“When did you know?”
His mouth tightens, his eyes darting over my face.
“Don’t do this, Serena.”
“When.”
He holds my eyes with his before his lips open.
“Yesterday.”
A bitter, broken sound falls from my lips. “So, before the fair. Before I went out with you and your daughter.”
He nods, and my eyes narrow at him.
“Before you got to fuck me again.”
His face darkens. “Serena-”
“Oh! So, hey! Looks like you still get something from all this, huh?”
His jaw tightens.
“Still got an easy screw from the girl who you probably always knew wasn’t going to work out here, right?”
His eyes flash as he steps towards me. “You know damn well that’s not true.”
“And you still got your board shares, apparently. Hopefully you’ll be able to make due with the paltry, what, five million you’re going to make when they sell?”
“I am going to figure something out,” he says tensely, taking another step towards me, but I shake my head and point a finger at him.
“No, Landon. I don’t want you to fix this. I actually don’t want to have anything to do with you, or this fucking team anymore.”
“Serena, they can’t leave you with nothing, I’m sure there’s a precedent somewhere we can-”
“Landon!” I scream, almost throwing the envelope full of things I never wanted to know at him. “You’re not listening.” My voice is thin, like it might snap at any second.
“I do not want anything to do with this place, or the board, or Sam Horn, or you, or the goddamn Rattlesnakes at all anymore. I am done.”
I whirl and yank open my car door when he grabs my wrist, pulling me back around.
“Look,” he growls, his eyes flashing at me. “I know I should have told you. Believe me, I know, I just didn’t know how.”
“Landon-”
“And you can hate the board, and this fucking team all you want, but at least think of yourself. If you walk away, you’re going to do it with nothing. If you stay, and if we fight, you can walk away with a lot of money. At least think about that.”
My eyes snap to his.
Money.
It was money from this team and Sam Horn that bought my mom off. Hell, my dad did okay, but he was never a rich man. It was money that probably swept her away in the first place.
I am through with money from Sam Horn.
“Fuck the money,” I spit, yanking my wrist out of his grasp and sliding into the car.
“Serena!”
I close the door, and the sound of the engine starting drowns out whatever Landon says.
Me pulling away insures that I don’t hear it.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Landon
I’m back at the hospital, the same sterile, chemical chill creeping down my spine. But I’m ignoring it this time. I’m too numb to feel it anyways.
The neurologist called me when I was halfway back to picking Emily up at her friend’s house to let me know he was awake - really awake this time.
And so I’m here.
It’s different than the last time, when my heart broke for the man I knew lying desperate and sick and frail in a bed. Now, there’s a coldness inside for him - the truth of the liar and the fraud that he was still twisting in my side like a blade.
“He’s been through a lot,” the nurse tells me sternly as we pause outside Sam’s room. She frowns at the harsh scowl on my face and the chip I’m sure she can see resting on my shoulder. “First meetings after something like this can be…emotional.”
I almost want to laugh.
“Thanks,” I say brusquely instead, stepping past her and reaching for the doorknob.
The door closes behind me with a metallic click. Sam looks up from the newspaper in his hands.
“Hey! There he is!” he starts to beam, but the grin quickly falls from his face at the look on mine.
“I know.”
His mouth closes. He nods solemnly. “About Serena?”
My lip twitches at her name from his mouth.
“I figured you’d figure it out.” He shrugs. “You’re a smart kid. You always were too smart for football.”
“Don’t,” I growl, stepping towards his bed. “Don’t try and smooth this over.”
“It was a different time, Landon.” His shoulders slump as he shakes his head. “I had my career, she had hers. Hell, she had her marriage.”
I bark out a laugh. “So you slept with a guy’s wife, you knocked her up, and you paid her off.”
“Yep.” Sam’s voice is even-keeled and firm, his eyes never leaving mine. “Yes I did.”
“Fuck you,” I mutter, snarling at his arrogance.