Page 9 of Knot Your Pucking Secret

“Fantastic,” I reply, not wanting to give him anything else.

“That’s great. Yeah. So anyway, the reason for my call, Lennon…” he trails off, searching for the right words, which only tells me that whatever it might be is only going to piss me off. “I’ll be honest with you. Things have been…rather bleak back here. Ratings have dramatically dropped in the months since you left. The team has been struggling to develop any kind of consistency. We’ve had a considerable amount of memberships canceled. In other words, everything’s gone to shit since the verdict of your inheritance was handed down.”

Clive scoffs bitterly. As if he can’t possibly believe that bystanders and staff that witnessed my very public demise would sit still and allow it to happen. I didn’t expect the reaction, by any means, but if the situation were reversed, and I watched someone denied what they had worked so hard for, I’d walk away, too. I wouldn’t have any faith in the club anymore. How would I know I could trust them after the lack of support they gave me when I packed my things and left. I didn’t have a choice, but they did, and I won’t forget it. Not ever.

“The board and I made a mistake when we chose to let you go,” he continues, and while it’s rather thrilling hearing him grasp at the straws he chewed up and spat out, I can’t help but feel disappointed in hearing it.

I love everything about the Vadena Cardinals. They’re just as much a part of me as anything else I’ve loved, more actually, and I don’t think I’ll ever get over that kind of loss.

“We’ve been blinded by the murmurings of the press, as you can imagine, and the pressure that was put on you wasn’t anything we expected.”

Please.

What else did he think would happen? The minute there’s a scandal, the masses flock to it like flies on a pile of shit and no matter how much damage control there is, there’s no stopping it. Once people have made up their minds about you or thesituation, it’s always going to be a shitshow in the media. My life was on full display to the masses before I had time to even process the grief of being told my father wasn’t even my real dad. But I knew that level of scrutiny came with the job. I was prepared for it. Well, about as prepared as you can be. But I wasn’t prepared for corporate to turn their backs on me quicker than I could blink after they’d told me the news.

“We should have trusted in what Patrick had determined from the moment the Will was read. No matter what claims that were made, you were—are—a Gilmore and that is what should have been upheld.”

I shake my head, a spike of anger in my chest at his empty words. Because that is all they are. Empty. Maybe if this had been said months ago, it might have made me feel something more. When I stood in that boardroom filled with Alphas, watching the life I had always known fade away from my grasp in real time, that’s when he should have said it. Was Patrick a good guy? No. I’ve learned this, not that it was an easy pill to swallow. I’ve put people behind bars for much less than he did. But to learn I was all alone in this world, and that the only family I had was a total stranger to me at the time while I was being exiled, that’s when I knew that whatever was said after the fact, wouldn’t matter. Because I saw who they really were that day. Clive didn’t care for me, or at the very least, what I had been going through in such a short span of time while still coaching the team. He only cared about himself and his pockets, pulling the proverbial rug out from underneath the Omega, and sending me backwards to a place I refused to visit, but had no option but to go.

The place where I realize I am alone in this.

I would never get to know the life I began to believe was made for me because he didn’t defend me when he should have.

I spent every day asking myself what any of it was for? Why did I leave here in the first place if I was always destined for nothingness? To be cast aside as nothing more than a misunderstanding. A platform for abuse and whatever else these Alphas and Betas like to dish out. I left here a broken mess, damn, I’m still trying to get over it.

They’re mourning their reputation and the ability to maintain a functional team. A corporation. While I’m mourning my entire life. You’d think he’d lead with that. But no.

They’re all the fucking same.

Self-serving fuckwits.

It’s beyond disappointing for the remaining players, though. They didn’t deserve this, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re being poached as we speak. The Cardinals are talented, there’s not a single doubt in my mind about that. They didn’t deserve a career filled with uncertainty, that’s for sure. And there’s not a damn thing I could do about it and it pains me.

But in Clive's words, what’s done is done.

And I had nowhere else to go, but back here. Back to my career. The one I should have never left in the first place, if I’m being completely honest with myself. But then, I wouldn’t have met Veronica, and she’s the light of my life in every way. Her and Bronte are the sole reason I’ve survived these past five months.

“Please, Clive, get to the point. I’m very much aware of the club’s current situation. But I don’t know why you’d think it has anything to do with me.”

He clears his throat, a sudden sound of surprise in his tone, which is laughable. Just because I am an Omega doesn’t mean I am going to be meek or show any sort of kindness to these corporate assholes, especially with the way they treated me. I know their type. And they’re certainly not mine. Clive Roberts encouraged the current procession of events. He didn’t even tryto fight for me, so who am I to interrupt the natural sequence of things?

“The board and I would like to discuss an offer with you. An option for you to take back your position not only as the head coach but as a majority owner of the team.”

Well, I didn’t seethatcoming.

Not wanting to sound overly curious, I probe cautiously for more information, because if you give people like him an inch, they’ll take a fucking mile, and he doesn’t deserve a single one of my steps.

“That so…” I trail off, feigning nonchalance while eagerly waiting for the catch. Because there always is one. I have read through my fair share of contracts. I read in fine print. As black and white as these assholes like to portray themselves as, there isn’t a single shade of gray on the planet that could perfectly match them. There will always be discretions.

“We have come to the price of one and a half billion dollars, a discount in light of the unfortunate circumstances…” Clive’s voice keeps making sound, but he lost me at the price.

One and a half billion fucking dollars.

One and a half billion dollars to purchase back a team that was already mine, until the dirty technicality they couldn’t wait to shove in my face. The Cardinals might not be my birthright as I once thought it was, that’s null and void now that I’m no longer Patrick’s daughter, but it was still left to me by the man that raised me. He named me. That should have been enough. But because I am not a Gilmore, as he didn’t hesitate once to tell me, I lost it. All of it.

I need to breathe, because if I don’t breathe, I’m going to spiral. And if I spiral, I cannot be held accountable for what I might say to this prick.

“—if you accepted, you would be able to walk straight back in like nothing ever happened. We would have…”