Lucas

Tom has been in a grouchy mood since we started today. I tried getting him to talk, but he just stormed around yelling at whatever, and then mumbled to himself nonstop.

I haven't had the best luck recently, but I got Allie and Jadon in my house, which is a win for us. She doesn't have to be responsible for him all the time now because now we can share that.

Tom, though, is red-faced and if anyone acts out, he's foaming at the mouth. We had to set aside the first day of school plans because he's been talking to a lawyer all day. He's not talking about whatever it is, though.

After the first practice, he finally opened up. He's being forced out of his job with ten years left. Early retirement, they're calling it.

Just this morning, the school board asked me to weigh in on a panel to hire a new basketball coach. It made more sense after Tom told me John made him an offer that wasn't quite optional. Tom's fighting it, of course, but he's also looking at new coaching jobs now.

All of this is happening right before the season starts.

The assistant coaches have the team warming up this period with circuits, while I help Tom get the balls out for the students when they start practice.

It's just a midday practice, like a class. We just keep their blood pumping, mainly.

Tom blows out a breath. "So you chickened out and didn't ask Allie, huh?"

I grind my jaw and remind myself not to make death threats to people that aren't present to hear them. "Ted stole the ring from my pocket at the dinner."

Tom frowns. "I never saw him there."

"Yeah," I force a sarcastic laugh while grabbing the balls for Tom. "He found me at the bar. Stuck his hand in my pocket when I wasn't paying attention. I took her to the spot I told you about and went so far as to almost ask and noticed it was gone." I look over my shoulder when Tom says nothing.

He furrows his brow at me. "He really took her ring? Sure you didn't just lose it in the car or something?"

I checked every inch of my car, called the club, and searched every inch of that spot we went to at the lake while Allie was packing Jadon's things. I know who has it.

"Yeah. I was hoping to ask you for Ted's address. Allie doesn't want to have anything to do with him, but I have no problem showing up at his house and asking him nicely to hand it back."

And I won't be telling Joel about it in case punches are thrown.

"You say Ted is close to Mark?"

"Yeah. I don't fully understand it, but I guess there's something there." I turn back to grab more balls while the whistle blows across the field.

Tom scoffs and mutters under his breath. "Figures. Mark always has to be in control. Should have known he'd rope that kid into his mess."

I turn back to Tom, confused. "What do you mean—?"

"Gentlemen!" John smiles broadly at us while he approaches with the other man on my damn list, and his fellow band of merry assholes. Well, ass kissers is more like it since that's all they do and get paid for it.

Tom stiffens beside me, and the tension coming off of him bleeds into my side. "What's this?"

Mark stands beside John like they're fucking besties while Mark smiles like he's won the damn lottery.

"Tom, Mark says you guys go way back?"

Way back? What?

Tom gives John a jilted nod. "Ancient history."

Mark smiles behind sunglasses at Tom and sucks on his teeth. "Sure. Ancient history."

"Great." John rubs his hands together. "Glad to have us all acquainted. Tom, we are looking to use the field for an event after the homecoming game, so please, do you mind us taking over the field for a few minutes? Mark has some interviews coming up."

Interviews? What are they talking about?

"Right," Tom drawls. "Congress. Sounds fitting for you, Mark."

Mark doesn't waver. "You know me, Tom. I'm always on top, and with the best of everything."

There's another conversation going on here that I'm trying to follow, but I don't understand. Was Ted serious about that medicine thing the other night? I thought he was just trying to distract me.

"How's your wife, Mark? Recovered and spending her health wisely?"

I happen to know she loves her wine and the gardener, but I don't otherwise know what else she does. Well, the plastic surgery too, I guess.

Mark chuckles, and it's unlike anything I've heard from him. It's deep and dark, like some sinister type of asshole with an agenda. "I see you did a great job with Allison. Teen pregnancy and all."

Tom takes a step up to Mark, who takes one toward him, too. "Allie is a fantastic mother and knows how to function like a responsible adult. She's driven. Works full time, takes care of my grandson, and still puts herself through school. I'd say that's better than a spoiled college dropout with a drinking problem and an OnlyDaddies account. Right, Lucas?"

"Okay!" John finally steps in, separating them. "Not sure what's going on, but Tom, why don't you wait in your office and I'll be there shortly?"

I haven't been here long enough, but that is an invitation to get his ass chewed out if I ever heard one. John is a nice guy and a fair person. I just hope he sees this for what it is rather than whatever glamor Mark promised him.

Tom and Mark exchange forced grins at one another with a silent fuck you in their faces before Tom walks back to his office without another word.

Tom puts me to shame. I need his balls.

"I am deeply sorry, Mark. I did not know your history was... whatever that was. I will deal with him personally."

I'm not sorry. If anything, I wish I could have seen how far that went.

Mark waves John off like they're close friends now. "We just have history, like I said. Not all of it is sunshine. But I am past all of that. So, please, let's take a look at my stadium." Mark looks over at me and arches a brow. "Lucas, I'll be in touch."

Bullshit.

John escorts Mark and his band of ass kissers toward the field where they disrupt the practice. Before they get too far, John is just loud enough for me to hear.

"So when we put the new name on everything, would you like us to include Congressman in the title, or just your name?"

I blink and rush to follow Tom to his office. When I make it back inside, my phone is lit up with messages and phone calls galore from Allie. She's going to have to wait, though. I weave through the rows of lockers in the locker room until I get to the back where the coaching office is.

