EPILOGUE Everleigh Bradley
The Legacy
I glance around the conference room, and my chest feels a little tight as I think back to the first time I sat in this very room with the very same man sitting across the table.
It wasn’t all that long ago, really. A little over three months.
I remember thinking how freaking gorgeous he was, and that sure hasn’t changed. If anything, he’s getting hotter with time, if that’s even possible. From the ink on his skin to the smirk on his lips, I’m head over freaking heels for him.
I remember thinking he was going to be impossible to work with. Some days that’s still true.
But I never could’ve imagined that this is where we’d end up.
I never imagined a female German Shepherd named Bruno would be lying in the corner of the room on her brand-new doggie bed.
She’s our Bruno now. One of the first things we did after we made up was adopt her.
I’ll no longer be traveling with the team, and my place is awfully quiet when it’s just me there all alone. So I’m not anymore.
I never would have thought that we’d be giving birth to a whole new legacy, one where I help organize his schedule from this conference room while he mentors players in an office that belongs to us now—one that we share, one that he let me put up a Christmas tree in since the holiday is just a few weeks away.
When Mr. Langford asked me if I’d take a job in Vegas, I really never could have imagined it would end with me finding the love of my life—a freaking football player, naturally. The exact type I spent my entire life fighting against.
But here we are.
And honestly? I couldn’t be happier. I guess sometimes when we just let life happen rather than fighting against it, we end up exactly where we’re supposed to be…even when it’s not where we thought we’d be.
I thought my future would plant me in Chicago with a lawyer.
Instead, I’m in Vegas with the football superstar who just walked into the conference room where I’m working. He walks to me first and presses a soft kiss to my lips, and then he walks over to Bruno to scratch her under her chin.
“The DA called while I was at practice,” he says softly.
My breath catches in my throat. “Oh. And?”
“I couldn’t pick up, but I need to call back tonight. What do you want me to do?” he asks.
“I want you to name my father. It might help protect my brother.”
“Archer?” he asks, and I nod. I filled him in on what I know, which isn’t much. But I have a feeling with an investigation underway, we’ll find out more sooner than later. “Should I call now?”
“Sure.”
He draws in a breath and dials the number. “You sure?” he asks me before anyone picks up, and I nod.
“Protect yourself,” I say softly. I reach over and take his hand in mine. “Protect us.”
He nods, and I hear the district attorney’s assistant pick up the call.
Maverick is transferred, and the DA starts with a few basic questions about what was happening the night of the raid.
And then he asks the question we’ve been waiting for.
“Do you have any information regarding who was operating the casinos?”
Maverick clears his throat, and his eyes are on me when he says, “I believe it’s Thomas Bradley.”
I let out a breath of what feels like relief. I’m angry with my father for putting Maverick and my brother in this position, and I want him to pay for what he’s done. It might be hard on my family, but he shouldn’t have been committing crimes if that was what he was truly worried about.
“Do you have proof?” the DA asks.
Maverick looks a little helpless. “No. I don’t. I interacted with him several times at the lounge, and I saw him in the backroom. All I have is my word.”
“Thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch if we have additional questions, and you’ll likely be subpoenaed if this case goes to court.”
“That’s it?” Maverick asks, surprised.
“That’s it.” The DA cuts the call, and he stares at his phone in disbelief for a few beats.
He glances up at me. “That’s it, I guess. For now.”
“Good. I hope it is.” That might be it for him, but that likely won’t be it for my father and also possibly my brother.
He clears his throat, and then he goes for a total change of subject. “How many teammates am I seeing tonight?”
“We have three on the agenda,” I say.
Coach Nash talked up this peer mentorship program, and players were absolutely scrambling at the chance for one-on-one time with their very own quarterback.
This isn’t just an opportunity for Maverick to empathize with other players.
It’s a chance for real, actual team bonding.
He’s giving some of himself to the men he plays with, and they’re giving part of themselves back to him.
It’s an even exchange, and I’ve seen more than one of these big, macho football player dudes walk out of his office fraught with emotion.
It's an absolutely beautiful thing to witness.
“Who’s up first?” he asks as he slides into the chair across from me when he’s done with practice before his peer meetings begin for the evening.
I scrunch up my nose. “Dex Bradley.”
He raises his brows in surprise, and good God, what I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall in that room.
Maverick’s pretty damn good at keeping secrets, though, and I think he’s gaining strength in allowing himself to be a sounding board for some of his teammates. He doesn’t tell me a word about what goes on in that office, and it’s not my business, anyway.
Even if it’s my brother.
This is sacred to Maverick.
“Who else?” he asks, otherwise unfazed by who his first peer is.
