Page 91 of Chips & Checks
Sergio’s voice drops, low and deadly. “That remark alone would’ve been enough to justify your release, even without the footage. But you didn’t just break your contract. You violated a woman’s safety and dignity in her place of work.”
Chad opens his mouth again, and my agent leans forward with a quiet but cutting warning: “Don’t. I’ll speak for your agent, since he’s not here. Every word you say now is on record. And if you want even a whisper of a chance at another team, I’d shut up and walk.”
No one else speaks.
There’s no defense.
No sympathy.
“You think the public’s on your side?” Renee chimes in lightly. “I released a statement twenty minutes ago. The video—without audio—is already trending. The full report goes out this afternoon. The only question is whether Violet wants to press charges.”
Renee fires off a quick text. Within a minute, security knocks once, then enters silently. Two men, calm and quiet. They give Chad the chance to walk out with dignity.
He doesn’t take it.
As they guide him from the room, he snaps one last time, jerking away to point directly at me. “You think this makes you a hero? You think she’s gonna pick you after this? You’ll both be poison in the league after this mess!”
I stand slowly.
Not to hit him. Not now. Just to make it clear that if he ever says her name again, I won’t stop.
He shuts up.
The door closes behind him.
The silence afterward is thick and feral.
Sergio exhales. “We’ll get ahead of it. Bowen, we’ll need a statement from you. Keep it simple. You protected a coworker. We’ll handle the rest.”
“I don’t care about the optics,” I say quietly. “I care about Violet.”
“I know,” he replies. “And I believe you.”
Renee gathers her things with a quiet click of her stylus. “I’ll send you options for the statement tonight. Short. Clear. Centered on safety and accountability.”
I nod.
I should feel relief. Maybe I do. But mostly I feel rage. And underneath that? The bone-deep knowledge that Violet was cornered—violated—on my watch.
It’ll be a long time before I stop hearing her sob.
It’ll be even longer before I forgive myself for not getting there faster.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Violet
I hide out in the PT room, trying not to cry. What will I do if Bowen gets sent away? I appreciate the team’s support, but we all know what Dante’s like. He’d rather double down on his bad ideas than admit he was wrong.
I’m sitting on the stool Bowen got for me and trying not to spin out, emotionally speaking, when the door opens and Dad pops in. “Hey, kid,” he says. “Want a hug?”
“Yes, please,” I squeak.
He scoops me up in an embrace that may not be a huggle, exactly, but still feels pretty great. I sniff into his shirt. “I don’t know how I can stay here if Bowen is traded. And that’s if anyone will take him. What if his whole career is ruined because of me?”
Dad rubs my back, the way he did when I scraped my knee when I was little, the way he did when we had to say goodbye to Cash Money, the way he did when my bio-dad bailed on my high school graduation. “You’ve got to believe. He has a lot of support. And he has the truth on his side.”
“But my dad—” I say.
