Laces and Lace (Assassins #6) (35 page)

“No, I won’t,” Karson said with a shake of his head. “Nothing will ever come between us again.”

Her dad shook his head, his face still so full of anger, and she honestly didn’t understand it. Why couldn’t he just accept Karson? He wasn’t going anywhere.

“There is no talking to you when he is around,” her father spat as he stood. “Why don’t you just leave?” Nate yelled at him, and Lacey rolled her eyes.

“In your dreams,” Karson said and Lacey could see the fire in his eyes.

“Do you hear this? Do you see the way this trash treats your family?” he said, pointing and looking at Karson like he was the vilest thing on the face of the planet.

“You have yet to refer to him as my husband or by his name, so yeah, I think he is taking this pretty well. Lord knows I don’t deserve someone to be this patient with my circus of a family.”

“You’re more than worth it,” Karson said, and her heart warmed as she met his gaze. “I can deal with anything as long as I can be with you.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you,” she promised.

“So this is what you chose? Over your family?” her father demanded, causing her brow to furrow. She looked at Grady. Why, she wasn’t sure, maybe for support, but he was looking at the ground, his brows brought in as he slowly shook his head.

“I chose him to be my husband, but it’s not one or the other for me. Why are you making this into a choice? Can’t you just support us?”

“Absolutely not, it’s a choice. It’s me or that.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Karson asked dubiously as Lacey’s heart pounded in her chest. Surely he was just talking out of his ass, because who would do that to their daughter?

But when Nate Martin met her gaze, his eyes told her he wasn’t playing around. “No, make a choice, Lacey, your family or him.”

“No, Lacey, I know how much they mean to you. I want to be with you, I do, but family is important,” Karson said softly. “I don’t want to lose you, though. There has to be another way. Why would you do this to her?” Karson asked her father.

“Because I hate you.”

“What the fuck did I do to you? I love her, that’s all. I promise I can take care of her.”

“You are worthless and don’t deserve someone so gorgeous and amazing.”

“You’re right, but she loves me too, and I can make her happy. Don’t make her choose; that’s just wrong,” Karson said with a shake of his head.

“Stop,” she said, swallowing around the lump in her throat. She looked over at Grady, but he wouldn’t look at her. Still she asked, “Does this go for you too? Are you going to keep the boys from me?”

Nate glared at Grady, but he ignored him, shaking his head. “No, Lacey, you can come see the boys. I don’t agree with what he is saying.”

“Oh, you don’t?” her father asked incredulously.

Grady shook his head. “No, Dad, I don’t. Yeah, we both think she is making a mistake. But she’s right—we never got to make mistakes because you didn’t let us do anything. And I’m getting to the point with you where I really don’t know who you are,” he seethed.

Nate brows came up. “Is that right?”

“Yeah. I don’t know why you are hell-bent on ruining her, but I refuse to keep my family and myself from my sister because she is married to some douche. I don’t have to deal with him, but I want to deal with my sister.”

“So you want her to leave?” Nate asked incredulously.

“No, Dad, I don’t, but I also don’t want to lose all contact with her,” he said, tearing his gaze off their father and to Lacey. “So yeah, after you are all packed and ready, come on over to the house. I know Rachel will want to say goodbye. I’m sure you’ll have to figure things out too with Lacey’s Lace.”

“Yeah, I’ll call you. Thank you, Grady.”

He nodded, but she didn’t miss the tears in his eyes. He then headed for the door, calling to their father, “I’ll be in the car.”

Her father ignored him and glared at Karson before meeting Lacey’s tear-filled gaze. She didn’t understand this. Why was he being such an asshole? “So you are choosing him then?”

As much as she didn’t want this to happen, there really wasn’t another choice. She loved her father. Even with all his antics, he was her father, but she refused to be treated as if she couldn’t make her own decisions. She could and she would.

So ignoring the sob inside her, she said, “Yeah, Dad. I choose Karson.”

W
hen the door slammed, Lacey bit her lip to keep it from wobbling. How could her own father do this to her? What kind of person makes their daughter choose between two people she loves without even a second thought? But above all, did she make the right choice?

Of course you did,
she thought, but that didn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks and into her mouth. Swallowing her sob, since she didn’t want to worry Karson, she closed her eyes tightly just as his arms wrapped around her from behind. When he kissed the back of her head, she let go. Turning in his arms, she wrapped her arms around his neck and just cried. Her body shook from her sobs, and she held on to him as if he was a life preserver and she was drowning. If a way, she was. In her own tears and pain.

The only comforting thought was she knew Karson would never let go.

Squeezing her eyes tight, she wished her mother were here. She would have supported Lacey, loved her, and would never have made her choose. Even when her father was hard on her, she would take Lacey somewhere and just love her. There was something about her mother’s love that made everything better. It was sort of like Karson’s love. Even with the heartbreaking ultimatum her father gave her, in Karson’s arms, surrounded by his love, Lacey knew that everything was going to be okay.

