Page 125 of The Retaliation You Deliver
Pausing my clapping, I press my fingers to my lips and blow him a kiss, wishing him good luck.
“Girl, you have him so whipped, it’s almost painful to watch,” Ella says from behind me, clearly watching the two of us.
“Yeah,” I breathe, although she’s got no chance of hearing it.
Peyton and Letty stand on either side of me, both clapping and screaming for their guys. Beside Peyton is Kayden who’s literally bouncing in his seat with excitement as he watches his two most favorite people in the world on the field before us. Next to him is Libby.
Feeling my stare, she glances over and smiles.
After spending sixty days in the rehab facility, she’s managed to restart her life and was able to begin being a mother to her little boy.
She’s made it look so easy, but I’m not naïve enough to believe that’s the reality. I can only imagine how hard it’s been for her. But thanks to Leon, Luca and Maddie, she’s now got a purpose.
Understandably, Libby refused to accept any of the money Brett Dunn left behind after his fateful night with the hooker. But after a lot of discussion and back and forth, she finally agreed to accept a job as a manager of The Locker Room.
At first, I thought it was crazy allowing an ex-addict to run a bar. But I’m happy to say that I was wrong because it seems that Libby had really found her feet.
The bar is no longer a seedy sports bar but a sophisticated—as sophisticated as it can get— gentleman’s club. Libby takes pride in the fact that she’s helping women who are at their lowest and supporting them in turning their lives around. She works with counsellors and therapists she met while she was in the facility and is really making a difference.
She’s working with Maddie to make the same change in a couple of the other locations that Brett had spread over the country.
By some small miracle, both Brett and Richard’s deaths and the weeks that followed went very smoothly, seeing as both were suspicious as hell. It seemed that everyone else believed that Brett Dunn had finally caved to the pressures of celebrity life and dived head first into smack and pussy. And as for Richard, once Leon and I embarked on our mission to destroy his memory and football legacy with the truth, everyone was more than glad the man was no longer able to taunt the young lives he was once entrusted with.
Leon was terrified to release his story, but after only hours of us putting it out into the media, more stories started coming, until almost every day another young man would come forward to tell his story.
It was shocking, but incredible that these men are able to finally put their terrifying past behind them knowing that they’re not alone in what they suffered.
Now, my dream of being able to help kids who sadly will still be forced to suffer something similar is closer than ever.
I’ve got the money, and we’re busy getting all our plans together for when I graduate.
Thoughts of the future are equally as exciting as they are terrifying.
This year is Leon’s last at MKU, he’ll enter the draft in the spring and head off to better things. I know that won’t be the end of us, we’re barely at the beginning, but I can’t imagine being here without him. A huge part of me wonders if I won’t, if the second he signs for a team, if I’ll decide to follow him and transfer wherever he goes.
I came here to be closer to Mom, to live her legacy, but what I’ve found is so much better than trying to recreate the past, I’ve found a future that I never could have imagined.
Leon is everything I said I never wanted but everything I never knew I needed, and I never even want to consider my life without him.
I meant every word of what I said to him that day in the Miami beach house. I love every side of him. Sometimes I even miss the dark side which seems to come out less and less these days. Having that inside version of Leon is thrilling in ways I never knew existed, and sometimes it’s exactly what I need.
“Right,” a deep voice booms from behind us, dragging me from my thoughts. “Let’s get this party started.
Turning around, I find Devin with his arms out wide and an even bigger smirk on his face.
Behind him are his brothers, and right at the back are Reid, Alana, JD and Mav.
“Oh God, here we go,” Letty mutters loud enough to ensure he hears.
“Pipe down, Mrs. Legend. I know you really love me. Don’t try to deny it.”
Letty rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Her and Kane aren’t married and don’t plan to be for quite a while but even still Devin insists on calling her by his last name, mostly just to piss her off. Letty has told me before that things between her and Devin haven’t always been smooth sailing and while she might be more than happy to put it all behind them, he makes it his mission to ensure she remembers the beef they had.
“Guys,” she says, ignoring him. “This is Libby, Peyton’s sister.
“Oh, hey,” Ezra mutters, barely sparing her a glance in favor of a girl in the row in front of him.
Ellis is slightly more polite before Devin finally drags his attention back to us from a couple of the jersey chasers who are loitering around.
