Tackled by Love (22 page)

Fucking great. This is exactly what I don’t want to deal with right now. I might as well get this conversation over with and let him know what Andrews told me too. After a few rings, he answers the phone.

“My favorite client. What can I do for you?”

“What’s going on with Valerie? Are you sure this is going to go before the judge or is there any hope of settling?”

“Unless you give her what she wants, you’re going to court.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose to stave off the oncoming headache. “Just great.” Letting out a sigh, I tell him, “There’s something else I need your help on.”

“Sure, what is it?” I give him all the information Andrews told me. He lets out a low whistle when I’m done. “That’s some serious allegations, Landon. How sure are you? Do you have evidence?”

“Not yet. Andrews is working on it for me, but he thinks he won’t have a problem getting Wade to talk. What kind of charges can we bring up against them? I want those fuckers to pay.”

“There’s quite a few: conspiracy to commit assault, assault, racketeering, bribery.”

“Racketeering?” This isn’t organized crime or anything, so that one leaves me puzzled.

“Yes, racketeering can involve a person who commits a crime in which they benefit from. Brandon Smith directly benefits from you being injured and not able to play. Just look up the Tonya Harding scandal.”

“Andrews said the same thing. What are you guys doing? Sitting around in your tutus watching figure skating in your free time?”

“Don’t knock it, man. Those women are crazy.”

I flop back down on my bed. “So where do I go from here?”

“Talk to Andrews, see what he’s found out. When you have something, call me.”

“Alright, sounds good. Thanks.”

Needing answers, I call Andrews.

“What’s up, man? How’s it hangin’?” he answers.

“I’m hanging in there. Is the trade going through for you?”

“I think so. There’s some last minute negotiations going on to trade up in the draft for me, but I think it’s a done deal.”

“Cool. I was calling to see if you’ve heard anything about Wade or Brandon.”

“Yeah, I was going to call you this weekend about it, actually. I talked to my buddy on Wade’s team and we were right; he is a dumbass. He keeps telling more and more people about how he took out
the
Landon Stone and shit. The more people that hear about it, the more of them that are pissed off. They wanted to report his ass, but I told my friend to hold them back, since we were working on building a case.”

“Would those guys testify if they needed to?”

“Yeah, I think they would. They’re not down with this shit any more than you and I are, ya know?” I’m feeling more optimistic about this and the weight is slowly coming off of my shoulders. Hopefully it won’t be too long before those bastards pay for what they did.

“Good. Has he told anyone who paid him?” I hold my breath, waiting for him to say the name I’m hoping for.

“Not that I know of. But maybe we can scare it out of him or somethin’.”

“Maybe.” I mull over my options and decide to let Mr. Henderson know and see if there’s anything I can do to get him to fess up. “I’ll call my lawyer back and see what he says. We might be able to get him to talk if we threaten him with a lawsuit.”

“Sounds good. I’ll tell the guys to keep quiet about all of it.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Later,” he replies before hanging up.

I throw my arms out to the side, stretching out on the bed after I call Mr. Henderson back. He thinks Wade will probably go for a plea deal to testify against Brandon, proving that he was paid to make the hit on me. Now that I’m making some headway with this shit, all my thoughts come back to Autumn.

Do I really not mean anything to her? Part of me wants to say fuck it and let her walk away, but the other part wants to fight for her. She’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever met and she doesn’t want me. If that’s not a gut check, I don’t know what is. Thinking of the look on her face when she uttered the word ‘won’t’ haunts me. She looked determined and resolved to push me away. I know one thing for sure; we can’t be friends. I have to have her as mine or not at all. Anything in between isn’t going to work. As much as it kills me, I’m going to lay low and give her some space.

***

Today is Thanksgiving and I’m finding it hard to find things to be thankful for these days. I haven’t talked to Autumn once since she pushed me away two weeks ago, I’m no closer to a divorce than I was before, my knee has started aching with the colder weather moving in, and I’m still waiting for everything to come together to nail Brandon’s ass to the wall.

“Why don’t you come set the table, Landon.” Mom is pulling everything out of the oven and it smells really good. Once the table is set, I help her carry everything out to the dining room where the feast can begin. It all looks so good, but I’m having a hard time mustering any kind of appetite. I end up pushing most of it around my plate.

“What’s wrong?” Mom asks.

“Nothing, I’m just not that hungry.” Pushing my plate away, I wipe my mouth with my napkin and set it on the table.

“Oh, bull. You’ve never been one to pass up a home cooked meal, especially on Thanksgiving Day. So just tell me what’s bothering you.” I don’t respond right away. “Is it Autumn?”

A long sigh leaves my lips as I rest both hands on top of my head and look up at the ceiling. “No, Mom, it’s not Autumn.”

“I could talk to her at work on Monday if you want, tell her to call you.”

“No!” I snap quickly. “Don’t say anything to her.”

“Will you leave the man alone and let us eat in peace?” My father interjects grumpily.

She turns to my dad. “I hate to see him moping around all the time.” She turns her attention back to me, “I think you’re taking this harder than you did with Valerie.”

“I was young and dumb when I married Valerie and she kept me in the dark through the whole thing. I didn’t really know her. I
know
Autumn and she’s amazing. So yeah, maybe I’m a little hung up on her.”

“You need to go talk to her,” she insists.

“No. I don’t mean shit to her, Mom. She wasn’t in as deep as I was. If leaving her alone makes her happy, then so be it.”

“She’s not as happy as you think she is,” she mumbles before getting up and clearing her plate. This grabs my attention and I stand up quickly to follow her into the kitchen.

“What makes you say that?” I’m trying really hard not to get my hopes up, but the thought that she might be just a little miserable makes me happy.

