Page 97 of Keeping it Real

The other woman laughed.“Everyone but the two of you knew there was something there.”

Sheridan turned to stare at her aghast.

“It was always here.”Freya gestured to her eyes.“Whenever you looked at each other.”She mimed a chef’s kiss.“Desire.”

Freya reached over and patted Sheridan’s arm.“You are good for him.And I think he is exactly what you needed, too.”

“Grace wants to FaceTime with Hattie.”Finn dug through Sheridan’s pool bag.

“Finn, that’s the fourth time today.You’re going to drive the staff nuts.”

“Shelby is the only one working today, and she said to call as often as I want because she’s bored,” Finn replied.“Come on, Grace.Let’s go over there where it’s quiet.”

“Aw, man.We’re really going to go inside to break down film?”Valentine whined.“Elfis my favorite movie.”

Gus wrapped an arm around Valentine’s shoulders.“Come on, Twos.It’s only for an hour.You can watch the movie after the kids go to bed.”

Valentine was still grumbling when Grace screamed.

“Hey!”Finn yelled.“Leave her alone!Give that back!”

A sea of athletes swarmed in the direction Grace and Finn had gone.Sheridan scrambled from the chaise lounge and ran after them.“Finn!”

By the time she arrived, Gus had scooped up a terrorized Grace and was doing his best to soothe her.Valentine, Jensen, and one of the defensemen had someone pinned to the ground.Alek was squatting in front of Finn, counting breaths with him.Aunt Eileen arrived with his inhaler, but Finn waved it away.

“My phone,” he gasped.“That man has my phone.”

“What in the hell?”Henrik shouted as he and several of the defensemen arrived on the scene.They surrounded their teammates on the ground who were trying to subdue a very large man who was shouting something in another language.One of the defensemen yelled something in Russian, and the big man on the ground stopped struggling long enough for Valentine to free Finn’s phone from the guy’s grasp.He slid it across the concrete toward Finn.

“FBI.Freeze!”

Sheridan gasped when Finn stilled in the act of retrieving his phone.Alek stepped between him and two other men with their guns trained toward the man on the ground.Henrik swore colorfully in Swedish while positioning his large body in front of Gus and Grace.The big guy at the bottom of the pile ceased his struggling.

“What in the Sam Hill is going on here?”Senator Dern marched right into the middle of the fray as though he were bulletproof.

“Dad!”His son reached for him, but the senator shrugged him off.

“Who’s in charge here?”the senator demanded.

One of the guys holding a gun on them actually blinked long and hard before motioning with his head to several men and women who had surrounded them.They slipped between the defensemen and the pile on the ground and began carefully extracting Mayhem players until the burly man was in handcuffs.His face was bloodied when they hefted him upright.He scanned the ground, and spying the phone, he lunged for it.

Parker was quicker, however.He kicked the phone up into the air with his foot, juggling it with his thigh before it landed in his hand.The rookie started to pass it to Finn, but one of the men holding a gun cleared his throat and held out his palm.The senator grabbed it before his son could hand it over.

“Identify yourselves,” he commanded.

Several of the Mayhem players looked at him in awe.His son rolled his eyes, however.With the big man secured, the men and women surrounding them put away their guns.

“I’m Special Agent in Charge Matt Kovaluk, Senator,” the one who asked for the phone announced.

“The senator’s son.I thought you looked familiar,” the senator replied.“Your mother’s office is a few doors down from mine.”

Agent Kovaluk donned a chagrined look as he nodded.“With all due respect, sir?—”

Senator Dern cut him off.“My son is a member of this team.I demand to know who this man is and why you are apprehending him.Since no other guests are staying at the hotel tonight, I can only assume someone associated with the Mayhem is the target.You’re in the Organized Crime Unit out of Manhattan.Don’t tell me one of my son’s teammates is involved with organized crime?”

Sheridan yanked Finn’s back against her chest.Aunt Eileen mumbled something unintelligible.

“Only my friend Sergi here is associated with a group of Russian moneylenders who operate out of Upstate New York.”The FBI agent looked around.“I’m not here for your son’s teammates.”

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