“Don’t you think he should?”

“No, I don’t ever want to see Lucas Brooks again.”

Fallon felt Audrey’s arms come around her waist as Audrey laid her chin on her shoulder. “You might not want to babe, but Aiden wants a dad and if Lucas can be one…”

“He wouldn’t want to be one though. He was a womanizing man whore.”

Audrey paused for a moment before saying, “Okay, go find Brooks, see how he is, then decide.”

“No, I’ll wait for him to find me.”

Audrey shook her head. “You’re setting yourself up failure, Fal.”

Oh she knew she was; all because she was deathly scared of the unknown. What if Lucas tried to take Aiden from her? What is Aiden loved Lucas more than her? What if Aiden decided he wants to live with Lucas, and what if Aiden went to spend the weekends with him?

Oh God!

Fallon couldn’t do it, it scared her too much. So she would sit on her secret and wait. Hope that everything stays the same, that Lucas would never see her or her son.

Why did Fallon feel like that was like hoping for world peace?

Chapter 3

Jesus, these people don’t joke around during practice!

Lucas skated back and forth for the 14th time across the ice. When people talked about Shea Adler being a hard ass back in California, Lucas didn’t think anything about it. He thought it was all talk, but no, it wasn’t. Adler was hardcore, angry, and mean on the ice; even with him being younger than Lucas, he was still a little intimidated by Shea.

“Brooks! You are slow! Show us the reason you were traded to this team!” Adler yelled as he passed Lucas. Lucas dug into the ice, passing Adler, and then Welch. When he came back and passed Adler, Adler nodded as he dug in and went faster up the ice.

Lucas was known for his speed and accuracy, but that was when he had a good night of sleep, and last night, he hadn’t. He had stayed up all night thinking of Fallon.

Pathetic right?

But he just couldn’t shake his thoughts about her. He thought of their whole two-year relationship, the good, the great, and the bad. There were more good times than bad, but when it was bad, it was bad. Fallon tended to shut down when Lucas would get mad — he would yell at her and she would just stand there staring at him, and when she started crying, he knew he had f**ked up majorly. Lucas hated when Fallon cried, he couldn’t handle it. He felt like he was kicking a puppy or something. Fallon’s eyes were so wide that her tears looked like big puddles coming down her cheeks — just thinking of her crying gave him chills.

Because of his sleepless night, Lucas woke up lagged and tired, and this six a.m. practice time wasn’t working for him. The Sharks never practiced this early, but they hadn’t won a cup in years, while the Assassins were going for their third in a matter of three seasons, so maybe this six a.m. practice had better start working for Lucas.

If he wanted the Cup.

After doing six more laps, Lucas skated towards the bench. Once there he grabbed his drink bottle and chugged it. When he was done, he was about to skate off when Adler stopped him.

“You’re slow today,” he stated.

Lucas nodded. “I’m tired. I just moved in to my new house, and I’m not used to sleeping in my new bed.”

Adler gave him a dirty look. “Well get used to it. Be better tomorrow or don’t even bother coming back.”

With that Adler skated off, and Lucas shook his head.

Yeah, this was a great start to his season with the Assassins.

*****************************************

Fallon quickly walked through the Assassins’ headquarters, praying to God that she didn’t see Lucas. She hated that she was living like this, always looking over her shoulder and watching out for him. It was ridiculous, but she had brought it on herself. She had worried herself sick the night before because she knew she had to come here today. As soon as Fallon hit the main offices’ floor, her stomach dropped. Fallon knew the guys had practice today, but it was earlier this morning, so she hoped she was good and wouldn’t see Lucas.

Fallon’s beautiful Chie Mihara black bootie heels clicked against the purple floors as she walked down the hall that would take her to the main office of Mrs. Eleanor Adler. It was still weird calling Elli that — she had always been plain ole Elli — but now she was married to the most powerful player in the NHL and was one of the most powerful women in the NHL after her uncle gave her full rein of the team. It blew Fallon’s mind how different Elli was now that she was with Shea. He brought out something great in her, and Fallon couldn’t be happier for them.

When Fallon reached Elli’s assistant’s desk, no one was there. Fallon waited patiently but nervously, hoping Lucas didn’t walk out the office or come around the corner because she would have nowhere to run! Elli’s office was at the end of the hall. If he came down, she would have to talk to him or look like a crazy person when she screamed and ran around him. At the moment though, the latter was sounding pretty good.

Finally the door open and out came Elli’s assistant, Janet.

“Hey, Fallon!” Janet said brightly as she went behind the desk and sat down.

“Well hello Ms. Janet! I have a surprise for you!” Fallon gushed, causing Janet’s smile to become brighter.

“Ooh! I love presents!”

Fallon smiled as she placed the bottle of vintage Big Orange Cabernet Sauvignon on the desk. She knew Janet wouldn’t be excited about the wine but when she opened the envelope that was attached she was gonna freak.