The Penalty Box: A hockey sports romance novel (A Vancouver Wolves Hockey Romance Book 3)

by Odette Stone

  As if he could sense my stare, he opened his eyes and his face broke into a gorgeous smile.

  “Hey.” He put his feet down and leaned closer. His eyes traveled over my face. “How are you feeling?”

  “Surprisingly fine.” My voice sounded scratchy. “What happened?”

  “You had a blood transfusion, and they gave you some iron.”

  “The baby is okay?” I confirmed.

  He smiled and picked up my hand, bringing it to his mouth to kiss my fingers gently. “Baby is fine.”

  We stared at each other.

  “I’m sorry I doubted you,” I confessed. “I never should have.”

  “Shhh,” he soothed. “Don’t even talk about that.”

  “I believe in you,” I added, scared that he didn’t know that.

  “I know.”

  I studied him. He looked rumpled and tired. “You’ve been through hell.”

  “So have you.”

  I frowned as memories of the horror washed over me. “Is that woman okay?”

  He nodded and gave a sad smile. “She’s doing good. They treated her for malnutrition and dehydration, but her family is around her and they expect a full recovery.” He cleared his throat. “They came to thank us for helping find her.”

  “You saved us.” I blinked. “Sniper. Is Sniper okay?

  He squeezed my hand. “He’s fine. Zoey took him to the vet. He was given a large dose of tranquilizers, but he’s fine.”

  More memories washed over me. Andrew, with a gun. Telling me I was his wife. “Andrew is crazy.”

  His face looked grim. “Yeah. He is.”

  I didn’t want to think about Andrew or how close he came to destroying my life.

  “Mica, I’m so sorry.”

  He stood, picked me up and climbed into bed with me. I sighed as I felt his big body gently curl around me. “We’re safe. It’s going to be okay.”

  A day later, I got released from the hospital. All I wanted to do was get home. Mica hovered over me as he walked me to the car. I actually felt better than I had in weeks. The doctor said it was because of my iron infusions.

  We drove home in silence. We had so much to talk about, but neither of us seemed to want to talk.

  As we passed Andrew’s house, we saw a large white tent set up in the front driveway and several police vans.

  “What’s going on?”

  Mica didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled into our driveway and moved with me inside. The dogs went bananas when they saw me. Sniper whined and pressed his head against my legs.

  “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

  When we got over our happy reunion, I settled on the couch.

  Mica came to sit beside me. He had that look on his face.

  “What is it?”

  He swallowed as he debated how much he wanted to tell me. “Andrew was never married. There is no record of him ever being married.”

  My eyebrows went up. “But…”

  Mica looked grim. “The house belonged to his mom, and he moved in there after she passed away.” He took my hands in his. “They found some other bodies.”

  Horror washed over me. “What do you mean?”

  “They found two shallow graves in his backyard and the bodies of two women.”

  Revulsion made my skin crawl. “Are you serious?”

  He squeezed my hands. “It was never Yazimoto scaring you. It was always Andrew.”

  I thought about the figure in the backyard, the scarecrow, the doorbell ringing in the night. “That was him?”

  “Not sure what his motives were, but police think you were the object of his obsession. Maybe he hoped that if you got scared, you’d be drawn to him for comfort.”

  Bile rose up my throat. “It worked.”

  “Hey,” he said softly. “You didn’t know. He had the entire world fooled. His dog walking group, his work—no one can believe who he was.”

  “Was?” Mica was using the past tense.

  He looked down at my fingers. “Andrew was arrested and transferred to a high-security location. Yesterday they found him dead in his cell.”

  I swallowed hard. “Was it suicide?”

  He slowly shook his head. “He had defensive wounds on his arms and legs. They reviewed the cameras, but apparently, all the cameras outside his cell malfunctioned for over an hour that night.”

  My voice faltered. “Someone… killed him?”

  Blue eyes held mine. “Someone wanted to make sure he hurt no one else again.”

  I thought about the voice on the other end of the phone, but I didn’t want to say those words. “Okay.”

  Mica leaned forward and kissed my forehead before rubbing my arms. “It means there won’t be a trial. This is all behind us now. It’s over.”

  “What about Sabrina?”

  “She’s being charged with mischief and fraud.”

  I nodded, satisfied. “That’s what I call a crazy ex.”

  Mica laughed and yanked me onto his lap, burying his face in my neck. “Sorry about that.”

  I put my palm on his cheek. “Mark knew about our ruse.”

  Those blue eyes I loved so much crinkled as he smiled at me. “He told me.”

  “We got married for no reason.”

  His expression got serious. “Any regrets?”

  Love filled my heart as I stared at my husband. “No regrets. You?”

  That smile I loved so much broke across his face. “Nope. No regrets.”

  “What about the baby?”

  He leaned forward with that mouth I loved so much and kissed me. “Can’t wait.”

  “You mean that?” I breathed, staring into his eyes.

  “With all my heart.”

  The doorbell pealed and Sasha broke into wild barking.

  Mica lifted me off the couch and walked to the door. I followed closely behind him.

