“Then prove it to me. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes. I will.”

“Thank you.”

Man, talk about an ass-chewing, Markus thought as he was met with silence. Damn, she was on a roll. Was he next?

Shit.

He figured it was a good moment to knock and raised his hand to do so. He expected someone to say to come in, but the door flew open and he was met with Coach Saint. He had seen his coach mad many times, but at that exact moment, he was pretty sure Coach was developing an ulcer.

“Come in, Reeves,” he said, and Markus slowly walked past him and into the office. Looking toward the desk, he found Elli sitting behind it like she owned it, her hands in her lap and a smile on her face. Cool as a cucumber.

I’m fucked.

“You can go,” she barked as Markus looked back at his coach. Everything inside him was on high alert. If he was being called up, why was she here to do it? She didn’t come see players to bring them up. No, she called. Crap, he’d read this all wrong. This wasn’t a good thing; this was bad. Oh, shit, was he being traded? Was that bad? No, right? Crap!

Coach made a very disgruntled sound and then stomped out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him. Markus jumped at the sound. It knocked him back to reality, leaving behind his anxiety-filled thoughts. When he glanced back at Elli, she was grinning like a fox in a henhouse. “Have a seat, Reeves.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, sitting down in front of the desk and running his hands down his lap. Holding her gaze, he waited for it. The “You’re fired” or “I’m trading you” or “We hate you—die.”

“How are you?” she asked, and Markus’s eyes widened.

He hadn’t expected that.

“I’m fine, thank you. You? How’s the kiddos?”

Her face brightened at the mention of her five children. “Oh, I’m fine, and the kids are good too. Busy as all get-out, driving me insane. Hockey is all I live and breathe. The boys broke a window last week. Obviously, my husband is not being a good househusband ’cause I found the stick in his hand. I swear they are aging me by the minute.” She laughed and Markus grinned.

“Well, you don’t look a day over twenty,” he said, and her face lit up.

“Such a sweet talker,” she teased, leaning back in her chair as silence stretched between them. Holding his gaze, she said, “I’m sure you’re wondering what I wanted to see you about.”

“I am,” he replied, leaning on his legs, his heart jackhammering inside his chest. “Am I being traded?”

“No, not at all.”

“Am I fired?”

She laughed. “No, quite the opposite, actually. I wanted to ask you to come up and play for the Assassins.”

His heart blew up in his chest. He thought for a moment he had heard her wrong, but she was smiling, her eyes bright. As his throat clogged with emotion, he could only choke out, “Really?”

“Yes,” she said simply, her eyes holding his. “As you know, the World Cup of Hockey was moved back because of scheduling issues in Canada.” He didn’t know that at all, but he nodded like he did. “You’re also aware that the Assassins aren’t the team we used to be. Losing Shea and then Baylor Moore has been trying. We’re working to find our footing, but we have yet to do so. We need to. I don’t know if we’ve gotten lazy, if I’m sticking with the old because they are basically my brothers, or what, but I want the Cup in Nashville again.”

“Me too,” he agreed as she leaned forward.

“Our season hasn’t gotten off to the greatest start. I’m in conversations with some other owners, feeling some things out, talking to the coaches. And when I talked to Jayden Sinclair, our captain, he told me about you.”

He owed Jayden the world. Clearing his throat, he nodded. “I played with Jayden back at Bellevue.”

“I know,” she said, moving a stray piece of hair out of her eyes. “I’ve watched the tapes. You were amazing back there. And I almost came in here to tell you I want to see what I saw on the tape on this ice, and then we’d revisit, but I can’t leave you here. I need you to come up now.”

“I would love that,” he said breathlessly.

“Please don’t think I didn’t know that, or that I had forgotten about you, because I didn’t. I’ve just waited for the right time to call you up. But the problem with calling you up is that one of my defensemen will either be sent down or benched since, as of now, I have three pairs. But something’s gotta change, and Jayden feels you could be the missing piece.”

“I truly believe I am,” he managed to get out, his chest aching from the pounding of his heart. “Jayden and I are gold together. We played for a long time as a pair. I can help bring that Cup home.”

“That’s exactly what I want to hear,” she said, but Markus didn’t miss that she didn’t seem excited about it. “But it’s not me you have to prove it to initially. It’s the coaches and staff back in Nashville. The team. So I want you to come on up, let us feel you out, and see if there is a spot for you. Your contract is coming up for renewal, but before I make an offer, I want to see what I’m getting.”

“I’d love the opportunity,” he said, but something seemed off. “But can I ask something?”

Elli nodded, and Markus wasn’t sure if this was going to fuck him or help him, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was up. She wasn’t grinning like she usually did, and she sure as hell didn’t look excited to bring him up. “Why didn’t you just call me up? Why did you want to come talk to me face-to-face?”

Clearing her throat, she leaned more on her hands as she nodded. “I was actually getting to that part.” She paused, looking away as she thought over her words. “Coach Baxter doesn’t want you. He doesn’t think you have the game we need. But Jayden believes in you, and I do too, or I wouldn’t have drafted you. Coach feels you are young, that you are reckless, and that you aren’t a team player, which is why he hasn’t considered calling you up. He’s agreeing to it because Jayden has pushed for it, and I agree with Jayden.”

Markus’s heart crashed into his stomach. “Oh,” he said, the air knocked out of him. He had always thought of himself as a team player, but then, had he been a team player since he came to the Ninjas?