Laces and Lace (Assassins #6) (59 page)

Again, no one seemed impressed with him. He thought he was awesome, but obviously he was not a winner in the Martins’ eyes.

“By the way, my name is Karson,” he said to Nate’s fiancée, holding his hand out to shake hers, but she looked at him like he stank. “And it’s wonderful meet you,” he said before grabbing her bags and helping them load up the car.

Yeah, this was going to be awesome.

Getting into his car, he was surprised when Rachel got in with Nate and Sabrina. Looking back at her, he said, “You’re not gonna ride with Grady?”

She set him with a look. “The trunk was small and couldn’t hold all our bags, so I said I would ride with you.”

“Oh, I can put it in the back of my car if ya want,” he offered, but instead of taking that as a good thing, Rachel glared.

“Don’t want me to ride with you?”

“Oh, I don’t care one way or another. I just assumed you’d want to be with your husband,” he said, putting the car in drive and pulling out.

Halfway down the road, he checked the mirror to make sure Grady was behind him, and thankfully, he was. Hitting the highway, Karson settled in for the ride. It was probably going to be a long one.

“How long will it be before we are there?” Nate asked.

“About forty minutes. Do you need to stop?”

“No, just wondering how long I’ll be trapped in the car with you,” he snapped back and Karson let out a breath.

“Can we let this go, please? For Lacey?”

“No,” Nate answered without even thinking. “I don’t like you, and soon you’ll be gone.”

“Eh, doubt that,” Karson said with a nod, not letting Nate’s hatred get to him.

“We’ll see,” he said almost as a promise, and Karson didn’t like that one bit.

Before he could voice that, Rachel said, “Do you even want to be with her?”

“The hell? Yeah, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be dealing with you people,” he said with a little more acid than needed in his voice. “She’s the only reason I tolerate the crap you guys throw my way.”

“We haven’t even started yet,” Nate said, glaring. “You have brainwashed her or something, but she’ll come to her senses and come home.”

“She is home,” he reiterated before shaking his head. “I’m not going to fight with you, so just let it go.”

“Never, not till I get my baby back,” Nate promised and it churned Karson’s stomach.

Before he could say something though, Rachel said, “I just don’t get it though. If you love her and want to be with her, why was I the one at the doctor with her?”

His brows came in. “I don’t know; why did you go with her?”

“Well, when they say your best friend could have cancer, you tend to want to be there for support. So really, who loves whom?” she snapped, and when what she said registered in Karson’s head, he whipped to the side of the road, putting the car in park and turning to look at Rachel.

“What?” he demanded. “What did you say?”

“Whoa, asshole,” Nate yelled, but Karson shook his head.

“No, what did you say?” he asked, looking deep into Rachel’s eyes. The cockiness and bitchiness were gone, and he could see the fear in her eyes.

Good.

“I said who loves—”

“No, not that bullshit because I love her more than you ever will, but about the cancer. Lacey has cancer?” he asked, his heart pounding in his ears.

She shook her head as her eyes bored into his. “Wait, are you really going to act like you don’t know?”

His body trembled with anger as he shook his head. “I have no clue what you are talking about, but I have no problem in the world letting you walk.”

Nate barked with laughter before shaking his head. “You really are worthless.”

“Shut up,” Karson snapped, setting Rachel with a look.

But before she could speak, Sabrina said, “They thought she had cancer, and you weren’t there for her. You were off playing hockey, leaving your wife to fend for herself. Thankfully, she had family to be there for her since you couldn’t.”

Rage filled him from the tip of his head to the bottom of his feet as he slowly turned, gripping the steering wheel. They thought she had cancer and she never told him? She lied to him? What the fuck? Clearing his throat, he put the car in drive and drove off as the betrayal ate him alive.

“You can let go of the act, Karson. It’s obvious who really loves her.”

“Fuck you, Martin,” he muttered, slamming his foot onto the gas.

“Don’t talk to me like that,” he demanded, but Karson wasn’t listening.

He wanted to think that they were just playing him. Working him up so he would lose his shit and ruin his relationship with Lacey, but that wasn’t going to happen. He’d keep his cool.

Until he got Lacey alone.

And then he would find out the truth.

Ignoring them the rest of the way home, Karson’s heart didn’t slow down in speed. His hands were clammy, his chest ached, and he hoped to God what they said wasn’t true. Surely, she wouldn’t lie to him. Surely, she wouldn’t keep something so serious a secret from him. Why? He didn’t understand.

Turning onto their street, Karson’s heart was about to come out of his chest. The knocking was killing him, but he couldn’t make it stop. Pulling up behind his truck, he put Lacey’s new car in park and threw the door open.

“Wow, nice house,” Grady said as he got out of the other car.

“Thanks, man. Can you help them with their shit? I gotta get inside real quick.”

“Sure? You okay?” he asked and it was so weird.

Karson shook his head. “Why are you being nice to me?”

Grady shrugged his shoulders before looking back at where his wife and father were getting out of the car. Meeting Karson’s gaze, he said, “Because you make her happy, and I don’t want to lose my relationship with my sister.”

“That makes sense. Thanks,” he said, letting out a breath. “But your wife and Dad can kiss my ass.”

With that, he headed inside to find Lacey standing with his family with a huge grin on her face. Everyone was smiling, but when the door slammed behind him and Lacey met his gaze, her grin fell as a look of horror came across her face.

“Oh shit, did you kill my family?”

