Royalty, American Style_King of Baseball

by Livia Grant

  Through gritted teeth, he corrected the producer. "You air anything that hurts Harper and you'll never work in sports journalism again. You said it yourself. I'm sports royalty. You fuck with Harper and I'll call in every favor I need to in order to make sure I destroy you. Got it ?"

  A drop of perspiration ran down Gavin's forehead. It was the only indication his threats had impacted the other man. The asshole's expression remained blank—unwavering .

  "The law is on my side on this one, Colt. I have a binding contract with you and Harper. Every minute of the footage I've collected, both audio and video, are mine to do with as I please ."

  It took all of his effort to keep from ripping the little weasel's head off his shoulders. Needing space, Colton took a step forward and threw Gavin back into the poolside chair with such velocity the man almost tipped backwards .

  The cigar he'd been smoking had fallen to the floor and was rolling away. Colton shuffled forward and stomped on it so hard it crumbled into shreds beneath his grinding shoe .

  "That was a damn Cuban, you asshole ."

  "I'll buy you a fucking truck-load of them if you just walk away from this," Colton offered, appealing to the guy's greed .

  "Like I said, it's not that simple. We have airtime we need to fill. Sponsors we've sold prime-time ad space to. They're expecting prime-time numbers. I was panicking, because they sure as shit weren't gonna get viewers with your choir boy routine ."

  Colton felt trapped. He needed to go to his room and re-read the contract again. There had to be an out clause somewhere. It would be an expensive lesson to learn, but he'd made twenty-two million last season. He could afford it .

  "Fine, I'll go call my lawyer and get him working on burying you." He turned, taking angry strides towards the exit .

  Gavin yelled out, taunting, "I sure hope Harper can afford a good lawyer too ."

  Colt stopped in his tracks, a ball of dread forming in the pit of his empty stomach. He spun, pinning Gavin with a death glare. "I told you to leave her out of this. She has nothing to do …"

  "Oh for Christ's sake, how can you keep a straight face as you say that? Harper has everything to do with what's been going on around here. I admit. I didn't see it until you threw the chair through the wall earlier this week defending her. Looking back, it was so obvious, although I had to pay a crew back in the city a small fortune to comb through the hundreds of hours of camera footage looking for encounters we'd missed in the production van. To think, you guys met the very first night ."

  "How did you…" His voice trailed off .

  There are cameras everywhere but in the shitter .

  They'd warned him .

  "You have cameras in the garage ?"

  "I admit, we didn't put those there. They were installed for security on the high-end vehicles, but, yeah… there are cameras in the garage ."

  He had a sinking feeling. "The stables ?"

  "Of course," Gavin scoffed .

  Colton dreaded digging any deeper, but then he realized if he didn't ask now, he could always wait and watch it on national television with millions of other viewers instead .

  The men glared at each other, Gavin's expression almost daring him to ask .

  "And… the pool house ."

  "Yes."

  He was short of breath, pushing down his anxiety. "I swear to God, if you have a camera in her bedroom, I'm gonna kick your ass ."

  Gavin made him wait almost thirty seconds, before finally acknowledging, "Actually, there are two there ."

  Colt’s right fist connected with Gavin's left cheekbone exactly two seconds later. The asshole went down like the pussy he was. Colton wasn't even close to being finished with him, leaning over to pick the prick off the floor just so he could punch him in the stomach .

  Before he could move in to deliver a third helping of whoop-ass, two previously unseen guys tackled him from behind and tried to wrestle him to the ground .

  Colton fought them off, taking his rage out on them until the men he recognized as his assigned cameramen raised their hands in surrender .

  And that was the moment he realized that even their private conversation and the physical altercation from this morning were now memorialized forever on film .

  He was going to be skewered by the press for this. Hell, if the three men decided to press charges, Gavin may have to send a camera crew along to the county lockup with him. That ought to garner phenomenal ratings as they chronicled Colton King's travels through the American court system as he was booked for assault and battery .

  He needed to think. He needed to get Harper the fuck away from the cameras. He needed to …

  "Now that you got that out of your system, why don't you sit down? I have a proposal for you ."

  "No thanks. I got into this mess listening to one of your crazy proposals ."

  "It's a bit late now to try to sweep all this under the rug." Gavin's nose was bleeding. He stopped talking long enough to grab a towel from the nearby table, using it to try to stanch the bleeding as he continued. "There's no way we have enough footage worth using to stick with our original plan. Short of Maya's blowjob, you've barely even touched anyone but Harper ."

  Colton groaned. Of course they had the BJ on tape. Ironically, his first thought wasn't how it would look to the millions of viewers who might potentially see it on an upcoming pornographic episode. Instead, he worried about how Harper would react, knowing it would hurt her .

  "Get on with it," he said impatiently, angry that he had to spend another ten seconds listening to the jerk, but not really in a position to walk out either .

  "I know it wasn't what we planned, but your time with Harper is like gold for the show. Your time together in the stables, out riding and even the picnic at the lake …"

  Fucking hell .

