Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
SINCLAIR
"Yeah, absolutely, when we know anything, I'll be sure to loop you in. Thank you so much for reaching out. Have a great day."
I pressed end on the call and dropped the phone beside the half full mug of cold coffee. Elbows on the desktop, I rubbed my jaw with my fingertips. My face hurt from smiling into the bloody phone for the last week.
The response I was allowed to give to each call was the same, official script.
'The police are still investigating the alleged incident here at Demons Arena. I'm sorry, I don't know any more than that right now.'
Don't call me, I'll call you.
Of course they kept calling. Most days, the phone rang again almost as soon as I hung up. They knew as well as I did, I couldn't tell them anything but they tried anyway, pushing and poking, hoping I'd slip up.
Working in the PR department for the Dusk Bay Demons ice hockey team, I couldn't afford to slip up.
That might get me killed. Or worse, fired.
Yeah, priorities.
"I have to give you credit for not telling them to fuck off." Elenna Christakos leaned her hip against the side of my desk. The assistant equipment manager was one of my best friends. She also wrote romance books that would wear out any girl's vibrator.
"I was extremely tempted," I admitted. "I have to put together a press release that'll shut them up." That would be easier said than done.
I raised my hands to my temples and massaged them. After work, I had a date with a long bath, glass of wine and a good book.
"If anyone can do it, you can." She tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "You're the best at what you do, that's why the Demons hired you."
"You're slightly biased," I told her. She was sweet, but her faith in me might be a little misplaced.
"Not at all," she said. "If anyone can explain why the door to the arena was blown in and people died, it's you."
"Gas leak?" I joked weakly.
This was Dusk Bay. Attacks like the one on the arena weren't common, but it was difficult to sell them as an accident.
Families like the Brantleys, the Bells and, to a lesser extent, the Fiorellis, held a lot of power in the city. And by that I mean they basically ran the place. And competed with each other.
No one would buy the gas leak explanation.
"Zombie invasion?" Elenna joked. "Exploding Zamboni?"
"Both of those are more plausible than a gas leak." I bit back a smile. "The GM was not impressed with the mess they made. Apparently he doesn't mind the players leaving blood on the ice during a game, but using the rink for a shootout?"
I lowered my hands to my lap and sat back in my chair. "Let's just say he was ticked off."
"None of that was our doing," Elenna reminded me. "Aidan's plan was to get to Geneva Mancini before she came after any of us." The Demons' head coach was one of her partners. The equipment manager, Finley Howard, was another.
"Tell that to the GM," I said wearily. "On the other hand, don't. I don't think he wants to know."
Horatio Jones was all about denial when it came to who was really in charge in Dusk Bay. He knew as well as the rest of us, but pretended not to. Sometimes I wished I could do the same.
"That zombie invasion idea is sounding more and more plausible," she joked. "What better place to come for fresh brains?"
I grimaced. "Is that going to end up in a book someday? Hockey playing zombies?"
"It wasn't going to, but now you mention it…" She smiled and pressed her finger to the side of her cheek, as though contemplating it. "I could model one on Coast Riggs."
Her dark eyes appraised me carefully, watching for my response with undisguised amusement. She was sweet, but she could stir shit with the best of them. Especially when it came to my unrequited crush on the Demons' centre.
I managed not to blush. "How about you model one on Orion instead?" The defensive player was the third of her partners. Defensive in both meanings of the word. He gave off more 'touch her and die' vibes than anyone I've ever met.
"I could do both." She was lost in thought now, already working out characters in her brain. "Coast, the cocky centre zombie, and Orion, the quiet but intense defence zombie."
I laughed and shook my head at her. "You know if you write it, I'll read it, but don't you think Coast has a big enough ego?"
The guy was smoking hot, all muscles and charm, and he knew it. The puck bunnies adored him. Hell, women who didn't care for hockey panted after him.
He barely knew I existed. Why would he when he could get any woman he wanted? Except for Elenna. He flirted with her once in a while, and somehow lived to tell the tale. I guessed he liked to live dangerously.
Although, Aidan might not kill the Demons' best centre until his career was over.
Maybe.
Aidan wasn't known for keeping his temper contained.
"He does, now you mention it," Elenna said. "He probably thinks we're talking about him right now." She glanced behind her, like he might be right there, listening.
"We are," I pointed out. "But we're definitely not talking about his six pack or speculating on the size of his cock."
Thinking about both, yes, but not talking about them.
"I'm not." Elenna gave me a sly smile.
I needed to be less obvious.
"Of course not, you have three gorgeous guys at home who all adore you. You probably have more orgasms than you know what to do with."
No, I wasn't jealous at all. I mean, I had a drawer full of vibrators.
"Maybe you should forget about Coast and find someone else," Elenna suggested. "There's tons of single, hot guys in Dusk Bay. Hell, there's tons of them that work here at the arena. A girl can barely turn around without tripping over one of them."
