Page 128 of Renegade Ruin

Fuck.

“Do you know what it said?”

Indie grimaces. “It was the evidence.”

“So, it’s true?” I ask, even though I already know.

Leigh sighs and gives a half-hearted shrug, but her eyes hold something back. “It’s not good. They have messages between her father and the umpires he bribed, in addition to bank statements for offshore accounts and wire transfers.”

“And what do you think?” I press.

A pensive look crosses her face. “If you ask me, it seems too clean. Mr. York was a lawyer for years. He knew the ins and outs of the law. If he wanted to do this, there’s no one better to get away with it. But the evidence is there, and I can’t argue with that.”

“Fuck.” I exhale. This news would be a tsunami to Willow’s heart. She believes in this team more than anyone I know, including the guys that make up the field. This on top of having the press tear apart her plans and making her the villain will have decimated her confidence.

“Will the guys stand with her?” Leigh asks softly, and I can read between the lines. She’s asking if she’ll be fighting this war on two fronts.

“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “I think most of them will, but until they hear the whole story, I can’t say for sure.”

Willow didn’t have a single hand in this aside from her plans. I want to believe that if we tackle the cheating head on and let them hear the vision she has in her own words, the team will see she has their best interest at heart.

“We’re here to help in whatever way we can,” Indie reassures.

“Thanks.”

“Now go get your girl.”

I plan to.

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

WILLOW

The silence of my room overwhelmed me, and I retreated to the balcony. Leaning over the railing, I stare out at the infinite darkness of the sea. The sound of the waves the calming constant I need right now.

A soft knock filters out from the bedroom, but it’s not enough to make me turn from my view. It’s probably Indie or Leigh wanting to check on me. They’re worried and only want to help, but all I want is to let my tears fall without being the rock for everyone else.

Because if I was out there, or at the stadium, or at the hotel with the team, that’s what I would do. It’s what I’ve done every single day since the crash—no—since before then. It’s all I’ve ever done—try to keep it together because other people need me to. My dad, after my mother died. The kids at Renegade Hearts. Leigh. Indie. The team.

Bishop.

I’m so fucking tired, and for the first time in a long time, I can’t just pretend it’s going to be okay.

It’s not.

The evidence is damning.

No.

Not just damning. It’s a sledgehammer to everything my dad built—everything I’ve worked to build in the last six months.

There’s nothing that unites people more than a scandal. And this is one that will no doubt be etched in Major League history.

Thiswill be my father’s legacy.

My thoughts race as my panic ebbs and flows like the waves, and I’m not sure how it’s possible I still have any tears, but alas, they continue to fall.

“Willow?” His voice is soft yet commanding, and I can’t stop the heat that fills my cheek or the way my thighs clench.

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