  When he swung the door open, a stern-looking woman flashed her badge at him.

  “Mica Petrov?”

  He stiffened. “What now?”

  “I’m Detective Klaassen, and I wanted to let you know they assigned me to your case.”

  He crossed his arms, unimpressed. “What happened to Detective Wallace?”

  She glanced at me before speaking. “Detective Wallace is under internal investigation. He’s on leave.”

  I moved to stand next to Mica.

  She cleared her throat. “You were under investigation for the night that a dock warehouse got raided. It’s come to our attention that Detective Wallace was using unnecessary means to investigate you and exerted an unnecessary force on you as a citizen. There is no evidence to suggest that you were involved in any illegal activity, and I wanted to let you know that we’ve closed that investigation. The case should have been dropped the morning of, and you should never have been detained or charged. On behalf of the Vancouver Police, we’d like to apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. I hope our actions didn’t disrupt your life too much.”

  Mica looked at me with wide eyes. “Apology accepted.”

  She gave a curt nod. “Well, have a good day.”

  He shut the door and looked at me in disbelief. “Detective Wallace should have never detained or charged me.”

  I stared at him. “If he hadn’t, you wouldn’t have gotten in trouble with Mark.” I thought about it. “Which means you wouldn’t have had to marry me.”

  He swept me into his arms. “Do I really have Detective Wallace to thank for all of this?”

  “I’m the inconvenience he caused.”

  “This marriage was the best inconvenience of my life.”

  I smiled up at him. “Now what?”

  He smiled back. “Now we start the rest of our lives.”

  Epilogue

  Mica

  I stood beside Ryan as we started to get dressed for the game. There was an excited vibe in the locker room. We had a three-game lead in the playoffs, and this was our fifth game. Tonight, we wanted to bring the cup home.

>   Ryan glanced at me. “How did your meeting go with Mark?”

  I tossed my watch onto the shelf in my locker. “He signed me for another five years.”

  Ryan’s eyes lit up. He lifted his hand in a high-five. “Nice.”

  Mark had put his money where his mouth was, giving me an unreal contract that would be announced when the playoffs were over. “I’m happy. Happy to stay here.”

  I was playing it low key, but I was ecstatic that Mark had signed me for another five years. This was our home. This was where our friends were and where we wanted to raise our child.

  “Hockey is life, right?” He grinned.

  My wife is my life. “You know it.”

  We stood on the ice as the music started to play. The stadium was dark and quiet as the singer belted out our national anthem. You could feel the energy of the crowd anticipating the biggest game of the season. I lifted my eyes to the family boxes, searching. There. There she was. Charlie stood, her hands cradling her beautiful baby belly. Beside her, my eyes found my mom. Zoey. Krista. Jasper and Mark. And Andrusha.

  I momentarily reflected on how much my life had changed. A year ago, during playoffs, I had some faceless puck bunny cheering me on. Now I had a family, my whole family, standing behind me.

  Charlie’s eyes found mine. Her face broke into the most beautiful smile. God, I loved that woman. I stared up at her, wondering for the thousandth time how I hadn’t fallen in love with her the first time I met her. She was, in my mind, the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. And she was mine. All mine.

  She blew me a kiss and grinned cheekily. I didn’t think I could get any happier. Well, one thing could make me happier: winning tonight, and bringing home the cup.

  I glanced at Ryan. We made eye contact.

  “Let’s do this,” I mouthed.

  He grinned back at me and mouthed, “All the way.”

  Two and a half hours later, I stood on the ice in disbelief. We had won. Ryan skated over and jumped on me, giving me a hug.

  “We did it!” he screamed. “We won.”

  Gloves came off as our team piled together in a group on the ice, hugging and screaming at each other. We had done it. We had won the cup. The crowds were screaming and going crazy. People flooded onto the ice so they could get in on the action.

  I skated around, breathing hard. I looked up at the box. I didn’t see Charlie, just my mom, Mark, and Jasper. Zoey appeared by my side, breathless and happy. I picked her up and hugged her.

  “Charlie’s at the gate,” she yelled at me, pointing to the gate. “I have to go find Ryan.”

  I fought my way through the growing, celebrating crowd on the ice, my eyes searching for her. She was standing at the gate, her hands over her mouth. Andrusha was by her side, protecting her from everyone around her.

  I sped up and stopped short in front of her.

  “Excuse me,” I said. “Have you seen my wife?”

  Her eyes sparkled with laughter. “Not sure. What does she look like?”

  “She’s ridiculously cute, and she has a smart mouth on her. More importantly, she hates hockey.”

  She laughed. “Smart girl. She married a hockey player?”

  “Crazy, hey?” I leaned over the gate, so I could press my mouth against her lips. She tasted fantastic. Like hot sex, love, and my home.

  She put her arms around my neck and whispered in my ear. “Crazy in love.”

  “You’re mine,” I whispered back. “You’re my wife.”

  Note from Odette

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for reading my book. It means the world to me. I really loved writing this book. It was beyond fun!