“Almost. We need to talk,” he demanded, coming toward her.

“Are you okay?” his mom asked but he shook his head.

“Not now, Ma,” he said taking Lacey’s arm in his hand. “Come on.”

But before he could even direct her into the other room, her father called out, “See how your husband treats us, Lacey? Makes us fend for ourselves.”

Karson gritted his teeth as Lacey said, “You obviously pissed him off. He’s shaking! What did you do?”

Karl took a step forward and jerked a thumb toward Nate. “This your father, Lacey sweetheart?”

She let out a breath. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I don’t know what is going on. Give me one second to find out and I’ll fix it. I’m so sorry.”

“No worries,” he said, and before Karson could even stop him, Karl’s fist connected with Nate’s nose.

“Oh shit!” JT called out. “Dude, your dad just decked your father-in-law!”

“Oh my God,” Lacey cried.

“Dad!” Kacey and Karson yelled.

“Karl!” his mother screamed before pulling him away.

“Oh my gosh, you barbarian! My Nate!” Sabrina cried, gathering him in her arms, but he pushed her away, standing up and glaring. Grady stood between him and Karl, holding his dad back.

“Not here, Dad. This is Lacey’s home,” he said, but obviously Karl King didn’t care that it was their home.

“He’s right. Jesus, Karl!” Regina yelled, smacking his arm. “Not here!”

“No, that asshole hurt my son, so it’s payback time,” he said, shaking out his hand. Looking at Karson, Karl said, “No one hurts my son or my new daughter-in-law and gets away with it.” Meeting Nate’s gaze, Karson was horrified as blood gushed out of his nose. Before he could even move though, Karl said, “That was damn near ten years coming, Nate Martin. Leave these kids alone. They love each other.”

“Burn in hell, you asshole,” Sabrina cried. “I’m not staying here!”

“How dare you surround us with these savages, Lacey Arielle?”

“You haven’t seen savage yet, dickwad,” Kacey warned. “That’s only one King who has it out for you. There are two more of us.”

“That’s enough!” Karson yelled, shaking his head.

“Great family to join, Lacey,” Sabrina scolded.

“Don’t make me pull those extensions out of your hair. We are a wonderful family. You guys are the ones with a stick up your ass,” Regina yelled, and this time, Karl was holding her back. “We love Lacey!”

“Well, you guys are nothing more than trash in my book,” Sabrina snapped with a dirty look on her face.

“Don’t talk to my momma like that, you bitch!”

“Man, this is better than Jerry Springer,” JT said, and Karson didn’t even know what to do.

“Shut up, JT,” Lacey yelled before throwing her arms up. “Everyone just shut the hell up!”

Lacey’s shoulders fell beside him, and Karson looked down at her. He was mad about the potential lie and really didn’t want to care about this, but he knew she was upset. This was a clusterfuck of bad. She covered her face, and he watched as her shoulders shook with sobs.

“This was such a bad idea,” she whispered, and no matter how mad he was, he couldn’t let her cry. Before he could wrap her up though, his father came to her and raised her face so he could look at her. Wiping away her tears, he smiled.

“I’m sorry, honey, but I protect my own, and you are part of that now,” he said, and before Lacey could say anything, he walked away with Kacey and Regina in his wake.

“Ah, man! It’s over?” JT complained, and Karson swore he was going to kill him. But before he could, Lacey looked up at him, her watering eyes begging him to do something, but he had no clue what to do.

So he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Happy Thanksgiving?”

“Really?” she asked and he could see that she was annoyed. Well, she was about to be even more annoyed.

“No, but it’s only about to get worse,” he muttered and then met her gaze. “Can I see you in our room? Now.”

And as he headed for the bedroom, her hand in his, pulling her with him, he knew that everything was a mess, and it would probably be better for him to wait. But he couldn’t wait.

He had to know why his wife lied to him.

L
acey couldn’t believe what was happening.

First JT was driving her up the damn wall, then she was entertaining Regina, Karl, and Kacey while trying to get JT from flirting with her sister-in-law, and then her husband walked in, pissed as hell, but that wasn’t even the kicker. Her father-in-law probably broke her dad’s nose, and now, Karson wanted to talk.

Happy-
fucking
-Thanksgiving, Lacey!

Wiping the tears from her face, she tried to keep up as Karson dragged her through the house, up the stairs, and into their room. Before the door could shut though, she asked, “Do you think it’s a good idea to leave them alone?”

“I don’t fucking care,” he said before slamming the door. “I want to know what the hell happened in Chicago!”

Her head cocked to the side. “Chicago?”

“Yeah, apparently you thought you had cancer again, and instead of calling your husband, you called upon your fucking cunt of a best friend.”

Oh. Shit.

Only able to blink at Karson, she sucked in a deep breath.

“Talk, Lacey! Tell me why you lied to me. You told me you were fine! Why would you keep something like that from me? What the fuck?”

Her palms started to sweat before the last word left his mouth. Her heart jackhammered against her ribs, and she couldn’t seem to catch her breath. This was something she should have been the one to tell him, and she hadn’t. She fucked up.

“I’m so sorry, Karson. I totally forgot to tell you when I got back.”

“When you got back!” he practically yelled. “I would have been there for you. I would have held you and been the rock you needed.”

“You were, though,” she tried to say calmly, but her voice was shaky. “Even without knowing it, Karson, you were. All I needed was your voice, and I knew I was going to be okay.”