  "…only thing better is if you'd had sex out there, but I get it… it was too cold ."

  Colton interrupted him. "There has to be something. Some other way. I'm not dragging her into this ."

  "She dragged herself into this. She did everything but poison the women. Don't forget. She signed a similar contract. She knew the score on the cameras ."

  The ball of anxiety in his gut exploded. Had Harper known there were cameras in all of the places where he'd thought they'd had privacy? Surely she hadn't seduced him on purpose? His heart physically contracted, rejecting the thought of her possible betrayal, but his logical brain wouldn't let the idea go .

  The irony of waiting thirty-six years to finally fall hard for a woman, only to have her turn out to be using him like he'd used hundreds of women before her, wasn't lost on him. There had to be a mistake .

  "Colton?" Her voice called to him from a few feet away. She sounded so confused… almost fragile. His instinct was to protect her from the bullshit that was going down, but his self-preservation kicked in, throwing up a protective wall between them .

  He swung to confront her, only to find her standing there in a terry cloth robe, looking adorably vulnerable. Her long locks were having a bad hair-day, having been tossed around all night long. But it was her lips that he couldn't stop looking at. They were pink and still swollen from their passionate kissing. They'd looked beautiful stretched wide around his cock around three that morning .

  "You should go back upstairs ."

  "But what's going on? I heard voices and then a crash ."

  He was aware that the cameramen he'd attacked were no longer in sight which meant they were back behind the lens, hiding away as they taped every word… every syllable .

  Colton felt trapped. He needed to be alone, away from prying eyes just to think. There had to be a way out of the mess he'd gotten into .

  "You need to go home, Harp
er. Back to New York ."

  "New York? What's going on. Why are you sending me away?" Tears spilled down her cheeks in seconds, taking remnants of yesterday's mascara with them. She was either genuinely hurt, or an Oscar-worthy actress. The problem was, he didn't have the time to ferret out the truth right now, and sure as shit, he didn't want to duke things out with the beautiful chef with an audience of millions .

  "It seems I didn't read the fine print of the contract well enough. I have a lot of shit to sort out. I don't know what's going on yet, but I will find out." It was a statement, but he failed miserably at hiding his resentment for being put in this position. He didn't miss her flinch as she internalized his words .

  Gavin interjected. "I told you, she can't leave. She's under contract ."

  Colt turned back towards the producer. It was easier to face that man's anger than Harper's tears .

  "She's the fucking chef, not one of the contestants ."

  "Harper signed the same contract that the camera crew and the Finnegans did. Hell, even your agent, Vencinti, had to sign one just in case he was caught up in a scene on one of his visits, I'd have the right to use the footage ."

  "Goddammit." Colt dragged his fingers through his hair nervously. He felt truly trapped. Had he known what was waiting for him at the bottom of the steps, he might have tied the bed sheets together in Harper's room and had the two of them shimmy down from her window to make a run for it to her Honda .

  The sound of Harper crying softly made it impossible to think of anything else but wanting to comfort her, but that wasn't what she needed from him the most in that moment. He knew what she didn't. That their special night spent together in her room would soon be turned into the main attraction of the three-ring circus that was in town. He needed to protect her .

  You need to protect yourself, King .

  He closed the distance between them, fighting an internal war as he set his half-baked plan into motion .

  "I'm sorry things played out this way, Harper. I really am. But, it's for the best that you go back to the city, and let me sort things out here ."

  "You want me to leave ?"

  Technically, he wanted them both to leave, but he held his tongue. "I do ."

  She flinched, visibly shaken. He wanted to believe she was an innocent bystander, caught up in the craziness of the reality show, but even if that were true, it only made what was going to happen when the show aired that much worse .

  "Give me your number. I'll be in touch when the dust settles ."

  Soft cries gave way to her anger as she pushed away from him. "Don't do me any favors. I wouldn't want to mess up your 'one and done' dating philosophy ."

  It was his turn to flinch at her angry words. He hated the thought of her leaving thinking she'd just been another notch in the bedpost of a playboy. He forced a deep breath, thinking through his options, and realized he hated her staying anywhere near Gavin's cameras even more. They'd given the production crew more than enough fodder for their game. He already faced a hell of a legal battle. He needed to focus on that. It was the best way to protect Harper, even if she didn't understand it at the moment .

  "I'm sorry you feel that way, but if that's the way you want it ."

  "Nothing is the way I want it!" she shouted, pushing away from him with a sob .

  He watched her race up the stairs to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. He sensed Gavin in his peripheral view. It took all his willpower to keep from taking his frustration out on the producer, but they'd just delivered a heart-wrenching scene for the cameras. He didn't need to add another assault to his resume .

  Colton turned and pinned Gavin with a serious glare. "I'm going back to the main house. I'm grabbing my phone and my copy of the contract, and then I'm going into my bathroom because apparently that is the only place in the entire property I have any assurance of any privacy. I need you to help Harper carry her stuff down to her car, and send her on her way back to New York. You aren't to threaten her. You aren't to touch her. Hell, you aren't even to talk to her. I want her safely away until I get this all sorted out. You got it ?"

