Chapter 20

The next day, Eve was cooking dinner, and a knock came at the door. As she reached the front door of the condo, she found Adam with his head down rubbing his face. When he lifted his head, she saw he had a black eye and a cut over his eyebrow. She ran to the door, throwing it open.

"Oh, God! Adam, are you all right? What happened? I've tried messaging you all day." She pulled him inside.

Once the door was closed, he fell into her arms.

"I'm so sorry, Eve. I ruined everything last night. I should have been with you. Not ditched you off on Greg. Can you please forgive me? I really need someone to talk to right now."

She pulled him to the couch. "Adam, honey. What happened to your face?"

He shook his head, fighting back his frustration. "Drew got into a bad gamboling debt. He… No... I had to pay them off last night. They roughed us up a bit. I'll be fine. I'm just rattled. This isn't the first time he has done something so damn stupid. I should have told you before about Drew's problem. His bookie showed up at the party last night. A big time mob guy. Drew has had a real problem with gamboling for a while now. He has managed to blow through our family's money like it's just there for the taking. I'm the only one that keeps things afloat."

"Are you okay? Where is Drew?"

"We are both fine. He is at my penthouse, resting and licking his wounds from the ass beating he got. I got hurt trying to protect him. He's going to LA for a while to get his shit together. I can't deal with him right now, Eve. We can't go to the Kentucky Derby, I'm sorry. I know you were excited about being in Millionaire's Row, but it's just not a good time. Sylvia is here. She's going in your place to help me smooth everything over with some high rollers."

Eve hugged him, shaken to the core. "I don't care about that. I can go to the Derby some other time. I am more worried about you."

"Everything is going to be fine now. We are just going to meet with his friends and club owners to make sure this doesn't happen again. When he gets back to Louisville, he hopefully won't be able to get in trouble again. If so, he's on his own. I told him if he goes to get treatment for his gamboling, I will allow him to work with me full time. I want him out of the bar scene."

Eve snuggled up to the battered and bruised Adam. "I think that's for the best. Besides, next week we are going to Florida. Maybe we could take a few extra days just for us. You need to relax. You have been under a lot of pressure lately and I can see how stressed you are."

Adam gave a half-smile, rubbing her leg. "I would love that. I guess you are starting to realize my life isn't all roses and sunshine."

Eve chuckled. "Seriously? Whose life is? Welcome to the train wreck club, Adam. Down here where us normal people live. It's a hot mess, but you can't look away from the disaster that is our life."

"Too true. Hey, is something cooking?"

Eve jumped up. "Oh no, my sauce!"

He followed her to the kitchen. "Yum. It looks and smells amazing. You're the best cook."

She fed him a taste of her homemade spaghetti sauce. "My own recipe. There's plenty. I was just about to ask if you want to join me?"

"Good food and my girl. I'm in," he agreed with a wink.

"So when do I get to meet your cousin?"

Adams' head snapped up. "Why would you want to do that?"

"You said you were close. I would like to meet her."

Adam turned away, trying to hide his expression. "That's not a good idea. My family is nothing like me. Besides, you will meet my father soon. That side of my family are much better people."

"That's fine. I get it. I have some jerks in my family, too. I would never want to submit you to a meeting with my brothers. They're jerks, and you would never want to see me again if you did. Let's just forget about all this and relax. Grab a plate. Let's eat!"

***

Hunter Ashford entered the new OFL office building. His sister, Grace, greeted him with their brother Brody at the door. "Hunter! How's my big brother? Ready for your photo shoot for the magazine? Brody has a great idea for the article. Ex-football star turned sports executive."

Brody stood silent until his brother walked over and grabbed him in a headlock, giving him a noogie. "Damn it! Hunter… Stop! We're not five anymore. Grow up."

Brody, the serious brother, straightened his suit and smoothed his perfectly quaffed hair back in place.

"Guess you haven't had the surgery yet?" Hunter teased, smirking over at Grace to see if she would catch on to his taunts.

