Toni Aleo - Blue Lines

“What does this entail, Mrs. Adler?” Koey asked as he reached for the file and started reading.

“It means that if he messes up one more time, he is gone.”

Her gaze held his as his brain tried to comprehend her words. Surely this wasn’t happening.

“You’re bluffing,” Erik said with scorn. “You wouldn’t get rid of me. I’m one of the best on the team. Come on, Elli, you can’t be serious.”

“The best or not, Mr. Titov , you are tainting the image of the Assassins,” Michael Fisher said. Erik’s eyes cut from Elli’s to the primary owner of the team. Michael Fisher was older now, and looked every one of his sixty-nine years. His green eyes were still sharp, and Erik knew from the anger shown on his face that he was in deep shit. “I didn’t start this team with talent. I started this team with hardworking, good men. If we don’t feel you fall into that category, you’re gone.”

Erik inhaled a ragged breath before looking over at Koey. “What the hell, man? I mean, is this fair?”

Koey laid the file down before looking up at Elli, Mr. Fisher, and Coach Bacter. “Excuse us for a moment. I need to have a word with my client.”

For fuck sakes!

Erik followed his agent out of the office and shut the door behind them. Koey quickly turned around with a worried look on his face. “I told you to calm it down.”

“What? I’m not that bad! Phillip is worse!”

Koey took a step closer, moving his hands in conjunction with every word that came out of his mouth. “No! He has kept a low profile. He doesn’t do anything to provoke the paparazzi. You, on the other hand, do anything you can to get their attention!”

Erik shook his head in denial.

“I do not. I’m only having a good time. This is stupid. Fine, if she wants me off the team, move me to New York. I’ll be closer to my parents, at least.”

Koey looked up at the ceiling before letting out a long breath. When his blue eyes met Erik’s, he knew something was terribly wrong. “I hate to tell you this, but no one wants you, Erik. You’ve tarnished your reputation to the point that no one wants to deal with your shenanigans.”

The air rushed out of Erik as he braced himself against the wall. How could he be so out of touch with all that was going on? “What?”

“Elli’s been at me for the past six months regarding your behavior. I’ve told you to cool it and you’ve just continued with the drinking and females. She is pissed, and has apparently been talking to the other teams about your performance. Hell, they can pick up a tabloid and see for themselves!”

“My performance has not been affected by my partying.”

“Not yet, but it will be. But what has been affected is your reputation, and that I can’t fix. I don’t know what you want me to do.”

Erik threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. “Fix it! Make this probation shit go away!”

“I can’t,” Koey said with a shake of his head. “You either sign it, or she’ll let you go and more than likely you’ll get picked up by some crap-ass minor team somewhere far from your family.”

Erik covered his face with his hands, his heart banging against his chest as he took in long breaths to calm himself down. This couldn’t be happening. Why would Elli do this? So what if he had been in and out of the media a lot lately? If he remembered correctly, Shea and Jakob used to be just as bad. Plus, what about Phillip? He may have calmed it down a bit but there were still women leaving their house at all hours of the night.

“This is insane,” he muttered.

Koey nodded, running his hands through his thick hair before looking up at Erik. “Yeah, but you brought it on yourself. Stop messing with crazy chicks and stay out of the clubs or you are going to be out on your ass, Erik.”

No, he wasn’t. He wanted to play for the Assassins. He loved Nashville. He loved being close to his friends and to his brother’s family. Everything was good here. The women were plentiful and man, were they hot. He liked it that way and wasn’t going to change because of some damn probation. If he needed to stay out of the public eye, he could do that. No problem. But that didn’t mean he was going to change his ways. He was happy, and he’d be damned if he was going to change that.

Nodding his head, he looked down at his agent and said, “Okay, no problem.”

“So you’ll stay out of the clubs? Away from the cameras?”

“Yeah.”

“And away from the women?”

“Not entirely, but I’ll be more discreet.”

“Cool, come on, let’s get this signed. But keep in mind, if you don’t abide by Elli’s rules you are out and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Erik and Koey entered the room and saw that Elli was the only one sitting at the table. She looked tired and part of him felt guilty for causing her so much stress. But the other part was mad; he was being punished for being a guy who liked to have fun. How was that fair?

Elli stood when the door shut behind them, and then crossed her arms. “Gentlemen?”

Erik wanted to roll his eyes, but instead he asked, “Where did Mr. Fisher and Bacter go?”

“They had other things to do,” she said briskly before coming down to their end of the table and laying a pen on the folder with the probation paperwork. “Sign it, Erik. And don’t make any more mistakes.”

“I don’t plan on it,” he said through gritted teeth, reaching for the pen. He signed his name and rolled his eyes as he leaned back into his chair.

“I don’t want to do this; you know that, don’t you?”

Erik looked up at Elli and saw that she meant what she said. She was a good person, and a loving woman. He knew that she cared for him, but it still didn’t lessen his anger. “I know, but it doesn’t change the situation, now does it?”

Elli shook her head. “No, but hopefully you will.”

“What?” he asked, confused. “Change?”

“Yeah, because the way you’re living will get old. I can promise you that. I just want you to be happy, safe, and the best you can be for the team and for yourself. Maybe I am interfering with your private life, but when your private life is messing with my team, then, I’m sorry, but we have an issue.” She paused, then sat down by him, her eyes never leaving his. “I care about you, and I don’t want to let you go, so please do right by this contract and …” Elli paused again and Erik felt like she wanted to say something more, but instead she said, “Just please, don’t mess up.”

Please, don’t mess up .

Elli’s words played heavy on Erik’s mind as he made his way to the heart of downtown Nashville to meet Phillip for lunch. The air-conditioning was on full blast in his black Aston Martin Virage. It was too early in the summer for the weather to be so hot. Turning the air vents directly onto himself, Erik drove to the Tilted Kilt restaurant.

Pulling into a parking spot, he sat for a moment trying to deal with his frustration. How did things get this bad? When Phillip started staying in, cutting back on the partying, he should have, too. Instead he was parading up and down Broadway getting into trouble. The women were his drugs, and the alcohol didn’t really help the situation, either. That was the one thing he hated about being a professional hockey player—the fact that he had no privacy and couldn’t do as he pleased. He was grateful for the chance to play the greatest game known to man; he only wished his personal life wasn’t under a microscope. But then again, maybe this was a blessing in disguise. Maybe this would help him get the alternate-captain position he wanted. He would be on his best behavior, show Elli that he could change, and then maybe she’d give him the position and title he wanted.