Bigger Than Beckham (34 page)

Once inside the Canada Gate, she made for the
memorial erected to honor the sacrifice of Canadian and British
soldiers in the world wars. The heavily-shaded space was the
perfect place to hook up with Tony, particularly since she needed
to absorb its atmosphere of calm. Though she’d managed to put on a
breezy, joking air during the phone call, her heart had pounded the
whole time. Just seeing Tony again, much less asking him for a
favor she had no right to be asking, made her nerves jangle from
the top of her head to the toes that poked out of her sandals.

Martha carefully lowered herself to sit on
the shallow set of stairs in front of the granite monument.
Straight ahead, the memorial’s inset bronze maple leaves appeared
to be flowing downward in the streams of water that slid over the
surface of the stone. About a dozen tourists milled around the
area, most snapping pictures or shooting videos, but no one other
than her sat down. Thankfully, everyone maintained a respectful
near-silence.

A few moments later she heard footsteps
behind her and turned to spot Tony, hands shoved in the pockets of
his tight jeans. He had on a red team jersey that hung loose on his
broad shoulders and muscled body. His sunglasses were perched back
on top of his slightly disheveled hair. The casual look made him
appear younger than his age and as mouth-wateringly sexy as any man
she’d ever met.

“Hey, love,” he said, glancing around. “Good
choice—it’s beautiful here. Mind if I sit?”

She gave him an apologetic smile as she rose.
“Why don’t we walk instead? I have to admit to feeling a bit antsy
today.”

Tony reached to hug her, brushing his lips
lightly across her cheek in what was more or less an air kiss as
she stood awkwardly in his loose embrace. Clearly, he felt as at
sea as she did. She noticed a light sheen of sweat on his brow, and
his body radiated heat.

“Did you jog here or something?” she said in
a joking voice.

He swiped the back of his hand across his
forehead. “Took the tube to Green Park station, which was a bloody
hot ride, and then walked the rest of the way. Parking’s impossible
around here, and it’s a bitch to find a cab on Sundays anywhere
around Fenton.”

Martha liked the image of Tony Branch riding
the subway with ordinary mortals. “I wanted to tell you I was sorry
that things ended up like they did yesterday,” she said as they
started to walk.

Tony stayed close but didn’t touch her. “Me,
too.”

He seemed to be waiting for her to elaborate,
which made sense since she was the one who’d made the overly
dramatic exit and ignored his repeated phone calls. “All because we
broke our rule not to talk business,” she said. “We both should
have known better.”

In truth, Martha thoroughly blamed Tony for
the lapse, but that hardly seemed like a charitable thing to
express, especially given her subsequent outburst.

“I agree, to a point,” he said. “My timing
was off, I’ll admit that. But we had to have the discussion sooner
or later, Martha.”

She shot him a wry glance. “Well, later would
have worked fine for me.” When he didn’t respond, she mentally
sighed and continued, “I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you to make that
offer. The more I thought about it, the more I realized you
probably went a lot farther than you wanted to. But here’s the
thing, Tony. I really didn’t need you coming at me again when all I
can think about is figuring out how I’m going to get my team
through the next damn week.”

She stopped and gazed at the monument, its
water flowing in a smooth, mesmerizing stream. “Can you understand
that? I needed space, and I needed a break from all of the crap I
left behind back home.” She turned to face him head-on. “You didn’t
let me have that space, Tony—not enough of it, anyway.”

“Sure, but…” Tony stopped suddenly, averting
his eyes. He seemed to be fighting with himself.

“But what?” she prompted.

He shook his head. “Nothing. You’re right.
That’s all there is to it.”

Gratitude and relief flooded her body that
he’d so easily agreed. Until that very moment, she’d had no idea
how much his admission would mean to her. Going up on tiptoe, she
kissed him softly and quickly on the lips. A chaste kiss. A thank
you.

“More, please,” he said with a rakish
grin.

“Men—all they think about is sex,” she said
in a mocking tone.

“You got that right,” he replied in such a
husky voice that it made her knees nearly buckle.

Stay on point, Martha.

