"See what? You falling apart?"
"See me losing everything I built for them." The words taste bitter. "See the career that paid for their education and our parents' funeral and everything else turn into a lawsuit and a scandal."
He crosses his arms. "They're not kids anymore, Dec. They can handle it."
"They shouldn't have to."
"Neither should you. But here we are."
The silence stretches. Marcus moves to the window, staring out at the same view I've been watching for hours. The city glitters below us, indifferent and impersonal.
"I watched the press conference twice," he says quietly.
"And?"
"And you're either the bravest man I know or the stupidest."
Despite everything, a laugh escapes. "Probably both."
"Definitely both." He turns to face me. “Ivy watched it too.”
My heart kicks. "She told you that?"
"Yeah, when I called her."
"What else did she say?"
"She's terrified you'll resent her when your career is over. But she watched every second of that press conference, Dec. She knows what you did."
Heaviness settles in my chest. Ivy watched, yet she's still terrified. I can't blame her for that.
"The league announced a formal investigation into Gregory’s agent practices and the fabricated video," Marcus continues. "But your suspension might last months. Teams don't want controversy. Even if they clear you, the damage might be permanent."
"I know."
He shakes his head, a sad smile on his face.
"I'm not sure you understand what you just did. You're twenty-eight, Dec, and at the prime of your career. Yet youwalked away from it for Ivy. For whatever principle you decided mattered more than hockey."
"It mattered more."
"I know. That's why I'm here,” he says, voice softening unexpectedly. He stares at his hands. “I came to say I was wrong about you and Ivy and treating you like a threat instead of my best friend."
The words surprise me. "Marcus…"
"Please, let me finish." He looks up. There's genuine regret in his brown eyes. "I treated you like a threat to my little sister instead of the guy who helped me through my injury rehab. Who's been there for every important moment of my life."
My throat tightens. "You were protecting her."
“Yes. And I don’t regret it. But I should have handled things better.” He shakes his head as if to clear his thoughts. “Ivy needs support more than she needs protection. And you, despite being a manipulative liar for months, finally gave her that. You cleared her name. You exposed the man who destroyed her reputation. You sacrificed your career to give her justice. That's not the action of a player. That's the action of someone who genuinely loves her."
"For whatever that's worth now."
"It's worth something." His hand claps my shoulder. "Maybe not to Ivy. But it's worth something."
He pulls me into a brief, fierce hug. The kind we used to do after big wins.
We sit in silence for a while.
