Page 56 of Penn

I nod. “She’d heard enough to know that I wasn’t involved in it. She was torn just like me and she had her parents telling her to stay quiet. That’s when she approached me and I found out she’d heard all of it.”

“I wanted to corroborate his story,” Mila explains.

I reach back, take her hand in mine and pull it into my lap as I settle against the couch beside her. “I didn’t want her to go to the police.”

“We fought about it,” Mila says. “But I did it anyway.”

Once again, I turn to look at her, those blue eyes staring back at me with full trust. “And I was pissed at her for it. I knew her life would be ruined.” We hold each other’s gaze for a long moment, although I keep talking to Jillian. “But she went,” I say, quieter. “And because she did… because she backed me up… the police had enough to charge Peter and Jace. They took plea deals. Went to prison. Ryan and Colton were kicked off the team. Their careers were over.”

“And now you potentially have four people who are pissed at both of you and might want some revenge,” Jillian murmurs thoughtfully.

“Four potential cowards,” I growl menacingly, and Jillian blinks out of her thoughts. “Four weak-minded men who want to terrorize a woman by sending her vile messages… promising pain. Promising death. And they think they’re safe hiding behind anonymous accounts and burner phones.”

“Do you believe it’s one of those four men?” she asks.

“I do.”

“Which one?”

“Maybe all of them.” I look her dead in the eye. “Let them come for me. Peter Brennan. Jace Holloway. Ryan DeLuca. Colton Briggs. I’m calling you out and I want to know if any of you are man enough to face me.”

Jillian’s fingers freeze above her keys.

“I should have said this a decade ago,” I continue. “Should have looked you each in the eye and told you what I thought of you. You picked on a scared, innocent kid and left him to die. You were supposed to be his teammates—his brothers. But you weren’t. You were cowards.”

My words are sharp, clipped. “Then you turned on me for doing the right thing. Turned on Mila. You made her an enemy for exposing the truth. You threatened her. You’ve been making her life hell. And I’ve had enough.”

Jillian’s mouth is slightly open now, her expression unreadable.

“You want to punish someone?” I say, rising to my feet. “You come after me. I’m the one who went to the cops first. I’m the one who testified. I’m the one who’s putting my name on this story. But if you lay one fucking finger on Mila…”

I pause, taking in a gulp of air to calm myself.

“I will come for you. And I promise—I will make you wish you’d stayed buried in the past where you belong.”

Silence follows as Jillian stares at me agog. “You want that printed word for word?”

“Word for word,” I say tightly. “Feel free to embellish with sensory details. You hear my conviction, I’m sure.”

Jillian snaps out of it, her fingers flying. “Oh, I hear it all right. Gave me a cold chill down my spine.” She smiles almost gleefully and continues typing. “Pretty sure that’s going to do the job and piss them off.”

“I hope so,” I say, reaching to pull Mila to her feet. “That’s the whole point. To draw them out. And end this. How soon can this go to print?”

Jillian glances at her watch and then lifts her gaze to us. “If you two get out of here and let me work, I can get it off to my editor by day’s end. He’s waiting for it, and we can print it tomorrow.”

Relief flushes through me, because even though I just threw down the proverbial glove to four vile pieces of human trash, I feel euphoric that this will end soon. Between Jameson digging into these guys and me poking them, someone has to fuck up.

CHAPTER 19

Mila

The article islive and now we wait to see if this will poke the bear.

Penn and I sit in his kitchen, huddled side by side. His coffee sits untouched. My tea has long gone cold. Both of us stare at our phones, scrolling through the story Jillian wrote and published just an hour ago.

I already knew every word that she printed, yet I can’t stop reading it again and again. The headline is bold and direct:“Penn Navarro Breaks His Silence: The Hazing, the Cover-Up, and the Fight to End It.”

Each word packs a punch—raw, honest and explosive. Jillian didn’t change a word of what Penn said. He went into that interview with conviction, and what came out rectified years of silence. She described his demeanor in vivid detail—the edge in his voice, the steel in his eyes. She quoted every single line he wanted published, including the one that dared the men who terrorized Nathan—and now us—to come after him.

---