I sighed. "I know, you're right. I need to forget about him. He's just a guy." A hot guy I was attracted to, but that was all it would ever be. A crush. The sooner I got over it, the better.
"Exactly," Elenna agreed. "Maybe you should go on that dating app, Kinkyr, and see what happens."
"Knowing my luck, I'd be paired up with an actual zombie," I said dryly. "Maybe one that works in the accounting department."
Elenna laughed. "Come out with us after tomorrow night's game then. If nothing else, you'll have fun. Or you might hook up with someone new. Wren is coming."
Wren Valentine was our other best friend. The petite redhead always made nights out more fun. She was one of those people who left their filter at home, if she ever had one. It was one of the things we loved the most about her.
"I'm always up for a night out." I was definitely up for a hookup. If not with Coast, then maybe another guy from the team. Or someone not related to the Demons.
Whatever, as long as they were generous with their orgasms. I couldn't remember the last time I had one that I didn't give to myself.
"Great. I think we could all use some relaxation after the attack, and the scrutiny from the police and journalists.
Aidan has been inundated with questions he's not allowed to answer.
Finley is about to fend them off with hockey sticks.
I think Orion is ready to shoot the next person that asks us anything related to the other night.
" She looked frustrated and tired. As over it as I was.
"I'll do my best to write something that puts all of this to bed," I said. "At least where the press is concerned. Any word on the Fiorellis?"
"Aidan says they've been suspiciously quiet," Elenna said slowly. "By now, they're aware Geneva and Jamison are dead. It's only a matter of time before Nicholas and Celine decide to get revenge." She wrinkled her nose.
"Against Coast," I said softly. He was the one who killed both of them. Jamison under Aidan's orders, and Geneva to protect Elenna. Even if Nicholas and Celine were pleased about the death of their stepmother, they'd be furious their brother was dead.
One way or another, they were bound to come after Coast at some point. The idea gave me shivers up and down my spine.
That, right there, was a good reason to stay away from him. Of course, it made him more attractive, not less. I'm wired that way, whether I liked it or not. Drawn to danger.
I grew up in Dusk Bay. Violence was nothing new to me. I'd killed people out of necessity. I wasn't scared to do it again.
"Against Aidan too, potentially," Elenna said softly. "He was supposed to be working with them against Geneva. He thinks they may have told her his plan, so she acted first. He's not sure how she knew otherwise. It's possible someone betrayed us."
She frowned and looked over at me. "You know he'll do whatever he can to keep Coast's name out of it. None of Geneva's people survived. The only way they'd know is if—"
"Whoever betrayed us to Geneva does the same to Coast," I concluded.
"Right," she said. "My guys are working as quickly as they can to figure out who it was. If they can get to them first, they will."
"I hate the thought it might have been one of the players on the team who betrayed us," I said.
"So do I," she agreed. "But it could have been anyone. There's plenty of staff in the arena. One of them might have been planted to work against the Brantleys."
Caleb Brantley, the second oldest of the seven brothers, owned the team. Someone would be sent to keep an eye on the Demons for that reason alone. Not knowing who I could trust, apart from Elenna and her guys, sucked.
Presumably I could trust Coast, unless he was trying to throw everyone off his trail. Killing Geneva and Jamison would be the perfect way to do that. No one would suspect him then.
Of course, now I was suspecting him. Sort of. I didn't want to, but it was difficult to dispute my own, hopefully flawed, logic.
"We'll find out who it is," Elenna assured me. "I don't need to tell you to keep your eyes open. The smallest thing could lead us to whoever it is."
I nodded. "I'll keep an eye out for anyone who does anything strange, like eating pizza with a knife and fork."
She snorted. "That's weird, but I don't think it's particularly suspicious."
"It's extremely suspicious," I joked. "Almost as suspicious as people who drink decaf."
She sniffed. "There's nothing wrong with decaf. It's better for Aidan. He gets wound up enough as it is." Her brown eyes widened slightly, as though she was thinking about something specific.
The polite thing to do would be not to agree with her too vigorously. Aidan put the 'wound' in 'wound up.' In both pronunciations of the word wound.
She correctly interpreted the reason for my silence. "I know, I know. It's who he is. He doesn't hold back in sharing what he thinks and feels. Especially when he's angry."
Which was most of the time. I'd never met anyone with as explosive a temper as Aidan Draeger. On any given day, he could be heard growling, yelling or snarling at someone, usually one of the players.
I doubted the words ‘holding back’ were in his vocabulary. I didn't know how Elenna put up with him, but she loved him. He loved her. As far as I could tell, she was the only person on the face of the planet he was ever truly soft with. As soft as a man like he could be.
"I suppose that's better than guessing what someone is thinking and feeling," I said.
"Are we talking about Coast again?" She seemed happy to change the subject.
I was about to say we were, but instead I said, "Coast Riggs who? I’m going out tomorrow night to meet someone new and forget all about him." I nodded firmly.
And I was going to get laid if it was the last thing I did.