She summoned up more courage, knowing that if
she didn’t get what she had to say out now, maybe she never would.
“Tony, I need to be honest with you. When I called, it wasn’t to
get you to talk about what happened yesterday, or about anything to
do with the Thunder. There’s something else.”

He quirked an eyebrow but fell in step beside
her as she started up a narrow path that led toward the side of the
park, paralleling Constitution Hill.

“When you told me about the way Colton had
treated Ginny during their marriage—the years of physical and
mental abuse and all the covering up—well, it settled deep inside
me, Tony. And I haven’t been able to let it go since. Not even for
a minute.”

Well, except for when he’d been taking her to
the moon and back in bed, but she was hardly about to acknowledge
that fact.

A puzzled frown pulled his dark eyebrows
together, but he nodded for her to continue.

“Colton suffered a public disgrace,” she
said, “but now he’s busting his butt to rehabilitate his reputation
and it seems to be working. I suppose people are cutting him a
break because they figure he’s paid his dues for his gross
stupidity. Some of his major sponsors have come back, he’s going to
return to the tour in a month, and my own damn newspaper is
practically slavering over the feature he’s offered them.” She gave
a little snort. “Even though we both know it’s supposed to be
nothing more than a puff piece.”

Tony’s frown morphed into a nasty scowl. “You
know exactly what I’d like to do to the son of a bitch, so why are
you telling me something we both already know?”

“Because I want to bring him down, Tony,” she
said earnestly. “For good, this time. And I’m prepared to do
whatever it takes to see him pay for what he did to Ginny. Even if
he doesn’t do jail time, I want him stone dead in the eyes of the
public.”

Tony stopped in the middle of the path and
studied her, as if measuring the intent behind her words. Then he
let out a low whistle. “Nice. I like it. And the deader, the
better, if I have anything to say about it.”

She loved his response, but he didn’t seem to
twig to what she was about to ask him. That was about to
change.

“You can definitely have something to say
about it, Tony, because there’s only one way it can happen,” she
said, her stomach clenching in anticipation of his reaction. “Ginny
has to tell me everything Colton did to her, and then let me run
with the story.”

When Tony took a step back, obviously
shocked, Martha knew she was in trouble.

“I told you,” he said in a cool voice after a
moment’s hesitation, “Ginny would never do that. As far as I know,
she’s never told a soul other than me.” His eyes burned into her.
“So, why in bloody hell would you think she’d start blabbing to a
reporter?”

A reporter.

Martha repressed the instinct to flinch under
the weight of his apparent contempt. She raised her chin, fighting
the nerves that were making flight a more attractive option than
fight. “Because I have to believe she’d do it if
you
asked
her to, Tony.”

He threw up his hands, disbelief pulling hard
at his lean features. “Even if that were true, which I sodding well
doubt, why in hell would I do that? Why, after she made me promise
I’d never tell anybody? A promise I was a bloody fool to ever have
broken, it seems.”

The anger and hurt lacing his voice ripped
her in half. One half still felt righteous indignation and the
burning desire to bring Colton down, while the other half felt only
guilt at putting Tony, and no doubt Ginny, in a situation they
clearly wanted no part of. Tony might have been right that he
should never have spilled the beans to her. But he had, and now
Martha couldn’t back away. Yes, she was prepared to admit that part
of her zeal was due to the personal acclaim that her surgical
dissection of Colton would bring. But it wasn’t simply the prospect
of journalistic glory that drove her. No, she wanted justice for
Ginny and for every other woman Colton Butler had ever abused—a
justice that would ensure no other woman or girl would have to
suffer from his cruelty.

Tony turned his back on her and, for a
moment, Martha feared he would simply walk away. “Tony, surely you
can’t be naïve enough to think Ginny is the only woman Colton has
ever abused,” she said quietly.

He went still at that.

Martha shook her head, even though he
couldn’t see her. “You know it doesn’t work like that. Men like him
don’t beat the hell out of one woman and put others up on
pedestals. You can bet he’s abused other women. Maybe not as badly
as he hurt Ginny, but you can be damn sure it’s happened.”

“Nobody’s ever come forward,” Tony said in a
weary voice, still not facing her.

