The Devil in Denim

by Melanie Scott

  Veronica caught her arm as she moved to follow Alex and the others. “I want to talk to you.”

  Maggie shook her off. “We’re kind of busy right now.”

  Veronica’s lips pressed together, thin and disapproving. “Don’t pull him back into this.” She flapped a hand in the direction the men had gone.

  “No one pulls Dad into anything,” Maggie said.

  “He’ll do it for you,” Veronica said. “And he’ll break his heart all over again.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Letting go of the Saints has been hard on him. He doesn’t like to fail.”

  “He didn’t fail,” Maggie said.

  “Yes he did. In his eyes, anyway. But he’s been happier these last few weeks than I’ve seen him in a long time. He’s free. Don’t let them pull him back in. It’ll hurt him and he doesn’t need that.”

  “Dad loves baseball.”

  “He’s been killing himself for years with that stupid team,” Veronica hissed. “I know you don’t like me very much, Maggie, and I know in his eyes I’ll never be your mother, but I do love your father. And I want what’s best for him.”

  “Isn’t he the best judge of that? You don’t like baseball, you don’t understand.”

  “I understand that he’s nearly sixty-five and he’s been working seventy-hour weeks. He can’t do it forever. He needs a rest.”

  Maggie’s conscience twinged. “Is he sick? He told me he was fine.”

  Veronica shook her head. “He’s not sick exactly, but his last physical wasn’t the greatest thing ever. His cholesterol was sky-high. So was his blood pressure. Marcus Donahue told him to start cutting things down two years ago.”

  “He never told me that.”

  “He wouldn’t. He does all this for you, after all. He’s always done it all for you. Wanted you to be safe. Taken care of. Because your mother isn’t here to do it.”

  “Mom’s death had nothing to do with Dad.”

  “I know that. But I’m not sure he does. And he loves you more than anything else, regardless.”

  Loved her but hadn’t backed her when it counted. “This will only be for a few weeks. After the vote is over, it will be decided one way or another.”

  Veronica’s eyes narrowed. “He was just starting to relax. This will bring it all up again.”

  “I’m sorry, Veronica. I know you love Dad. But if this deal falls through a lot of people he cares about are going to be hurt.”

  “A bunch of overpaid athletes. They’ll survive.”

  And that sentence pretty much summed up why Maggie didn’t like Veronica. Why she’d never understood what Tom saw in her. Veronica looked at the world through the filter of “what’s best for me.” She squared her shoulders. “The Saints are more than that. There are a whole lot of people who work for us, who depend on us. And they love the Saints. Besides,” she added, “the players could be a lot more overpaid if they went elsewhere. They stay because it means something to them. We owe it to them to try and make this work.”

  “Your father has spent a lifetime trying to make that team work. Anyone sane would’ve given up years ago. He doesn’t owe them anything.”

  Maggie shrugged. “Well, you and I will have to disagree on that. I think you’ll find that Dad does too. But I promise I’ll try and make sure that he doesn’t overdo it. We’re just talking about a few trips and phone calls.”

  “It’s never just a few trips and phone calls.”

  It was hard to argue with that. “That’s who Dad is,” Maggie said. “You know that. He lives for his work. I know you want him to retire but you have to give him time to make that choice. He’s starting. He’s giving up the Saints. But you can’t expect him to just cut all ties. Besides, if the other owners vote against Alex and Mal and Lucas, there will have to be a whole other round of negotiations with Will Sutter. And whoever else might come knocking. That could drag on for months. Is that what you want?”

  The blue eyes were furious now rather than cold but Veronica shook her head. “No.”

  “Then you’d better start helping us.”

  * * *

  Alex looked up as Maggie slipped through the door and walked across the room to where they were sitting around Tom’s desk. She looked at the chair beside his but then went to sit beside her dad.

  What the hell did that mean? Was she playing it cool? Supporting her dad? Or was she pissed off at him for leaving the way he had this morning?

  Shit.