  As a special gift to my VIP mail subscribers, I’ve written a bonus chapter about Mica and Charlie. Just a small disclaimer - it’s pretty racy with lots of dirty talk.

  If you join my mailing list, in the welcome email you will also find a link for the bonus chapter and my free short hockey novella, Hook My Heart. This novella is exclusive for my subscribers!

  If you are interested, you can sign up here. VIP Mailing List.

  And if you are already a subscriber - look for the release email of this book - there will be a link attached for the bonus chapter!

  Keep on reading for a short excerpt of High Risk Rookie, my next hockey book. And excerpts from my other two hockey books, Puck Me Secretly, and Home Game.

  Thanks again for reading my book. I could not do this without you!

  XOXO

  Odette

  High Risk Rookie

  Please enjoy a sneak peak of my fourth Vancouver Wolves Hockey book, High Risk Rookie

  Krista

  I sat at my desk, looking over the latest contracts. I was making a mental note to call my lawyer when a figure appeared at the door.

  I glanced up, pausing when I saw Mark Ashford standing in the doorway.

  He smiled at me, a charming smile. “Sorry. No one was at the front desk.”

  “I haven’t yet found a replacement for Charlie while she’s on mat leave.”

  “You busy?”

  “Not for you. Come in.” I stood up and ushered him towards my couches. “Have you recovered from your celebrations after winning the Stanley Cup?”

  He smiled. “Still celebrating.” I sat down and watched as he took a seat on the couch across from me. “You’re looking good.”

  “Quit buttering me up, Mark. What brings you all the way to my side of town?”

  He leaned forward, his gaze intent. “I’m interested in a player.”

  Intriguing. “All my players are signed with you. Who is it?”

  “He’s gone through two agents, and word on the street is that his third agent is about to fire him.”

  “Sounds like trouble.” I studied Mark. “Exactly the kind of trouble you tend to avoid.”

  “He’s an unbelievable talent. I want him to sign with the Wolves.”

  “That’s something you should be discussing with his agent.”

  “His agent hasn’t talked to him in over four weeks.”

  My eyebrows shot up.

  “He can’t find him,” he added.

  “What the fuck?” I breathed.

  Mark cleared his throat. “I want you to go headhunt him.”

  “I don’t headhunt my clients, Mark. I don’t need to. Those days are long over.”

  He looked at me, thinking. Mark was a sharp businessman. If I was a shark, he was a wolf. We respected and understood each other. Right now, he was trying to figure out how to get me into the game.

  I tried again. “Why is his agent firing him?”

  He leaned back and crossed his arms. “He’s wild. Completely out of control. The list of his infractions is a mile long.”

  I frowned, curious. This sounded exactly like the kind of player Mark avoided signing. “Why do you want him?”

  “He’s the best rookie I’ve seen in a long time.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “He’s a rookie?”

  “He’s played three years in Europe, but he’s a rookie to the NHL. He’s looking to sign on, and that process hasn’t been going smoothly.”

  “How old is he?”

  Twenty-two.”

  “He sounds high-risk.”

  He nodded. “Yup.”

  “But you want him.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why me? There are a dozen bigger agencies with longer arms than me.”

  “You’re the only one who might have a shot at controlling him. This guy is going off the rails. He’s going to ruin his career before it starts.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “And you think some good old-fashioned stability will give him a chance at success?”

  “I know it will.”

  “You don’t want any other team to pick him up.”

  “Nope.” He sighed. “I don’t. I want him. Bad.”

  “I think I’m done with managing wild players.”

  He smiled a wolfish smile. “But you’re so good at
it.”

  “How do I even know he wants to play here?”

  “You don’t.”

  “Sounds like a wild goose chase to me.”

  He put a file down on the table. “As you know, because of a conflict of interest, I can’t offer you compensation for your efforts, but I can pass on what I’ve dug up. In this file, you will find everything you need to know about him and his location. There is also a demo reel of him.”

  “Where is he?”

  He paused. “Last report from nine this morning, he was living the high life in Ensenada, Mexico.”

  I blinked. “Mexico? You’re shitting me. What the hell is he doing there?”

  “Surfing.”

  “Come again?”

  “The guy is a wild athlete. He loves to surf.”

  I shook my head and said dryly, “This conversation is madness. You know I’m not going to bite.”

  He stood up and winked. “You look like you could use some sun.”

  “I hate you, Mark,” I said without heat. I waited until Mark had disappeared out the door before I picked up the file. There was no way I would chase some wild child through Mexico to try to convince him to sign with me, just so I could sign him for Mark.

  No way.

  But out of curiosity, I put on the demo reel and pressed play.

  Holy shit. I watched in complete awe. I couldn’t even comprehend some of the moves this mysterious player made on the ice. He was beyond good. He was fucking unbelievable. I wasn’t sure anyone had seen talent like that in a couple of decades.

  I looked at his file more closely. I had never even heard of this guy before. He was an unknown.

  Despite my best intentions, I played the demo twice more before sitting back to think.

  This is such a bad idea.

  Such a bad idea.

  I reached for the phone to call my travel agent. “I need you to book me on the next available flight to Tijuana.”

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