I shook my head. That man was no family of mine.
“You’re going to want to talk to him. Or he might start being less…forgiving.”
“What the hell does that mean?” My heart started racing. Because I knew what it meant.
“We both know what Uncle Richard is capable of.”
Terrible things. He’d fucking killed my wife-to-be. He was heartless. He was a monster. And there had been things that happened that I thought for sure would have resulted in retaliation. Like when Isabella met her untimely end. For some reason, there hadn’t been any repercussions.
“Aw, isn’t she cute,” Poppy said and pointed to Scarlett in the photo. “I heard she really likes to open doors for strangers.”
“Poppy, I swear to God…”
“It’s not polite to swear, Matthew. You know Uncle Richard’s rules. After all, you’ve signed a contract agreeing to abide by them.”
“If you touch one hair on Scarlett’s head…”
“Me?” She laughed. “God no. Whatever makes you think I’d touch a stranger’s hair? Gross. I’m not a peasant. I have people for that.”
I swallowed hard.
“So call my uncle back, yes?”
I didn’t respond.
“If you don’t, I think we both know what will happen.”
Yeah, I’d gotten the hint. But she and her minions would never get close enough to Scarlett to make good on a veiled threat. James had the best security money could buy. And I wouldn’t let it happen. “Get out of my office.”
“Oh.” She shook her shoulders. “I like when you get stern with me. You know…I saw your dating profile. It was very endearing.”
“Out. Now.”
“You should just cancel that. You won’t be needing it. I think there’s a different future laid out for you already. Oh, and I almost forgot.” Poppy pulled out an envelope from her purse. “This is from Uncle Richard.” She placed the envelope on my desk, the fake nail on her pointer finger practically poking a hole through the paper. “Would you like to read this now? You can write a response and I can take it to him. I’ll wait.”
“I’m not going to ask you again to leave, Poppy.” I grabbed my desk phone. “I’m calling security.”
“You’re no fun, Matthew. We’ll change that, I’m sure. See you soon.” She blew me a kiss, turned on her heel, and walked out of my office, taking the ice-cold air with her.
I stared at the envelope with my name written across the front. There was no use reading it. Surely it would be the same as the countless texts Mr. Pruitt had sent me over the years. Yet, I found myself ripping it open anyway.
I understand why you’re angry with me. But I’ve been protecting you for years now. And for years you have returned my kindness by ignoring me. This is a matter of life or death now, Matthew. Call me back immediately.
I crumpled the paper in my fist and threw it in the trash. Life or death? He didn’t value life. And protecting me? What the fuck was he talking about? He’d never protected me from anything. And he certainly didn’t care about me. Or else he wouldn’t have sent Poppy here to flirt with me. Or threaten me. Or whatever the fuck had just happened.
I picked up my phone. I’d had enough. It was one thing to harass me once a year. It was another thing to threaten one of my best friends’ daughters. I’d had enough of this family of psychopaths. I pulled up his contact info, but my thumb paused above the call button.
Tanner thought I should just talk to him and get it over with. I knew most people would give me the same advice. But I didn’t want to talk to Mr. Pruitt. That was what he wanted. And I didn’t want to do anything that Mr. Pruitt wanted me to do. He’d find some way to twist something I said and get me stuck doing something for his muddied name. And I wasn’t having any part of it. I set down the phone and walked over to the floor to ceiling windows, overlooking Manhattan. I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t want to step foot back into his haunted apartment. I wanted nothing to do with him or his evil niece.
I took a deep breath as I watched the cars speeding down below. I needed to put a stop to him trying to insert himself into my life. And the answer was right at my fingertips.
It was my job to sort out financial messes. Which meant I knew exactly what to look for if I needed to…oh, I don’t know…find proof that someone was laundering money. And Mr. Pruitt was definitely laundering money. He had to be. He had a few legitimate businesses, but not enough to make him one of the wealthiest men in New York.
I was just a kid when Brooklyn died. Back then, I couldn’t do anything about it. But I could now. And I didn’t care what I needed to dig up. Richard Pruitt deserved to rot in prison for the rest of his life. I didn’t care what the cops and private investigators said. He was a murderer. And I’d find a way to make him pay.
Chapter 12
Friday
I cringed as Jefferson kicked the extra point and actually fell over. It wasn’t even muddy. How was this kid capable of slipping on dirt? The football flew in the air and for just a second I held my breath. But then the ball fell like it had gotten struck down by lightning, landing short from the uprights. Super short. Like 15 feet away. Jefferson gave me thumbs up as he got to his feet. I tried not to grimace and gave him what I hoped was an encouraging thumbs up in return.
Every piece of advice I gave him somehow made it worse. But honestly? I hadn’t been the best coach this week. I’d been late to practice. My mind had been a little preoccupied trying to dig up dirt on Mr. Pruitt, only to find…nothing.
And that wasn’t the only thing weighing on me. My stalker was back in the stands tonight. And after my visit from Poppy on Monday, I was worried she had been sent by her. Or maybe even Mr. Pruitt. Either way, I could actually feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise whenever she looked at me. What the hell was she doing here again? What did she want?
I turned around to see her in the stands, but she was gone. I shook my head. I hadn’t been sleeping either. I’d tried the freaking chamomile tea and it didn’t work. Maybe I was imagining the whole thing.
But the worst part about this shitty week? Penny hadn’t spoken to me since leaving my place. My eyes traveled up the stands. She’d shown up tonight with James and everyone else though. Mason had his arm around Bee. I’m pretty sure they were laughing about that awful kick. Rob had just pulled Daphne onto his lap and was tickling her side. And Penny was staring up at James with the biggest smile I’d seen on her face recently. For him. Not for me.
Tanner waved at me. He was sitting with them too. It was great that they were all here. Supporting me. It should have felt nice. But them being here made my skin crawl. Like they were evaluating me or something.
I turned back to the field. I needed to talk to James about Poppy’s threat. I knew that. But I was hoping to have a solution first. I’d already waited a week though. A week too long. If something happened to Scarlett before I could tell James, I’d never be able to forgive myself.
“Coach Caldwell?”
I looked down at Jefferson. “What’s up?” We were up by three touchdowns, minus the three extra points he’d missed. And I knew he felt the embarrassment of those misses more than the joy of our victory.