  The fact that he was worried about that right now when he needed to have his head in the game meant that he had a problem. Maybe Maggie had been right about it being dumb to sleep together. But it sure as hell hadn’t felt dumb last night. No, it had felt pretty damned fantastic. And he was hoping he would get to do it again soon.

  But first, business. Because he doubted Maggie would take it well if he let Will Sutter buy her precious Saints and relocate them to Texas.

  Tom patted Maggie’s arm when she sat beside him but then he looked back at Alex. “So what are you doing about this mess?”

  Alex straightened. “Well, for a start, we’ve come to ask for your advice.”

  “It seems simple enough. Secure your votes, then Sutter will be left high and dry.”

  “Actually, Tom, that’s what we came to talk to you about,” Lucas said. “We need your insight on how to best do just that. You know all the other owners. You know how they think.”

  “I do. So I’ll tell you, Sutter isn’t much to my taste, but his dad had friends in baseball. And in all sorts of places. And Sutter has actual experience with team management. A minor league team, sure, but he has that over you guys.”

  “What about the fact that you sacked him, won’t that count against him?”

  “Well, officially I just turned down his offer to buy out the Preachers and he moved on. There’s no record that we encouraged him to go.”

  “None at all?” Alex asked.

  “I’d have to look at the HR documents. But I don’t remember anything formal.”

  Maggie wondered about that. Surely there had to be performance appraisals or something? She had no idea what sort of sexual harassment policies the Saints had had in place back then. It was probably too much to hope for that Will had tried his moves on someone else and they’d reported him.

  Alex glanced over at Maggie. She made a little encouraging nod, then turned her attention back to Tom.

  “That’s why we need your help, Dad,” she said. “The other owners will take into account the fact that you support Alex and Lucas and Mal, won’t they?”

  “The ones that like me will,” Tom said. “The others might just throw Sutter a party at another chance to rub my nose in it.”

  “More people like you than don’t,” Maggie said.

  “Well, let’s hope so,” Tom said. He looked back at Alex. “The three of you need to get on the phones, see where you’re at. I assume you’ve been keeping track of who’s likely to vote for you and who’s not.”

  “Yes,” Alex said. “Before this happened, I would’ve said that we were safe. Should be around twenty in favor.”

  “So you lose six votes and you’re shit out of luck,” Tom said. “Sutter might sway that many.”

  “We know,” Alex said. “That’s why we want you to help us sway them right back. I’d like you to come work with us for the next week or so. Take a few trips, make some calls, do some wining and dining with us.”

  Tom shrugged. “Maggie knows most of these men as well as me.”

  Alex nodded. “I appreciate Maggie’s experience, Tom, but it’s you we need. You were the owner of the Saints, not Maggie. You’re the one who’s worked with these guys and—I’m guessing—locked horns with them before. That’s the sort of inside knowledge we need.”

  Tom looked away and Alex’s gut twisted. He’d expected Tom to jump in with “sure, whatever you need,” but that wasn’t the vibe he was giving off right now. He seemed … reluctant. Which was
bad news for the three of them if Alex was reading him right.

  “Dad?” Maggie said. “You’ll help, won’t you?”

  Tom pressed his lips together. “I’ve got some other things going on right now with one of the companies,” he said slowly. “And Veronica wants to do some traveling.”

  Maggie frowned. “Veronica will understand.”

  Tom’s mouth quirked. “You think? Perhaps I’ll let you explain it to her then.”

  “It’s just a few weeks until the vote, Dad,” Maggie said. “Please, we need you. You can’t let Sutter get his hands on the Saints. He’ll have them playing out of Dallas and rename them the Riggers or something.”

  Tom winced and Alex relaxed a bit. It seemed Maggie had hit the right note. Though he still wasn’t sure why they had to hit any note and why Tom wasn’t jumping in with both feet to help them. Was he mad about the sale? Alex had thought Tom had made his peace with it but maybe he was wrong about that.