“Oh, hell, most women never will in those
circumstances. They’re either too intimidated, or rich guys like
Colton pay them to keep their mouths shut.” She lowered her voice.
“Or, they’re like Ginny.”

When Tony said nothing, she moved around to
face him directly. “I’ll bet Colton gave her a hell of a divorce
settlement, didn’t he?”

A dark flush swept across his cheekbones as
he glared at her. “Are you implying that her settlement was hush
money?”

“I don’t know, Tony. That’s why I’m asking
you.”

“Colton is rich as an oil sheikh,” he said,
shaking his head. “She could have taken him to the cleaners in
divorce court. What she did damn well wasn’t about money.”

“Okay, I get that,” Martha said softly. “She
wanted to make a clean break and get on with her life. But it can’t
stop there, Tony. What also matters is whether or not Ginny thinks
Colton is still doing it—doing to other women what he did to her.
And how far will he go? He might even kill a woman someday. Sure,
he probably wouldn’t mean to, but it happens all the time,” she
finished in a firm voice.

Now he seemed to flinch. “Colton? That’s a
bit of a stretch, Martha.”

“Really? Would you like me to give you some
statistics on wife beaters?” she said, trying not to raise her
voice. “About how many of them go on to kill or maim their women?
This shit goes on all the time, and with the rich and famous,
too.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets and gave
her a baffled stare. Lord, she wanted to shake him for being so
dense, or so defensive—so whatever it was that was holding him back
from acknowledging her point.

“Even if I thought your idea made sense,” he
finally said, “what would I say to her? Ginny, girl, I just
happened to mention your situation the other day while I was in the
sack with an American reporter, and now she’s asking me to twist
your arm and get you to spill your guts so she can write a really
juicy story? Does that sound about right?”

Put like that, it did sound utterly crass.
But that wasn’t the way she had to look at it.

“Actually, hon, I assumed you could be a
little more subtle than that,” she said, gentling her voice. “I
won’t deny that this would be a great story for me to write. But
it’s way bigger than just that. I need you to see if Ginny has any
interest in coming forward, both for the sake of stopping Colton
and for making him pay for what he’s done. My suggestion is that
you tell her a friend of yours is writing a feature on Colton, and
that you think it would be a hell of a fine place for her to reveal
some long overdue truths about the man.”

Tony squeezed his eyes as if a bolt of pain
had fired through his brain. For the first time, Martha noticed
that it looked like he’d had a rough night.

“Honest to God, Martha,” he said after a few
seconds, “it feels like you’re asking me to choose between you and
my friendship with Ginny.”

Martha reeled, mentally staggered and
flummoxed. How was she supposed to respond to such a devastating,
out-of-the-blue declaration?

“Tony, that is so not true,” she managed to
get out. “Heck, I’m still talking to you even after that awful
scene we had yesterday at the stadium, aren’t I? This isn’t any
different,” she said, forcing a smile.

Tony shook his head. “I hear what you’re
saying, but you’re asking a hell of a lot, Martha. You have no idea
how much.”

Martha decided now was the time to back off a
little. “I’m sorry. Truly, I am. But this is important enough that
I have to do it. Look, you don’t have to push Ginny hard. Just tell
her that you know I’m writing a story on her ex, and that she’d get
a very sympathetic hearing from me if she thinks it’s time to call
Colton to account.”

He shifted restlessly, then nodded. “All I
can tell you is that I’ll think about it. Now, can we please go to
my place and have a drink? I sure as hell need one,” he grumbled,
reaching for her hand.

She took his hand and looked him right in the
eye as she decided to take the final step. “That’s fine, but let me
say just one more thing, Tony. When I said we can’t let Colton keep
getting away with it, it’s because I can tell you from firsthand
knowledge that he hasn’t changed. Not one little bit. Despite all
the bullshit, the man’s still as big a pig as he ever was.”

Tony’s hand squeezed hers hard. “Firsthand
knowledge? What the hell does that mean?”

She grimaced. “I didn’t want to tell you
everything about what happened Friday night because I knew it would
just make you crazy. But, yes, Colton couldn’t keep his frigging
paws off me then. He even pitched me to go with him on an
endorsement trip to Europe, and believe me he made his intentions
crystal clear.”