"What surgery?" Brody looked confused.

"The one to get that stick out of your ass."

Grace laughed, punching her younger brother in the arm. In annoyance, Brody huffed and rubbed his arm. Being the middle child wasn't always a joy when you were the target for taunting from all sides.

They made their way to the elevator to head to the boardroom where Brody had his writer and photographer from Ashford Sport Magazine were waiting. Brody looked over at Hunter with a sly smirk. He knew how to get a little teasing of his own.

"I hear you are going to have a new personal assistant, bro."

Hunter rolled his eyes, giving Brody the side eye. "Stop."

Grace tried to keep a straight face. "She's cute. I saw her photos on Twitter. She's Hunters type. Cute little brunette with a big smile."

"Stop."

Brody laughed under his breath. "Come on, brother. It's been a while since your divorce. Live a little."

Hunter shook his head, watching the numbers change on the elevator. "Take your own advice, bro. When was the last woman you dated?"

Grace giggled, pushing her purse up on her shoulder. "He dates. They just don't stick around for long. Who wants to date a man with the personality of a rock and is a total control freak? Old Brody thinks if it doesn't come in a shiny, perfect box, it's not worth his time. I'm pretty sure he has his girlfriends sterilized, sanitized, and shrink-wrapped for quality assurance. You are way too uptight, Brody."

"Says the sister who's ideal mate looks like a tattoo parlor gang ambushed him."

Grace laughed with a shrug. "I like guys with tats. It's sexy."

Hunter chuckled, listening to his siblings' banter. "Let's face it. None of us are going down the wedding aisle anytime soon."

Grace huffed at the thought. "Who says I'm going down any aisle? I'm still having fun just being by myself. Until I find true love, it's the single life for me."

The elevator reached the top floor, and Hunter let Grace walk out first. "True love is overrated. I'll settle for loyalty."

Grace looked up at her brother, who was obviously still hurting from his divorce. She looked back at Brody, who noticed Hunter's broken look, too.

Brody shrugged and sighed, remembering how hard it was for Hunter to find his wife in bed with another football star.

Hunter's wife had cheated on him numerous times, and tried to ruin his reputation by claiming he was the adulterer. Grace knew better. Her brother was loyal, almost to a fault. When he loved, he loved hard. She knew if he married again it would be forever, supposing the woman was just as committed.

Grace rubbed Hunter's arm to comfort him. "Nothing wrong with having both, H."

Hunter hugged her and kissed her forehead, saying, "No, sis. I guess not."

After the photoshoot and interview, the siblings sat in Hunter's office chatting about family gossip.

Grace grabbed the candy jar on Hunter's desk, picking out all the blue M&M's, knowing it would irritate him to no end.

"Stop eating all the blue ones."

"So, I have to ask. Does anyone but me get a creepy vibe about this Adam thing? I am trying to be supportive for dad's sake, but I really don't like the guy."

Brody sat back in the chair, rubbing his hand over his face in relief. "Oh, thank God! I thought I was the only one. Grace is right. Something isn't right about that guy."

Hunter rolled his eyes, shuffling papers on his desk. "Brody, you don't like anyone. You think everyone is up to something. I know it's hard to deal with, but it's dad's son. We need to learn to get along with him."

Grace saw the look on Hunter's face. "Bull shit! You don't like him either."

"I don't, but at least I'm trying."

Grace tapped her nails on the candy dish. "Something's up and I'm going to get to the bottom of it. He is going to be here in a few days. If there is something going on, I'll figure it out."

Brody snickered. "Grace the super sleuth. I'm going to buy you a detective kit for your birthday."

"Cool. I want it in pink." She chucked a M&M at him.

"Stop. I just cleaned this suit." Hunter looked at Grace, who instantly started laughing. "Stop laughing. I'm not a clean freak."

Hunter pointed at his suit. "You have a stain."

Brody frantically looked over himself. "Damn it, Hunter! Stop it! You two are jerks."

"And you need to be tested for OCD," Grace noted.