  There wasn’t any other reason for Tom to want to see the Saints go to Sutter, was there? They’d developed a good relationship during the negotiations, the four of them. He thought that Tom liked them. So why wouldn’t he want to help them? Unless …

  He stopped himself from looking at Maggie. Tom couldn’t know about Maggie and him, could he? Not so fast. He couldn’t. Hell, they’d only slept together last night. There’d have to be some seriously supersonic gossip going on for the news to get out that quickly. He’d left early. No one would’ve seen him. Could they?

  Abruptly he remembered the interlude in his office. The office had been mostly deserted at the time but “mostly” wasn’t “entirely.” And Alex held no illusions about the fact that most of the staff still were fervently loyal to Tom. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to think that one of them might have said something to him. But surely Tom would’ve brought it up before now. Or would he?

  Damn. There was no way to feel Tom about this. Not without giving himself away to the man.

  Maggie was still talking about Sutter, reminding Tom about why he’d fired the man in the first place.

  “… he’s a jerk, you know that, Dad. And he’s a sexist jerk. He’ll end up being killed by Hana or beaten up by one of the players for getting grabby with the wrong person.”

  “Excuse me?” Alex said, just ahead of Mal’s and Lucas’s equally outraged mutters.

  Maggie rolled her eyes at the three of them. “Not everyone’s a good guy. Sutter likes to try it on.”

  “Did he try it on with you?” Alex demanded, then caught himself when Lucas lifted his brow the tiniest fraction. Shit. That had sounded like a possessive boyfriend, not an interested boss. He shifted in his chair.

  “Maggie?” Tom said. “Did he ever?”

  Maggie looked uncomfortable but shrugged. “He never touched me. He used to flirt a little too much for my liking. Made an outright pass a couple of times but I shut him down.”

  Tom scowled. “You were only seventeen when he was working for us.”

  “Yes. But lots of high school girls date college guys. And he never crossed the line past pushy to something more.”

  “What about last night?” Alex asked.

  “Last night?” Tom asked.

  “Maggie and I went to watch the Giants,” Alex said. “We ran into Sutter.”

  “Should’ve run over him,” Mal growled.

  “That would’ve been difficult given we were inside the stadium but I take your point,” Alex replied.

  “Besides,” Lucas said. “Last night you didn’t know about his little adventure into baseball entrepreneurship. Still, it’s a pity he didn’t choke on his nachos.”

  “I think we’re straying from the subject,” Maggie interrupted. “Let’s all just accept that the man is a jerk and get back to how we stop him from getting his jerky hands on the Saints.” She turned back to her dad.

  “So, Dad, are you going to help us or not?”

  There was a pause that lasted just a little too long before Tom nodded with a sigh. “I’ll do what I can. But I can’t promise a miracle.”

  Maggie threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. “We don’t need a miracle if we have you.”

  She sounded so confident. Was she pretending for Tom’s sake? Or his? Her father had hurt her with this sale, hurt her deeply, and yet she still believed in him. Maybe she’d trust him that much one day. Though he’d have to start with making up for leaving so abruptly earlier. That wasn’t a good way to end a first anything together.

  Mind on the game, Winters.

  Damn.

  Maggie had been right. This was complicated. Because right now he needed to be all business and all he wanted was more pleasure. Which wasn’t going to save the Saints or Maggie’s opinion of him.

  * * *

  After they left Tom’s house, they reconvened for a council of war back at Deacon Field.

  The conversation was fast and furious and Maggie was kept busy, taking notes for herself on her laptop and interjecting her own suggestions while Lucas wielded a pen on a big whiteboard and Mal paced around the room. Alex, like her, was busily typing things on his laptop and fielding phone calls in between bouts of their discussions.

  Everything stopped for the phone calls. They spoke to Dan Ellis and Hector, and then Alex started pulling in the rest of the management team for a planning session for the press conference they were going to hold at sunset.

  Lucas had suggested waiting until Sunday morning, but Maggie—and Alex—had disagreed, pushing for today before Sutter could get too much of a head start.