  Gavin was staring at him, that same unreadable look on his face, until he finally nodded. "I sure as hell hope you know what you're doing ."

  Colt took off for the door, unwilling to verbalize that he hadn't the damnedest clue .

  Chapter Eight

  "W ait, you just took the wrong exit," Harper corrected her best friend, Vivian .

  "Will you relax? I know where I'm going." Viv's reassuring smile was annoying. Didn't she know the world was an evil place ?

  "This is the stupidest thing you've ever conned me into doing," Harper said, and she meant it .

  Her friend reached out to smack her arm playfully. "My couch begged me to get you out of the apartment, even if it is just for a little bit. You've been parked there for two weeks straight, only getting up for bathroom breaks and to pay the pizza delivery guy ."

  "That's not true. I ordered Chinese and Thai, too ."

  Viv chuckled. "I stand corrected. All I know is if I don't get you moving again, your next delivery will be a new wardrobe in the next bigger size ."

  "Gee, thanks. Nice way to tell me I'm getting fat ."

  Her friend suddenly got more serious. "Fat, no. But I just can't sit by and watch you be so sad. You should be bouncing back by now ."

  Harper bit her tongue, knowing it wouldn't do any good to argue. She knew in her heart there would be no bouncing. She'd already jumped headlong, heart and all, only there hadn't been a safety net to catch her. It was an expensive lesson to learn at the young age of twenty-five, but you play with the big boys, and you go splat .

  No, there would be no bouncing back for Harper .

  "He still hasn't called?" Viv asked for the hundredth time since Harper had shown up sobbing on her friend's doorstep .

  "I told you. He isn't going to call ."

  "I think you're wrong. You said yourself, the producers are forcing him to finish filming. He's probably just protecting you by not calling you while he's being filmed ."

  "Don’t forget, I pumped Gavin for more information before I left. He finally admitted that they have us recorded doing the nasty in half of the positions of the Kama Sutra. Trust me, nothing he could say on the phone could make things worse. The best part is, in just a few weeks, my parents are going to have a front row seat to the crash and burn of my X-rated love life. He isn't calling because he's done with me. I never asked, but based on the stories on the Internet, I'm somewhere around girlfriend number 237 ."

  "Okay, you're exaggerating again, and I still say you should give him the benefit of the doubt ."

  "Since when are you a Colton King fan ?"

  Viv smiled. "Since my best friend fell in love with him ."

  "I think you missed the part where he broke my heart ."

  "How could I miss it? You've been crying on my couch for two weeks ."

  "Sorry. I'll pack up — "

  "Stop! I'm not complaining. I'm just worried ."

  "So that's why you dragged me out to Timbuktu ?"

  "No, I dragged you out so you could get some fresh air and remember there is a whole, big world out here. And because I can't carry the Christmas tree by myself ."

  "We've passed by a dozen places selling Christmas trees, you know," Harper retorted .

  Her friend smiled. "I know, but there is this one farm that has the best trees, and we get to pick out our favorite, and they'll cut it down for us ."

  "I never pictured you as the Martha Stewart type ."

  "Yeah, well there's a first time for everything. Why don't you take a n
ap? I'll wake you up when we get there ."

  At least a nap would stop the depressing conversation about how fucked up her life was. She reclined the bucket seat of her friend's sedan and closed her eyes. As usual, Colton's caramel brown eyes filled her thoughts. It didn't matter if she was awake or asleep; she'd relived every minute they'd spent together over and over, looking for the clues that she'd missed .

  Harper must have dozed off because when she was jolted awake, she felt the tires crunching on gravel. They must have arrived at the Christmas tree farm .

  It was late afternoon and the December sun was almost ready to set. It was so dim in the interior of the car that it was obvious when the car pulled into a well-lit parking lot. Vivian put the car in park and turned off the engine .

  "I know you're already awake," her friend said to her back .

  "How do you know that ?"

  "You're so exhausted that you were snoring when you were really sleeping ."

  "Wonderful. I'll add that to the long list of reasons why Colton is better off without me ."

  She rolled to her back, stretching, not wanting to get out into the bitter winter wind .

  "I have something to tell you, and I need you to stay calm ."

  "I'm always calm ."

  "No. You're not. In fact, when you got to my house a few weeks ago, I'd never seen you like that. So upset ."

  "Yeah, well I'd just had my heart ripped out by a guy I trusted, and then found out the jerk who'd hired me had been secretly taping every second of my life with the intention of ruining my reputation by showing what a fool I was on national television. Gavin Wallace is a complete asshole ."

  "Well… the asshole is about to open your car door, so try to behave ."

  When Viv's words sunk in, Harper shot up in her seat so fast she felt lightheaded, although it could also be that she recognized they were sitting in front of the Connecticut mansion that had her feeling like she was about to puke .