Page 142 of Renegade Ruin

“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.”

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