Chapter 7 #3
“Livvy . . . I thought I’d have heard from you by now.” Her voice is tight and sharp. Typical Scarlet Kingston-St. James. People like to say I’m scary, but I’ve got nothing on her.
“Sorry,” I tell her as I pull out onto Main Street and head for the highway. “I just left Ryker’s and walked him, Aunt Lenny, and Uncle Bash through the plan. We’ll meet with you and the Kings management later this week.” The best defense is a stellar offense. Something I learned from my mother.
“Tomorrow,” she says quickly. “I’ve been on the phone with the commissioner’s office and the league all morning. I want you and Ryker at the office first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Send me the details, and we’ll be there.” Doing business with her like this would be weird if I didn’t have half a dozen players on her team on my own roster. To some, this would be uncomfortable. To me, it’s just another day in the office.
“The information will be in your email.”
Okay, that wasn’t too bad.
“Now, on to more pressing matters.” Damn. Should have hung up when I had the chance. “Where should we send our wedding present?”
Oh, fuck me . . . Here we go. “I’d ask Aunt Lenny. She seemed excited to plan the wedding.”
“Do not play stupid, Olivia. It’s beneath you.
” She sighs dramatically, and even with the wind whipping as I merge onto the turnpike, I don’t miss the sound I know all too well.
“Las Vegas, sweetheart? I get not wanting a big wedding. Your father and I didn’t wait to do it in front of everyone.
But we also didn’t do it in front of a bad Elvis impersonator. ”
“How do you know he was bad? Are you having me followed or something, Mom?” There’s no way she could know that unless—no. No. No. No. No. “Please tell me the tabloids don’t have it already?”
“They don’t. I was able to control the fallout once I was made aware. What I don’t understand is why. You have so much explaining to do.”
“How did you find out? I mean . . . I was going to . . . We were going to tell you and Dad. We just . . .” Oh God, I can’t think straight. I just need to sleep.
“Dinner, Livvy. Tonight. Come to dinner at the house, and you can explain it to us in person.” To the rest of the world, Scarlet Kingston-St. James is a badass boss bitch who controls her world and everyone in it.
And her world is a multi-billion-dollar massive one.
But to my siblings and me, she’s Mom. She loves us, and she never made us earn her love.
She’s always given it freely. No strings.
No questions. Always our biggest defender, standing side by side with Dad.
But piss her off at your own expense. And holy hell, am I about to double down on the pissed off.
“I can’t tonight, Mom.” The words do nothing to hide the exhaustion suddenly weighing me down. Fuck that. It’s not even sudden. It’s been days—weeks in the making. “I’m already on my way back to New Jersey, and I’m exhausted.”
“Have you had your bloodwork run lately?” she asks quickly, clearly concerned.
“I’m fine, Mom. Just tired. It’s been a long few days.
Thank you for keeping my marriage out of the press and away from the family for now.
” I really should have framed that as a question, but I need her to hear this.
“At least until I’m ready, and I’m not ready yet.
Especially with everything going on with Ryker, I really don’t want this getting out.
We’re requesting the records be sealed tomorrow.
And before you ask, Logan has a daughter and is in the middle of a custody battle.
We were going to get married anyway, so we just sped it up for the sake of the custody situation.
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you and Daddy first. I promise we’ll come for dinner soon.
Just not tonight, okay?” Thankfully, the coffee in my steel travel tumbler is still hot and still full because all the caffeine in the world might not be enough to get me through today.
“You know I trust you, right?” she asks, and I swear to God it’s on the tip of my tongue to say no, but that would be a lie.
“Not only do I trust you,” she goes on, not giving me a chance to answer.
“But I also know you, Olivia. I understand you, in some ways more than your brother or sister. You are my child. Mine. And I think there’s something you’re not telling me. ”
“Mom—”
“I want you at our house for dinner. Not tonight but soon. Please. You and your husband, and his daughter.” Of course, she already knows everything there is to know about Logan.
I’ve given her twenty-four hours to get ahead of this.
I should know better. But she’s not pushing as hard as she could be, and for that, I’m thankful.
Instead of fighting, I take this as a small win. “I love you, Mom.”
“You too, Livvy.”
“See you at the Kings offices tomorrow.” I end the call before she has a chance to mount an attack on another front and look at the directions on the display screen. I don’t even care if it’s Logan’s bed I’m going home to, I just need it to be a bed.