This wasn’t justice delivered cleanly and neatly. It was justice born from wreckage, from a kid who should never have been put in this position, who never should’ve had to carry this weight.
And still… it was the moment everything changed.
Ben wasn’t just breaking.
He was breaking Nathan.
And as much as it tore me apart to watch, I knew there was no stopping it now. The truth was out. The damage was visible. And there was no putting it back in the shadows where Nathan hoped it would always stay.
This was the end.
Not because we’d planned it perfectly.
But because someone had finally bled in the light.
Nathan reached for Ben, a soft laugh spilling from him like this was all some unfortunate misunderstanding as he grabbed his shoulders. “Ben, you’re emotional. You’ve had too much to drink. Let’s get you home and talk when you’ve calmed down.”
I swore I was about to watch an NHL player kill a man with one punch, but before Ben could swing, a calm voice cut cleanly through the chaos.
“Nathan.”
The man stepped forward from the edge of the crowd, his presence immediate and unmistakable. He was impeccably dressed, composed, his expression unreadable.
“Michael Reeves,” he said evenly. “League Integrity.”
Just as he introduced himself, I spotted Ariana standing next to Georgie near the door of the ballroom. Our eyes met, recognition widening her eyes as it buzzed through my veins.
I turned back to Nathan to find his face drained of color.
Then, reflexively, he smiled.
“Michael,” he said, spreading his hands. “My old pal. Hell of a party, right? Looks like you showed up just in time to—”
Reeves shook his head once. The motion was small and controlled — an entire conversation in one tiny gesture.
“I’m afraid I’m no pal tonight,” he said. “I need you to come with me now, okay?”
The panic in Nathan’s eyes should have satisfied me. I should have been beaming at his demise. But I only felt sorry for the bastard.
What a miserable existence. What a fucking terrible life to live in, where you had everything you could possibly want and it still wasn’t enough.
“We need to speak privately, Nathan,” Reeves said when Nathan didn’t move. “Now. You can either come willingly or we can assist you.”
Security was already moving in.
Nathan looked around, searching for an ally, a lifeline. His gaze snagged on Ariana across the lawn, her face bloodless, Georgie’s arm firm around her shoulders.
For the first time, he looked a little like a man regretting his choices.
“This isn’t necessary,” Nathan said tightly.
Reeves met his eyes. “I’m afraid it is. I’ll admit, I admire your creativity. You went to impressive lengths to delay me tonight — flagging my arrival with airport security, having me intercepted the moment I landed, questioned, separated from my phone.”
The explanation for why Reeves hadn’t answered my texts had my heart pounding quicker. My eyes caught Ariana’s across the crowd.
He was always on our side.
“It didn’t help that you’d preceded tonight’s actions with calls to the league,” Reeves continued. “Claims that the situation was already being handled internally. Suggestions that my presence here would be unnecessary and disruptive.”
