Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(22)

My eyes slipped shut as I let that number roll around. Tempting. Oh so f*cking tempting. That would put a decent sized dent in some bills after I paid the income taxes.

But visions of Marcus holding his baby girl while he wasn’t getting the same offer made my teeth clench, not to mention their desire to make me some pin-up jackass was just ludicrous.

“Apparently you don’t get it. I’m a cop for Christ’s sake. That’s what I am, not some whatever the f*ck you want me to be. And those men out there, we’re a team. The show is all of them, not just me.”

“What if we give everyone a little adjustment?” the quiet suit added, his head bobbing like a curious turkey.

Harry/Herby—whatever the f*ck his name was—sputtered and choked as if he’d just had his nut sac grazed with sandpaper.

Stupid curiosity had me waiting for her to toss more numbers. When she didn’t go on, I felt compelled to call her on it.

Melissa Werner held her hand out to her associate, shutting him down immediately. She straightened, looking back at me. “I’d like you to consider our position. Your teammates are actually having their on-air time decrease. They’ve already been compensated for their appearances. It wouldn’t be a prudent business decision to adjust their contracts at this time. This new direction only affects you.”

I hated being underestimated. “That’s where you’re wrong, because your tactics divide the team, so it affects them too.”

Melissa flit her eyes. I felt my blood pressure spike.

“This, all of this, is nothing but a distraction. It causes the men to lose focus, which puts us all in danger. This isn’t child’s play, Ms. Werner. We go out there every day knowing that it may be our last, and you and your business goals aren’t worth losing a life over.”

“Thirty,” she tossed without regard.

My knuckles cracked. “Ten thousand more, just like that? What is that? Extra hush money or what you think my life is worth?”

She sighed impassively. “This is a contract renegotiation, Adam, not a life valuation. I’m not prepared to entertain renegotiations for the entire crew and frankly, it’s not warranted.”

“Then I guess we’re done here.”

Melissa handed the pack of papers back to me. “Take the contract. Look it over. Who knows, maybe you’ll have second thoughts.”

“I doubt it.” I took the papers anyway.

“Never say never, Adam.”

Funny how quickly an extremely attractive woman could turn into a coldhearted bitch in the blink of an eye.

I pegged Harry with a glare, nodding at him. Cutting through all their bullshit, there was only one thing on my mind that I wanted to accomplish while they were here being a pain in my ass. Well, one woman, actually. I couldn’t rest until I righted the wrong we’d done to her. My conscience wouldn’t allow it. “Need to talk to you a minute.”

Harry eagerly followed me across the hall into the break room.

I shut the door behind me. “This morning we pulled over a doctor, a woman.”

Harry’s newly formed grin told me we were on the same page. His irritating eyebrow raises confirmed it. “That was some incredible footage. We scanned through it before we left the hotel.”

I had to play this one smart. “That was a bad stop that should have never happened. I don’t care if your boys got her to sign one of your waivers; something like that airs and it can bring a lot of heat down on the unit. It needs to disappear before I.A. gets involved. You got me?”

“I.A.?”

My mouth was running faster than my brain. “Internal Affairs. They start poking their nose around and it could get messy. Could compromise the staff and your show.” I was lying through my teeth but he didn’t know that. I needed some sort of leverage to get that footage canned and didn’t have a leg to stand on. I had made her a promise.

Harry pushed his glasses up on his stubby nose. “I don’t know, Adam. That was a sensational piece. The way you two took care of that accident scene… Viewers love that shit.”

Not at her expense, they won’t. I got right in his breathing space, holding back the burning urge to demonstrate how serious I was. I was never good at playing games. “Apparently I haven’t made myself clear enough. It would be in your best interest to make sure it never sees the light of day.”

Harry’s smile faltered as he adjusted his necktie, taking a step back. “Are you… are you threatening me?”

Yes. “No, I’m making you a promise. I can be a real * on camera if I need to be. You got me?”

“But it’s in your contract to comply with the requirements of your appearance.”

I ran my hand back through my hair, making the motion to keep myself from putting Harry into the wall. “When I go out there and tell my team that you refuse to adjust their cuts, you think you’ll get compliance then? We can play this out and see how good your ratings do. Don’t matter to me.”

He straightened. “We have a team of lawyers, Adam. Don’t know if you want to play that card. That would be a breach of contract for sixteen men.”

Damn it, he was grinding on my last nerve. I sure as hell didn’t want to get sued. I was all out of plays, but I couldn’t let my actions take another innocent person down. I held my breath a moment before committing my next huge mistake. “You shelve that footage and I’ll consider meeting her additional demands.”