From him.
For her.
“I need you to understand,” Harrison continued, and now he sounded like the man who walked into rooms full of rich men and made them feel underdressed. “If this becomes public, and it may, there will be pressure. University pressure. Police pressure. Media pressure if anyone gets a piece of the hockey connection. If she moves forward, people will try to make her life small enough that she regrets speaking. That will not happen if I’m involved.”
My throat worked. “Okay.”
“No,” he said, sharper. “Listen to me. She gets counsel before anyone pulls more from her than she is ready to give. She gets protection before anyone decides a warrant is the same thing as safety. And you do not, under any circumstances, do anything that lets this man redirect attention from what he did to what you did.”
I exhaled through my nose.
“Cade.”
“I heard you.”
“Did you?”
My jaw flexed. “Yes.”
“Good. Because if you love her, your anger belongs to her safety now. Not your satisfaction.”
The words landed too close to what Ryan had said without saying it.
Does this protect Bliss, or does it make her carry more?
I dragged a hand through my hair. “I know.”
“I’m not finished.”
Of course he wasn’t.
“I don’t care what happens to him,” Harrison said, and there was something cold enough in his voice that I finally heard the Mercer in myself. “But I care very much what happens to you, and if she is yours, I care what happens to her. So, you will let professionals do what professionals do. If he comes to you, defend yourself. If he threatens her in front of you, end the threat. But you will not hunt him.”
My laugh came out rough. “That sounds like legal advice.”
“It’s fatherly advice.”
That stopped me.
He seemed to realize what he’d said at the same time I did because the line went quiet.
The silence that followed was not comfortable. Nothing between us ever was. But for the first time in my life, it didn’t feel empty either.
“I’ll have security there within the hour,” he said. “I’ll send the attorney’s information to your email and text you the direct number. Answer when he calls.”
“I will.”
“And Cade?”
“Yeah?”
“Send me the address.”
I huffed a humorless laugh. “You know the address.”
“I know the address of the property the university pretends is not a liability. Send me the exact entrance you want covered.”
That was my father.
