I’m thinking I don’t want to pay one hundred and seventy million for the team.”

“And what happens if I don’t sell?” she asked, although she figured she knew the answer.

“After I send the photos to the newspapers, I’ll blow them up and hang them around town with the other billboards of you and the captain.”

She’d figured wrong. She’d thought he’d stop with the threat of sending the pictures to the Seattle Times. The thought of her and Ty like that on a billboard added panic to the fear in her tumbling stomach. “What makes you think I care if people see me like that? I’ve suffered worse humiliation in my life.”

“I don’t think you care. You’re a stripper and have no morals. You’re shameless, but I don’t think you want to humiliate the captain and the rest of the team. Especially when it looks like they might actually win that cup.”

She believed him. She believed he’d do what he said. “Your father always said that you were a little pissant.”

Landon’s eyes narrowed. “My father was a fool with a taste for trash.” He stood. “My lawyers will send the papers to you tomorrow. Sign them and send them back as soon as possible or the price will go down even more. I thought about having you gift the team to me, but God forbid anyone assume we were involved somehow.”

She didn’t care about the money. “What are you going to do with the team?” She couldn’t believe this was happening. Not now. Her throat closed and she licked her dry lips. “Are you going to move it?”

He shook his head. “That won’t be necessary now that the team has had such a successful playoffs season. I’ll keep it in Seattle.” He smiled again. “I can’t say the same for your boyfriend. He’ll be traded as soon as I can work out the details.”

The hits just kept coming. This one right to her heart. “Why? He’s doing exactly what Virgil hired him to do.”

He tilted his head back and looked down at her through his frosty gaze. “I hardly think my father hired Mr. Savage to fuck his wife.”

“You would trade a captain who’s led this team to the final round of the championship just because you hate me?”

“Unfortunately, Mr. Savage has become involved with you, and I don’t want him or you anywhere near my team.”

Faith looked at the man in front of her, at the only man on the planet she’d ever feared and she lied to save the only man she’d ever really loved. She shrugged. “Trade him to Toronto, for all I care,” she said, mentioning one of the lowest scoring team of the season. “I doubt they’ll want him, though. He’s persona non grata in Canada these days. Although that’s exactly what the jerk deserves. To be forced to play on a losing team that hates him.”

“Don’t tell me he got tired of you already?”

“He’s decided he wants someone more respectable,” she said, giving Landon the one lie he would believe. “Most men want to have an affair with a stripper. Few want a relationship outside of the bedroom.” She shrugged and pointed to the photos. “Those pictures are old news, Landon. The captain and I are no longer…an item.”

Now it was Landon’s turn to shrug. “Which means the captain is smarter than I gave him credit for. Maybe I’ll keep Mr. Savage. Depends on if he hands me the cup.”

He believed her for now. Perhaps a little too easily, but she guessed she shouldn’t be surprised, considering what he thought of her.

“That doesn’t change your predicament,” Landon said. “Sign the contracts tomorrow or the photos hit the newspapers the next day.”

The thought of Landon’s hands on the cup made her sicker than she already felt. She had to say something. Do something or Landon would win. “You expect me to give up a hundred-and-seventy-million-dollar team? Just like that?” was the best she could come up with. “What? Over some photos that might humiliate Ty Savage and the rest of the team?”

“Yes,” he said, calling her bluff. He moved past her but stopped in the door. “Enjoy your last night in the skybox, Layla. After tomorrow it’s mine.”

Technically it wouldn’t be his until the sale was final in a few months, but she was in no position to argue.

“When will you make the announcement?” she asked.

“The night I’m handed the cup.”