"Tom? Are you alright?"

He's seething in his chair. His desk is across from mine and if he stares any harder at the picture of his wife on his desk, it might crack.

I don't get mad easily, but I am protective of things that matter to me. Allie and my son are pretty much it now. They're safe, though. It's Tom that needs me right now.

Or a stiff drink.

Like a damn bear in the woods, I approach it with caution, ready to run just in case. "What happened back there?"

He crosses his arms and takes a breath. "He's behind all of it."

"All of what?"

Tom picks up the picture of his wife and blows out a long breath. "She died when Allie was too little and made me promise not to tell her. I hate lying, and this one eats at me constantly."

He sets the photo back down and looks at me. "I met Sandra when she was in a relationship with someone. I gave her my phone number in case she ever saw herself out of it and was interested. I was looking at some schools after my own career-ending injury. One day, out of the blue, she called me. I flew up and took her out. We dated a few weeks, and she was perfect."

My stomach sinks hearing the sadness in his voice.

"It took her a while, but she admitted the man she was seeing turned out to be married. She wasn't aware at the time. She didn't know him or how well-known he was. A few weeks into our relationship, she found out that she was pregnant."

Ignoring the vibrating in my pocket, Tom keeps me hanging on to every word. "The baby wasn't yours."

Tom shakes his head. "She and I hadn't gone that far by then. When she told me it was Mark Vandenburg, I went to his office for her and tried to talk to him. His wife was there, and I saw she was pregnant."

Oh, my god. Kat.

Holy shit, Mark is Allie's dad.

"They offered money and there was a signed agreement. He wanted nothing to do with 'it.' He had his perfect wife and the perfect child on the way. Mark Vandenburg didn't want a whore's child. How quickly he forgot he misled Sandra into believing he wasn't married. Just a matter of sticking his ring in his pocket."

I'm a firm believer now that rings don't go in pockets. I'll smuggle Allie's in my own prison pocket if I have to keep it from getting stolen again. "You guys took the money?"

Tom nods. "She was fine with it. She didn't want the baby around Mark or his wife. We weren't allowed to talk about it to anyone. So when Allie was born, we took the papers to court, and she's legally my child. Has an amended birth certificate and everything. Mark saw her once when she was born and never looked back. He signed over all rights to her and is nothing to my daughter."

I know for a fucking fact Allie doesn't know any of this. If she were to find out now, I don't even know what she would do. I mean, I always thought she looked like Tom, but maybe that's just from being around him as much as I have been.

And now he's telling me all this like I'm supposed to keep a secret this big from her. It makes sense why he was angry with me at first, thinking I abandoned Allie. Doesn't help that she kept it a secret, but he's seeing this for what it is and knows I'm serious about her.

Tom thought I was like Mark, and he probably thought Ted was doing a noble thing like he did.

"Tom? Ted mentioned something about Mark interfering with some medical thing. I didn't really take him seriously, but is that true?"

Tom shrugs his shoulders. "Can't prove stuff like that. He covers his tracks, Lucas. I've known that for years."

Which means he did.

"Mark has been trying to push me out of this town for years. He got the school districts changed just to keep Allie and Kat separated. Mark is responsible for all the rejection letters from universities Allie thinks I don't know about. That was before she found out she was pregnant, so it's not all because of Jadon. She just denies it. The worst part is knowing that some piece of him gives a crap about Allie only to show he's the better father because he can set her up to send her off and live some dream life without a care."

"You mean he regrets giving her up?"

Tom shrugs his shoulders again. "I don't know, but he doesn't do things without thinking. He made damn sure that wife of his got the experimental drug. We paid every last cent of his money on her treatments after the program failed her. She died, and he said nothing. Then Allie's car accident happened and by the time I got to the hospital, he was already there covering up for his precious family while my daughter was in recovery, begging for an update on Jadon."

I can't believe I had anything to do with that man. He's just a cruel human being.

"Do you think it was Kat that hit Allie? Maybe some sort of jealousy?" That would be easy to prove, especially with a blood test. It's not like Allie or I signed an agreement banning us from opening our mouths.

Tom scoffs. "Doubtful. There's one other person who knows who Allie is, and I doubt they would tell their precious princess she has a sister. Or to use Ted's favorite word: a bastard. My daughter, the bastard child of one Mark Vandenburg. The ugly dent in his otherwise flawless life." Tom arches a brow. "A cheating scandal wouldn't do him any favors during a political campaign, now, would it? That's why he's trying to get rid of Allie and me. Doesn't need to look like a piece of shit."

There's a small sound behind me. Tom's eyes shoot over my shoulder and his face turns sheet white. "Allie, I–"

I whip myself around, and she's standing in the door with her mouth covered and tears in her eyes. When I move to stand, she holds a hand up to me. "Don't, Lucas." She looks at Tom and the tears make their way down her cheeks.

"I can't deal with this right now." She storms back out, shoving her way past John.

John looks at all of us and raises his voice. "I'm sorry, but what the fuck is going on here?" The door on the other side of the locker room slams shut.

"John, I need to see if she's okay."

"Go." He jerks his head and allows me to run after her. I hear Tom's door shut, but that doesn't cover all the yelling coming from John.

I hit the door with my bad shoulder, running. "Allie, wait!"