Sadie comes around the counter and looks at our plates. “Why you would willingly eat a salad instead of chips is beyond me.” She hands me my ringing phone.
I glance at the display and it says Unknown Number. I’ve been avoiding them because most of them are going to be people I don’t want to talk to. Sadie enjoys those calls. My woman loses her mind every time a press call comes through. I’ve taken to handing her those calls. She uses her vast vocabulary to make every last one of them feel like total slime. Because that’s what they are. Slime-coated vultures wanting a piece of our story. I’ve already made my formal statements. Did all the interviews I’m going to do. Now it’s time to live my life.
Against my better judgement, I click accept and put the damn thing to my ear.
“Yeah?” I answer because this isn’t a ‘hello, how are you’ type situation.
“Um, Mr. Sparks, I assume?”
“Yeah, you got him. What do you want?”
“This is Lieutenant Browne from the Oakland Police Department. I wanted to follow up with you.”
“Already gave my statement, man. Got nothing more to say.”
“Actually I just wanted to let you know that we’ve charged Donald Bates and Mindy Goode.”
“No shit?”
Sadie frowns while holding a chip in front of her and mouths, “What?”
I shake my head and hold a finger up to her.
“Ms. Goode confessed. Mr. Bates has taken a plea deal to avoid a maximum sentence.”
“What does that mean for me?”
“Well, first and foremost, I wanted to tell you they can’t hurt you and they will serve time, although it likely won’t be much. Since Mindy gave us everything and came clean first, she will get three months in jail and have to do a year of community service.”
I grin. “Nice. And Coach Bates?”
“Up to a year in jail with the possibility of release in six months for good behavior. He will have three years of community service and can’t ever hold a position in a sports-related field again. Not that he’d be able to get one.”
“Did, uh, did he happen to mention why he did what he did? I’m still unclear as to why I was targeted.”
“Oh yeah. He said you were up for renewal of a fourteen-million-dollar contract.”
“So?”
“Well, turns out the investors told him that if he could cut several million, he’d get a million in bonus. Apparently, that wife of his is bleeding him dry. With you out of the picture, the next running back was worth far less. Multi-millions less without a solid record and history under his belt. However, Bates also didn’t want you being picked up by a competing team.”
“You’re kidding? He wanted to ruin me and my reputation so he’d score a million-dollar payout? He tried to destroy my entire life for cash?”
A hammer slamming against my chest would have hurt less. I rub at the sore spot I feel at my heart. A man I cared about, thought cared about me, willingly fucked me over for money. Before I know it, my woman’s arms wrap around me from behind, her forehead to my back, soaking me with her love and comfort.
“That’s whack,” I mumble, trying not to let my extreme anger out.
“It is. And between me and you, and on behalf of the entire Oakland PD who are all huge fans of the Marauders and yours, as well as being a member of a brotherhood, he deserves more than he got.”
I smile. “Yeah, well, he lost his reputation, his career, and his freedom. The exact things he tried to steal from me. So, I guess when it’s all said and done, I won.”
Sadie’s arms tighten around my body.
I finish the call and drop the phone to the counter. I spin around and look into Sadie’s beautiful face.
“If all of this hadn’t happened, I would never have met you.”
“Now that’s a silver lining.” She smiles prettily. A smile I want to look at for the rest of my life.
“Yeah, it is. Because in all of this, I not only won against him, I won the girl too.”
She grins, her arms wrapped around me, her chin resting on my chest. “Can we eat now?”
I dip my head and take her mouth in a soft kiss.
“Yeah, baby, we can eat.”
She attempts to let me go but I grip her tighter. Her brow furrows. “What is it?”
I chuckle and just look at her. “Who could have imagined through all of this, the scandal, your writer’s block, me hiding out in Jake’s place, that I’d find the woman of my dreams and fall in love under quarantine.”
“Love Under Quarantine?”