Twenty-Two (Assassins Series Book 12) Read online

  Twenty-Two

  An Assassins Novella

  Toni Aleo

  Contents

  Books in the Assassins Series

  1. The Brooks Family

  2. Don’t Leave Me

  3. Stella Ann

  4. Game Four

  5. Excuse Me?

  6. What Do I Do?

  7. The Cup Goes to…

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Toni Aleo

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2017 by Toni Aleo

  This book, Twenty-Two, is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Editing by Lisa A. Hollett, Silently Correcting Your Grammar

  Cover by Regina Wamba

  ISBN: 978-1-5453-1667-2

  Created with Vellum

  Books in the Assassins Series

  Taking Shots

  Trying to Score

  Empty Net

  Falling for the Backup

  Blue Lines

  Breaking Away

  Laces and Lace

  A Very Merry Hockey Holiday

  Overtime

  Rushing the Goal

  Face-off at the Altar

  Delayed Call

  In the Crease (Coming Soon)

  This book is dedicated to the Nashville Predators.

  For all the good material y'all give me and for being a great team.

  1

  The Brooks Family

  “I want to watch SpongeBob!”

  “No! Ariel!”

  “Yeah! Mermaid! I wanna watch Ariel!”

  Lucas Brooks covered his face with his hands before he yelled from his bedroom, “There are nine TVs in this house! Separate!”

  “But she has the popcorn!”

  “And he has the milk!”

  “Daddy, I want to be with Asher!”

  “Why are they eating popcorn at seven a.m.?”

  Groaning, he looked over at his wife, who was cuddled deep into the bed, her dark brown hair covering her face as her thick, plump lips pursed out toward him. He almost leaned over and kissed her, but he was exhausted. “I don’t know. Where is Aiden?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What’s the point of having an older kid if he isn’t going to care for the crazy little ones?”

  “I don’t think that’s why we had them so far apart.”

  Lucas scoffed. “Says you.”

  Fallon giggled as she scooted over toward him, cuddling into his shoulder. Both of them knew the real reason for the big age gap between their children, though they never talked about it anymore. In their eyes, they did this on purpose and, really, it didn’t matter because they were happy.

  “Mom! Asher won’t give me some milk!”

  “Stella backwashes!”

  “Mommy! I’m thirsty! Can I have some sweet tea?”

  “Daddy, I want tea!”

  “What in the hell?” Lucas muttered, staring at the ceiling as Fallon continued to giggle. “Why are they up so early? The game was late.”

  “Who knows? I’m exhausted.”

  “So am I,” Lucas groaned, and he was. He felt the pain all over his body from the big win over St. Louis that advanced the Assassins to the second round. His whole body was aching. He wasn’t like his young self that bounced back after a hard-fought game. No, Lucas Brooks needed a good week after a game like the one the night before. It had gone into overtime, and the Blues had been playing desperate hockey. But by the grace of God, Jensen Monroe didn’t let any in, and Vaughn Johansson scored the winning goal. Vaughn had wanted to make his night even better since he had just proposed to his girlfriend and found out she was pregnant. So last night’s win was a biggie for everyone. Though, Lucas wished he had a solid month to recuperate before the next one. But he didn’t. He only had a few days of rest before the second round started.

  “But, really, where is Aiden?”

  “I have no clue.”

  “Text him.”

  “That means I have to move,” he complained, and she rolled her eyes before throwing her arm behind her to find her phone. Bringing it to her face, she dialed their son’s number, putting the call on speaker.

  “Hello?”

  Lucas closed his eyes. Aiden’s manly voice still was like a punch to the gut. His baby was growing, fast, and it was killing him slowly. “Baby, where are you?”

  Aiden let out an exasperated breath. “Out front, where I always am. Where are you?”

  Fallon looked to Lucas as he looked back at her. “Excuse me?”

  “Oh my God, Mom, did you forget I had training for summer league this morning?”

  Throwing the blankets off, she sat up. “Not at all. I’m running late.”

  “You forgot!”

  Lucas laughed as Fallon shot daggers from her eyes. “I did not! I’m coming.”

  “If you would let me drive, this wouldn’t be a problem,” Aiden reminded her.

  “If you cut your hair, maybe we’d buy you a car,” Lucas called out, and Aiden laughed.

  “You’re just jealous I have hair!”

  “Hush it, both of you. I’m coming,” she said, hanging up the phone and throwing on some sweat pants. “I can’t believe I forgot.”

  “I can’t believe he went after not getting home until midnight last night.” She shot Lucas a deadpan expression. “Okay, I can. I would have.”

  “Exactly. He’s his daddy’s son.”

  Lucas grinned. “He is.” Then he glared, running his hands along his thinning hair. “I have good hair, right?”

  She laughed. “Yes, baby, lots of great hair.”

  “He has more.”

  “He’s going through puberty.”

  He raised a brow. “I think he’s past that.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know if we can wait till his birthday to give him a car, Lucas,” she said, pulling her hair up as she glanced back at him.

  “That’s all you, babe. I told you to give him mine, and I’ll go get a new truck.”

  “He wants a sports car.”

  “And I don’t give two fucks. That kid isn’t going to be driving a better car than what I had. He can have a nice Ford and be happy, or he can walk—if his momma would let him.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “You’re overprotective as hell.”

  “I am not.”

  “You are.”

  She glared. “But he is a good kid, Lucas.”

  “The best, and he’ll be happy with my Ford.”

  “Ugh, okay,” she groaned before leaning down and kissing his lips. He savored her for a moment, grabbing her butt.

  “Can we make him wait a bit longer to be picked up?”

  She chuckled, desire flashing in her eyes. “I doubt you can move.”

  He looked sad. “I can’t.”

  She laughed as she kissed him again. “Can we give the car to him today?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  Her brows rose. “Why tomorrow?”

  “Because I can’t move, and I have to go buy a new car for me.”

  She laughed, smacking his chest, which made him wince. “I’ll be back.”

  “Be careful,” he called as she headed out of the room just as Emery ran right into her. Picking up their youngest, Fallon kissed her