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“Already pressed for it. Chancellor Stevens agreed personally. They’re gone.”

“Wow.”

“This is a win, Bastien. And, frankly, after that stupid-ass shitshow your husband put on, it’s a way more generous win than I thought you’d get.”

“What’s the catch, Patrick?”

“Non-disclosure. Standard form, broad as a barn door. You do not discuss the investigation, the committee, the conduct of any employee, or the terms of this agreement, in any medium, ever.”

“In any medium,” I repeat.

“I know.”

“Say the rest of it.”

“The radio show can continue. You just don’t talk about it publicly.” Patrick’s face doesn’t move. “And if a journalist asks you in nine years what happened here, you say it was resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, and then you say nothing else for the rest of your life.”

Delphine sets her glass down without a sound. I look at Levi. “It’s a lot of money.”

He squats by my chair and looks up at me.

“Bastien,” Levi says quietly. “It’s your call. Whatever you want, and I mean whatever, I’m in the truck with the engine running.”

“Delphine Mercier gets her tenure application revisited,” I say.

Delphine puts down her glass of wine so fast it sloshes onto the tablecloth. “Bastien!” she says, and for the first time since I’ve met her, she doesn’t sound arch and self-controlled.

“We can make that happen,” Patrick says.

I turn to Levi. “With this money, we can have a home for our children,” I say.

“We’ll have to pay off your student loans first,” Levi answers. He takes my hand. “You don’t have to say yes. I love you no matter what.”

I turn back to Patrick. “I want a public apology.”

Patrick grimaces. “That might be hard.”

“Public,” I say. “Because if I have to make the case to the academic community that I’ve been mistreated, I will repeat it in excellent detail over and over again. I want my reputation back. And Fairhaven University is going to do that for me. It is the least they can do.”

Patrick puffs his cheeks out as he exhales. “Okay. It’s a reasonable ask. They might counteroffer from this, but I don’t think so. And they’ll probably drag their heels on it. But I am on your side.”

“Tell them if they say yes, they can invite every news crew they can find into my classroom on Monday. It’s the happy ending they want.”

“Damn, that was good,” Levi says.

Patrick disconnects to make my offer. Delphine is still staring into space. She looks up at me.

“Thank you. No, you stay,” she says to Levi. “I will say this in English. You are part of it. I did not expect for either of you to remember me. What you have done was genuinely kind. Merci.”

“Well, I don’t know about that. I sold my integrity for a very healthy amount of money.”

“No,” Levi says. “You decided that they needed to restore what they wrecked. That money could fund research for a decade if nobody else touches it. I’m proud of you.”

“Say that when we’re spending Christmas in the Needles,” I grumble.

Chapter fifty-four

Levi