Kissing her temple, he whispered, “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I really am.”

“It’s not your fault,” she whispered. “It’s his.”

He nodded slowly, kissing her jaw as he tightened his arms around her. “What do you want me to do?”

A sob fell from her lips as her body shook. He was too good to her. What man stood beside someone who had a demonic family? Especially when he had the dream family that everyone wished for. The Kings loved and they loved hard, while all Lacey’s family did was hate. It was so ridiculous, and she really didn’t understand why this was going down the way it was.

“Just hold me for a little bit longer, and then I’ll wipe away my tears and we’ll pack.”

“We don’t have to pack, honey. We can delay everything if you want,” he suggested, but she shook her head quickly.

“No,” she whispered, pulling her head back and looking into his eyes. “I’m ready to start our life.”

“Me too,” he said softly. “But I don’t want you to do this all upset. Maybe you need some time to really hash this out.”

Her head cocked to the side as her eyes held his. “Karson, I’ve hashed and I’m good. Are you having second thoughts?”

He scoffed. “Fuck no, sweetheart. I want to take you home but—”

“No but,” she said, leaving his embrace. “Take me home, Karson. I’m yours.”

“It’s just I don’t like that he made you choose,” he said as she turned to go down the hall. Looking over her shoulder, she shrugged.

“Me either. But I made the right choice.”

A grin pulled at his lips as he nodded. “No pressure, eh?”

She smiled for the first time in hours and nodded. “None. You got this.”

Reaching for her, he took her in his arms and dipped her back, looking down at her. “I do and I always will.”

“Good,” she said, threading her fingers through his hair. “Now, let’s pack this apartment, and then go to my office and pack that before going to say bye to my nephews. Then, Mr. King, you are taking me home.”

Leaning down, he touched his lips to hers, not in a kiss but as a presence. His lips were so warm and powerful, while his eyes still were filled with worry. She wanted nothing more than to erase it. She didn’t want him to worry about something that couldn’t be changed. Her father had made the choice that he did, and he would have to live with that decision. While, yes, she was going to miss her father, she also realized that she might be a little happier not worrying about every step she took. Constantly asking herself if this would piss him off or if he would be calling within seconds to bitch her out. She was finally free, and while she was sad, she was also okay with it. She had Karson. What else did she need?

Holding her face in his hands, bringing her attention back to him, Karson whispered, “That is a great idea, Mrs. King.”

Later that afternoon, after getting everything packed in her apartment that she was taking, they headed to Lacey’s office where they packed up what she’d need from her office. Karson was beyond helpful but also curious, and Lacey loved that. She loved that he asked so much about the business and looked like a kid in a candy store as he snooped around the shop, holding up pieces and asking her to model them for him. Lucky for him, she owned every piece in the shop and promised to wear them for him every night. That seemed to please him immensely.

After packing everything up, he said that whatever house they got would have to have a big enough office for her to do the work she needed to. It meant a lot to her that he supported her so much because this business had been her lover for the last six years. As she stood in the middle of the shop, looking around at the soft teal and white walls with racks of lingerie and white shelves that held bras for all types of women and the drawers full of sexy panties, her eyes got a little misty. She’d built this store from the ground up and now she was leaving.

It was insane.

She had spent over eighty hours a week there. Working on mock-ups for new lingerie and then working hard to get more donations for her foundation for young women with breast cancer. Would she work as much as she had? She had a husband now. Would she live and breathe her job, or would she finally have a reason to get up from behind the desk? She knew the answer, and while it was bittersweet, she was going to miss this place.

When Karson’s hand slid into hers, he asked, “You okay?”

She smiled as she mentally shook herself out of her moment. She wanted this. She wanted Karson and happiness. Everything else would fall into place; she was sure of it. Squeezing his hand, she nodded before leading him back to her office so she could gather a few more things. Looking back at him, she said, “It’s weird to leave this place. I practically lived in this shop for the first three years it was open.”

“It’s a beautiful shop. You’ve done amazing.” When she grinned over at him from behind her desk, he asked, “Have you considered opening a new shop somewhere else? For example, Nashville?”

Her heart skipped a beat at that question. She had always wanted to do that, but she had never lived anywhere else and had never had the chance to expand. It was mainly fear that had held her back, but now, the possibilities were endless.

As she told him that, he smiled and said, “You do now.”

Her grin grew as she nodded slowly. “Maybe.”

That seemed to please him because within seconds, he was behind her desk, his lips crashing against hers, taking her breath away. She loved how into her career he was. He wanted to know everything and constantly told her how impressed he was. It was so fulfilling and perfect. Holding on to each other, they kissed for what seemed like ever before they came up for air, gazing into each other’s desire-filled eyes.

Smiling, he said, “You are lucky we have more shit to do, or I would ravish you against this desk.”