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"Pfff, it's not exactly a secret and Riley and Ozzy aren't here, so who's going to tell?" This Riley and Ozzy thing gets more and more interesting every day. I know that Ozzy hasn't been going out with the rookies and single guys on the road all year, but neither Riley nor Ozzy has made any sort of commitment. They mostly just argue and disappear to have sex somewhere.
"Anyway, that's not why I dropped by."
I glance over at Lily and notice she's wringing her hands like she's nervous about something.
"Do you two mind if we go somewhere to talk privately? Mickey said we can borrow his office," Payton asks, and I raise my eyebrows. I slide out of the booth with Lily and follow Payton down a hallway into a modestly-sized office with one tiny window, a large desk littered with ledgers, bills and supply orders, and a couple of chairs.
"I watched your interview with Scarlett St. James-Kaur," Payton starts. "It was really well done."
"Thanks."
"How's everything else been going?"
"Good." I give one-word answers knowing we didn't come to the back of a bar to discuss my interview.
"Well, this one," she motions at Lily with her thumb, "has been busy over the last several weeks. If she decides to give up cooking, she should consider putting her detective skills to good use." My eyes shoot over to Lily, who still has that guilty look on her face.
"I was just so angry, Chase. You can't be mad at me,” she bursts out. "You were busy with your own stuff, and I couldn't just sit there and do nothing, so I started doing some digging."
Payton laughs. "You did more than just dig. You created an entire case file on Anna Munro, complete with witness statements, contact information, pictures and texts, then handed it over to me."
My eyes bug out of my head as I look at Lily.
"She's a predator. Someone needed to do something. God, I hated seeing her smug face when she showed up at your game and then again at the Halloween party. That woman needed her comeuppance. It was karma. I just delivered it."
"You delivered what exactly?" I ask slowly.
"Like I said, Lily did a little detective work. She started contacting other players that Anna billeted over the years, which apparently led her to several other former male athletes willing to come forward with their stories." I listen to Payton explain how Lily has spent all her free time talking to strangers and gathering emails with old texts and photos from men who had interactions with Anna Munro when they were teenagers.
Thinking back, I remember seeing Lily working furiously on her computer a few times when I was over at her place, but I assumed she was just working on meal plans and other team-related stuff. I had no idea she was going all Don't-Fuck-With-Cats on Anna.
"Anyway, to make a long story short, I passed on all Lily's work to the London Police, and they arrested her today. Unsurprisingly, several other victims came forward with their own stories after your interview aired. You'll likely be called by the case officers and probably as a witness later. Anna Munro has a laundry list of pending charges against her that will undoubtedly become convictions and land her name on a sex offender registry."
The room is silent for a moment while I absorb this news. I mean, I knew that doing the interview and naming names might stir the pot a little, but I never thought Anna would actually be punished for what she did to me. I never thought that people wouldbelieveme.
"Anyway, I'll let you two talk for a minute while I go fill up on gin and tonic." Payton leaves us alone in Mickey's office, and when I turn to Lily, I'm shocked to see fear on her face.
"I'm sorry. I just couldn't let her get away with it. I just couldn't, Chase. She's a monster. She's—"
I silence her with a kiss. Never, in my entire life, have I had someone fight for me. Fight with me. Have my back one hundred percent and believe in me like she does. This woman is a force to be reckoned with, and I wouldn't want her any other way.
"You're not mad at me?" Lily asks when I release her from the kiss.
"Are you kidding me? You're amazing. I love you, Lily. You swooped in like an avenging fucking goddess and kicked ass. That's sexy as hell."
"Oh, okay. Good, because I couldn't help myself and if anyone ever thinks they're going to hurt you again, they'll have to go through me first."
I can't help but laugh. "My own personal bodyguard."
"Yeah, well, karma's a bitch, and sometimes I need to be one."
"Hmm," I say, smiling into Lily's lips and then add in a singsongy voice, "Karma is my girlfriend."
"It's so hot when you talk Swiftie to me."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
