Page 104 of Ex's & Oh's (The Lucky Girls 1)

Marc sighs, hesitating before he finally answers me.

“Everything. I’m so far in debt I can’t see the sun through this shit storm and I thought…” his voice cracks a little. This is a man who’s barely holding on. “I can’t do that to her. I thought one or two games would get me enough to cover the worst, and then I was going to get out.” He runs his hands through his hair.

“You can’t just get out of something like that,” I say. “Once you’re in…and even if you do get out and you get caught, you’re fucked for life.”

“It’s a risk I was willing to take.” He looks exasperated. “I thought as long as I kept it quiet and just made sure it worked out right, I would be in the clear. No one needs to know, and I would keep Stacey happy. But…she won’t talk to me.”

“Did you tell her what’s going on?”

“How could I? Besides, she was so angry, so hurt…I didn’t have a chance before she stormed away, telling me she never wanted to see me again. We were married exactly three hours before shit hit the fan and I lost her. Damn it, it’s got to be a world record.”

He looks broken. He looks like a man who was chewed up and spit out again, and he doesn’t know which way is up anymore.

“You know she loves you, right?”

“I doubt she loves me now. After all these years together, this is how we end.”

“Love doesn’t just go away. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.”

He glances at me. “She might love me, Brett, but she fucking hates me.” He sighs. “I don’t deserve her.”

“What I’m trying to say is that she isn’t after you for money. She’s got more than enough of her own. If you just tell her—”

“And be the failure of the family the moment I marry into it?” He throws his water bottle to the side, his face twisted in disgust. “Damn it, Brett, she’s a Jackson. Her family will never accept it. I can’t do that to her.”

I nod. I understand what he’s saying. Stacey will be accepting of it, I’m sure. She’s that kind of person—nothing like her parents, who are all about fame and image and all that bullshit. But Marc doesn’t want to go into a marriage starting with debt. And he doesn’t want to let her down. If I were in the same place, I would feel the same. I don’t know how I’d act—I’m not sure I would walk that road. But it is what it is, the damage is done, and now we need to deal with it.

“How much debt?” I ask.

Marc glances sideways at me. “Do you want to kick a man when he’s down?”

“I want to help you,” I say.

Marc frowns. “I’m not taking your money.”

“You’re not fixing the game.”

“Brett—”

“I’m not going to let you fuck up your career along with everything else in your life. If you want to push away your wife, that’s your business, but you’re a fucking good player and you deserve a hell of a lot better than this. So, either you take the money, or you take the money. End of.”

Marc is getting angry. “You’re not giving me any options.”

“That’s right.”

He glares at me, and I stare him down.

“I know you’re proud,” I say. “I know your ego is getting in the way. But damn it, how much more embarrassing will this be if it ends up all over the news that you’ve been fixing games? When you lose your career? And if that happens, Stacey and her family will be in the news too, and you know that will rip her apart a lot more than this already did.”

Marc knows I’m right. I can see him wavering.

“Look, man,” I say. “Everyone makes mistakes. Fuck, I’m the poster child for fucking up. But if there’s one thing I learned the past two weeks, it’s that you don’t give up. If it’s real—and what you and Stacey have is as real as it gets—then you keep fighting. You don’t stop, you don’t quit, and you sure as shit don’t lose the woman you love.”

Marc eyeballs me. “You’ve never said shit like that.”

I shrug. “I never realized how big a deal it is to find my person. But I found her, and if I were in your shoes, I would take the money. Because losing that woman that makes your world go around…I don’t see how there’s anything worse.”

Marc thinks about it and finally, he slowly nods.

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