Page 12 of Grizz

“I bet he loved the idea of a fixer with a press pass.”Elias smirks.

“Oh, adored it,” I say dryly.“Practically threw me a parade.”

Elias chuckles, but I’m not laughing.

“I can manage narratives.I can rebuild reputations.I can even take a hit, metaphorically speaking,” I say, leaning forward.“But managing Grizz McAvoy?That’s hostage negotiation–level stuff.”

Elias considers this.“You think you can’t handle him?”

“I don’t know ifanyonecan.And I’m not sure I want to spend the next six months cleaning up after someone who thinks a fistfight is foreplay.”

He watches me, then says, “You said the same thing about Giancarlo once.”

“Giancarlo didn’t throw punches in skates,” I say.“He just did it with NDAs and offshore factories.”

“Still an asshole,” Elias counters.“Just wore better shoes.”

I sit back, rubbing my temple.“I need this job, Elias.I know that.I’m not naive.But if your uncle’s real plan is to have me muzzle a man like Grizz—”

“It’s not about muzzling him,” Elias interrupts gently.“He just needs focus.Discipline.You’re not there to change who he is.”

I glance out the window, watching a cab streak down the street, headlights diffusing through the window into a faint rainbow.“You believe I can do this?”

Elias doesn’t hesitate.“I wouldn’t have made the call if I didn’t.”

His voice is sincere, firm.He has faith in me.

“I didn’t think I’d end up here,” I say.“Not in sports.Not with… someone like Grizz as a project.”

Elias leans back, nodding.He gets it.“No one ends up anywhere on purpose.Julian doesn’t hire people who are trying to be seen.He hires the ones who already survived something.”

I think about Grizz and how he looked at me like I was a joke.The coiled violence that lives in his posture.He doesn’t want help.He wants to be right, even when it burns everything down.

“I’ve spent my whole career calling out men like Grizz,” I say.“Now I’m supposed to fix him?Make him palatable enough for sponsors and kids with jerseys and the league’s press department?”

“No,” Elias says.“You’re supposed to keep him from blowing the whole damn team off the map.”

I look at him.“You make it sound easy.”

“It won’t be.He’ll test you and the team will watch you.”His eyes soften.“But you’re up for it, I know you are.You’ve got steel under all that truth-telling.You know how to stand in a room full of men, each convinced he’s the smartest one in it and ultimately get them to listen to you.”

The restaurant has gotten louder.

“I don’t know if I can manage him,” I say.“But I can manage the chaos around him.”

Elias smiles.“Same thing.”

And maybe it is.Maybe that’s all Langley really wants—someone to play defense against the collapse.

I finish my drink and set the glass down.“All right,” I say.“You’re right.I can survive this.”

Elias raises his glass.“You won’t just survive it, Daisy Turner.You’ll succeed in ways Julian won’t even expect.You always do.”

I don’t believe him.Not fully.But I believe that he believes in me.

And for right now, that’s enough.

Chapter 5