Foolish Games(83)

“Neither do I. Zevalos certainly didn’t give you up. Neither would anyone else involved. Especially since it would only implicate them. The only other people who know about this are you and I. And I certainly didn’t say anything.”

A roaring sound commenced in Will’s head. His fingers were tingling where they gripped the countertop and his breath was sawing through his chest.

“Jesus, Will.”

He could hear the panic in Roscoe’s voice, but his eyes wouldn’t focus any longer.

“Tell me you didn’t tell anyone else. Tell me you didn’t tell her!” Roscoe demanded.

Will didn’t need his agent to clarify who he meant by her. The only person he had told was Julianne. But she wouldn’t tell her brother. Not that. She’d said she loved Will. Certainly, she wouldn’t betray him.

Roscoe’s voice sounded like it was coming through a tunnel now. “Damn it, Will! I told you not to trust her. Her brother is on the freaking Senate committee, for crying out loud!”

Will tried to swallow around the lump in his throat. Could she have broken his trust? He refused to believe she had. Unclenching his fingers from the countertop, he staggered over to the small desk she’d been using. Yesterday, she’d been awfully secretive about what she was working on. He pulled a folder from the desk, stunned by the doodling he saw on the outside. Her brother’s name was there, with a pair of devil horns along with a star surrounding the notation of seventy-five thousand dollars. The folder dropped from his hand as if it burned him. Sketches of babies rained down on the kitchen floor.

Roscoe crouched down to sort through the papers. “It looks like she’s starting another company.” He whistled through his teeth. “And guess who’s providing the financing?”

The question was rhetorical because Will already knew the answer.

“She sold you out to her brother to get herself back in the design world. Looks like she plans to use Owen, too.”

“No!” Will roared, slamming his hand against the stainless steel fridge.

“How much more evidence do you need, Will? Jesus! She tried to steal your son from you. The woman must be a sexual sorceress in the bedroom if you can overlook all that.”

Will lunged at him, but Roscoe was adept at avoiding his clients’ punches after all these years.

“Settle down!” Roscoe yelled at him. “I’ve only let one of my clients actually deck me and only because I owed it to him.” Roscoe pulled a kitchen chair between them. “You pay me to watch out for you and to tell it like it is, but you don’t get to shoot the messenger.”

Will felt a great weight settle in his chest as he slumped into the desk chair. He wanted to wail. Had her love been a lie, too? His gut rolled just thinking it. All of his life, he’d been the kid looking in the window from the outside. Watching his friends love and be loved. His mother loved him, but she’d been too busy making sure they both survived to notice those painful moments when all the other boys played catch with their fathers or went on father-son campouts together. Or the dads who wouldn’t let their daughters date him because of where he lived or his parentage. The kids in school who’d cozied up to him to get help with their homework but made fun of his Goodwill clothing behind his back. Even in college, he’d stood apart from the rest, the poor scholarship kid whose mother could barely afford even a bus ticket for him to go home for the holidays while they were jetting off to tropical destinations.

But finally, he’d thought he’d found true happiness with Julianne. She and Owen would be his family. They would belong to him and he would belong to them. Could it all have been just a lie?

“Will.” Roscoe’s voice permeated the fog. “We need to get back to Baltimore. Ron can fly us back as soon as we can get over to the airport.”

“Not until Julianne and Owen get back.”

Roscoe sighed. “Okay, yeah. You need to say good-bye to your son. We can go over custody scenarios on the flight back.”

Will didn’t want to think about how this was going to impact his son. He just knew he needed to speak with Julianne. To ask her directly if she’d done what Roscoe thought or if it was just a big misunderstanding.

“Maybe you could throw some things in a bag while we wait,” Roscoe prodded him.

“Yeah.” Will slowly stood. “They can’t compel me to testify, can they?”

Roscoe didn’t respond immediately. “No. But the league has made it clear you’ll be suspended if you don’t.”

Will’s legs felt like wood as he climbed the stairs to his bedroom.