Blue Lines: The Assassins Series: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance Read online

  Yeah, she was trouble from the beginning.

  That was why he had stayed clear of her. But then that night six months ago, Piper was standing in a “fuck me stupid” dress in the middle of Wanna B’s club and Erik was a goner.

  What had he done? He should have never trusted her when she said, “I’m on the Pill.” He was never unprepared, but before going out, he had forgotten to refill his wallet. If it was anyone else, he would have had the cabbie stop at the store, or better yet, would have run for the hills, but no, he stayed and made sweet love to Piper for hours. To make matters worse, he had told her things he had never told anyone; he had exposed himself. It was like he was completely out of his mind that night. She had bewitched him and he had shared his innermost secrets, things he’d never shared with anyone, but he shared it with Piper. He shared everything.

  For fuck sakes, he was fucked.

  Damn it. Leaning his head against the back of the couch, he let out a long breath. Stanley must have taken that as an invitation and promptly jumped up into Erik’s lap. Erik shook his head, running his hands down Stanley’s soft white fur.

  “What am I going to do, buddy?”

  Stanley raised his ears as if he didn’t know, either. He must have thought a big juicy kiss would make the situation better because that was what Erik got. Smiling at his pooch, Erik leaned his head back again and closed his eyes. He needed to talk to someone, and the only person he could think of was his brother. Reaching for his phone on the table, he dialed his brother’s number.

  “Hello?” Jakob answered on the first ring.

  “Hey, bro,” Erik answered, looking up at the ceiling. “What’s up?”

  “You don’t want to know. We have a situation.”

  Erik opened his eyes. “What’s wrong? Are Harper and Ally okay?”

  “They are fine; it’s Piper.”

  Erik paused. “Oh?”

  “She is pregnant,” Jakob said, “and won’t tell Harper who the dad is. She won’t tell anyone. I’ve even tried calling her to see if I can get her to tell me. She’s being difficult, and everyone is freaking out because we all know she can’t take care of a baby by herself. I mean, you know Piper, she’s not that responsible. Harper thinks she is pregnant by some loser, so she is ready to find the guy and kill him. You know how tough my lovely wife can be.” Erik could hear the humor in Jakob’s last comment. Harper was one strong woman.

  But this was an interesting turn. Why was Piper not telling anyone who the father was? What did that mean? Was he going to be able to get away with this? Did he want to be able to get away with this? And what the hell was Jakob talking about? Why couldn’t Piper take care of a baby?

  “Wow, yeah, that sucks, but why couldn’t she take care of a baby on her own? She takes care of your kid all the time.”

  Jakob paused. “Well, I’m just saying she doesn’t stay employed for long periods of time, and you’ve seen how she is; she doesn’t stick to things. But Harper and I are just a phone call away so we’re here to help. Harper is worried that Piper is going to be completely alone. Get this: The dad wants nothing to do with her or their child. What kind of man does that? This is their child, their blood, and he wants nothing to do with it? That’s a sick man, you know?”

  Erik paused again. Yeah, he was fucked.

  When the door opened and Phillip appeared, Erik couldn’t thank God enough. “Oh, let me call you back. Phillip just walked in. I need to talk to him.”

  “Oh, okay, later,” Jakob said, and Erik threw the phone down onto the couch next to him like it had a disease. That conversation did not support the decision he wanted to make, because if he decided to do what he wanted to do, Jakob would be very disappointed in him. And probably would beat the shit out of him, too.

  “What’s up with you?” Phillip asked as he threw his keys onto the counter and sat down across from him on the gray love seat. Erik hated that piece of furniture, he thought it was dog ugly, but this was Phillip’s house so he could decorate it as nasty as he wanted. Phillip apparently liked the color gray, because most of the house was done in gray and purple, with a bunch of Assassins memorabilia all over the place.

  Looking up at his friend, he saw that Phillip was grinning. “Nothing, what’s up with you? How’d the meeting with Elli go?”

  “Great,” he said with a clap of his hand. “It’s official and unfortunate, but Welch is out till next year, so you’re looking at the new alternate captain!”

  Erik could not fucking believe it. Elli knew Erik wanted that job—he’d been very vocal about it. Well, that is, up until this last encounter with her. I mean what the hell could he say after she chastised him for his behavior? But there his best friend sat, happy as a fat kid with cake while he was feeling like shit.

  “Really?”

  “Yup, isn’t it great? I know you wanted it, man, but you know I did, too, and at least one of us got it, so that’s good, right? I won’t beat you up too bad.” Phillip replied with a little teasing.

  Erik nodded with his lips pressed tightly together while disappointment ate at him. That was the position he had been waiting for since he’d joined the Nashville Assassins. He wanted that recognition to prove that he was just as badass as he thought he was, and because he would have made a great captain. But because he had fucked up, he was overlooked. Maybe even purposefully overlooked. This all started and ended with Piper Allen. She was also the reason he had been with every woman in Nashville … he was trying to forget her! She poisoned him and now she was pregnant with his child. If she had never come along he would have been fine. He would have been the damn captain, but instead it was Phillip! Erik wanted to yell out in anger, tell Phillip that no, it wasn’t great, because that was his position. But instead, with a bitter smile, he said, “Yeah.”

  “I expected you to be a little happier for me,” Phillip said with a laugh.

  Erik looked up and shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, dude, I’m having a bad time right now.”

  Phillip leaned back against the couch and asked, “Does it have to do with Piper?”

  Erik only nodded, looking away and petting Stanley on his head.

  “Wanna talk about it?”

  Erik sighed. “She’s pregnant. With my kid.”

  Looking up, he saw Phillip’s expression, and it was one of complete shock. He wanted to laugh at how he looked—Phillip’s eyes were wide and his mouth basically hanging to the ground—but nothing seemed funny right now. There was nothing to laugh about.

  “No fucking way, you slept with Piper?!”

  Erik nodded. “Six months ago.”

  “She’s six months?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Holy shit, dude! That’s insane. She just told you?”

  “Yeah, and she told Elli, too.”

  Phillip released his breath in a low whistle. “You are in deep shit, bro.”

  “Yup, and you know if I was some regular Joe off the street this wouldn’t matter. I could get away with being a deadbeat dad, give the kid a chance to be someone else’s kid and be happy, but since I am a famous hockey player with the public up my ass and a boss that is dictating my life, I am screwed into being a parent when that is the last thing I want to do. I’m not father material! I had a shitty childhood; my life didn’t even start till I was thirteen! How the hell am I supposed to be a father?” Erik was just being honest; even if he wanted a child there was no way he’d be good at being a dad—blood is blood and all that and he was damned sure he’d be as miserable a father as his dad was.

  Phillip was shaking his head. “Dude, Elli is gonna trade you off the team if you don’t do right by that kid. Now I’m even wondering if her decision to make me ‘A’ was to show you who’s boss and all that, you know? Wow, man, this is serious shit, serious shit.”

  “You think I don’t know that!” Erik yelled as he stood, sending Stanley scrambling to the floor, and went to the kitchen for a beer. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “What did Piper sa