“Evan Wilkinson and Austin Graham.”
He presses his lips together and nods. “You look hot today,” he says quietly.
I laugh. “So do you.”
“I bet that red dress would look nice on the floor of my bedroom.” He quirks an eyebrow.
“Even better with your pants on top of it,” I shoot back.
“And your panties—”
“Jesus, you two,” Dex whines, interrupting us as he walks into the room. “Can you save it for after hours?”
My cheeks turn pink, but Maverick is as cool as always.
“You ready?” Maverick asks my brother, and Dex glances at me.
He opens his mouth like he wants to say something, but then he closes it, turns back to Maverick, and says, “Ready.”
They head toward his office, and I bury myself back in my work.
Maverick has definitely turned himself around—especially in the most recent few weeks—but that doesn’t mean my work is done.
It’s just transitioned a bit. Now instead of hopping onto the defensive, I’m working on building his lasting legacy.
He doesn’t want to share the details of his story publicly, but he might be open to it in the future.
He’s enjoying the one-on-one time with his teammates, but he’s open to doing public speaking engagements with local high school teams interested in launching his program that’s part of his new foundation as Jack suggested.
His goal is to create a program in high schools that will build leadership and help student athletes work through trauma.
In his own experience, he had the coaches to help build his talent but nobody to guide him through the pressures and expectations that were put on high school kids who were good enough to go pro.
He wants to give seniors tools that they can pass down to freshmen, tools they can use for the rest of their high school careers and into whatever path they take in their future.
It's a beautiful sentiment, one I fully support and stand behind. And it has sort of become my job to brand that program. We’re calling it MAV, short for Mentorship, Accountability, Victory—also short for Maverick—and we’re launching it locally first. I’ve gotten Desert Lights High School on board, and we’ll be launching the program over the summer when football student athletes participate in their annual summer camp.
I’m deep in the planning process, and I’ve already booked several podcasts for Maverick where he can talk about this program as he begins to build the legacy that was always waiting there inside him for someone to unlock.
As it turns out, it was Jack Dalton and I who each held one end of the key.
We both knew there was potential in Maverick despite the fact that I was forced into working with him.
Jack saw it first, and he knew how much the Aces needed a guy like him.
Not the brooding, grumpy asshole, but the guy underneath that facade—the one who’s been through some things and can use his own experiences to positively help those around him who are also suffering in silence.
They don’t have to be silent anymore knowing they have someone like Maverick on their side.
And as my brother emerges from Maverick’s office thirty minutes later, I can’t help but narrow my eyes.
I get the feeling they weren’t in there talking about trauma at all—at least not from the smile on my brother’s face and the twinkle in Maverick’s eyes.
I study the two of them as I wonder what’s going on.
“Bye, Ev,” Dex says, and he waves as he walks by the conference room.
“What was that all about?” I ask carefully since I know what goes on in the office is confidential.
He chuckles a little, and he gives me the smile he so rarely graces anyone with. He may have melted a little with this peer mentorship thing, but in general, he’s still mostly a fairly grumpy asshole—I mean perfectionist—who smiles once in a while now since he’s got a girl like me.
“Oh, you know, just your brother warning me not to hurt you. Issued a few threats as if he could really kick my ass.” He rolls his eyes.
I narrow my eyes and purse my lips for a beat. “As I recall, my job here working with you back at the beginning of the season was delayed because my brother laid you out on your ass and broke a rib.” It’s probably not the best idea to bring up the past, but I can’t seem to help myself.
“That wasn’t kicking my ass. That was hitting a player in a vulnerable position.”
“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to,” I say, as if to say it’s the same thing said a different way.
He lowers his head so his gaze falls a little darkly upon me. “I’d like to get you into a vulnerable position. Say…each limb tied to the four corners of my bed?”
I giggle even as I heat up at the thought. “How does every conversation turn back to sex?”
He shrugs. “It’s my superpower.”
“What’s your superpower?” Evan Wilkinson asks, sidling up to the office doorway.
“Nothing,” Maverick mutters, and my laugh follows him out as he walks to his office—grumpily—to chat with the next teammate.
As I watch him walk away, I marvel at where we were and where we are now.
We escaped the red zone and ended up together, giving us the happy ending we both deserve but never thought we’d find in each other.
* * *
What’s going on with Ford? Find out next as we head to Tampa Bay to get to know the next Bradley brother!
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Find out what’s next for Ev & Mav in the bonus epilogue! Click here to download.
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Flip the page to read the first chapter in SNAP DECISION, the fourth book in THE brADLEY LEGACY series from Lisa Suzanne.