Page 62 of Broken Promises

“It does?” I ask.

“My dad was always strict and definitely disappointed in me for my choice of career, but he was never cold in the way my mom is.” He picks at the hem of his shirt. “I’ve been thinking about my childhood a lot since we went to visit him. Every comment he made about Ezra was after my mom said something.”

“What about the weird, arranged marriage thing she seems so focused on?” Jo asks.

“Political marriages are more common than you’d think.”

“Gross,” Cal mutters.

“She’s power hungry. I always thought it was because my dad hit her, and she was compensating by becoming the woman standing by a powerful man,” Mav says. “But what if he wasn’t lying? What if he never hit her?”

“Then who did?” I ask. Mav shrugs as Harlow takes her seat.

“So,” she says. “Plea deal?”

“I said that to see her reaction.”

“She seemed surprised, but I think we all were,” I say.

Mav smirks at me. “That’s because you don’t know her. She was surprised at first, but she turned angry really fast,” he says. “And not at me.”

“Because she thinks he’s about to roll on her,” Harlow says.

Maverick shrugs. “Or at least embarrass her more.”

Everyone is quiet, letting the chaos of the evening sink in. It’s a lot and nothing at the same time. Harrison is going to do a lot of digging to figure it all out. But the biggest question that no one wanted to voice hangs heavy around us all.

Are we safe?

THIRTY

declan

We foughtlike hell against Detroit and still lost. It’s a shitty start to this road trip. It was made even shittier when Willa told me everything that went down at Maverick’s house. I’ve been tossing and turning for over an hour. What if something happened, and I wasn’t home?

The lights in the hotel room turn on, making me groan and bury my face in my pillow. “Why?” I complain.

“What’s going on? I can’t sleep while you’re over there cosplaying a rotisserie chicken.”

I laugh and throw my pillow at Ben. “I’m just really worried about things that went down at home,” I explain. I really like Ben. He’s become a good friend. I don’t know him well enough to let him in on everything, though.

“Is Willa okay?” he asks, genuine concern in his tone.

“She’s good, man.” I smile, so he knows I mean it. “She just had a rough night, and I’m not there.”

Ben nods. “I get it. She’s strong, though. She can handle it.”

“Did you guys meet at the last game?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. “She’s a female drummer in an industry dominated by men and married to your dumbass.” I laugh at his accurate and insulting assessment. “I also overheard her lettingthe ref know exactly what she thought of his calls at the last game.”

I belly laugh at that. “You’re right. I wouldn’t cross her.”

“Can we sleep now?”

“Yeah. Sorry for keeping you up.” He turns the light out instead of answering me. “Can I have my pillow back?” My face catches it with an oof a moment later.

“Gideon!” I yell, jogging after my team captain. He stops and waits for me. I had another concern last night that I didn’t think Ben could help me with.

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