Page 141 of Renegade Ruin

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?”

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