  Alex managed to talk Tom into coming to the stadium for the press conference, and then the incessant talk and arguments and strategizing started up again.

  When the furor threatened to get too crazy, Alex put two fingers into his mouth and sent a whistle that would’ve deafened an elephant, cutting through the noise.

  “Right,” he said, when silence fell. “I appreciate everyone’s input but we need to put some order into chaos. First step, the press conference. We know the message, that we’re standing behind our bid, that we’re the best for the team, and that we’re confident that we have the numbers, et cetera. So I want a media release ready to go right after we’re done. And we need to get things set up.”

  He looked across at Gardner who was texting on one phone and taking calls on another. “Logistics. Gardner is in charge, so anyone with questions about those, ask him. He’ll be contacting everyone we want to attend … including the players. The rest of you, we need to get a handle on Sutter’s businesses, his finances, and his past. We need to know what makes him tick and what his pros and cons are. Particularly the cons. Find out what will make the man unattractive to the other owners. I want the first-cut analysis by lunchtime tomorrow. We need to be able to really hit the ground running on Monday.”

  He gazed around the room. “Any questions?” Everyone stayed silent. “Okay, good. Then listen up while I split you into teams.” He started pointing at people and assigning them to tasks or teams. In the end, only Maggie and Mal hadn’t been given a job to do.

  “What am I doing, making coffee?” Mal asked as he poured himself another cup.

  “You work with Gardner on the press conference. Do whatever you want securitywise. No doubt Sutter will try and slip someone into the crowd to take notes. It would be good if we can spot them, but I’m guessing he’ll have a reporter or two in his pocket so it might not be that simple. Still, crowd control, keep it to the genuine press, keep the paparazzi and the rubberneckers out, okay?”

  Mal nodded and walked over to Gardner.

  “Am I meant to be making the coffee then?” Maggie said. “I could help with the analysis of Sutter’s companies. I got pretty good at that at school.”

  Alex shook his head. “First things first. I need you on the podium at the press conference with the three of us. Right now, to a lot of people you are the Saints. I’ll use Tom too but I want to keep his part brief for now. Reiterate his support, bu
t the focus needs to be on the next generation. On us. So, we need to figure out what we’re going to say. Okay?” He paused, looked her up and down. “Do you have different clothes here?”

  She’d worn jeans and a sweater to Tom’s, that being the quickest thing to throw on. She hadn’t thought about the possibility of a press conference. Dumb. She should’ve known that Alex would want to come out swinging and make his case as quickly and emphatically as possible. Then she remembered where they were. “I have clothes at Dad’s. Veronica can bring me some.”

  Alex nodded. “Good. If she can’t, send a car with someone to get what you want.”

  Maggie nodded, trying to push away the feeling that she was being shoved back into the Saint Maggie figurehead box again. “I’ll do that, then come help you.” She smiled a lopsided smile at him. “I wish you didn’t have to deal with this crap.”

  “Well,” he said, “I’ve dealt with worse than this before now. We have a strong case … so we just have to make others see things our way.” He sounded confident. But then again he always sounded confident. Maybe confident was his default setting regardless of what he actually might be feeling inside. But now wasn’t the time or place to try and find out what that might be, no matter how much a part of her itched to slip her fingers through his and ask him how he was feeling. A part of her that wanted to just lean into him and let him put his arms around her until some of that confidence rubbed off on her as well. But there was that pesky boss-versus-boyfriend thing again. No can do. And after the way they’d parted that morning she wasn’t even sure he wanted to.

  Still, she had to suck it up for now. There were bigger fish to fry and she and Alex—whatever they were—had to wait.

  It couldn’t be that hard just to wait, could it?

  She smiled again and left the room to call Veronica from her cubicle, away from the madhouse of the conference room. She was halfway there when her phone spouted its little robot text message alert.

  Sorry about all this. Talk tonight? Your place? Want to see you. A.

  Her smile widened. Maybe she wasn’t going to have to wait so long after all.