Page 93 of Leading the Blind
“Bring it on.” Jason was ready now. Get it over with. Rip off the Band-Aid.
They headed out, Bax at his side. If he had his way, Bax would be right here from now on, and damn the consequences. The room felt big, the voices echoing more, the air colder. Therewas more than Ace too, which he expected, but he was hoping for not too many folks.
“Jason, come, sit. Andy. Daniel,bom dia.” Balta sure filled up all the available goddamn space.
He was damn relieved to hear that booming voice and know he had the big Brazilian in his corner.
“Hello, gents.” Daniel helped him find his chair, Bax settling on his other side. “Ace. Cash. Steele. Been awhile.”
“Figures he’d get a freaking Goodnight to look after him,” Steele muttered.
Jason bit back a grin. He hadn’t even thought about that. Looked like Daniel was cowboy royalty. That would help.
“Only the best, y’all.” Daniel chuckled softly. “So, make your offer.”
Yeah. Always get them to make their offer first, if possible.
“Offer?” Ace drawled out the word, and Jason could feel those eyes on him. He knew it like he knew his own hand.
“Yes, Ace. You want things. Spell it out.”
Ace snorted. “Well, we want you to retire from riding.”
“Jason is ready to announce,” Daniel countered. “Tonight.”
He nodded. He was. He was done with that part, and he wanted to go love on Bax forever.
“Okay, good. You can come with your sponsors, do signings for us even, but no more time behind the chutes, even to help other riders.”
“The liability is a huge thing, son,” Cash said.
“No problem.” Cotton and Raul had Balta and Joa. “I’m good with doing signings.”
“This could be disastrous for us as a league,” Ace finally said. “We won’t dispute your title or the payout, but we want a gag order. No books or movies or TV interviews or shows.”
He started to holler, but Bax patted his thigh.
“No deal,” Daniel said. “This is Jason’s story to tell. You can decide how you want to play it, but the story is coming out. You want to be the good guys? You can say you knew. You can say you had zero idea. But no gag order. Period.”
There was a long silence. Then Ace sighed. “We didn’t know, and we can’t act like we did. That would show preferential treatment. The main thing we have to show is that everyone had the same chance at the title.”
“Well,” Bax drawled. “They all had the same chances as Jason. ‘Cept they could see.”
Balta laughed, a booming sound. “Raul says he is fine with it. So who is to complain? Kynan? It was not his year. This we know because he fell off more than Jason.”
“I rode those bulls. Y’all saw me. I rode. I wasn’t superglued on. I rode those bulls.” He didn’t yell, because he didn’t have to. He was right.
He heard Steele sigh too. “I told you, bud. You have to decide whose side you’re on. Are you a cowboy or are you a suit?”
“Fuck you, Steele.”
Daniel chuckled. “Well, he’s got a point. You’re here instead of the CEO because they’re expecting you to protect their interests, Ace. I, on the other hand, have known you since your first junior bull riding. I expect you to protect the league only insofar as you want it to be a safe place for riders to do what they love.”
“I hate all y’all,” Ace grumbled. “And I don’t believe for one minute that Andy here, and Pharris and the clown, are the only ones who knew. We’ll say we had no idea and so will you. We’ll make our own deal with Pharris. And we’ll let the gag order go. Unofficially, however, I would like a consult on any projects you do, Jason. Not approval. Just a heads up about who, what and when.”
“That’s fair. I don’t want to hurt bull riding. It’s how I made my living. I love this sport. I paid dearly for it.” And he wasn’t paying any more.
“We can work with that, gentlemen. We’ll draw something up, though, so the scope of your future involvement is clear.” Daniel was a pro.
