The Penalty Box (Vancouver Wolves Hockey #3)(8)

“You don’t seem like you care.”

He shut his eyes again. “How pissed is Krista?”

I chose my words carefully. “She’s concerned. About you and your career.”

“And you?”

“What about me?”

He opened his eyes again, studying me. “Where are you with all of this?”

I raised my eyebrows. “I saw how beautiful your place was. I feel angry that someone would destroy it.”

That mouth curled into a smile. “It’s just stuff, Baby Krista.”

I looked around. It was more than stuff. This was his home. I’d seen how much care and thought he had put into making this place beautiful. I couldn’t believe how calm he was, how easily he seemed to accept what had happened.

Krista strode back in, speaking loudly. “That was Mark. You are definitely getting suspended.”

Mica lifted his head, and for the first time since we’d arrived, true emotion flashed in his eyes. “On what grounds?”

“Unacceptable off-ice conduct.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Now what?”

“Mark said he’d give you another shot if you got in line with the values that this team believes in.”

“Done.”

She paused and took a deep breath. “The only reason he agreed to suspend you and not trade you is because I told him you were engaged to get married.”

“What?” Mica froze, his blue eyes widened with stunned shock. I, too, swung my head around to look at Krista, trying to assess if she was serious.

Fire sparked in her eyes, showing the level of her determination. “I told him you were secretly engaged to a nice girl. Someone who has good values, never gets into trouble and is a good influence on you. I asked him to give you another chance. He’s willing to do so, but only if you get married and settle down.”

Holy crap. Was she serious?

He glared at her. “Who the fuck am I supposed to marry, Krista?”

She lifted her chin. “I haven’t got that far yet.”

He shook his head and looked between her and me. “I can’t get married.”

“Why the hell not?”

He struggled to find his words. “Because I don’t want to.”

“Your days of playing the field are over, Petrov. This season you will walk the straight and narrow, and that includes losing your precious puck bunnies.”

He sat forward and pierced her with a look. “It’s not about other women. I don’t believe in marriage.”

Krista crossed her arms. “You need to get it through your thick skull that this is no longer about damage control. This is about doing a freaking Hail Mary to save your career.”

He gritted his teeth and his nostrils flared. “I will do whatever you ask, but I am not getting married.”

“You do not understand how thin a thread your career is hanging by. When Ashford found out you were engaged, he dialed back from trading you to giving you another shot. This is your only option.”

His blue eyes flashed with raw emotion. The guy was working overtime to keep himself in check.

Krista put a hand on one hip. “We’re heading back to the office to sort this out. Take some time to think about what you want. If you want to save your career, then get cleaned up and get your ass down to my office so we can get to work.”

She motioned to me with her head to follow her outside. I glanced back at Mica. He was leaning back on the couch and his hands were over his face. I scuttled after Krista.

In the car, I looked over at her with awe in my voice. “Are you really going to make him marry someone?”

Her voice hardened. “Mica is so close to getting traded, he’ll be lucky if he ever wears a Wolves jersey again.”

I couldn’t believe this was her plan. Who even came up with something like this? “But marriage? How are you going to find someone to marry him?”

She threw me a glance. “That will not be the issue.”

It won’t? “What will be the issue?”

“Finding someone to marry him who won’t be interested in turning it into a real marriage.”

The thought of Mica being in a real marriage felt like a hot and dark knife slicing through my insides. I think I hated this plan as much as he did. “The guy seems dead set against marriage.”

“Mica has a complicated past.”

What does that mean? My head whipped around at Krista, but she bent her head over her phone, ending the conversation.





*



Back at the office, Krista got to work. She had me prepare the boardroom like a war room and then search various names from her list. I found photos of the candidates on social media and posted them on the board. I did an extensive internet search on all of them, looking for any red flags, before she sent their names to her PI for vetting.

“How does this even work?” I bit into my sandwich, looking up at the board filled with photos of beautiful women.

Krista stirred her salad. “I don’t know. I’m making it up as I go along.”

This is why Krista was the queen. The woman was fearless.

“Do you think this will save Mica?”

She looked around the room. “Mark Ashford loves Mica. He knows that Mica is one of the strongest defensemen in the league and so despite Mica’s antics, Mark wants him to stay. He wanted a reason to keep him. I know that Mark’s strongest values are community, charity work and family. When I told him that Mica was engaged, he backed off talking about trading him. I gave Mark a reason to keep Mica, and he jumped in with both feet.”