Page 176 of Forever Relentless

“Not an option. It all stops now. Or it just gets uglier.”

I looked up at him. In that case . . . I didn’t have a choice.

Chapter 33

Noah

Sutherland held my stare, and I didn’t back down.

“Talk me through it,” I said, leaning back. “Tell me what happens to them.”

He didn’t blink. “I told you.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, you said a lot, let’s break it down.” I needed to think, and I needed space to do it, but I wasn’t leaving the room until I had him nailed down.

“Who are you worried about?” he scoffed. “Your QB? The girl? Or yourself?”

I wanted to say all of the above, but that would show him I was panicking. I couldn’t afford to lose control of this.

“She resigns, you never breathe a word of who she is, or what she may have provided to get the job.” His expression remained calm. “I mean it, she resigns, nothing blows back on her. I want it in writing.”

“In writing?” he scoffed.

I leaned forward and tapped the picture of me. “You like insurance, so do I.” I gave him a tight smile, without warmth. “I take my insurance in the form of words written on paper with a date and a nice signature.”

“No.”

“Fine.” I made to stand. “We’re done here. I’ll take my chances with social media and the NCAA.”

His jaw flexed. “You want a handwritten agreement for insurance for the girl?”

“For all of it.”

If looks could kill, I’d be incinerated. “What else?” he ground out.

“Mason Sterling.” He gave me a ‘what-the-fuck’ look, and I raised my eyebrows in reply. “There was a smear campaign, don’t give me bullshit there wasn’t. There is evidence to suggest that the athletic department blamed him for what happened to Tiffany. I want it rectified.”

He looked perplexed. “It was four years ago, no one remembers the kid. If he was ‘accused,’” he used air quotes, and I wanted to punch him on principle, “then he wasn’t accused by this department.”

“Bullshit. You sent him home with her.” He went to speak, and I spoke over him. “I didn’t know you had two daughters, but I do know you have a son, and the night before Tiffany’s attack, he and Mason got into it, and Mason broke his nose, am I right?”

Sutherland’s eyes narrowed as he considered me. “You seem to know a lot and also nothing at all.”

“I know that he punched your son, I know the next night a girl gets assaulted, and I know she went to someone she trusted. She was so distraught she couldn’t think straight. She wanted to go home, Mason took her. While he’s gone there’s buzz that he did it. He’s removed from playbooks. He’s removed from this team, any mention of him is erased. Why?”

Coach Sutherland didn’t speak for a long moment. “That is some fucked-up conspiracy theory right there. Who the fuck came up with that? That’s the stuff of make-believe.” He leaned forward. “Sterling was a good player with a temper, a bit like yourself. Volatile at times. My son’s like his old man, also a hothead at times. He and Sterling got into it, and yes, I was pissed. So when they said Mason took her home, I was pleased I didn’t have to see him for a few days.”

He didn’t flinch, holding my eye the whole time.

“He got into an accident, which was a tragedy. He was good, he’d have gone far. But the rumors that he was involved with her alleged attack? They didn’t come from here. Or you’ve not been listening to a goddamn word I’ve said.”

“I have. I listened very carefully, and something doesn’t add up.”

“What?”

I didn’t know, and that was the problem.

“Why was his name removed? Why does it look like he was purposefully made to disappear?”