Laces and Lace (Assassins #6) Read online

  “Auntie Lacey, you’re moving?” one of them asked, the taller of the two.

  “Yeah, buddy, but I’ll visit all the time,” she said, bending down and hugging them both close to her.

  “But we don’t want you to go,” the smaller one said with his lip out.

  “You won’t even know I’m gone. You two are starting hockey soon and are so busy with school. When summer comes, maybe I can convince Mom and Dad to let you guys come stay with me and Karson.”

  Saying his name must have brought attention to him because both boys’ heads whipped back to look at him. Standing, Lacey wrapped her arms around his waist and said, “This is my husband, Karson. Karson, these fine, strapping boys are my nephews, Flynn and Zander.”

  “Hey, guys,” Karson said, fist-bumping both of them. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You play hockey?” Flynn asked and Karson nodded.

  “I do, for the Assassins.”

  “Ew, that team is wack,” Zander said with a look of disgust on his face. “You chose the wrong team.”

  “Did I?” Karson scoffed.

  “For sure, the only team in the NHL that’s worth anything is the Blackhawks,” Flynn said, crossing his arms across his chest, looking so much like Grady it was scary. “My daddy plays for the Hawks.”

  “I know who your daddy is, and didn’t we just beat your team the other night?” Karson asked, poking fun at the little hard-ass.

  “Sure, but didn’t we beat you for the Cup two years ago?” he asked with a smug little grin. “And don’t we have more Cups than years you guys have even been a franchise?”

  Little shit.

  Glaring, Karson nodded. “Touché.”

  “Well, then,” Lacey said, taking Karson’s hand and messing Flynn’s hair up, a nervous laugh coming from her. “My nephew is sort of hard-core about his hockey, just like his daddy. And, by the way, where are the parental folks?”

  “Kitchen. Mom is acting crazy about something.”

  “Great,” Lacey muttered before grinning at the boys. “All right, go watch TV. I’ll visit with you in a few.”

  The boys ran off and they followed them through the massive and gorgeous home. It looked straight out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, done very modern. He remembered Rachel being very OCD, and by the looks of the house, that was still very much in play. Nothing was out of place. There were no toys, no nothing. It was impeccable, not something he was used to. He loved a house to look like it was a home. Lived-in. Not a showroom.

  Reaching the huge, state-of-the-art kitchen, they found Grady and Rachel leaning against the butcher-block island.

  “Hey,” Lacey said with a wave, but both of them just stared at her. It was a little awkward. Wringing her hands together, Lacey said, “Okay, do you want me to go in there with the boys? Why are you two looking at me like that?”

  “No. Hey, how are you?” Rachel said, coming over and hugging her tightly. “Sorry, I just don’t know why this is happening.”

  “Because I got married,” Lacey said as they parted. “You remember Karson.”

  “Of course,” she said, meeting Karson’s gaze. She didn’t look pleased to see him, and he didn’t understand that. They were cool back in the day.

  “Beautiful as always and awesome home,” he said with a grin. “It’s great to see you.”

  “Thanks,” she said before turning her gaze to Lacey. “Please don’t go.”

  Well, then.

  Lacey shook her head and then said, “He makes me happy, Rachel. Don’t ask me to do something I can’t do.”

  “But we make you happy.”

  “You do, but I have to follow my heart. Don’t you want me to be happy? You, out of everyone, you know how unhappy I’ve been.”

  Karson watched as Rachel’s eyes filled with tears and then she nodded slowly. “I know.”

  “Yeah, so please be happy for me,” Lacey pleaded.

  “I am,” she said quietly. “But that doesn’t mean I agree with it, or that I don’t think you are making the biggest mistake of your life.”

  Moving his hand to the small of her back, he watched as Lacey’s eyes glazed over with tears, but she didn’t allow them to fall. Taking in a deep breath, she looked up at him and smiled. “You’re supposed to be my best friend.”

  “I am, but this is insane. You are going to regret this.”

  Lacey slowly shook her head. “Okay, then. Karson, let’s go sit with the boys for a little bit and then we’ll go.”

  He nodded, but he could see the devastation in her eyes. He was sure she thought that Rachel would be on her side, and it destroyed him that her best friend wasn’t there for her. What was wrong with all these people? Lacey was the light in the sky for him. The missing piece to his heart. He loved her with all the bones in his body, unconditionally; why didn’t they? Had she really been living with only these kinds of people? What happened to loving someone, no matter what?

  Turning back to Rachel, she said, “We have to get back to the apartment for the movers and then dinner reservations and also an early flight to catch. So excuse us.”

  “What about the business, Lacey?”

  “What about it? I’ll run it from Nashville. Nothing will change.”

  “Just that you won’t be there.”

  “I’m a flight and a phone call away. It will be fine.”

  “I sure do hope so. You’re throwing everything away.”

  “I am doing no such thing.”

  “The business will suffer.”

  “Over my dead body,” Karson said, receiving a look that told him to shut up from Rachel. Too bad he didn’t listen well.

  “He is clouding your judgment.”

  “Rachel, let it go,” Grady muttered, his eyes locked on the side of her face. “She is an adult.”

  Lacey nodded toward Grady. “Listen to your husband because you have no clue what you are talking about. We are done here,” she said, setting her with a look. “Now, excuse us.”

  She laced her fingers with his and they walked toward the living room, but when she stopped in the hall, away from the kitchen and living room, Karson wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Her body was so tense and rigid with emotion.

  “They will come around,” he whispered against her cheek. “I’ll prove that this wasn’t a mistake.”

  “We will,” she whispered back, sucking in a deep breath.

  “Huh?”

  “We will prove that it wasn’t. We are in this together, like you’ve said from the beginning,” she said, meeting his gaze.

  “You’re right. Don’t worry.”

  Nodding slowly, she bit into her lip and met his gaze. “Give me a few minutes with the kids and then I’ll be ready.”

  “I’m ready when you are. Take as much time as you need,” he said, threading his fingers in the back of her hair.

  When a tear leaked out of her eye, he caught it, wiping it away before kissing the spot he had just rubbed. “Thank you.”

  “Always,” he whispered before kissing her forehead. “Now go on.”

  She sent him a weak grin before turning and heading to where her nephews sat. As he watched her, he knew this was a huge risk for her. Leaving her family, her business, and starting over somewhere new. He just hoped when she remembered this time, all the pain and heartache caused by choosing him, she would think it was all worth it.

  That he wasn’t a mistake.

  It felt good to be home.

  With his hand locked with Lacey’s, they made their way through the Nashville airport with ease. It was an earlier flight, so it wasn’t that busy, thankfully. Karson needed to get Lacey back to his apartment because he had to hit the ice with the Assassins by seven a.m., which meant he had an hour. Having hired a car service, Karson helped Lacey in before getting in himself. He was dragging ass a little. He had spent most the night making sure she slept well. After leaving Rachel and Grady’s, Lacey was a mess. She cried the whole way home and it kille