“Oh my gosh, Cane. Seriously, what are you getting at?” I pushed up on my knees as he turned for the bassinet, placing Chance inside it carefully. Chance was fully asleep now, his little mouth hanging wide open like he worked a nine-to-five job.

“Look, I called your mom around the time it’d happened and asked her if she could look into the board hearing, the coach, and those students. Mindy didn’t hesitate. She was still fired up about it, and she knew you weren’t going to act on it, so she took matters into her own hands.” He lowered his gaze, drawing in a slow breath. “Let’s just say your mother is a damn good lawyer.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…for her to only make one simple threat with big words, and for the board to actually take it seriously and to follow through, she’s damn good. She listened to that hearing, looked into the school’s code of conduct, and she talked to a few of your former teammates. Several of them said Sophie was not nice to you at all. She insisted that your former teammate and that boy were bullying you, and their first rule in their code of conduct is to treat everyone as their neighbor, and to not shun those whom are different. Basically, the school is supposed to have a zero tolerance policy on bullying, and your coach didn’t think to mention that when she gave her testimony. Your mom said she wanted the coach fired and the girl and the boy to have their scholarships revoked too, and if the school refused, she guaranteed she would make a spectacle out of it . Of course it was an empty threat, because she didn’t want to drag you through any more hell, but she sure as shit made it feel real.”

“Wow.” I was so shocked to hear that. “Wait…when did all of this even happen? You weren’t close with my parents anymore after I got kicked out.”

“It was back when your parents and I weren’t on very good terms. I called, and she picked up the phone. It was the day when you didn’t tell them where you were after the school kicked you out. I told her you were fine, and when I told her you didn’t deserve what they’d done to you, she agreed. She went on a rant about it, saying she wanted to do something. So we talked about it…and she took action. She clearly told me she wasn’t doing this for me, but that it was for you. She kept me updated, though, and I was glad to hear something had happened a few months later. So much was happening to us, and it never felt like the right time to tell you what we did. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it but never could remember when it was an appropriate time.”

My mind was boggled. I couldn’t believe this. “So Brody and Sophie lost their scholarships?”

“Brody’s got revoked, and Sophie was pulled from the team and expelled. She can’t even say she has a degree from Notre Dame. I don’t think anything is worse than that.”

“Oh my God, Cane.” My words came out winded. I climbed off the bed. “You did that?” I didn’t know whether to be really fucking happy and glad my man had my back, or upset because he may have possibly ruined their lives. I wasn’t a spiteful person. I believed Karma would do her job, so I left it alone. That was how I found peace in that situation.

“I couldn’t leave it alone. And technically, your mom was the one who got it all in motion. She looks out for you a lot more than you realize. She always has.”

I lowered my head, blinking my tears away.

“I normally keep a level head when it comes to things like that, but when it comes to you, I lose it. I never want to see you hurt, and if there is a way I can safely and legally give payback, trust me, I will.” He grabbed my hands and brought them up to his lips to kiss them. “That goes for you and my son.”

He pulled me in for a hug, and I closed my eyes, hugging him back. “I’m going to end up marrying a madman.”

He belted out a hearty laugh, and with my ear to his chest, I could hear the laughter and steady rhythm of his heartbeat. “A madman who loves you.”

“I guess I don’t talk about it because it’s in the past. I can’t change anything now, so it’s pointless to even get upset about it anymore. What they did was wrong…but it led me to you again.”

“Yeah, but at a cost. And if it hadn’t been for me going there, it never would have happened.”

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