Twenty-Two (Assassins Series Book 12) Read online

  “Are you okay with it, Dad? Mom wouldn’t commit until we talked to you.”

  Lucas laughed. “Or she hopes I say no.” Fallon scoffed, and he laughed harder. “See?”

  “Mom!”

  “What? That’s not true.”

  It was. “Okay, well, I’m a go. Let’s do this. I’m ready for the bumper sticker that says I have a player at Bellevue.”

  Everyone in the car cheered once more as Aiden let out a whoop of excitement. “Thanks, Dad! I’ll call them in the morning.”

  “When will you be home, Daddy?” Emery asked.

  “Late tonight, early tomorrow, before you wake up.”

  “Yay! I miss you so much.”

  “Me too, Daddy, more than Emery.”

  “I miss you the most,” Asher said, and Lucas smiled.

  “Of course you do, buddy.”

  “Actually, I think I miss you the most,” his wife said then, and he grinned.

  “Well, I miss all of you, and I love you more. I’ll be home soon.”

  “We’re going to celebrate tomorrow, right?” Aiden asked, and Lucas nodded even though they couldn’t see him.

  “Oh, yeah, sushi for all.”

  As his family cheered, Lucas looked up at the ceiling, a grin on his face with his heart full.

  Completely and utterly full.

  Life was good for Lucas Brooks.

  5

  Excuse Me?

  Lucas had thought they would sweep Winnipeg like they had the Hawks. Winnipeg was the second wild card, and also, they weren’t playing as well as they had at the beginning of the series. But those buggers pushed the Assassins to six games. And damn it, Lucas was pretty sure his hip would never be the same after a nasty hit from one of Winnipeg’s giant defensemen.

  But he scored, his first goal of the play-offs.

  And that dulled the pain a bit.

  A small bit.

  “Babe, can you bring me a soda?”

  Tate laughed beside him, shaking his head. “Still can’t move?”

  Lucas nodded down to the ice pack on his hip. “Don’t laugh at me. This was you the other day when I was at your house.”

  “Touché.”

  Aiden chuckled from the oversize chair before popping up and heading toward the kitchen. “I’ll get it, Dad.”

  “You’re my favorite.”

  “Don’t let the girls hear you say that,” he teased, and Lucas laughed as the TV took his attention. The Islanders and Capitals were battling in game seven for the chance to play the Assassins. If Lucas had his choice, he’d rather have the Islanders since their play wasn’t consistent, but he was pretty sure the Capitals were going to take it. Which meant the Assassins had some work to do and lots of tape to watch.

  Yay.

  When Aiden came back with the soda, he handed it to Lucas and then one to Tate before falling back into the chair, his legs folding against his chest, which made Lucas roll his eyes. The kid was huge, but he balled up like a cat.

  “Uncle Tate, do you think this is good?”

  Lucas looked over to Asher, who was on his computer, playing around with the logo of Audrey’s cupcakery, per her request. The kid had done some awesome work with Fallon’s logo, and now Audrey wanted the same thing. His little computer genius, who would have thought it? Especially when he sucked ass on computers—and all electronics.

  Yeah, Asher was Fallon’s kid.

  “I love it.”

  “Cool. I’m gonna go show her.”

  When he got up, the period had just ended, and Tate looked over to Aiden. “Things good, Aiden? With the college?”

  Aiden beamed over as he nodded, excitement filling his face. “Yeah. They are sending my transcripts, and I’ve already started my classes for the summer. Since I had enough credits to graduate, minus these two, they are thinking it will be a breeze for me. Guidance is awesome at my school.”

  “Which is why the school costs a lot,” Lucas added, and Aiden nodded.

  “Basically.”

  “But you’re still in the rink every day, right? No slacking for school?”

  Lucas glared over at his best friend. “Hey, I need the kid to be smart too.”

  “Yeah, but that’s already done. He needs to stay on his training.”

  Aiden nodded. “I am, Uncle Tate.”

  “Good, don’t get weak.”

  Tate might be hanging his skates up, which scared the shit out of Lucas, but he sure as hell didn’t want him scaring his son. “He’s good, bro.”

  “I know. I worry.”

  “We all do,” Lucas added as he cringed, shifting his weight over. “Don’t get old either, kid. It hurts.”

  Aiden laughed as Tate nodded. “This is very true.”

  “Duly noted.”

  They watched the highlights of the first and second periods. The Caps were up by two, which in any sport would be a shoo-in for them. But this was hockey, and in hockey, anything could change within a second. Emery came running into the living room, jumping over the back of the couch and to the spot between Lucas and Tate, and they both looked down at her as she announced, “I want to be a gymnast.”

  Tate only blinked, while Lucas shook his head. “I thought you wanted to be a winery owner like Momma?”

  “No, I don’t want to drink wine. I want to do flips for money.”

  “That’s a monkey, sis. Not a gymnast,” Aiden called to her, and she stuck her tongue out.

  “Daddy, please?”

  Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her nose. “What do I tell you?”

  “I can be anything I wanna be as long as I work for it.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Then I’m gonna work for it,” she said before flipping off the back of the couch with flair. That was, until she landed very heavily on the hardwood floor, and the screaming started.

  “Aiden, can you make sure she didn’t break anything?” Lucas asked with his eyes on the TV, hoping all the hollering was just his sweet girl being her overdramatic self.

  “What is going on?” Fallon yelled from the kitchen. “Why is she screaming like that?”

  “Not sure yet,” he called as Aiden hopped up, and when his eyes widened, Lucas heaved a deep sigh.

  “Um, I don’t think her arm is supposed to be bent like that.”

  An hour later, Lucas held Emery in his arms as the doctors decided she needed surgery to fix the snap in her arm. As she leaned her head on his chest, she let out a long breath while Fallon stood by the door on the phone with Aiden and Audrey. “Daddy.”

  “Yeah, love bug?”

  “When my arm is better, can I still be a gymnast?”

  He smiled. “Yeah, baby.”

  “This is just a small setback,” she decided, and he chuckled.

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah. I’m going to do great things.”

  Or she’d burn the world down. One of the two. He held his baby to his chest, and he kissed her softly as he whispered, “You sure are.”

  “Daddy?”

  “Yeah, love?”

  “Can you not leave anymore?”

  “Huh?”

  “I don’t want you to leave me anymore.”

  “Baby, I have to, it’s my job.”

  “But not today?”

  “Not today. Today, I’m here with you.”

  “Okay,” she said softly, and the guilt ate away at him. That was the worst part of his job. Leaving his family, especially when they were little and broken like Emery was. A part of him wished he didn’t have to leave. But then, what would he do? He had to leave for hockey. That was a given. No, she’d be okay, just like the other kids had been over the years.

  Hanging up the phone, Fallon met his gaze and shook her head. “The kids are in bed, and Audrey just left.”

  “Good.”

  “You still have that meeting in the morning, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, any chance you can push it back?”

  “