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“So we’ll just have to brace for impact. I’m sure there will be a media storm.”
“Yeah. I’m sure it’s going to get ugly. Madison will want to manage it, and it’s going to be too much for her.”
“I’m hoping she’ll read Bea in on it, and between the two of them, we can all get out of this without too much of a headache.”
“I’m sure Bea will want to bear the brunt of it to protect Madison.”
“And my sister will insist on throwing herself in front of the bus anyway.”
I shake my head because he’s not wrong. “Well, I’ll put the husband-pressure on her. You put the brother-pressure on her and, hopefully, we can convince her to let Bea handle it.”
I nod and we sit in silence for a moment.
“I’m sorry.”
“For?”
“Your dad. Mine was an asshole too. Fucking sucks yours couldn’t do better by you all.”
“Well, gives me that much more motivation to do better myself on that front.”
“Agreed.”
Because while I’m more than happy to be patient while Madison conquers the PR world with Bea, I also can’t wait for the day I get to be as happily terrified as East is over being a dad.
EPILOGUE
Madison
Penny burststhrough the door with our coffee orders in one hand and a stack of paperwork in the other. She’s the new assistant Bea and I hired when we had an avalanche of new clients come in within the first couple of weeks of our opening. Between our clients and our construction manager, we have more meetings than we have free time. Penny’s been keeping us fed and caffeinated, not to mention keeping us on task when we start to get distracted by the myriad of drama and scandals that come across our desks. Our reputations as fixers have attracted some incredibly important client accounts in just a short time, and Penny has been our lifesaver—already proving to be indispensable around here. She’s the oldest daughter of the Chaos’s long snapper too, so she’s already well connected and knowledgeable about the football world, which has made her an amazing asset.
“I got that contract signed while I was out. Wyatt was already downtown, so I texted to see if he could meet me at the coffee shop to sign it.”
“Look at you keeping the clients in line already.” Bea smiles at her.
“Gunning for that promotion when you all become so popular you need a third partner.” She grins as she sets our coffees down on our desks.
I grab one and take a long sip. Not much tastes better than vanilla caramel coffee with extra espresso in the afternoon after a long day. And it has definitely been one of those because my father—there needs to be a replacement word for a man who was your father but now might as well be a complete stranger—was finally getting some of his comeuppance.
The league has suspended him pending investigation, and his offensive coordinator, Coach Liam Montgomery, has taken over the team during his leave. The Blaze is doing better than ever, and from everything A.J. has said, that’s in large part due to my father’s absence. I can only imagine how much salt that’s pouring in the wound, and while I try very hard not to be a vengeful person, I’m absolutely a fan of seeing justice being meted out. Now, I just have to hold my breath and hope that they find him guilty and make his continued employment in the league untenable.
“Another article discussing predictions for the league’s findings,” Bea announces as she scrolls it on her phone. She’s been helping me filter the news at the insistence of my family and while I protested at first, I’ve been kind of happy to be able to take a step back from it. Especially since I put myself in therapy again after recommending it for so many of my players and finally, I feel like I’m coming to terms with a lot of the things that have been heaped on me by my parents over the years.
“And?”
“They think he’ll be found guilty. ‘Sources say CoachWestfield has a long list of offenses and witnesses that are likely to put a swift end to a once storied career.’” Bea looks up, half-concern and half-relief on her face for me.
“Good.” I take another sip of my coffee. It’s bittersweet that my brothers and I put this all in motion, that telling our story to the league and some of our closest friends on the Blaze meant that they finally felt confident enough to come forward with their own stories. I hate the fact that A.J. and Liam had held back so much to try to protect us. Just another thing my father took from us that I’m not sure I can ever completely undo.
My phone dings with a text and snaps me out of my melancholy when I see the name that flashes over the screen.
Hubs:
I’m at the grocery. I got you ice cream already and some of that new protein powder you wanted. Thoughts on dinner?
What kind of ice cream?
Cookie Dough.