“I don’t want to get in the middle of it, but I hate seeing you both looking like someone ran over your dog. Here, let’s sit down.” She pulls me over to the bar stools at the kitchen island. “Her emotional scars run deep, Landon. She’s always had to protect herself and keep her guard up. That way of thinking doesn’t go away overnight. You need to be patient with her, and if you think she’s worth it, then fight for her. She’s never had anyone in her corner before. She’s always had to go it alone. Go talk to her and prove that you’re right there with her.”

My mom is incredible.

“I’m such a fucking idiot,” I say under my breath.

“Language, Landon,” my mom half-heartedly scolds.

I let my pride get in the way when she ended things. Everything I feel for her has happened so fast, but I never questioned it because I knew she was experiencing it with me. When she told me otherwise, I looked like the biggest fucking fool. Hearing my mom confirm what I knew deep down brings me back to life. All I really want to do is pin Autumn to the floor and not let her up until she admits she cares for me, but I know that’s not the way to go about it with her. So for now, I’ll test the waters and see how it goes.

Me: Happy Thanksgiving, sweetheart.

It’s over an hour before she responds.

Autumn: Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

It’s nothing big, but I’ll take it. I’ll take every damn thing she’ll give me.

***

Me: Good morning, beautiful. I hope u have a good day.

I’ve been sending Autumn a morning text since Thanksgiving Day last week just so she knows I’m thinking about her. She usually responds with a hello, nothing super personal or sweet like before, but I can feel her shell chipping away little by little. Before long, I’ll have cracked her completely open and have my Autumn back.

I put my phone away and wait for Elliot. We’re meeting at a coffee shop to go over some of the contacts he has that might help me. A few moments later, he walks in and takes a seat.

After our initial greetings and talking about the holiday, he says, “This is the list of names I came up with.” Elliot hands me a list of guys that he thinks would be a good fit for the new business I want to start. We’re sitting at one of the two tables in this tiny coffee shop on a Saturday morning.

“Thanks a lot, man.” I look it over and see that he’s got someone for just about every job I’d need on the sites. Some of the names I recognize from high school, but most of them I don’t. “Do they know the details of what’s going on?”

Elliot shakes his head. “No, I didn’t want to say who they’d be working for, since you’re wanting to keep this under wraps until you get rid of the wife. I just asked them if they’d be interested in working full time for someone looking to invest in flipping houses.”

“That’s perfect, and I appreciate your discretion.” I’ve been in touch with him a lot lately, trying to lay the groundwork for my plan. We’ve actually become pretty close and I can tell he’s a guy I can really trust. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, would you be interested in being my project manager? I know you thought you’d do some of the labor, but I need a guy on site that will make sure shit runs smoothly. There’s no one else here that I trust.”

“Yeah, that’d be awesome. Thanks a lot, Landon.”

“No problem.” I hold out my hand and we shake on it. “Now, enough business talk, how’s the wife and your daughter?”

“We haven’t really told anyone yet, but Kelsey is expecting.” The pride and joy beaming from his face is fucking awesome. It kind of makes me jealous.

“Congrats, man. That’s awesome! I’m really happy for you.” I slap him on the back a few times.

“We’re really excited. It was a bit of a shock since we thought we were done after the first one, but I’m happy as shit.”

“Looks like this promotion to project manager came at the perfect time, then.” His only response is to smile from ear-to-ear. Must be nice to be such a happy son of a bitch. Now the pressure is really on. I not only want this to succeed for myself, but I’ve got a team that will be depending on me too. I need to do something to make Valerie cave and sign those damn divorce papers.

***

I’m sitting at my desk in my old bedroom looking at foreclosure listings when a text comes through. I blink several times thinking I must be seeing things.

Val: I miss you.

What. The. Fuck.

Me: What do you want?

Val: You. Let’s call this divorce off and try to make this work.

Me: You’ve got 2 be kidding me r u fucking drunk right now?

Val: Don’t be an ass, Landon. I mean it. I miss you. We’re good together.

Me: What happened 2 Brandon?

Val: We’re over. He didn’t mean anything anyway.

Me: Let me guess he dumped u?

Val: He didn’t dump me! I just realize how much I missed you and knew it wasn’t going to work with him.

He probably doesn’t need your dick sucking services anymore.
I don’t say that to her though.

Me: Stop being a greedy leech and sign the fucking divorce papers!

A moment later, my phone rings.

“What, Val?” I say in a monotone voice when I answer.

“Is this because of that Autumn girl? My friends told me you were seeing her.” Her words come out snippy, sounding like the brat she’s always been.

“That’s none of your fucking business.” Anger rushes through me at the mention of Autumn. My jaw ticks hearing her name leave the lips of someone so vile.

“Oh, pu-lease. You can’t be serious about this girl. Don’t you remember who she is?” There’s laughter in her voice, which only intensifies my anger.

“I swear to God—“ I start through clenched teeth, but she interrupts me.

“Porky. Fat Autumn. Wide load. Any of those names ring a bell?” She starts to cackle, the sound making the hairs on my arms stand up and the muscles in my jaw ache from clenching so hard.

“Shut the fuck up!” I shout. She immediately stops laughing. “If I hear her name come out of your mouth ever again, I promise you’ll regret it. I’ll fight you on every goddamn thing I can. You won’t get a fucking thing from me if I can help it. So try me. I’ll make sure you’re living in a cardboard fucking box by the time I’m done with all of this.”

I hear the click from the other line, signaling to me that she hung up. Slamming my phone on the desk, I close my eyes and take in a deep breath. I’m not going to let that bitch get to me. That’s exactly what she wants, but I’ll be damned if she fucks with Autumn. I’ll make her pay the only way I know how; money. I don’t care if I suffer in the process and I have to drain every resource I have, I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that Valerie is kept away from Autumn .